35gr 223 too light for coyotes?

kodiakjack

kodiakjack

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Just mucking about, starting to reload for 223, and have collected a half dozen different bullets to mess around with. I've got some 35gr Varmageddon and 36gr Barnes Varmint Grenades. I expect these are mostly intended as medicine for gophers, but curious if they'd stand up to yotes too? Coyotes aren't too big around here...

I've also got some 62gr soft points, 55gr jhp, and 55gr fmj.




Those varmageddons look downright adorable next to the others :p



 
223 is a great coyote round. I don't like grenade rounds for hunting anything but ground hogs and crows. Any cup and core bullet will do for coyotes
 
dutchhunter said:
223 is a great coyote round. I don't like grenade rounds for hunting anything but ground hogs and crows. Any cup and core bullet will do for coyotes
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Well, I know Barnes claims the varmint grenade is the "ideal" coyote bullet, as there's only an entrance hole. But claims are... claims.
 
i am just curious to what rifle you are going to use with all those different bullet weights and still be accurate
enough to hit either a gopher or yote
 
remyltr said:
i am just curious to what rifle you are going to use with all those different bullet weights and still be accurate
enough to hit either a gopher or yote
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Maybe none of them will lol. Like I said, I'm just mucking about. I just wanted a variety to play with at the range... see if any are accurate. Maybe none... it's just an axis after all. I've got no plans to hunt coyote in the near future. I was just curious about the bullet's capabilities.

On one hand, it's a tiny bullet compared to the others and seems inadequate. But in the other hand, plenty of coyotes have been taken with 36gr 22lr, essentially the same bullet mass, only not frangible. The grenade is frangible, but with 10 times the energy... I can't imagine the coyote could walk it off...
 
kodiakjack said:
Maybe none of them will lol. Like I said, I'm just mucking about. I just wanted a variety to play with at the range... see if any are accurate. Maybe none... it's just an axis after all. I've got no plans to hunt coyote in the near future. I was just curious about the bullet's capabilities.

On one hand, it's a tiny bullet compared to the others and seems inadequate. But in the other hand, plenty of coyotes have been taken with 36gr 22lr, essentially the same bullet mass, only not frangible. The grenade is frangible, but with 10 times the energy... I can't imagine the coyote could walk it off...
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ok makes sense to me now

my experiences with 223's
55gr ballistic tipped on yotes work well
on rabbits i take head shots and pink mist and no head
62gr on yotes works well

i have shot foxes with 36gr 22lr subsonics,head shots,DRT
rabbits with 36gr subsonics works a damn treat also

also shot a fox with a 22 air rifle 14.3gr pellet (rifle was producing 34ft/lbs) head shot @ 30 yds DRT
 
A side on shot through the chest, just behind the shoulder at under 200 yards would be ideal situation for the little 35's. They would actually be ideal for that. No fur damage and liquified lungs. But hit the shoulder blade, or the humerus/scapula joint from a partly facing angle, and that very stubby frangible bullet might not even penetrate to the lungs. Same for a rear angling shot through the guts. And they have a terrible BC and run out or steam very quickly. I'd prefer a 40 grain Horn Vmax or Nosler BT or any common 50 or 55 grain expanding bullet for hunting coyotes.
My favourite that I have personally used is the 40 grain Hornady Vmax. I used that bullet to take 11 coyotes this winter with my .222 Rem, and was very satisfied with the results. Shots were usually not far, 100-150 yds, and resulted mostly instant death, and no exits. In the .223 the same results could be expected 50 yds farther out.
Of the bullets you have on hand, I'd choose the 55 gr. JHP.
 
Longwalker said:
A side on shot through the chest, just behind the shoulder at under 200 yards would be ideal situation for the little 35's. They would actually be ideal for that. No fur damage and liquified lungs. But hit the shoulder blade, or the humerus/scapula joint from a partly facing angle, and that very stubby frangible bullet might not even penetrate to the lungs. Same for a rear angling shot through the guts. And they have a terrible BC and run out or steam very quickly. I'd prefer a 40 grain Horn Vmax or Nosler BT or any common 50 or 55 grain expanding bullet for hunting coyotes.
My favourite that I have personally used is the 40 grain Hornady Vmax. I used that bullet to take 11 coyotes this winter with my .222 Rem, and was very satisfied with the results. Shots were usually not far, 100-150 yds, and resulted mostly instant death, and no exits. In the .223 the same results could be expected 50 yds farther out.
Of the bullets you have on hand, I'd choose the 55 gr. JHP.
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PPPFFFFTTT!!!! Why settle?! When I could have an excuse to go out and buy MORE bullets to try!!

Also, those are just MFS steel case JHPs. My understanding from professor google is that they're more J than they are HP. Folks talk about them passing through without expanding at all, like an fmj.
 
Longwalker said:
A side on shot through the chest, just behind the shoulder at under 200 yards would be ideal situation for the little 35's. They would actually be ideal for that. No fur damage and liquified lungs. But hit the shoulder blade, or the humerus/scapula joint from a partly facing angle, and that very stubby frangible bullet might not even penetrate to the lungs. Same for a rear angling shot through the guts. And they have a terrible BC and run out or steam very quickly. I'd prefer a 40 grain Horn Vmax or Nosler BT or any common 50 or 55 grain expanding bullet for hunting coyotes.
My favourite that I have personally used is the 40 grain Hornady Vmax. I used that bullet to take 11 coyotes this winter with my .222 Rem, and was very satisfied with the results. Shots were usually not far, 100-150 yds, and resulted mostly instant death, and no exits. In the .223 the same results could be expected 50 yds farther out.
Of the bullets you have on hand, I'd choose the 55 gr. JHP.
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Perhaps that's what I'm stumbling over. As someone who's really only ever been a deer/moose/bear hunter, the idea of ANYTHING BUT a broadside shot through the vitals seems very foreign to me. I hadn't really considered the need for a bullet to perform via an alternate path to the vitals...
 
kodiakjack said:
Perhaps that's what I'm stumbling over. As someone who's really only ever been a deer/moose/bear hunter, the idea of ANYTHING BUT a broadside shot through the vitals seems very foreign to me. I hadn't really considered the need for a bullet to perform via an alternate path to the vitals...
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I always plan for the worst case scenario.
 
Them 35's will just splash on a shoulder/leg bone hit, coyote will spin and spin, maybe eff off into bush. They're intended for 22hornets really. 50gr vmax has been deadly on lots of coyotes for me. Them 55gr jhp's you have would probably work very well.

The best way to get one hole and a drt I've found is a head on shot to the base of the throat, intending to make it into chest cavity. 9/10 they just rock back on their azz and tip over
 
Give bergers 52 gr. Hp a try!! They are essentially a Speer 52gr hp design and so far the three yotes I've shot with my Cooper .223 and these little bullets have made a good impression. I wasnt able to find an entrance hole let alone an exit and the only blood I seen was from their mouth!!! Internals were all soup! So far three for three all identical performance. Kicking them out at 3250 and a good charge of Benchmark.

Great load of you wanna save hides!!
 
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