new to coyote hunting, 7mm-08 or .223?

[Goofycat]

True. The .22-250 is inherently a very accurate cartridge. Ej, Don't blame the cartridge; blame the rifle or the shooter. If the rifle is not set up properly, or if the cartridge is not set up properly for the rifle, or if the rifle has problems with the chamber, trigger, barrel, etc., etc., you can have the greatest cartridge in the world in your rifle, and your accuracy will still be poor. Have you wrung out the rifle at the range with different bullet-seating depths; is your rifle old, is the barrel old or of poor quality and/or has it suffered from poor cleaning technique, etc.? Or....the problem could be with the scope or with the scope mounting. There could also be problems with the fit of the stock to the receiver and barrel. There are a ton of things that could cause inaccuracy, and if the cartridge has been constructed properly, the problem lies elsewhere, not with the cartridge. It would be foolish to bail at this time on the .22-250. You might want to have the rifle checked by a friend who is a bench rest shooter or by a gunsmith to rule out problems with the rifle. I am certain we have all been frustrated by poor accuracy, but the answer lies somewhere. Now you get to be the detective and find out where the culprit is.

 

[ejboy]

Ya'll are right about the 22-250 being a very accurate and good caliber. I will be working on it and when I get it right I'll let ya'll know.For now i'm going to use my 6555.
EJBoy

 

[Goofycat]

Good idea. Don't give up on it yet.

 

[243yote]

Your choice on a 243 is great. I use it for coyotes. I also have a .223 and use that for coyotes but i must say with a lil wind or poor shot placement you will be tracking the coyote instead of it still being there where you shot it. MY hunting partner uses an AR-15 for our hunts and if he has bad shot placement then i have to finish them off with my .243 or he just unloads his 20 rnd mag! I load using WIN 760 powder with Fed LRP 210 with 70gr pills. Works great and i get 5/8" grps at 200yds. Developed this load in the late fall and groups are still at 5/8" with higher spring temps. Great combo for my rifle. Also Ramshot Hunter powder works well. I used H380 but it was to temp sensitive. H-Varget and H4895 also work well. I have a Savage in .243 with accu trigger without any mods. Plain old stock rifle. I am planning to use a different bullet for the future seems the ballistic tips do not kill quick enough. I have used Sierra BT and Nosler BT both work well. Just off a bit and it drops them but usually still alive. One complaint Nosler BT is that they seem to copper foul my rifle quicker. A lil hard to hit a running target at 100yds+. I am going to try a 70 gr soft pt or move up to 80 gr pills. Hope this helps and good luck with your .243 rifle.

 

[Goofycat]

243, your thoughts entirely mirror mine. I have used the .22-250 and the .223 with Nosler ballistic tips also, and although the animals can be dropped, I feel that the BT Noslers (55-grain) just don't have the "punch." Of course shot placement is a large factor in getting these tough little animals to drop and stay dropped with one shot. I don't know about you, but it takes a deep breath or two for me to stay focused on a coyote while trying to mentally keep my adrenalin from making my reticle dance around. And...if the coyote is moving slightly or on a slow trot, it adds to my possibly making a lung or gut shot vs. a clean heart shot. For that reason, I am almost on the verge of choosing to take my .270 next week (if the rain ever stops here in northern California).

I have a friend in Arizona who is new to coyote hunting. He knew nothing about rifle caliber choice, so I shopped around at several gun shops while I was there in February. The shop owners said that the choice of either a .243 or a .22-250 would be a good one because store-bought ammo was generally available for these calibers, and .223 ammo was even more common. My friend doesn't reload, so the ammo availability was one that I tried to keep in mind when advising a gun for him. Fortunately, Savage makes a new model (I forget the model number) in camo (including the barrel) with accu-trigger and accu-stock. IIRC, it comes in .243 and .22-250. Savage also offers a shorter rifle with 20-inch barrel, but only in .308 and .223. The stock is finished in digital camo, but the barrel is blued, IIRC. Both rifles are quite light, unlike some of the newer and very expensive tactical rifles offered by companies such as Les Baer.

The Les Baer is featured in this month's (July, 2010) Shooting Times magazine. What a nice rifle, but it weighs 13 lbs empty....with no scope. Very accurate rifle, but I can't imagine dragging around a rifle that would top out at around 15 lbs, including a full detachable magazine and scope, when hunting coyotes. This rifle is meant for long range work only; that being the case, the Savage looks more and more like a very good choice for coyotes at shorter ranges.

 

[PRDATR]

22-250 with a 22" barrel is about perfect for maximum velocity and short enough for quick shots under 50 yards. My partner and I have taken coyotes out to 250 yds+ and a few were running and all were dropped with one shot usually with 50-52gr flat base HP's.
Anything bigger the 22-250 and you are just unecessarily burning powder.
Plenty to choose from here. Rifle Ammo - .22-250 at Sportsman's Guide

Have your buddy in AZ stop by.
The Arizona Hunter - View forum - General

When you call them in, let them come in as close as they will before shooting them. From the time the stock hits your shoulder and you pull the trigger should be three seconds.
A 1-6X scope is more then enough but most of the people I hunted with used either a straight 4X or a 3-9 on a light rifle.
Bigger and heavier and you move to a rifle designed just for shooting prarie dogs or woodchucks at much longer ranges when time is not a factor.
Don't handicap yourself by setting up a stand in country that is so open that the shots are at the upper limits of your ability.
Practice in the off season by walking and shooting jack rabbits. Shooting itty bitty groups from the bench will boost your confidence but it is unrealistic to expect perfect conditions in the field so practice shooting paper targets from sitting or kneeling at 50-100-200 yards. Don't forget to try and keep the first shot under three seconds and don't worry about holding your breath.

 

[Goofycat]

Rifle choice often depends on whether you want an all-around rifle for larger animals such as deer, plus smaller animals such as PDs or ground squirrels. Frankly, I don't use my .22-250 for ground squirrels any longer. Too much barrel heat with constant shooting, plus the caliber is really more than is needed for these tiny animals. A rimfire is what I use mostly. No reloading, plus it gets the job done at close ranges. It doesn't explode the squirrels as does the centerfires, but it makes a nice "thwock" when the bullet hits. Plus, the light rimfire rifles can be carried around for walk-around shooting.

When I get tired of using a rimfire, I go to my trusty .222 or the Cooper .20 VarTarg. Both are very accurate for these small animals, and neither caliber is too large. Low recoil and low noise, as well as less barrel heat makes these calibers attractive, plus it doesn't cost a fortune to reload.

As for coyotes, anything in the .22-250, .243 or even larger is fine. But many coyotes have also been killed with the .222 and .223, so these can't be ruled out as all-around calibers for both coyotes, ground squirrels and PDs. But....if I were to choose a caliber for coyotes that would also be appropriate for larger animals such as deer and wild boar, I would go with something larger than the four calibers I just mentioned. You can check out Chuck Hawkes' website to read about the pros and cons of each caliber before making a final choice. You must consider the caliber trajectories, maximum range, rifle weight, recoil, ammo availability (including brass, bullets, bullet weights, powder, etc., if you reload), rifle cost, inherent accuracy, and so forth.

 

[MONROEJAWJA]

i have recently got into coyote hunting as well as long range/target shooting. I am looking for a rifle that will fill both of those rolls. I have some free time on my hands now that the new gi bill made going back to college affordable and want to get a budget friendly rifle set-up. I am looking at the weatherby vanguard in either .223 or 7mm-08. I live in ohio so it will not likely be used for a deer rifle, and i own a 30-06 for that. I also have an ar15 carbine in 5.56, will a bolt gun with a 24" barrel be that much better or make that much noticeable difference in accuracy within the range of the .223/5.56? I see both pros and cons to having two in the same caliber(not needing new brass or dies is one) as well very little recoil for days at the range. As for the 7mm-08 i like the ballistics, bc and range of this caliber, but im thinking it may be a bit much for coyotes and groundhogs. Also, is its recoil high enough to make a day of target shooting uncomfortable? And will the rifle i'm buying be accurate enough to justify getting the 7mm-08 for longer ranges. Thanks for any input.

I will not be trying to sell the fur but will keep some of the nicer ones for myself.
And how does the 7mm-08 compare to a 30-06 in recoil?

we prefer a bolt ourselves, the guns we are using are the weatherby, svm models in 223, and 7/08. Either will get the job
done. Our personal bullet preference is the barnes tsx bullets.
The 7/08 (120 gr. Bt) will not tire you out.

If you reload the 223 barnes tsx ( 52/55 gr) could be used for both of your guns.

Everything is really just personal choice and preference.

Good luck on your selection and choice.

 

[PRDATR]

If you want to put the smackdown on them from 250 yards and further then the 08 with some 110gr bullets will work nicely. Recoil is about 30% less than an 06 and you can get by with about 10-12gr less powder.
Everything I loaded in my 700 was sub MOA except for some 140gr PMC softnose but they shot near MOA in my 7Mag a few hundred FPS faster. Same twist so go figure.

 

[Lyons7STW]

Here is my coyote rig. Howa 1500 in 22-250. Very similar to weatherby vangaurd. Hougue stock. Nikko sterling 3-9x42 glass. Detatchable 300 yard light.
Load is 40 grain V-max @ 4100 fps using varget.
I prefer loght weight and fast handling in a yote rig. Flat shooting is important cause they don't stand around to be ranged and the flatter the round the greater your margin of error. Two of my shooting partners use 6mm/ 243 for windy days.
This one has killed A Lot of yotes with only two misses... both were at a dead run after their partner dropped stone dead. I was trying for doubles.

 

[smokem]

.243 winchester and 87 grain vmax 1x10 twist. Hard to beat for a coyote gun/load. 37.5-38 grains Varget if you reload. Start 10% lower and make sure safe in your gun. 87 grain hornady bthp 1x9 twist 37.1 grains IMR 4064 good also. This load from Hornady reload manual. Both of these loads are accurate-super accurate depending on gun.