gophers with 223rem FMJ?

FMJ's or hardball illegal for hunting deer, moose and elk in Mamitoba... says nothing about furbearer animals. Law was put in place after the war when tons of surplus military ammo went on sale and the motherload of 303 rifles as well

FMJ is illegal for hunting, full stop. There is no exception for any game animal including foxes, coyotes or wolves

FMJ is designed not to mushroom of fragment so I don't know how its making burger piles
 
FMJ is illegal for hunting, full stop. There is no exception for any game animal including foxes, coyotes or wolves

FMJ is designed not to mushroom of fragment so I don't know how its making burger piles

Well I'm not going to argue the point but will contact regional NRO tomorrow to clairify. I and many others I associate with have shot fur with FMJ's. My 22-250 would mess up coyotes and more or less blow foxes in half with the aforementioned. Why I went away from them
 
Was shooting gophers with a friend who wanted to try .223 FMJ's and the result, more often than not, was a gopher running off, dragging its entrails, with a hole punched through its body. Whatever "brand" of FMJ's he was using, they were NOT getting blown up. The performance was dismal and inhumane.
Maybe some manufacturers make more frangible FMJ bullets. From what I saw, I will stick to highly frangible bullets for dispatching the small-bodied vermin.
 
You'd think "fmj vs frangible, ballistics gel" would get you a ton of relevent hits on YouTube. You'd think wrong.

Seems like a good idea for a video. Try to keep the caliber and weight the same, then compare ballistic gel tests of tmj, fmj, jhp, so, varmint grenade, varmagedden, vmax, etc.
 
From page 19 of the Manitoba Hunting Guide

CARTRIDGES
Cartridges having a full metal cased hard point bullet
(including military-type cartridges such as Full Metal Cartridge,
Full Metal Jacket and Total Metal Cartridge) cannot be used by
or be in the possession of a big game hunter.

Wolves and coyotes are considered big game, I don't believe you are allowed to shoot foxes except under the guise of a trappers license

Gophers aren't game and are shot under the pest control regimes so FMJ is perfectly legal but I still question effectiveness. If there are ever any gophers around again I shall endeavour to try
 
It'll kill 'em no doubt, noT the acrobatics of vmax etc.
Ricochets over the horizon would be my concern.

^this. I'd personally never use them, and don't even bother with them on Groundhogs here in Ontario. (SIGNIFICANTLY larger than a gopher) Whether it's in Ontario, or on my gopher trips west~highly frangible bullets are the "name of the game". Instant lights-out and dramatic effect on gophers, always. Instant lights-out on big groundhogs, sometimes dramatic effect. :) Bottom line~I'm only every hunting either varmint on working farms, so knowingly increasing the risk of richochets is simply irresponsible in my opinion. My .223 likes 53gr. V-Max best, 55gr. V-Max a very close second. A direct hit on a gopher with a 55gr. V-Max is super effective, and depending on your disposition...highly entertaining. "Acrobatic" is a good description.

I should add~most of the gophers I've shot have been with high velocity 22LR, with a gaping hollow point. Next to that, 17HMR. After that...a bunch with .223 and shotguns. A couple in 6.5 Creedmoor, etc. :)
 
I would think that with enough velocity that the hydrostatic shock would reduce a gopher to a bag of mush...my only concern would be ricochet though...as stated.
Frangible FMJ would pretty much defeat their purpose as required under the Geneva Convention. I think the tumbling bs came from the early days of the 5.56.
 
From page 19 of the Manitoba Hunting Guide

CARTRIDGES
Cartridges having a full metal cased hard point bullet
(including military-type cartridges such as Full Metal Cartridge,
Full Metal Jacket and Total Metal Cartridge) cannot be used by
or be in the possession of a big game hunter.

Wolves and coyotes are considered big game, I don't believe you are allowed to shoot foxes except under the guise of a trappers license

Gophers aren't game and are shot under the pest control regimes so FMJ is perfectly legal but I still question effectiveness. If there are ever any gophers around again I shall endeavour to try

Wolves and coyotes are NOT big game animals. They are furbearing animals. One here in Manitoba can take coyotes all day long wit FMJ's is he/she desires to do so. Only stickler would be having in ones possession FMJ's during a big game season and claiming these are for longhairs only...
 
Wolves and coyotes are NOT big game animals. They are furbearing animals. One here in Manitoba can take coyotes all day long wit FMJ's is he/she desires to do so. Only stickler would be having in ones possession FMJ's during a big game season and claiming these are for longhairs only...

They are listed in the big game section of the hunting guide, ergo they are big game animals
 
Keep in mind Manitoba is retarded.
As of last year coyotes and wolves are considered big game and require an unused license for another big game animal to hunt. Look at page 45 of the synopsis:

Licences
Gray wolves and coyotes can be hunted under the authority of any big game licence, and as such, there are no tagging requirements. The hunter must be in possession of a valid current year big game hunting licence when hunting for gray wolves or coyotes. The hunter’s big game licence number is
all that is required to possess a wolf or coyote taken under the authority of that licence. Hunters are reminded that the tag affixed to a big game licence (black bear, white-tailed deer, moose, elk, or caribou) must be used for that big game species (black bear, white-tailed deer, moose, elk or caribou).
Resident
A resident may hunt gray wolves and coyotes in any valid
GHA during the wolf and coyote season if they possess any big game hunting licence for the current licence year. However, if hunting in a GHA while the area is open to white-tailed deer, elk, moose, black bear or caribou hunting, the wolf or coyote hunter must have an unused white-tailed deer, elk, moose, black bear or caribou game tag (personal or party), which
is valid for that area, species and time period. Where the white-tailed deer, elk, moose, black bear or caribou hunting seasons are closed, a resident may hunt wolves or coyotes provided he/she is in possession of a used or unused white-tailed deer, elk, moose, black bear or caribou licence.
:

There is also a limit of one coyote per day per licence.

However, if you have a trappers licence you are not affected by these regulations, just the standard fur bearer rules.

.edit. Gophers would be under small game & vermin rules and are specifically exempted from caliber, bullet and other restrictions.
 
From what I've seen, milsurp fmj ammo in 223 and 7.62x39 will demolish gopher-skunk sized pests.
 
I have hammered countless gophers with .223 fmj's. Not impressive, but it kills 'em. If you want drama, use the most frangible bullet you can find in a .223 and you will be a star on Youtube.
 
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