i have a .223 remington i want to use for coyotes. i have never hunted them. what type of bullet should i be using for coyotes, a soft point or a hollow point? would a softpoint blow a big hole in the hide on the exit? would a hollow point just blow a big hole in the hide on the way in?
bullet choice for coyotes in .223
- Thread starter ruger 77
- Start date
I shot four coyotes and a wolf with 55 gr Nosler Ballistic tips when I had my 223. They shot accurate and killed well, but they would always exit for me on broadside shots. Federal & Winchester both load this ammo in their factory loads.
If you want minimal fur damage I would try a 40 gr Hornady Vmax and try to avoid the shoulder bone
If you want minimal fur damage I would try a 40 gr Hornady Vmax and try to avoid the shoulder bone
I use the nosler ballistic tips in 50g for one 223 and hornady sx 50g in another. Ballistic tips do a little more damage than the sx and most of the shots are broadside. I used 40 ballistic tips in the 223 but didn't seem to have the energy to knock them down right away and seemed to have to walk for them, not far through. Currently use 40 g in the 22 hornet.
k
k
I've used the good old cheap and accurate (for me) Hornady 55 gr soft point on a half dozen coyotes lately. I go for broadside rib shots and it does not exit at 22-250 speeds, except when I'm right on top of them (once). Two of them have been bang flops (100 yard shots), and the others have just run a ways and expired (various ranges to 225 yards). I want to try the 72 gr A-Max next, but if it does more fur damage, I'll gladly go back to the 55 SP.
I have some 36gr BVG to try in my hornet, will load the 36gr and 50gr for the 223's, hope to try them out this winter. The 26gr BVG's are absolutely spectacular in my 204 @ 4150fps but haven't shot a coyote with them yet.
I'm in the midst of this experiment right now. So far I've used 53gr Hornady Match, 50gr Vmax and 60gr Ballistic Tips. Shot two coyotes with each load so far. The only one to not exit so far is the 53gr Match, though it did leave a nasty entrance on one. The others each had one exit and one not exit, though the 60gr left a much smaller exit. All coyote's dropped where they stood. My friend used one of my 50gr Vmax loads to shoot a nice yote this weekend at maybe 70 yds, facing dead on. Somehow, the bullet or at least a fragment exited out the back leg. Tiny exit,so probably a fragment.DRT as well. As for the Varmint Grenades, I'm a bit leery on the 36gr. My friend shot them in his 22-250, and they were very accurate, so he tried them on coyote's. Shot two, the first went down but yelped and spun for a long time, to the point where he was going to shoot again. He saw another one coming to check out the ruckus, so he shot that one to. It went down, then got back up.Shot it again,same result. Shot it again, same result. In all, he shot it five times, the last being a finishing shot at close range in the head. It seems the bullets where not penetrating deeply enough at that speed, more or less blowing up. Might be okay in the 223, but with so many other good bullets out there I wouldn't bother. The 50's might work, but they are quite long and slower twist barrels may not stabilize them. Saw them keyhole out of the same 22-250 used for the 36 grainers.
I have a 2 boxes of these but Hornady said that the tightest twist rate is 1:12. Anything tighter like my 1:9 will spin the jacket right off it. If you have a 1:12 they are the most destructive little bombs you could possibly imagine.
Brian
For weights, a good rule of thumb for .223 is:
1-12 twist -> 55 or lighter
1-9 twist -> 40-high 60's
1-8/1-7 twist -> low 60's and up
there are always exceptions but that seems to be the 'standard' talked about in the reloading section.
Good luck finding the right bullet!
1-12 twist -> 55 or lighter
1-9 twist -> 40-high 60's
1-8/1-7 twist -> low 60's and up
there are always exceptions but that seems to be the 'standard' talked about in the reloading section.
Good luck finding the right bullet!
