South Dakota PD shoot

[Grayfox]

My Son and I along with his friend went on a PD shoot last week in South Dakota. For rifles I had a Savage 12 VLP I used last year on a PD shoot. This year I had a new AR15 varmint barrelled 204 Ruger. Both rifles have a Burris 4.5x14 AO with the ballistic plex reticle. For these two rifles I took 1025 rounds. I loaded 39gr. Sierra Blitzkings in 800 of the 1025 Rounds. I had 150 dogtowns and the rest 40gr V Max and 40 Ballistic tip. My son and his friend also had AR15's in 204 Ruger and 223 Rem,and a Ruger Varment in 243Win. The took 1500 assorted rounds for there rifles.

The first day a friend took us to a hilltop overlooking a PD town in a valley. The nearist PD's started at 300 yards on out. I had never shot my AR15 over 300 yards before so this was a new challange. The ballistic plex retical was a big help on the long shots. Useing a range finder and sighter shots, I learned where to aim at long range. The PD's I found that I hit were from 300 to 470 yards. The 204 Ruger and 39 Sierra Blitzkings had plenty of killing power. The bullets did not exit at the very long shots. I shot at some at 600 yards. I think I got awful close as they dropped down into the hole real fast.

Day two and three we had normal shooting distance from 100 to 350 yards. This is where I found out how much fun an AR15 really is to shoot with. Day two we had a heavy cross wind. If we missed you could make an instant adjustment and send another bullet down range before they ran for cover. That I could never do with my Savage bolt Rifle. You could also get multiple shots at two or more PD's sitting on there holes.

Day three was the best day of all. Ninty degrees and no wind. The hills were loaded with PD's.This day I shot close to 400 rounds. The 204 Ruger shoots very flat to 300 yards and is very easy to spot your hits.

The 39 Blitzkings seem to kill better than the 40gr V Max and 40gr Nosler BT. I tried a few 34gr Dogtown bullets but was not impressed. Next time I will load all my ammo with Sierra 39gr Blitzkings. One load for both rifles.

This is my second PD shoot and I learned some things to pass on. First have a good pair of binoculars to spot your targets. Second have a very sturdy bench to shoot from.Third use a rangefinder. Fourth use a ballistic plex retical or mill dot scope. Fifth take accurate rifles and ammo. And last of all laugh at ones you missed. They will be looking for you next year along with there new friends.

Grayfox

[acloco]

Nice write up. Got Pics???

I wish my rifle liked the Blitzkings......

[jo191145]

Grayfox
Sounds like you had a great time.
Just curious. Was it the accuracy of the dogtowns that you were unimpressed with or the splat factor. Or both.

Just a paper puncher.

acloco
If you switched to WS2 you just might want to retry the BK's. I've seen some of my barrels start shooting bullets/weights they never liked raw before. Unfourtunately not the 39's but hey

[MinotBob]

I hate to sound ignorant but what are Dogtowns.

[Grayfox]

acloco. I need to learn how to post pictures and then I will post some.

jo191145. I did not like the accuracy at long range.They are allot cheaper to shoot so I tested them to see if I could save some money. I want to have only one load that shoots very accurate at all ranges and hits hard. The Sierra 39gr Blitzking was the top "Dog".

MinotBob. Midway sells 204 cal. 34gr Dogtown bullets for around $10.00 per 100. Sierra BK's sell for about $17.00 per 100 bullets. If I loaded 1000 rounds of ammo it would cost $70.00 more to use the Sierra's. Because I have only three days to shoot PD's a year,I"ll take the Sierra 39 gr BK's. If I lived in PD country I would use the 34gr Dogtowns and shoot the close ones. Then the next day I would go back and shoot some more.

Grayfox