Several of us have dedicated coyote rifles that we also take to the range to shoot just for the enjoyment of them as well as to be very familiar with them. Mine is a model 70 Winchester chambered in 223 Rem. that I bought on sale in the mid 80's then as time and money allowed, I made modifications to it. When I bought it the first thing I did was stop by my gunsmith and had it pillar bedded. It came with a sporter barrel not heavy or not a thin barrel. I mounted a good quality scope on it and made sure it was in fact correctly mounted. Next came a trigger job as money allowed, I put a good quality trigger that I talked with several shooters, hunters and gunsmiths about before deciding what trigger I wanted for the environment it would be in. I took lessons from a bench rest shooter on setting up my new prize even though it wasn't a bench rest rifle I wanted the best out of it. I learned how to reload from bench rest shooters started with good brass and did the preparation of the brass as a bench rest shooter would. I studied the type of bullets that I wanted so that they would do what I wanted out of them, I found out what powder it, the brass, bullets liked as a combination, what velocity was good, what seating depth was best by asking those same bench rest guys what they would recommend for my needs. They all said pretty much the same things about muzzle velocities you don't have to shoot it as fast as it will most times a good moderate load will get you good accuracy, barrel life, brass life, and killing power. Broke in the barrel as was suggested by the manufacture. Eventually I had the factory stock fitted to me as I am a small person it was a little long in the length of pull. It is a factory rifle that has had modifications made to it to make it fit me and my needs better, It and I have taken several hundred coyote and other varmints over the years. Yes, you can buy a factory rifle with a sporter barrel do some things to enhance it, target shoot, hunt deer, hunt coyotes and any other critters that you want. You don't have to have a heavy barrel for what you describe, but you also probably don't want a thin barrel either, they come with their own peculiarities, You can go to a good sporting's good store handle a few rifles and see what feels good for you, shoulder them with your eyes closed then open your eyes to see how they are fitting you and what your eyes are lined up with the action and barrel like. Choosing a good fitting rifle is kind of like choosing a good fitting pair of boots the better the fit the more enjoyment you will get out of them and it. You can buy a good quality rifle with a good size barrel from the factory that will be the right length, twist rate for most factory offered loads as an all-around rifle, you by the way are asking the right things for what you need to know, most likely the best thing to think about is that you probably don't want to go too far in any direction, weight wise, heavy or light.
