Coyote bullet for 223

I have had some trouble with shoulder shots or just behind the shoulder blowing up with 50 grain .223. I am going to try 75 grains and see what they do my gun shoots them great but to be fair those splashes were at 30-50 yards but they sure tear things up. But the coyotes died on the spot anyway so not a real problem.
 
Kinda hate to rehash this since everyone has given me good advice before but I am having trouble locating vmax bullets in my area.

I finally got a yote, using the hollow points I have and results with damage were not desireable.

I did however find some federal fusion 62 grain bullets. They basicly are soft tips, without much exposed lead. They are a good price. If they shoot good should they be good for yotes? Anyone use them? They are listed as deer loads, which is surprising as I didn't know you could hunt deer with a .223 anywhere.

The bullet is supposed to be super bonded and I am hoping that will improve penetration and make exit wounds smaller, but I don't know if they will cause enough internal damage. Very little info online about them.
 
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Originally Posted By: Shua713I use the federal fusion 62gr soft point. I picked some up at dicks the other day for $15 a box.

Have you killed anything with them?
 
I shoot 52 grain speer hp from ultramax and 52 grain mhp black hills blue box. Both are great on coyotes. Havent had any problems from either.
 
As with anything everyone has their opinions. I don't keep much fur, so i use the hornady superperformance 53gr. Its not very fur friendly to say.

If I'm going to keep a coyote or going for bobcats, I wouldn't use a v-max, it expands and tears the hide up, i like hollow points, but for fur i'm using either a 17rem or my new 20 practical.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
Scott has bagged more coyotes than I will ever see, but my experience with the 60 grain Hornady VMax .223 is a little different. I have not had one come out of a coyote with an exit hole (broadside and frontal shots). So I cannot say any pelt damage other than a 223 entry hole.

I would not shoot it at anything I wanted to eat however. Insides are pretty messed up.

And my barrel just likes 'em.

If I am not reloading I usually buy the Black Hills in 60 Gr. VMax red or blue for hunting.
 
Originally Posted By: Yoteless in OhioKinda hate to rehash this since everyone has given me good advice before but I am having trouble locating vmax bullets in my area.

I finally got a yote, using the hollow points I have and results with damage were not desireable.

I did however find some federal fusion 62 grain bullets. They basicly are soft tips, without much exposed lead. They are a good price. If they shoot good should they be good for yotes? Anyone use them? They are listed as deer loads, which is surprising as I didn't know you could hunt deer with a .223 anywhere.The bullet is supposed to be super bonded and I am hoping that will improve penetration and make exit wounds smaller, but I don't know if they will cause enough internal damage. Very little info online about them.

Here in NM and in quite a few other places, the .223 is legal for deer. It's actually pretty popular in TX. More on that in a minute...

I use a 64 grain law enforcement version of the same bullet that you can sometimes find on the commercial market. It's labeled as Speer Gold Dot; Speer Deep Curl bullets are also built the same way. ATK is the parent company for all of them.

That said, if you can find the Fusion bullets at a good price and with a steady supply, go for it. They make a .223 think it's a much larger rifle than it is. The bonded performance is awesome. They expand and penetrate just like a miniature big game bullet.

With the Gold Dots I shoot, stem to stern penetration is the norm on coyotes with frontal shots. Broadside will exit every time. This is with great expansion and lots of damage on the inside. Aside from raking shots, I usually get about quarter to half-dollar size exit holes.

That's the kind of performance I like in a bullet. It will always penetrate and will break the coyote down pretty well.


 
Wow, color me surprised. I wouldn't have guessed a 223 was enough for a deer!

Haven't had a calm enough day to try out e fashion bullets. But I am guessing that they will kill a coyote handily, but the question is the damage, which I believe will be less than those hollow points did. at least it will put them down harder.

I plan to buy a single stage press, found an rcbs press for 90$. So vmax may be in my future this summer.
 
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