Varmit Bullets

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guncrazy-sako85

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Hello, does anyone have any first hand experience with hunting coyotes with a 223 and shooting a coyote at 100 - 200 yards and having them drop right there with the bullets they are using? I shot one today at 100 yards with a 50 grain VMax and he ran away wounded. I am looking for a bullet that gives better results. I might try a 64 gr Berger match Varmit it might hit a little harder and do more damage like their hunting bullets. Any opinions would be great.

Sako85
 
IMHO the Hornaday VMAX bullet is a great coyote bullet. No bullet will make up for a poor shot. Coyotes will drop on the spot if hit correctly. All wild animals are tough & will travel amazing distances when poorly hit. Sorry you lost your animal.
 
guncrazy-sako85 said:
Hello, does anyone have any first hand experience with hunting coyotes with a 223 and shooting a coyote at 100 - 200 yards and having them drop right there with the bullets they are using? I shot one today at 100 yards with a 50 grain VMax and he ran away wounded. I am looking for a bullet that gives better results. I might try a 64 gr Berger match Varmit it might hit a little harder and do more damage like their hunting bullets. Any opinions would be great.

Sako85
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What proof do you have that the bullet was the issue?
 
guncrazy-sako85 said:
Hello, does anyone have any first hand experience with hunting coyotes with a 223 and shooting a coyote at 100 - 200 yards and having them drop right there with the bullets they are using? I shot one today at 100 yards with a 50 grain VMax and he ran away wounded. I am looking for a bullet that gives better results. I might try a 64 gr Berger match Varmit it might hit a little harder and do more damage like their hunting bullets. Any opinions would be great.

Sako85
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I would chalk that one up to shot placement. I have dropped coyotes with my .17 HMR, and 52 grain bullets out of my .222 with no issues.

On the other hand I have lost a couple that I felt were good hits with my .243, shooting 80 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips.

As for bullet recommendations I have had good luck with the above mentioned Ballistic Tips and am currently working out loads with Barnes 85 grain TSX's. If you dont handload I have also seen good results with the Winchester Silver Tip XP3 bullets. (not sure if they are available in .223)
 
anatomy_coyote_side_2.jpg
 
glang1 said:
IMHO the Hornaday VMAX bullet is a great coyote bullet. No bullet will make up for a poor shot. Coyotes will drop on the spot if hit correctly. All wild animals are tough & will travel amazing distances when poorly hit. Sorry you lost your animal.
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I agree. 75gr Vmax bullets in our 243 have done a wonderful job on coyotes. I have lost the odd one that was hit with a 130gr SP from a 270. Bang flops and then they get up and run off. Or the multiple spin and then off they go. It sucks, especially if they are close to the bush and can get into cover. Where the bullets hit, I do not know as the coyotes were not recovered, but shot placement was obviously the problem. But I have also seen coyotes run for 100 yards and then drop and find a fist size exit hole in the chest. They can be tough critters.
 
58gn VMax molycoat in my wife's .243. DRT's for the most part, but a few have decided to spin around a couple of times and more than one has gone 10-15yds. Each case of non-DRT was bullet placement. No complaints with 110gn VMaxs out of my .308. DRT's with a complete bowl over 99% of the time. Haven't lost a coyote, gopher, or rabbit yet with it. So, OP, I have to think that it was more shot placement than bullet construction or failure.
 
Caboose said:
Not to be used on coyotes...

Very impressive on gophers though!
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Ok, I have to ask; why not use them on coyotes?

I use cheap old 55gr Winchesters, but was planning on reloading some varmint grenades to try out soon...
 
i have shot two with my 222 and factory federal blue box 50 grain soft points.both were bang/flop.the first one was around 275 yards and it got up and ran away/not recovered.from what i could tell by the blood trail,bullet completely passed thru with very little expansion.the second one was 225 yards and the bullet also passed thru with very little expansion,but that one never got back up.bullet placement is everything.i have had them go over 100 hundred yards double lunged with a 30-06.
 
Caboose said:
Out of my .204 the 26 gr V-grenade hardly penetrates...leaving more of a "splash" wound. It'll kill, but there are better options IMHO.
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Valid point. I would have thought that the .204 would penetrate no matter what. I am curious now, do you think that the increased velocity of a 55gr Varmint Grenade out of a .22-250 would yield significantly different results?
 
Slug870 said:
Valid point. I would have thought that the .204 would penetrate no matter what. I am curious now, do you think that the increased velocity of a 55gr Varmint Grenade out of a .22-250 would yield significantly different results?
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The 55gr bullet would have twice the weight for a start. 26gr seems to be a very small bullet to be using on a coyote. I have no experience with a .204,so I don't know the ballistics, but I have seen programs where they were used to shoot coyotes successfully. I don't know what other bullet weights are available for the .204 or were used in the kills shown on the programs I saw.
Like others have mentioned - Placement is key. I once shot a 4x4 mule deer at about 75- 100 yards with a 150 gr 30.06. The bullet hit the shoulder blade right where it attaches to the shoulder ball joint, and never entered the chest. A follow up shot was required.
 
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