Long range/first Coyote rifle on an budget

LOL Welcome to the campfire ???? Wait where am I ?


WELCOME TO PREDATOR MASTERS !

I'd lean towards the .243 caliber wise and most likely the savage axis. After coyote hunting for a bit you'll likely get the bug to hunt other things. The 243 is a great caliber for small to medium game. Ammo is cheap and plentiful in a wide variety of bullet styles, and they shoot pretty flat.
 
Thank you all for the welcomes and responses. From what I gather I am probably best off with a 243, 6.5 creedmoor or, 22-250. Is the axis II worth the extra money(for the trigger)? My two friends Ill be hunting with are bringing a 270 and 308
 
Originally Posted By: coyotekillingfishThank you all for the welcomes and responses. From what I gather I am probably best off with a 243, 6.5 creedmoor or, 22-250. Is the axis II worth the extra money(for the trigger)? My two friends Ill be hunting with are bringing a 270 and 308

I don't think so because I went on Ebay and bought a new trigger spring for $15.
 
I have a Savage Axis in 223. I love the gun. I shoot Black Hills 55 grain vmax with great accuracy. Now I am not a great shooter however the gun is way more accurate than I can be. The problems with groups I have are my fault. i bought mine used with minimal rounds through it for $250. The scope that comes with it is ok and does work good. Obviously there are better ones out there. I recommend the Axis to you for a budget gun. I have never shot a Ruger American so I cannot vouch for that rifle.
 
I got a remington 783 in .223. It came with a scope with no markings on it. If i had to guess it was a bushnell. I got a simmons on it now. I believe i walked out of the store $339 lighter. It's a pretty heavy rifle. It has a heavier barrel on it. It's a shooter though. I doubt you could get it to shoot 700 yards. Especially with the scope. I know I'd be lucky to hit the ground somewhere around a coyote at 700. I'm not exactly sure where a .223 loses its poop but this rifle shoots pretty flat past a couple hundred yards. It might not be what you're looking for but a .223 is a respectable little round out to a fair distance. And I think that rifle is a pretty solid rifle too. .
 
+1 what WyoBull said. As a beginner you shouldn't focus your first rifle on the very difficult and rare 700 yard shot on a coyote. You would probably just be aiming above and blindly pulling the trigger only hoping to hit near it. That isn't the point of coyote CALLING. Call them in close. If one shows up at 700, keep calling it all the way into your lap if possible or at least withing a reasonable shooting range. 300 is a long shot without too much guess work so I would keep your criteria within that. .223 is cheap and effective longer than you might think, .22-250 is better, and .243 with 55-87gr varmint bullets will allow you to eventually hit the 700 mark after lots of practice. I would stick to one of these 3 calibers. Ammo is cheaper and plentiful. Good luck.
 
Lots of opinions, IMO for a $450 budget get a .223 in a good used rifle-scope combo. You will be shooting for nearly half the cost. With good soft point bullets it will anchor a coyote easily to 300 yards. Even in open country, a long shot will be less than 300 yards. With a good rifle, you can play out to 600 yards banging steel gongs. You will also be easier on the fur, as a .243 and others will sometimes make a big mess. There again, if deer hunting might be in the future, then the .243 would be a better choice for a one gun person.
 
I would go with a Ruger American in .223. Lots of ammo choices and not too expensive to shoot. At about 35 cents a round and a lot of good factory loads out there.
 
If it were me, id look at the pawn shops.
I bought a Stevens 200 in 223 from Academy for $175 because of a error on their part. It has been my favorite truck rifle that is a bolt action.
Bought a old Savage long action 243 at a pawn shop for $150, and a stevens 200 in 25-06 for $150 that looked brand new. The bolt face looked better than new.

Guy on our local gun forum had a Stevens 200 in 243 for sale that he was selling to move his son up to a 308. Got it for $190 with leupold mounts and rings so now i have 2 243s in the save and a 25-06 ill be putting a fast twist 243 barrel on soon.

There are deals to be had if your willing to look around and be patient.
Around here i would have to go with 223, 22-250, or 243 as everyone has those calibers of ammo on the shelf in every store. Dont see much 6.5 stuff hardly.
 
What loads would be good for 243 or 6.5 creed? I don't want to tear up the hides but I will probably see a lot of red mist from my other two friends
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Originally Posted By: coyotekillingfishWhat loads would be good for 243 or 6.5 creed? I don't want to tear up the hides but I will probably see a lot of red mist from my other two friends
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You have to decide if you are going to run a varmint bullet only or run a heavier load for both varmint and medium game.

The hornaday SST would be worth trying if you want to setup for deer too.

If you want to keep the fur you have the wrong calibers. Is fur even worth anything where you are at? The best bet is either try one of the light vmax and hope it doesn't exit or try a really tough big game bullet and hope it pencils through.

If you do not keep the fur then any varmint bullet on sale and shots well is good.

The bigger calibers like 6.5 and up do not really have factory loaded varmint bullets. They are primarily big game or in the case of 6.5's high BC match bullets.
 
Coyotekillingfish, before we talk about "what rifle", we should talk about some basics of coyote hunting. Rifle choice is an outcome of the hunting requirements.

First, to be blunt, forget all this "long range" stuff. You have to walk before you run. Most hunters vastly, vastly underestimate how difficult it is to make a killing shot, from a field position, at even 250 yards, much less 700.

I've see a lot of guys showing up lately at the gun club with all the bling-bling shouting that they are all in on this "long range" fad. Thing is, when I look at even their 100 yd groups off a cement bench, most of these fanboys aren't even short range hunters, much less long range ones. And it only get's tougher from there because nothing in the real world is as easy as it is shooting off of a stack of sandbags on a comfy bench.

My advice would be to focus on the average if you want to kill coyotes as opposed to just scaring them. Get a rifle that's set up for your hunting and your capabilities and go from there.

The goal in coyote HUNTING is to call them in close and kill 'em the first time. Nothing makes a coyote harder to kill than one close call with a hunter. Bottom line is start by learning all you can about hunting and set yourself up for the closest shot possible.

As far as rifle selection, I would second the recommendation for a .22-250 if this is to be a "coyote only" rifle. I have several of these rifles and I've shot them hard on the varmint grounds in the west and they are fantastic rifles for the dollar. They can be upgraded later with aftermarket parts like a Boyds stock and Rifle Basix trigger to make them even better.

The scoped combos are within your budget range and that's a good place to start. If you can find the Axis 2 within your budget, that will save you from having to upgrade the trigger later.


Grouse
 
I forgot about the 22-250. Really puts the hurt on them. I must caution you about buying a used 22-250 or 243. I bought a lightly used 22-250 only to discover that my idea of lightly used and theirs, is way different. There was no rifling left in the first 6 inches of the barrel. Go to Wally World and buy off the shelf or tell them to order you what you want. Be it 22-250 or 243. in Ruger or Savage. You will be happier.
 
Sounds like either way 223 22-250 or 243 I couldn't go wrong for a good coyote cartridge. Thank you for everything. Ill wait for a good holiday sale and hopefully get a steal. Any real performance differences between them?
 
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Originally Posted By: Don QuixoteLOL Welcome to the campfire ???? Wait where am I ?


WELCOME TO PREDATOR MASTERS !

I'd lean towards the .243 caliber wise and most likely the savage axis. After coyote hunting for a bit you'll likely get the bug to hunt other things. The 243 is a great caliber for small to medium game. Ammo is cheap and plentiful in a wide variety of bullet styles, and they shoot pretty flat.

Welcome to the campfire is just my way of welcoming someone to join in the conversation. Kind of like pulling up a log around the campfire and shooting the breeze for awhile.
By the way, we got snow here last night so a campfire sounds pretty good actually!
 
Originally Posted By: coyotekillingfishSounds like either way 223 22-250 or 243 I couldn't go wrong for a good coyote cartridge. Thank you for everything. Ill wait for a good holiday sale and hopefully get a steal. Any real performance differences between them?

There are definite performance differences between them. They are least to most powerful the way you have them listed.....unless you handload. When handloading the lines between them can become blurred.
 
Don't forget the 7mm-08
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Regardless of your caliber, consider the Thompson/Center Venture lines of rifle. If you are a veteran they got a $75 mail-in-rebate on those till the end of the year. That plus a Vortex scope from Cabela's should run you around 400 bucks.....and their 25-06 has a 24" barrel.
 
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