Silencer for ND Prairie Dog Hunt on 8-20-2012

Silverfox

New member
It has been almost three months since my last prairie dog hunt. There have been many, many days when it would have been GREAT to be out on the prairie thinning out the prairie dog herd, but I have chosen to go golfing instead.
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On July 24 I received some new incentive to get back out and do some PD shooting. My paperwork for owning a silencer came in on July 24 and I picked up the papers and the silencer that afternoon. The silencer is a 5.56mm AAC Ranger 2. It only took 7 months from the time my dealer sent in the paperwork until I picked it up!!! Government efficiency at its best!!!

Last January I had asked my gunsmith to keep a spot open in his work schedule for threading a few barrels for a silencer for me. I contacted my gunsmith on July 24 and told him that I had two .17 caliber rifles and two .204 Ruger caliber rifles I’d like to have threaded for the suppressor. He said he could do the work on Monday, August 6 so I traveled down to his shop and left my Savage target action in .204 Ruger, my Savage 12VLP with a 1 in 11 twist stainless steel super match grade Pac-Nor barrel in .204 Ruger, my Predator action .17 Remington that I formed brass for out of WW .204 Ruger brass, and my .1945" tight-neck .17 Remington that was built on a Remington 700 BDL action and sports a 1 in 9 twist stainless steel super match grade 3-groove Pac-Nor barrel. These rifles all have heavy barrels on them and shoot pretty accurately.

My gunsmith got the work done and I picked the rifles up on Tuesday, August 7. I had removed the scopes from the rifles so my gunsmith could work on them. So when I got the rifles back home, I started the process of getting the barrels cleaned down to bare metal and giving them all a Graphoil treatment. Then I started getting the scopes back on them and getting them bore sighted so I could take them to the range for final scope adjustments and to see how the shot with the silencer in place. I finished installing scopes and made a trip to the rifle range on Monday morning, August 13. It was a nice day, hardly any wind and there were only two other shooters at the range. I got the scopes adjusted and I have to say, that silencer sure “silences” the usualy loud muzzle blast. I did wear my electronic head muffs while sighting in the rifles even though I had the silencer on the rifles. Finally, I decided to go without hearing protection on the last few shots with the Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger. I could not believe how effective the silencer is!!!!

When I was at the rifle range I noticed that when my anti-cant level bubble was centered the horizontal crosshairs on the scope of a couple of my rifles were not in perfect alignment with the horizontal lines on my targets. I tape my targets to a large cardboard box and then adjust the box so the horizontal lines are dead level with the world. So, I knew I would have to do some adjusting on the scopes. As a matter of fact, I checked all four rifles again and made some minor adjustments, especially on my anti-cant levels I have on each scope. I must have been in too much of a hurry and goofed up a wee bit.

All kinds of duties were taking up my time the week of August 13--taking care of grandkids, church meetings, and golfing, but I finally got a chance to go out after prairie dogs this past Monday, August 20. It was a beautiful day, clear blue skies; hardly any wind (SW 3 to 7 mph). I had my Caldwell wind gauge and thermometer along and let it sit in the sun for a period of time around 4:30 p.m. and it read 100.3º, but the temperature in the shade was around 88º. Unfortunately, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the shade.

I arrived at the dog town around 8:25 a.m. I had three rifles along and I wanted to do one more final testing of the point of impact for all three rifles. I finished that task around 9:50 a.m. I was going to use my Savage Target Action .204 Ruger so I cased up the other two rifles and put them in the pickup. I got my water bottles, ammo, and a snack into my backpack, put 9 loaded cartridges in my elastic ammo holder I have on the stock and headed out for some fun in the prairie dog town at about 10:10 a.m. It was 77º already. There were not many PDs out and about. I could see vehicle tracks all over the PD town. This dog town is on National Grasslands acreage and it is illegal to drive a vehicle off established trails on this land. Evidently there are some people in North Dakota who break the law!!! I had a couple of PDs pose for shots from my .204 Ruger and then I would have to move to another part of the dog town. The silencer seemed to work pretty well and when a couple of PDs were fairly close to each other, they didn’t duck for cover.

My rifle for this day has Savage target action with right bolt/left port and is fitted with a fluted #5 contour stainless steel 1 in 12 twist 3-grooved Lilja barrel that is 26 inches long and chambered for .204 Ruger. My ammo is crafted out of Nosler .204 Ruger brass, 27.2 gr. of IMR 8208 XBR powder, Remington 7½ primers, and 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing bullets coated with hBN and seated .004" off the lands. Muzzle velocity with this combination is 3,887 fps. I haven't shot over the chronograph with the silencer on. Here’s a photo of the first victim of my newly silenced Savage Target Action .204 Ruger.

FirstVictimofSilencedSvgTgtAction204--small.jpg


By 11:35 I had taken 9 shots and hit on all 9 of them. Shots ranged in distance from 125 yards to 189 yards. It was 93.7º in the sun at this time. I wasn’t getting many 3rd shot opportunities, but got my share of 2nd shot opportunities. I spotted a pocket of PDs up to the southeast of where I nailed two PDs, but there was no way to get much closer than 250 to 280 yards except to hike around a hill to the north of this pocket of PD mounds. I did my hike and nailed one PD on the north side of the hill. I finally got to the top of the hill and had to do a belly crawl to get to a shooting position. I was able to get three PDs at about 100 yards. These three were not real frightened by the shots and were all within about 10 feet of each other. I also managed to shoot one at 189 yards and another at 195 yards.

Here’s a look at the lay of the land where this pocket of PDs was located:

PDValley--zoomedin--small.jpg


After my fifth shot, all the PDs in the area were down in their dens. I backed off the hill and replenished my ammo holder on the stock and noted that it was 12:08 p.m. I took out a water bottle and a couple of cookies and began snacking while I rested for a bit in the shade of a bush. It was 86º in the shade. So far, I had taken 15 shots and had hit on all 15 shots. I was getting hungry, so I headed back to the pickup and arrived there at 12:29 p.m.

I finished my lunch and decided to drive east about a half mile on the established trail to get a little closer to the east part of the dog town. I was a bit tired after eating, so I lay down on the prairie and took a 45 minute nap. Six minutes into my nap I had a very discourteous PD barking at me. I rolled over to my rifle and promptly delivered a 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing sleeping pill to the little barker. He went into a deep permanent sleep. About 35 minutes later I was waking up from my nap, when I heard another prairie dog barking. This one was only about 75 yards to the west of me. My rifle was about 10 feet away to the north of me and resting on the Harris 9-13" swivel bipod. When I slowly reached out to pull it toward me the left leg of the bipod collapsed into the close position and the rifle fell real hard to the left and onto the scope. I got the bipod leg back into position and got the rifle around in the direction of the PD. This PD was lying prone on his mound as I squeezed off a shot and heard the distinctive—WHAP!! I could see the red mist in the air as the bullet hit home.

It was 2:50 p.m. when I moved the pickup so it would be sitting in the shade of some trees while I went on another walkabout. I walked to the east and spotted a couple of close prairie dogs and hit those with no problem. Then I had one standing at 138 yards and I missed. I couldn’t tell where the bullet hit. Another PD was standing at 155 yards and I missed that one. Now I’m thinking the scope must have gotten bumped so hard it knocked the point of aim off. SO, I found a dead tree stump with no bark on it at 75 yards and fired one shot to check POI. The bullet hit 3/4" left and about a half inch high. Vertical was on the money, but 3/4" left at 75 yards was no good. My scope is a 6-24x50mm Nikon Monarch with side focus and it has 1/8" clicks. I decided to give it 6 clicks to the right. I moved out to 100 yards from the stump and fired two more shots at the stump and I was hitting about 1 inch high and dead on for windage. OK, now, I was ready to get back to eradicating some more PDs.

I found a spot where I could lay in the shade of some trees—NICE!!! I went 5 for 5 and had a chance at a double but the bullet didn’t get through to the back PD. These 5 shots ranged from 136 yards on out to 193 yards. There was a 3 to 5 mph right to left wind at this spot. It was about 3:52 p.m. when I moved further east. I had my Caldwell wind meter out and the temperature was 92.4º in the sun. I shot 5 more shots from that spot and hit on all 5 shots with distances ranging from 161 yards to 191 yards. I took a break to replenish my ammo holder and get a drink of water. I checked my watch and it was 4:25 p.m. the temperature was 88º in the shade. I moved the thermometer into the sun and after about 5 minutes the reading was 100.3º in the direct sunlight!!!


Around 4:30 I walked a little further north and hit on a 50 yard shot, but missed one at 155 yards??? I will have to check out the scope before I go out after prairie dogs again. At about 5:00 I decided to start walking back to the pickup to get ready to head for home. Counting the two shots I missed after bumping my scope, I had taken 33 shots at prairie dogs and hit on 30 of those shots during the approximate 5 hours I was actually hunting. So, the action in this dog town was S-L-O-O-O-O-W. This is the same dog town I was hunting in back on May 21, 2012. I only hunted for a little over 3 hours that day and shot 58 shots. Normally, I would have taken 75 to 80 shots during a 5-hour walkabout in this dog town. It is fairly late in the season, but like I mentioned early on, the vehicle tracks all over the dog town make me think this dog town is getting hit and hit pretty hard. It is visible from the road, so it’s not like it is a secret location.

Oh, I almost forgot the obligatory hero photo:

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Sounds like a great day in PDog Town!!

Gotta ask; does that white rib/?? on your barrel to keep it cooler in the sunshine??
 
Silverfox,

I was in Williston this past weekend (born & raised there) and what a SHiot hole that place is turning out to be due to the oil boom!

Trucks and 5th wheel campers everywhere!

It was good to go home, see my Mom, spend an afternoon driving out to our farm North of Arnegard and then over to Fairview MT. for some gambling. Lost my Arse!!

I won't be back for a few years and my mom is enjoying her 2 oil wells on the ranch that are currently producing 20,000+ barrels each per month!

I saw a couple of the oil checks and they are BIG!!

I told her to quit spending my inheritance and she laughed, saying plenty to go around but not til she is buried near Ross ND.

I can wait!
 
Great write up Silverfox!! This would make a great Hunter of the Month story!

So, I am thinking you like your suppressor!!

Very good detailed story!!
 
eneranch--The "white rib" is an aluminum mirage shield meant to keep the heat from the barrel creating the shimmering heat waves in front of the scope--it works great. It also helps keep the sun of the barrel and thus keeps the barrel cooler just like you surmised.

Dead Down Wind--You are 110% correct that the nice, quiet little old town of Williston IS NOT a nice, quiet little town any longer. It is miserable to live here because of all the oil field traffic with heavy gravel and scoria trucks and tanker trucks running practically 24/7 on our streets and roads. Then too, we have big long lines of people waiting to get food at cafes, groceries, gasoline, etc., etc. Many of the merchants have raised prices because most of the oil field hands make big bucks. Motel rooms, apartments, and home rentals are priced out of this world. Retired folks who moved off the farm and were renting apartments in Williston for $350 to $600 a month have had their rent quadrupled and in some cases quintupled. These folks are on fixed incomes and when their rent is raised like that, they cannot afford to live in Williston any longer. The price gouging is not good for any of us on a fixed income even those of us who own our homes and don't have to pay exorbitant rent.

Your Mom's oil wells sound like some very good procucers. I hope she has a good share of the mineral rights and that she doesn't spend it all before you get a chance to spend some of it.
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223Pete--You are 110% correct!!! I LIKE MY SUPPRESSOR!!!!!

Thanks for the compliment on the story I posted too!!!
 
reb8600--Like I mentioned, I have been doing a whole lot more golfing than hunting and I was sure nobody wanted to read my stories about golfing
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Thanks for the kind words.
 
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