These coyotes wont stay down!

I was using the 36 varmint grenades thinking they’d be great for fur but after shooting numerous coyotes and having them run away I stopped. Not going to go into detail but my thoughts are I think as running them in 1-8 twist ar that between the fast twist and thin jacket they went to dust on impacts. They might hold together better with a slow twist bbl. I’m using them for pd’s now.
 
I think you're hitting the shoulder. I think if you hit them a little further back (behind the shoulder) they'd all be dead on the spot.

The fact that it's not going all the way through makes me think it's probably stopping just behind the shoulder. In my opinion that same shot with the lighter, faster moving bullets using the same shot placement will produce much of the same reaction. Just messier results because it will blow up on the shoulder instead of punching through it. With either bullet I'd shoot them just a tad further back.
 
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Had one get away shooting middle body with 5.56 plastic tipped, moved to shoulder/neck area shots and they've all gone down. I shoot them again for assurance. This is night hunting under 250 yards.
 
Well, I'll call this a " splash". Lol.

.22 cal entry.
 

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I can't tell you what is happening. In the past years I can count on one hand the ones that went down and then got up and ran off. Iver had a few(poor shot placement) that went down and tried to raise up requiring a second shot to take it out of its misery. Also a few that were dead on their feet and ran few yards, some with softballs sized chest exits but they didn't go down first.

My goto. Bullets, 40gr NBT-20 P, 40gr NBT-22-204(my favorite pelt hunting bullet), 52gr Speer HP Varmint, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 22-250, 5.6x50R, 55gr Buffalo Arms .228 SP- 22 Savage Highpower 55gr NBT- 6x45, 6mm-204. Only two so called splashes with the 52gr Speer but the were 20ft with the 22-250 and they not only blew up the shoulder they pretty much blew up the whole front half of the coyote, they didn't take a step.

So you recovered the coyote that got up and ran, skin them out and see what happened. With those heavies you should be getting exits or they might not be opening and you don't see the exit. Easy enough to tell with a little detective work and a sharp knife.

You might want to give the Sierra 60gr HP a shot or even one of the 80gr SPs, they've been around a long time killing coyotes.
 
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AWS said:
I can't tell you what is happening. In the past years I can count on one hand the ones that went down and then got up and ran off. Iver had a few(poor shot placement) that went down and tried to raise up requiring a second shot to take it out of its misery. Also a few that were dead on their feet and ran few yards, some with softballs sized chest exits but they didn't go down first.

My goto. Bullets, 40gr NBT-20 P, 40gr NBT-22-204(my favorite pelt hunting bullet), 52gr Speer HP Varmint, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 22-250, 5.6x50R, 55gr Buffalo Arms .228 SP- 22 Savage Highpower 55gr NBT- 6x45, 6mm-204. Only two so called splashes with the 52gr Speer but the were 20ft with the 22-250 and they not only blew up the shoulder they pretty much blew up the whole front half of the coyote, they didn't take a step.

So you recovered the coyote that got up and ran, skin them out and see what happened. With those heavies you should be getting exits or they might not be opening and you don't see the exit. Easy enough to tell with a little detective work and a sharp knife.

You might want to give the Sierra 60gr HP a shot or even one of the 80gr SPs, they've been around a long time killing coyotes.
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That's a good point. A lot of times it is very hard to find the exit on a coyote due to the thick furr.
 
Strange things happen sometimes, but the rest of the time it's all about shot placement. Regular runners and followups probably means you failed at propper shot placement. Can you reliably hit a 3x5 card every time at those distances from those positions? How about double that distance? Is the limiting factor your equipment, or your ability? How much do you actually practice marksmanship in the field, because most hunters never/rarely practice from field positions.
 
Shot placement is a hard one to get down. They hardly ever stand just perfectly broadside. That forward a bit shot placement works wonders. Now I really like 40 grain Barnes Varmint Grenades out of the 22-250. They really seem to do a lot of internal damage while not tearing the hide up. Just for the record, you shoot something and adrenaline hits hard enough in some animals to keep them alive even though they are certainly dead. I shot a buck once and I hit both lungs with a 308. That deer ran about 250 yards before it realized it was dead.
 
You are the ONLY person that I've ever heard praise the VG in .22 cal for coyotes. Lol.

I tried them in.222 and 22_250 and I could not believe the HORRIBLE performance from them.
 
When WA was making noises of going Lead Free I worked up loads for my 6mm-204, 6x45 and 22-204 with NBT LFs and VGs. The 50gr VGs worked well in the 22-204. In the 6mms the 62 gr VGs left huge exits and the 55gr NBT LFs worked much better in the 6s.
 
Pretty sure I've seen that splash.Rumor on the street was it was a 220 improved 50 gr BT at about 4350.Yote was at about 75 yds.
Then a 26 inch Shilen.Now 22.
 
AWS said:
When WA was making noises of going Lead Free I worked up loads for my 6mm-204, 6x45 and 22-204 with NBT LFs and VGs. The 50gr VGs worked well in the 22-204. In the 6mms the 62 gr VGs left huge exits and the 55gr NBT LFs worked much better in the 6s.
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I saw the same thing with the 6 mm Barnes 62 gr VG and the 55 gr NBT lead free.

From what I have seen with the Barnes Varmint Grenades in 22 cal and 6 mm they do not blow apart as often as lead bullets do. When I switched from 75 gr V-Max bullets to Barnes 62 gr Varmint Grenades I got way more exit holes on coyotes with the Varmint Grenades.

The only bullet that I have ever seen splash on a coyote was with a Nosler Lead Free 55 gr Ballistic Tip Varmint bullet out of my 243 Win. It was a straight on chest shot.
 
Here are my go to bullets for coyotes.
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My Varget powder load is as follows.
52 BTHP 34.7
50 VGs and V-max 35.5
40 VGs 38.4

I am running a 1-9
However, one of the reasons I joined this forum is to get good reloading advice. That being said, what I look for out of a coyote round is good internal damage with reduced damage to the pelt. I am willing to try anything. Those 40 VGs are really working good for me though.


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Fluffy has come forward to say he did not like them.
 
Now im curious, I know the Vmax and ELD-VT are both varmint bullets. But is either one advertised as being any “tougher” than the other? Or has there been any cut in half to show a comparison of jacket thickness etc?
 
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