What high BC 223 coyote load for 500 yards?

[Nomad]

Have shot the Hornady 75gr BTHP out past 500 yards shooting Rockchucks or eastern woodchucks many out to 600 with human kills. Don't see where a coyote would be different
to put down humanly shot placement .....
The rifle is 24" Bolt gun 223 Rem, barrel 1/8 twist, powder RL-15 past max, 205M, win brass prepped.
The bullet is traveling at 2980 fps at 15' from the muzzle......

 

[Khavic]

I have the same rifle as you are asking about. Rem 700 Tactical .223 with 20" bull barrel. Mine sets in a HS Precision, full aluminum block, stock. I use a Caldwell 6
-9" pivoting bi-pod and a Badger Bone rear bag rest, or shoting sticks I made from dowel rod and surgical tubing, depending on the setup.

I can send you pics of groups with 75gr AMAX that are .63" @ 100 that I hand loaded on Dillon 550, so in a quick fashion, and still deliver.

The only problem is that you can only load 1 in the mag and 1 in the tube because they do not seat far enough.

69 BTHP will be just as good and you can put 5 in the mag and one in the chamber.

62 Gr American Tactical (made in Turkey ironically) have delivered consistent .48 or less groups and can be purchased off the shelf or on line. I have not fired groups over 200 with them yet, but at 200 the worst 5 shot group so far has been 1.16"

Good luck and good hunting!!gun)

 

[Perferator]

Great thread guys. Bundle of info. keep it up, thanks.

 

[widowmaker]

I have shot alot of coyotes & seen alot shot by friends & though I love my .223(cheap,perfectly capable round), my friends 220 swift & 22-250's are just better suited to the task past 350yds(in my opinion). I shoot winchester silvertip's 55gr & they shoot hand loaded nosler ballistic tip ammo so that may make a big difference. Definitaly look for a bullet with good weight retention & expansion at those longer distances.
Shot placement matters! It also matters what you hit! I have seen softball size holes in the throat & shoulder to pencil size holes between ribs shooting my .223. Holes vary greatly in size according to distance,angle & the density of what bullet impacts internally. No matter how good my shot placement is I usually have to track. Not always but usually, 50-200yd track jobs are standard. They are a tough critter! My friends are the opposite! Bang, Flop is the standard with the occasional track job. Especially past 300yds those calibers just seem to have a little more Thump than I do out of my .223!
.243 as mentioned before is a good round for long range coyotes but leaves a big hole. The 22-250 &220 swift are excellent calibers but can leave a big hole if they hit bone entering or exiting. The .223 is best for the least amount of pelt damage but usally requires some tracking & u may have to drag or carry further. For 10 years I have evaluated every single coyote one of us has shot.....,placement,damage,distance,entry, & exit holes. This has been my personal experience with my equip & friends equip.

 

[scottyd2506]

I have shot alot of coyotes & seen alot shot by friends & though I love my .223(cheap,perfectly capable round), my friends 220 swift & 22-250's are just better suited to the task past 350yds(in my opinion). I shoot winchester silvertip's 55gr & they shoot hand loaded nosler ballistic tip ammo so that may make a big difference. Definitaly look for a bullet with good weight retention & expansion at those longer distances.
Shot placement matters! It also matters what you hit! I have seen softball size holes in the throat & shoulder to pencil size holes between ribs shooting my .223. Holes vary greatly in size according to distance,angle & the density of what bullet impacts internally. No matter how good my shot placement is I usually have to track. Not always but usually, 50-200yd track jobs are standard. They are a tough critter! My friends are the opposite! Bang, Flop is the standard with the occasional track job. Especially past 300yds those calibers just seem to have a little more Thump than I do out of my .223!
.243 as mentioned before is a good round for long range coyotes but leaves a big hole. The 22-250 &220 swift are excellent calibers but can leave a big hole if they hit bone entering or exiting. The .223 is best for the least amount of pelt damage but usally requires some tracking & u may have to drag or carry further. For 10 years I have evaluated every single coyote one of us has shot.....,placement,damage,distance,entry, & exit holes. This has been my personal experience with my equip & friends equip.

Tell that to the 22 mag guys, we know the 223 is much much much much more powerful than the 22 mag.
On a thread on this site they wear the 22 mag is a death ray on coyotes. my friend has hunted them with the 22 mag is it is 50/50 dead or run off (prob die later) %.
I don't doubt what you say, never shot one with 223 yet. but know people who have with success.
it is funny to hear stories of how coyotes can run off with a .223, yet the .22 mag is 100% death on them.

is the .22 mag more deadly than a 223 on coyotes?
read this.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f30/22-mag-too-small-coyotes-90105/index10.html#post674064

 

[widowmaker]

I am not out in the field to waste my free time so I personally would not use a .22 mag. Like you said sure you can kill one with it but your looking at a 50/50 kill ratio especially past 100yds. Head or heart shots would definitely kill one but, they are sometimes tough to shoot standing still. Especially in the freezing cold with the wind blowing rain & snow in your face. There is alot of fat & fur on them but when you skin him out that kill zone isn't that big when you add in all the real world factors.
Those larger calibers may help you reclaim any marginal hit yotes. I've lost a few with the .223 that I thought were good hits(obviously not as good as I thought!). I usually use shooting sticks that help a lot but, in the real world you are prone to less than perfect hits sooner or later. I sometimes have to take a cleanup shot on a less than perfect hit. I have also have tracked plenty of them that were hit good for several hundred yds. Most of mine go down in a pretty reasonable distance but they are tough and have an extreme will to live. Come to think of it we all switched to 4 buck cause we were shooting them in the head & behind the shoulders at under 35yds with a 12ga (extra full turkey choke,3 in mag 4 shot winchester supreme) & had like 4 or 5 run offs. These were good shots out of patterned guns!
I don't like tracking them all over the place for two hours or dragging a mile when I could be calling in more coyotes somewhere else.They get 40-50lbs here! My largest is 43lbs & I have seen some 46 & 48lb yotes(berkley fish scale). To be perfectly honest I am planning on upgrading to a better more efficient caliber because I know that I am at the lower end of consistently effective calibers.

 

[F224]

I have killed a lot of critteres with both the 60gr V-max and the 69gr Sierra MatchKing HPBT. Lot's of rifles will shoot either one very well.

Black Hill's sells both bullets in it's blue box factory reman line and so does Freedom Ammunition.

 

[jeffersonv]

I've been reading this post and have taken most of my coyotes with a .204 Ruger and a couple with a .223/55 grn soft point.

Am I to understand correctly that 70 grn Bergers are being used for hunting coyotes?
I have several hundred on the shelf but have not considered hunting with them in my .223 AI.

Hopefully I can find my way back to this thread in the near future and see if there is something new to learn or not.

Thank you.

 

[scottyd2506]

I am not out in the field to waste my free time so I personally would not use a .22 mag. Like you said sure you can kill one with it but your looking at a 50/50 kill ratio especially past 100yds. Head or heart shots would definitely kill one but, they are sometimes tough to shoot standing still. Especially in the freezing cold with the wind blowing rain & snow in your face. There is alot of fat & fur on them but when you skin him out that kill zone isn't that big when you add in all the real world factors.
Those larger calibers may help you reclaim any marginal hit yotes. I've lost a few with the .223 that I thought were good hits(obviously not as good as I thought!). I usually use shooting sticks that help a lot but, in the real world you are prone to less than perfect hits sooner or later. I sometimes have to take a cleanup shot on a less than perfect hit. I have also have tracked plenty of them that were hit good for several hundred yds. Most of mine go down in a pretty reasonable distance but they are tough and have an extreme will to live. Come to think of it we all switched to 4 buck cause we were shooting them in the head & behind the shoulders at under 35yds with a 12ga (extra full turkey choke,3 in mag 4 shot winchester supreme) & had like 4 or 5 run offs. These were good shots out of patterned guns!
I don't like tracking them all over the place for two hours or dragging a mile when I could be calling in more coyotes somewhere else.They get 40-50lbs here! My largest is 43lbs & I have seen some 46 & 48lb yotes(berkley fish scale). To be perfectly honest I am planning on upgrading to a better more efficient caliber because I know that I am at the lower end of consistently effective calibers.

You should try the thin skinned bullets. The Vmax is one that seem everyone gets dead right there DRT hits. The Speer TNT also are good. the Sierra blitzking are similar, and the Nosler Ballistic tips, and not the normal ones, the varmint Ballistic tips only go up to 85 grains, and that is the 25 cal., they are slightly more sturdy than the other 3, but close.
I know from exp they work and expand and make a mess of things.

The Vmax wil pretty much blow up once it is inside a coyote, like a shrapnel grenade.
my Friend at work uses the 40 grain Vmax in his 22-250 at 3950 fps 22 in bbl, and ALL of them just die right there.

I use the 55;s at 3100 fps out of my 223 (yet to see a yote yet with it.), but the 40 grains vmax can be driven to 3700 fps from a 223.and 26 inch bbl.

I'm sure my 22" bbl can get 3550 fps. it is a NEF 223.
My Bolt guns are 25-06 115 Berger VLD 3200 fps, 90 Blitzking at 3560 fps
and 85 Bt's at 3700 fps, yet to load any of the 75 vmaxs I have yet.
Hope to get 3900 fps from it's 26 inch tube, hope the 10 twist will not over spin them too much... The 90 Blitzking at around 3500-3600 fps should drop any coyote even with a bad shot

my 300 win mag, I have some 110 vmaxs at 3400 fps, and have a new box of 125 TNT's top try. the 10 twist and 30 cal the Vmaxs never make it to target at max velocity.

The rifles I have are not perfect, but have potential for stopping power
if you want to save hides and kill them dead. can't beat the 22-250 or a high end loaed 223.with thr right bullets.


the extra velocity does seem to make the 22-250 explode the bullets more than a 223, but it is 300 fps difference, so it's 150 yards more.
The 243 and 6mm when loaded right is deadly 58 vmaxs at 3900 fps, 87 vmax at 3300 fps.. 3300 fps may not seem as good as 3800 fps, but it is almost 90 grains of lead, and the slash effect that some 22 cal get on coyotes with vmax's, will still break bones in the coyotes and kill them dead.

 

[scottyd2506]

I've been reading this post and have taken most of my coyotes with a .204 Ruger and a couple with a .223/55 grn soft point.

Am I to understand correctly that 70 grn Bergers are being used for hunting coyotes?
I have several hundred on the shelf but have not considered hunting with them in my .223 AI.

Hopefully I can find my way back to this thread in the near future and see if there is something new to learn or not.

Thank you.

Bergers are pretty good bullets for coyotes, long as you have the thiner jacket ones like hunting VLD's. They have thin jackets and expands well on good shots, the Berger does not quite expand and explode like the Speer TNT, Horn Vmax or Sierra Blitzking. the later bullets can hut lung tissue and explode inside of animal.

the Berger 70's would be good for long range, as long as you have a 1:9 twist

 

[window licker]

I have used the 69 grain Sierra making with good results in a .223. The nosler 55g by works well in the slower twist barrels also but a bit to destructive for my taste. I ran the bt in my 22-243 middlested last year at 4000 fps and they were blowing huge holes in the coyote however I didn't have many run off. I am using a 22x47 lapua this year with the 80 grain jlk vld with.a bc of .425. still waiting for the framer to show up but Will let you know how it works when finished.

 

[rdsii64]

Since we are talking about high BC bullets I absolutely love how my Rock River Arms
20" predator pursuit performs with the 75 grain Hornady BTHP. If you have the skill to put the bullet where it needs to go, I see no reason this projectile will not be effective on predators at any range a 223 is appropriate for that type of hunting.

 

[broknbonz]

I'm shooting the exact same bolt rifle/scope setup as the O/P.
I shoot hornady 53gr superformance out to 300 yds with excellent results (no hold over, come ups or windage)
If hit to far back they spin and run 50 yds. Shoulder shots are down instantly and good heart, lung shots usually spin twice and collapse.
This has been my experience with 20+ coyotes with the Hornady 53gr.

I would like to try the heavier bullets just because of my 1 in 9 twist but it's hard to stray from something that works so well and is consistently accurate.

 

[tooner]

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