Ultimate coyote round

Think about it this way Dave, you have a "204" at 24" inches suppressed, that will keep up with any 204 at 24" inches not suppressed. That has to be worth a cent or 2 a shot.
 
Originally Posted By: mbaysinger89Think about it this way Dave, you have a "204" at 24" inches suppressed, that will keep up with any 204 at 24" inches not suppressed. That has to be worth a cent or 2 a shot.

Yeah, it's still going to be a bit of unique rig, that's for sure. If, and it's still a big if, but if it happens to out perform the .204R by a hundred fps or so, all the better.

It will open up a lot of bullet choices though, if nothing else. At the velocity it was getting, finding a commercially made .20 caliber bullet that wouldn't splash on coyote shoulder was a challenge. Had settled on a very custom 38 gr. made to my specs on drawn down .224 SMK jackets. Long boat tail, short one caliber bearing surface, long 8S ogive, tightest meplat the ejection pin of the die would allow with sticking a bullet in the die. Cool bullet and solved my problems. But can't get any more made and slightly lower BC than the 39 BK, of which I have a bunch as that's what my .20 Dasher eats.

That .20 Dasher, BTW, is the flattest shooting rig I own. Extends MPBR well beyond any of the others I mentioned. An honest 350 yard MPBR on a 4" target. That's unreal. But it's a big heavy, long barreled, single shot colony varmint rig. Not suitable for my style of coyote hunting at all. It would be pretty sweet for lamping off a high rack or California rig though.

- DAA
 
Dave, I agree with your choice of the .17 Predator. I built a wildcat case on the .223 Win case and it turned out to be almost identical to a .17 Predator. I cannot imagine harvesting fur without one of these cases and the old Berger .17 30gr HPBT bullet or the 30gr Kindler Golds. Super lethal on well placed shots and extremely forgiving when hitting ribs, front shoulders, and back hips.

I thought about building a big .20 and using bullets that are non custom and available in Canada. What bullets in the 40gr range have you found that work on coyotes? I would want to at least be able to equal the ballistics of a big 17 shooting a 30gr bullet at 4100fps plus.
 
Originally Posted By: orkanI have been absolutely smashing coyotes with my 22 Creedmoor this year. As of today, I can't imagine a better calling coyote cartridge for me. An 80gr berger at 3500+... boy it sure lays them down hard.

Do you think a 22x47 Lapua would be capable of similar results?
 
Originally Posted By: Troy GI thought about building a big .20 and using bullets that are non custom and available in Canada. What bullets in the 40gr range have you found that work on coyotes?

Short version, I didn't find one. Tried the 40 Berger and 40 Vmax and both were dismal failures. Big time splash. A guy I used to correspond with, had the same rig and was getting good results with the 40 NBT though. I never did get around to trying them myself.

The custom 38 gr. I mentioned earlier solved all my problems, so I was content to stick with that.

Like I said earlier though, now that I'll be at lower velocity, I'm optimistic that either the 39 BK or 40 NBT will work well. And of course, I expect that those 38's will still work good too.

Hopefully be starting to find out soon. Brought my can home last night, it's mounted on the Big Twenty right now. Hoping to get it zeroed and do some preliminary load work and velocity checks this weekend. Be January before I'm able to try it on coyote, but pretty confident I'll get to pop a few with it before the season is over.

Have some other stuff I'm wanting to try also - shotgun stuff. Rest of this season is shaping up to be experimental for me.

- DAA
 
have 2 different 17-204's one set up for 30's 1 for 25's.
never thought they would kill called in coyotes better than my 250's and 243's but they do
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and another PLUS
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How do all these super rounds do on fur?!?!?!

I find myself loading .223s down so I don't get pass throughs. I would hate to see what a 22-243 would do to the far side of a coyote.

I would really like a nice AR upper chambered in a laser beam of a round but I have been having trouble justifying taking my AR at all and not just a shotgun.
 
I've heard and read great things about the 6x45 (6mm/.223). I have no first-hand experience and am very new to coyote hunting. I'm starting with a .223 myself, but I'm always searching for the next best thing or toy as my wife likes to refer to them. Been fun reading all the responses. Proof that there are many different tools that will get the job done with a well-placed shot.
 
Originally Posted By: Rock KnockerI would hate to see what a 22-243 would do to the far side of a coyote. Speculation is best utilized in moderation.

It all has to do with bullet selection. My 22-243 pushing 52SMK's at 4100 was one of the most fur-friendly setups I've ever used. Conversely my 22 Creedmoor with 80gr berger @ 3525fps I'm using now is ripping insane holes. Like soccer ball sized. However, lots of other guys have been using that same combo with great success... so I'm thinking I got a funky batch of bullets or something. They shoot fantastic however, so I don't much care. Fur isn't worth squat these days. If I needed the $10-$20, I wouldn't be running custom rifles. I work my butt off to get coyotes to show up... and when they finally do, I want them dead, and dead right there where they stand. The lead-lasers suit me just fine.
 
orkan, have those Berger 80's in your 22 Creed consistently blown big holes in yotes everytime or just most of the time? I ask because I use Berger 75 VLD's in a 22-6mm moderate velocity of 3650fps and a lot of the time they leave very large gapping holes but I've had quite a few that nearly penciled straight through also. No real consistency on the pass throughs as it's happened at a variety of yardages. They have a relatively small meplat so I'm wondering if they don't hit anything solid and just slip between the ribs or something, they aren't expanding. Curious if you have noticed this with the 80's at all.
 
Virtually every time. I shoot a lot of coyotes in the head... but every single body shot has resulted in a huge exit, or baseball sized entrance and no exit. As I said, my experiences here seem unique compared to others running the exact same combo. They've all been reporting fantastic results and no fur problems except on glancing hits/near misses.

Not sure if it's this specific batch of bullets, or this specific barrel... or what. ... but it messes them up bad. Here is one coyote I shot directly in the center chest as it was facing straight at me. Looked like a howitzer hit it.

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Here's the grass 4ft behind where he was standing.

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They aren't all that bad, but a softball sized exit is normal.

 
Originally Posted By: orkan Fur isn't worth squat these days. If I needed the $10-$20, I wouldn't be running custom rifles. I work my butt off to get coyotes to show up... and when they finally do, I want them dead, and dead right there where they stand. The lead-lasers suit me just fine.

lead lasers.
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I have a barrel in .22/.243 Midd and believe it or not it was not really horrible on furs. As Orkan said, bullet selection is crucial. I used the Sierra #1365 and attempted to have controlled expansion and always had pass throughs but rarely huge gaping holes. I was running them slightly over 4100fps. I would struggle to go back to something like that after having shot a bigger 17. Less noise/muzzle blast and when hit properly, the coyotes die just as quick.
 
Just had first range session with the .20-250 chopped to 19" and suppressed w/TBAC Ultra 7 6.5. It oughta work. 39 BK's avg. 4002 fps with easy bolt lift and plenty of primer radius, 5 shot group .390. The custom 38's I have been using in it, avg. 4048 fps, 5 shot group .470.

Much more pleasant to shoot at 19" + suppressed than it was at 25" naked. It was painfully loud before. Hard to describe, it was more about the pitch than the volume, but it just had a nasty piercing muzzle blast that was decidedly unpleasant. With the can, still was glad to have hearing protection on shooting groups from under a tin roof, but on a coyote stand it's not going to be bad at all.

Mildly surprised by the recoil reduction provided by the can. Knew there would be some, but it was better than expected. Rifle didn't recoil much anyway, always saw hits, but now it's like shooting a .17 Mach IV or something like that, less than my .17 Predator, which isn't a lot. I was watching bullet holes appear in the paper.

Anyhooo... Lost some performance with the barrel chop for sure. But it's still at the upper end of .204R performance, but quieter
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. Now I'm interested to see how the BK's work on coyote at the reduced velocity. Might put together some 40 NBT's today and try a couple groups with them in the morning too. I'm pretty sure they'll work well on coyote at 4K.

- DAA
 
The recoil reduction is increased more if you have a tighter fitting can. In your instance, a .22cal ultra-7 would probably do even more. Suppressors are so nice!
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I almost never go without.
 
Im jealous of all these custom calibers but I am looking at a 6x45 or a 25-45 sharps. In the mean time I just run a 16" 5.56 suppressed. Im in the mountains in east tn and I have 2 loads that shoot the same hole interchangeably. If im in a kinda thick area I shoot a 64gr Winchester powerpoint in front of 335 and if im in the open a 60 grain nosler with benchmark. The power point don't anchor um like the nosler but man it punches a hole through and through so tracking isn't difficult at all. I wish I had a spot to stretch things out but the farthest I shot at one was about 250 and it was bang flop so it works for me.
 
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Your hides should be worth something. You are almost as far west as Cherry county Nebraska and a little further North. The best coyotes I have ever seen come from just west and hour or so.
 
Originally Posted By: B23orkan, have those Berger 80's in your 22 Creed consistently blown big holes in yotes everytime or just most of the time? I ask because I use Berger 75 VLD's in a 22-6mm moderate velocity of 3650fps and a lot of the time they leave very large gapping holes but I've had quite a few that nearly penciled straight through also. No real consistency on the pass throughs as it's happened at a variety of yardages. They have a relatively small meplat so I'm wondering if they don't hit anything solid and just slip between the ribs or something, they aren't expanding. Curious if you have noticed this with the 80's at all.

On the 75 VLD's try trimming the meplats. They need help opening up. It works 100% on their hunting VLD's on big game.
 
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