Opinions on caliber for coyote?

I completely agree with the 6mm crowd. I shoot a browning Abolt varminter in factory chambering of 243 WSSM over hand rolled BLC2 and a nosler 70g ballistic tip stuffed in the top. When that load gets launched at 3840 fps animals die right now. I’m pushing pressure but the WSSM was designed to handle it. Ground hawgs out to 500 prone no problem. Coyotes easy. Little wind deflection and great bc
Yep, that bullet is a star for varmint shooting and even long range.
 
This thread has been downright comical to read. Can certainly differentiate the guys who are shooters versus the guys who peruse Chuck Hawkes website for their "knowledge".

The fact that some folks are fixated on headstamps and websites and barrel length and "energy" (how many energies does it take to kill something?) instead of bullet selection says volumes as well.
To the OP, you never indicated your province of residence as near as I could see, but as alluded to in a few posts, there are caliber restrictions in a couple of provinces. BC is not one of them.
You'd be hard pressed to go wrong with any of the 22 centerfires for your intended purpose, if you choose the appropriate rifle (twist rate is very important) and bullet combination.

.223, .243, 22-250, all will work for your intended purposes. Just try to pick the right bullet for the job. And pick the right twist rate for your intended bullet choices.

As an aside, my do-it-all rifle this year is chambered in .223 Remington. 62gr Federal Fusion SP's are it's chosen fodder. I'll try 73gr ELD-M's if I can get my hands on them though. Coyote's to Moose and everything in between. Lots of people would think I'm mad. And I can't blame them. Conventional wisdom says it's incapable of killing even moderate sized ungulates, let alone big ones. But a body of evidence has been presented to me that makes me believe that to be untrue. We'll see though. I have yet to kill anything with it. If I pull the trigger on an animal, I'll post my results, good or bad for all to see.

Dorian, the Fusion is a pretty reasonable bullet. The 73 ELD m's are a whole other level of lethal though, if you have the twist rate to spin them fast enough to really squeeze the good stuff out.
My everything rifle this year is a 223AI 1:7 twist. It's been to Stone sheep country among the grizzlies so far, to Haida Gwaii for a few days, and the back 40 for elk. This weekend it is on black bear duty, and in a few weeks it'll go hunt moose on our 2 day season as well. And it'll smash a couple big northern bucks to the ground as well at some point in November.
The bull elk that crashed to the ground a couple of weeks ago fell over just as decisively as anything else that I've stuck an 88 ELD-m into, and faster than any of the elk that I shot with a TSX or TTSX from larger, much larger, and way larger cartridges.

Bullets matter more than headstamps. Bullets are the only interaction we have with the animal if we choose the right ones..
 
Interesting the way this thread has gone. Seams a few need to get out side, bickering like it’s February. Not Fall. Guess it depends on your type of hunting style a bit.
Up here in the boreal forest. Lots of coyotes. Most shots are reasonable distance. 100-300m
My most successful cal’s, were small 6 mm. 6x45 and 6PPC repeaters rifles. 75 gr Seriaa HP. 70 BTip.
I like a 6mm simply because we have a long hunting season for deer here. 3 months.
Hope you all have a good fall hunting season, stuck at work today. But seen a coyote and fox walk across the yard this morning. Wish I was out there doing it instead.
 
Kodiak have you ever shot any game with the 75gr hornady HPBT? My Montana 223 won’t stabilize 88s obviously and even the 75 amax is borderline but it shoots the HPBT MATCH very well.
 
This thread has been downright comical to read. Can certainly differentiate the guys who are shooters versus the guys who peruse Chuck Hawkes website for their "knowledge".

The fact that some folks are fixated on headstamps and websites and barrel length and "energy" (how many energies does it take to kill something?) instead of bullet selection says volumes as well.
To the OP, you never indicated your province of residence as near as I could see, but as alluded to in a few posts, there are caliber restrictions in a couple of provinces. BC is not one of them.
You'd be hard pressed to go wrong with any of the 22 centerfires for your intended purpose, if you choose the appropriate rifle (twist rate is very important) and bullet combination.



Dorian, the Fusion is a pretty reasonable bullet. The 73 ELD m's are a whole other level of lethal though, if you have the twist rate to spin them fast enough to really squeeze the good stuff out.
My everything rifle this year is a 223AI 1:7 twist. It's been to Stone sheep country among the grizzlies so far, to Haida Gwaii for a few days, and the back 40 for elk. This weekend it is on black bear duty, and in a few weeks it'll go hunt moose on our 2 day season as well. And it'll smash a couple big northern bucks to the ground as well at some point in November.
The bull elk that crashed to the ground a couple of weeks ago fell over just as decisively as anything else that I've stuck an 88 ELD-m into, and faster than any of the elk that I shot with a TSX or TTSX from larger, much larger, and way larger cartridges.

Bullets matter more than headstamps. Bullets are the only interaction we have with the animal if we choose the right ones..
 
Kodiak have you ever shot any game with the 75gr hornady HPBT? My Montana 223 won’t stabilize 88s obviously and even the 75 amax is borderline but it shoots the HPBT MATCH very well.
I’ve run a couple into black bears, and a buddy shot a big whitetail a couple falls ago in my back yard with that bullet.
And I’ve run them through maybe a couple dozen coyotes.

Performance is erratic at best, as they hold together harder than an Amax or ELD m. From what I’ve seen, if you are going to use those, you really need to hit bones on entrance to get secondary shrapnel into the lungs. They’ll definitely penetrate, but expansion is suspect for me.

You are painted into a corner with the 1:9 twist there. I shot a lot of stuff with 75 Amax’s via my Montana as a 223AI 1:9 and it worked pretty reliably. As a 1:7 twist 223AI however, it is a whole new cartridge when it comes to performance. Twist rate makes a huge difference in terminal ballistics.

Your best bet is a rebarrel to 1:7, or sell it to me and I’ll rebarrel it.
 
Thanks for the input. By the time I use up all my 75s it should be about time for a 1:7 anyhow. I’ve got a fairly decent collection, and the baby Montana would be the absolute last to go.
 
Thanks for the input. By the time I use up all my 75s it should be about time for a 1:7 anyhow. I’ve got a fairly decent collection, and the baby Montana would be the absolute last to go.
The 75’s won’t not work in a 1:7….. just sayin’.
I waited until mine wouldn’t spin the Amax anymore from throat erosion to rebarrel.
Knowing now what a difference it made, I regret waiting.
 
This thread has been downright comical to read. Can certainly differentiate the guys who are shooters versus the guys who peruse Chuck Hawkes website for their "knowledge".

The fact that some folks are fixated on headstamps and websites and barrel length and "energy" (how many energies does it take to kill something?) instead of bullet selection says volumes as well.
To the OP, you never indicated your province of residence as near as I could see, but as alluded to in a few posts, there are caliber restrictions in a couple of provinces. BC is not one of them.
You'd be hard pressed to go wrong with any of the 22 centerfires for your intended purpose, if you choose the appropriate rifle (twist rate is very important) and bullet combination.



Dorian, the Fusion is a pretty reasonable bullet. The 73 ELD m's are a whole other level of lethal though, if you have the twist rate to spin them fast enough to really squeeze the good stuff out.
My everything rifle this year is a 223AI 1:7 twist. It's been to Stone sheep country among the grizzlies so far, to Haida Gwaii for a few days, and the back 40 for elk. This weekend it is on black bear duty, and in a few weeks it'll go hunt moose on our 2 day season as well. And it'll smash a couple big northern bucks to the ground as well at some point in November.
The bull elk that crashed to the ground a couple of weeks ago fell over just as decisively as anything else that I've stuck an 88 ELD-m into, and faster than any of the elk that I shot with a TSX or TTSX from larger, much larger, and way larger cartridges.

Bullets matter more than headstamps. Bullets are the only interaction we have with the animal if we choose the right ones..
Killed a blacktail quite a few years back around Port Clements using a Hornet.

I'd say it had enough "energy", though I think using FPE isn't a great way to judge killing power.

You're right about using the right bullet for the job, and the faster the velocity, the broader the range of bullet performance needs to be. I was ignorant of bullet construction at the time, and should have been using a heavier non Hornet bullet.

Seems that making one of the speedier .22 CF perform on bigger game is somewhat challenging. Not much is marketed a game bullet. Have seen the Hornady GMX monolithic copper alloy bullets, though didn't see them in very heavy weight. Have some 50 gr. and saw 53(?). Ever use these on anything?
 
Killed a blacktail quite a few years back around Port Clements using a Hornet.

I'd say it had enough "energy", though I think using FPE isn't a great way to judge killing power.

You're right about using the right bullet for the job, and the faster the velocity, the broader the range of bullet performance needs to be. I was ignorant of bullet construction at the time, and should have been using a heavier non Hornet bullet.

Seems that making one of the speedier .22 CF perform on bigger game is somewhat challenging. Not much is marketed a game bullet. Have seen the Hornady GMX monolithic copper alloy bullets, though didn't see them in very heavy weight. Have some 50 gr. and saw 53(?). Ever use these on anything?
Mono’s, just on deer and black bears. 45/50/53 TSX, 50/55/62 TTSX and the 50 GMX.

Most reliable performance was the 45 TSX at 3800 fps for me.
The 50 GMX wasn’t bad as I think they are a bit softer, my kids all used those for a while in a Ruger American 223 at about 3100 fps. Good expansion, and about 3 feet of penetration on average.

I’m less enamored with mono’s in any chambering, but the narrow wound channels aren’t doing any favors in a 22 centerfire. 75 Amax, 80 and 88 ELD m, those are the most reliable that I’ve found so far. Keep the impact velocity at 1800 fps or better. Have some 77 TMK loaded as well, but that might be a bit too much of a good thing.
 
Mono’s, just on deer and black bears. 45/50/53 TSX, 50/55/62 TTSX and the 50 GMX.

Most reliable performance was the 45 TSX at 3800 fps for me.
The 50 GMX wasn’t bad as I think they are a bit softer, my kids all used those for a while in a Ruger American 223 at about 3100 fps. Good expansion, and about 3 feet of penetration on average.

I’m less enamored with mono’s in any chambering, but the narrow wound channels aren’t doing any favors in a 22 centerfire. 75 Amax, 80 and 88 ELD m, those are the most reliable that I’ve found so far. Keep the impact velocity at 1800 fps or better. Have some 77 TMK loaded as well, but that might be a bit too much of a good thing.
I don't favour monos for most as they seem to need to be driven very fast to be reliable and the lightweight ones lack SD and shed velocity and momentum quickly.

I think they'd make sense for a .257 W and similar; and figured they'd make sense out of a fast .22 to make them perform and penetrate.

I think we might have different performance goals out of our guns, where I'd like to see an exit hole, and you like them spent in the heart/lungs?
 
I don't favour monos for most as they seem to need to be driven very fast to be reliable and the lightweight ones lack SD and shed velocity and momentum quickly.

I think they'd make sense for a .257 W and similar; and figured they'd make sense out of a fast .22 to make them perform and penetrate.

I think we might have different performance goals out of our guns, where I'd like to see an exit hole, and you like them spent in the heart/lungs?
SD doesn’t have anything to do with velocity or momentum. And to be fair, SD is pretty much meaningless as an indicator of anything in this day and age.

To answer your question though, around performance goals…. I don’t really view it like that, in either way. When I used mono’s a lot, I expected to be able to drive a bullet through a few feet of bones and tissue to get to organs. All I cared about was a hole through organs and a busted shoulder to limit mobility. After it did that, I didn’t care if it exited or not. I caught enough X/TSX/TTSX from 264wm/7wsm/280AI/300ultra to know that you can’t ever count on an exit, but it will probably occur. Usually. Mostly. Sometimes.

What I find with stuff like the Amax/ELD m from fast twist rifles is I can drive a bullet through a few feet of tissue and bones to the organs, but there is a bigger permanent wound channel and stuff falls down within feet of the hit. I don’t need an exit. Stuff is laying right there.
That said, I got exits on 2 bull moose and a bull elk with 88 ELD m’s. This years bull elk died MUCH faster than last years bull elk, with the same presentation and shot angles. Difference being last year's bull was shot at half the distance with a 300 wm and a 180 gr soft point, and it didn’t exit.
 
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