35gr 223 too light for coyotes?

leveractionjunkie said:
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
Click to expand...

You got any experiences to back that up?

I was told that a so called Varmint style bullet out of my .223 would do just that on a deer. Instead, I recovered over half the weight of the bullet, against the leg bone on the opposite side from the side I hit her. She took exactly two steps and rolled over her own nose.

Here's my two bits. If 25 grains out of a .17 cal is going to work, so will 35 grains out of a larger bore.

Shoot them to see how they group.

Shoot a few coyotes and see how they work.

Like as not, the end result will be just as dead as if you hit them with an artillery strike.

Cheers
Trev
 
trevj said:
You got any experiences to back that up?

I was told that a so called Varmint style bullet out of my .223 would do just that on a deer. Instead, I recovered over half the weight of the bullet, against the leg bone on the opposite side from the side I hit her. She took exactly two steps and rolled over her own nose.

Here's my two bits. If 25 grains out of a .17 cal is going to work, so will 35 grains out of a larger bore.

Shoot them to see how they group.

Shoot a few coyotes and see how they work.

Like as not, the end result will be just as dead as if you hit them with an artillery strike.

Cheers
Trev
Click to expand...


Yeah, I'm itching to get out and try them, but my range is getting a major overhaul and won't be open for several weeks now. If it were winter I'd try them in the back yard, but spring is upon us, and the empty snow covered fields now have tractors and workers puttering about.

This reloading thing is dangerou$. If you can't shoot, you keep loading. If you don't know how they'll shoot, you make small batches. If you make small batches, you gotta buy every component inter the sun to try something new...

Lots of good suggestions here so far for bullets to try :)

Anyone got any favorite powders for lightweight 223? Working with BLC (2) now.
 
leveractionjunkie said:
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
Click to expand...


Well here's a weird question then...

As folks who've had one of these stink-pups cut open, what are their bones comparable too? Are there any cuts of meat I could BBQ this weekend and set the bone aside to shoot with these light weights to see what happens? Would a beef rib bone simulate a coyote shoulder?
 
Okay people my Weatherby has a 1-12 twist next time I am staring at the bullet isle like a kid at a candy store am going to buy some 35 grainers to see how they shoot/group at 100 and 200 yards.

I currently shoot 45 grainers that are very effective on Coyotes

Ivo
 
trevj said:
You got any experiences to back that up?

Cheers
Trev
Click to expand...

Well Trev I guess with 100% honesty I would have to say no, not with 35gr .224 bullets. I did lose 1 coyote that I shot with a 40gr vmax which hit he shoulder and the dog spun, then ran down a ravine. I also lot two coyotes in similar situations with the 32gr in the .204Ruger before I switched to 35gr bergers for that set up.

In all three cases I'm sure the coyote died eventually, it just wasn't how I wanted it to work out. I've also had coyote drop like a sack of hammers with both bullets mentioned above.

I've also shot deer with the 50gr tsx and the 55gr Sp w/cannuler from Hornady. I was more impressed with the performance of the Hornady than tsx. The tsx however penetrated like nobody's business. So I'd use either again if situation arose.

The 35gr .224 bullets are generally designed for 22hornet/fireball velocity shooting of rodents. If put behind the shoulder I have no doubt they'll liquefy the lungs and drop the coyote. My only point was shoulder hits at .223 velocities would likely result in bullet splashes.
 
leveractionjunkie said:
Well Trev I guess with 100% honesty I would have to say no, not with 35gr .224 bullets. I did lose 1 coyote that I shot with a 40gr vmax which hit he shoulder and the dog spun, then ran down a ravine. I also lot two coyotes in similar situations with the 32gr in the .204Ruger before I switched to 35gr bergers for that set up.

In all three cases I'm sure the coyote died eventually, it just wasn't how I wanted it to work out. I've also had coyote drop like a sack of hammers with both bullets mentioned above.

I've also shot deer with the 50gr tsx and the 55gr Sp w/cannuler from Hornady. I was more impressed with the performance of the Hornady than tsx. The tsx however penetrated like nobody's business. So I'd use either again if situation arose.

The 35gr .224 bullets are generally designed for 22hornet/fireball velocity shooting of rodents. If put behind the shoulder I have no doubt they'll liquefy the lungs and drop the coyote. My only point was shoulder hits at .223 velocities would likely result in bullet splashes.
Click to expand...

So, without putting too fine a point on it, you are chucking the baby out with the bath water, on some results that you cannot actually confirm were the fault of the bullets you used.

If you don't eventually recover them and assess the damage done, you have no proof that the results were not from your own shooting, your rifle having been whacked and misaligned, or both.
BTDT. No lie. But I have also watched hits that should (according to the 'knowledge' out there) not have had any effect at all, drop an animal and prove that a decent hit and bullet that supposedly doesn't work, does.

On the other hand, I have been directly involved with several recoveries (long since past any feelings of guilt over) that were eventually recovered after having been supposedly hit well, that actually were not. Y'know, the guy that shot the deer was sure he hit ribs, but the leg recovered at the scene said otherwise...And, well, didn't feel too bad about using a flashlight, if ya know what I mean...

And a couple were mine... Nothing like following the ravens in, to find the buck you shot that morning...Lousy feeling, but I knew by the end, that it had nothing whatsoever to do with the bullet or load.

Educational.

Cheers
Trev
 
Well you've got a point. I never recovered those three coyotes, and I'll never know 100%. In the case of the 40gr vmax and one of the 32gr .204 hit coyotes I did kill the second dog of the pair that came in. While the first one hit in both cases spun, biting at its middle/shoulder, the second dropped on impact hit in chest cavity.

I killed eight coyotes with the 32gr v max including the two lost before deciding to change bullets.

I only killed five with the 40gr vmax before moving on.

Both bullets killed well for me with lung hits and both failed when things went wrong. That's all I can say I guess. IMHO the failures were based on hitting scalpula/ leg bone. As pointed out I could be wrong, won't know.

Let us know how you make out with them and kill some coyotes. I can garuntee it can be a very addicting pastime, calling and hunting coyotes.

Good luck
 
If you ask the "experts" a 17 grain bullet from a 17hmr suposedly kills coyotes just fine so i dont see why the 35s wont work.
All sarcasm aside i have killed a pile of coyotes with the 40vmax both in a 222 and 20practical and i would say %95 of em are dead on the spot providing i hit them well.

If you still want to test before you hunt mix up a batch of balistics gel (instructions can be found online) and see what happens.
 
I shoot the 35gr VMAX load out of my .22 Hornet and have dropped coyotes, rabbits, badgers, and tons of gophers with it but I always limit shots to under 100 yds. It hasn't failed me yet. I am not sure how it would work out of the faster .223 Rem but I imagine it isn't going to be worse as the bullets BC is really going to be the restricting factor when shooting out at distance. Likely you would be able to hit easily out to 150 maybe 200 yds depending on wind conditions as this bullet gets pushed around pretty easily and sheds velocity very quickly. As for the comparison to the 17 HMR, I don't think that it is really fair to compare the killing power of a 17 grain bullet at 2550 FPS to a 35 grain bullet going at upwards of 4000 FPS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom