.308 bullet for coyote

bigbronco

bigbronco

New member
i just bought a .308 savage and hope to use it for coyote hunting. Most if not all of the loads you can buy are made for big game. I do not reload so I will have to buy the ammunition i use from the store. What can i use that wont punch straight through the coyote?
 
I don't think that a nice hole through the coyote is a bad thing...The lightest bullet I have seen in a factory loading is the 135...I shoot at some coyotes with 30-30 hand loaded with 125 grain bullets...You may have a hard time finding anything smaller from the factory with anything lighter than a 150 grain slug.

Some manufactures offer a "Lite" loading for women and kids...check these out...I shot a coyote with a 165 grain .308 load while I was elk hunting...the coyote dropped like a stone...the bullet left an in and an out hole no bigger than a nickle...pretty good as far as fur friendly...
 
I am using the Hornady TAP ammo in 110 grain .308 Winchester. These loads shoot very well in my Remington 788, recoil is very small and accuracy is very large.

Off the bench at 300 meters (328 yards), I got three groups(5-shots each) in about 2.5 inches each. Not too bad, concidering the 5-15mph switching wind conditions.

Light weight bullets in the .308 make for great fun.

I have not yet taken a coyote with this bullet but expect good results.

Karl in Phoenix
 
Bigbronco: Karl in Phoenix is right about the Hornady TAP load being accurate. It uses the 110 gn vmax loaded in Hornandy's match grade brass. 50.5gns of varget lighted with a CCI Large Rifle Primer duplicates that load in my gun and shoots ever better. Reloaders be forwared that that load is .5gns over recommended max. TAP I believe stands for Tactical Application Police.

However this load is not fur friendly. It blows very big holes in everything the size of a predator except MAYBE mountain lion. Haven't tried it on long tailed cat yet.
It does put the animal down with authority and humanly.

If you want to limit fur damage with a 308 you will need to go with a bullet that will simply plow thru the animal without expanding. You might try Federal Gold Medal Match or Remington corelocs.
 
I have used the Hornady 110 gr VMax over Norma 201 for years with excellent results. I get well under a half inch at 100 yards and coyotes at 200 yards there is no exit. The bullet makes a small entry and goes through a violent terminal upset with ALMOST no exit. I have found a couple of tiny holes on the off side where jacket or something did slice it's way out but minimal.
I was worried about one shot last year. Coyote at about 50 yards, looking straight at me. I put it in his chest and there was no exit at all. The closer the more velocity and violent cavitation and the smaller bullet fragments stop faster.
I used to shoot 168 SMK but had to go find the yote some 50 yards from the bait area. Now they are waiting for me DRT.
 
Quote:
at long distances the 110 WILL do damage!



Yea LOTS of damage....I have hit yotes at distance with the 110's and it will put a serious hole in coyote especially if you hit bone.

I am now shooting 150 grain FMJ. They leave small entrance and small exit holes but still have enough kinetic energy to plow over a coyote no problem. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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