Coyote cartridge pros and cons

the .223 boring you say?? Well, I can tell you my .223s provide me with PLENTY of amusement. Gophers explode, foxes and yotes tumble, rabbits and likesized game are easy take downs with these...and all out to (farthest I've shot succesfully anyhow) 500 yards. I LOVE my .223, and the cost/enjoyment ratio is pretty much unheard of otherwise!
 
As much as I envy the Über shooters with their nouveau calibre choices (Huntsmans .204 is freakin' wicked), I have choosen to remain a boring fan of .223. This chambering is offered by many vendors, ammos cheap, easy to reload, & turns rodents into a red mist just as effectively as any other other varminter.
 
I'm a 243 guy, used it for years on yotes. Had good results with it but have also had bad results with it as well, kinda hard on pelts, nothing like hitting a yote a 37 yds with an 165 grn out of an odd-6 though. Turned him inside out.
 
Glenwood said:
To really reach out and touch them, try a 220 Swift. 4200 fps with 40 grain Bllitzking to 3350 with 69 grain HPBT Matchking what more versatility could you ask for. My personal load is 53 gr Sierra HPBT at 3895 fps. Fun gun.
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I've never understood this perception of the 220. Sure it's fast and flat, out to about 300 yards. But then, even a 223 is flat enough out to 300 yards to not have to worry about compensating for drop.

But spin a 75 grain VLD in the 223, and all of a sudden, it's a FAR flatter gun when you look at truly long ranges.


The 204, 17 Rem, 220, etc - none are 'long range' cartridges despite their 4000+ fps MV's. The bullets they're capable of shooting are just too light to carry much past 300-350, and will drift like a mofo. To 'reach out' favours a high BC design FAR more than muzzle velocity
 
manbearpig said:
if you ever want the meat or pelt of a small animal that you shoot (rabbit, fox, coyote, raccoon, etc) then a .243 is unsuitable because it will obliterate them. it makes a great deer cartridge with the right loads, however.

a friend of mine uses a .223 for anything smaller than deer. for small animals he intends to skin hell use FMJ for minimal pelt damage. hes also shot many rabbits with it with little damage to the meat.
.223 ammo is also a lot cheaper, about 1/3-1/2 the price.

unfortunately with a .243 anywhere you hit them is pretty much going to waste the whole animal.
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I have a lot of FMJ lying around, and from what I've read, it's usable for coyotes. What do you guys think? I'm shooting 7.62x39 out of an uncommonly accurate sks, and I can hit a 5" gong at 200 yards with it offhand. I was planning on making only shots under 150 to 125 yards.

I'm not asking about using my sks, I'm asking about FMJ.
 
soldier506 said:
I like the .223 cause that ammo is easily avaliable.
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i thought that try finding it if your stuck buying ammo at wally world or cambodian tire i found one box of low end whichester SP for 18.99 both carry 204 and 243

yes i know they're selection sucks.

i just bough 400 rounds for a little over 130 bucks of fmj would like to try i t on a yote some time with soem factry loaded Nostler CT balistic silver tips as back up

can't wait till i can get a reloader and do hand loads
 
buying loaded ammo is lame :p

FMJ might surprise you in terms of how destructive it can be. They can and do tumble, creating massive wounds depending on the particular cartridge chosen. The 223 will tumble easily, and if it's carrying enough velocity it will fragment at the cannelure and behave much like a conventional varmint round. I expect the 243 FMJ's would be similar. 762x39's don't tend to tumble quickly unless they perhaps strike bone. And they're not usually moving fast enough to fragment.

FMJ's are a poor choice for fur hunting. Even in the best case scenario, you're left with two holes in the fur and relatively little internal damage = low quality fur and a higher percentage of lost game.

Little varmint pills from the 17's, 20's and smaller 22's create one hole in the pelt, and then fragment rapidly - turning everything inside to soup, dropping the critter quickly and leaving no exit wounds.
 
hmmm i plan to use mostly the silver tips any ways if they would work it would be worth it for the fact i have 390 of them sitting in the cabnet
 
I would go with the .223 if it's just going to be a yote rifle. Cheapist to shoot, not a barrel burner like the 22-250 and it won't cost you a $1 a shot for gophers.

The drops not that bad out to 400 yards and a little hold over for the yotes or dial your dope for that gopher won't be big trouble.

.243 / 6mm is the smallest caliber for big game in alberta so if you want a rifle for both deer and larger predators it's a must.
 
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22-243 middlestead, Devastating on yotes and gopher's. I believe it still holds the highest recorded velocity of 5278 fps on the accurate reloading site. I play around with it at about 4100 to 4500 depending on the load.

Not for the "Barrel Burning" Worry warts though. I don't worry about it. This gun has seen a couple thousand shots through the Shilen barrel and still shoots as good as ever. I hazard to guess there are not too many people around that have shot out barrels:jerkit: Maybe a few but not many. A few hundred and your right into a new barrel anyway.
 
Agreed on the barrel burning thing.

even with up to 4 or 5" of throat washed out, many guns can still shoot better than the shooter is capable of, especially under field/gopher conditions.

Personally, I have a 243 that appears to have no throat for what appears to be a good 3", yet still shoots MOA out to 600 yards consistently. I have noticed a drop in accuracy in paper when shooting from a bench - they've opened up from about ~1/2" - 5/8" to ~7/8 - 1", but even then it's capable of smashing clays at 500 yards with good consistency.
 
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