If you haven't, take a look at the Coyote Specials

SnowmanMo

Administrator
Staff member
Being a competition shooter accuracy is important to me. There are certain aspects of competitive shooting that cross over into the predator hunting world. Fast target acquisition is one of them. Often fast acquisition and high accuracy are diametrically opposed.

I am also an "off the shelf" kind of shooter. There are some things that should be custom built, like rifles, but there are some things that you should be able to pick up off the shelf and be able to trust. Ammunition is one of them and optics are another. I have never been able to afford a high end scope and I am envious of those that have them. I fi could afford them, I would I assure you. But I have to make do with what I can afford.

So I recently tried to put these things together: Accurate, fast, affordable. Not an easy proposition but not impossible.

I mounted a Nikon Coyote Special 4-12x40 onto one of our 6.5 Grendel rifles. We have found that our 6.5 Grendels with a 20in stainless barrel, are very accurate and easy to work with even with factory ammunition.

20150221_143801 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

Now I have to admit that I had no good idea what to expect when I got to the range. It could have been that the reticle was fast and easy to use but the accuracy would be sub par. It could have been that the accuracy was great but that the reticle was not that fast and easy to use. I am pleased to be able to say that it was both fast and accurate.

20150221_142532 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

20150221_142604 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

I was running Hornady Match 123gr Amax out of our 6.5Grendel. I started at 100 yards. My first group barely got on the target which is not bad since I had not bore sighted it. I made my first adjustment and the group walked predictably in the direction I needed. 4 groups and we were ready to see how good the scope was.

This group was shot at 12X at 100 yards and measures in at 1.29inches edge to edge.

20150223_183854 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

I repeated the grouping 3 more times at 1.31 and 1.27in at 12X

I then dropped the scope back to 4X and fired this group:

Grendel Nikon Group by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

It measures in at .950in and I was able to repeat similar groups at will at 4X

Now those groups may not seem that great to long range competitive shooters but for a predator hunter those groups will hang fur just fine. I was able to hit targets out to 250 yards at will using the BDC's on varying powers.

All in all I will say that the Nikon Coyote Special has shown it's potential and it should not be overlooked as a viable option for an AR-15 predator hunting platform.

Good luck and good hunting.
 
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