RE: Best prairie dog rifle?
Sounds like you have a good excuse to get a new rifle to me. The .17 hmr is a great little prairie dog gun. I've shot hundreds upon hundreds of prairie dogs with my savage .17 hmr using the .17 grain poly tips and for the most part, the prairie dogs don't get back to the hole. The bullets fragment very quickly, so very little to worry about deflections going very far. Might look into the BSA scope that is made exclusively for the .17 hmr that allows the shooter to adjust each shot for different yardages, and the scope is not expensive at all. I've got a cheap bushnell on mine and it does just fine. And 150 yards will be stretching the range if there is any breeze at all. But out to about 125 yards, it is simply fun and deadly.
Buy the new gun. Once you have it sighted in, it'll put a smile on your face around those prairie dogs. Ammo. is about $11-$13/50!