Any reason not to use 50gr vmax?

Dirty Dog, that is one heck of a great chart, thanks for taking the time to put all that together!

What is missing from the chart is the fun in trying to shoot a number of coyotes with all of them. A lot of productive predator callers have contributed to the thread. So, you could load up a box of each of those loads above, shoot the entire box before you go to another bullet. You will learn volumes and have a lot of fun. Of course, you can quit shooting a bullet when ever you want if you see unwanted traits.

I used to do this kind of thing when we went hunting in Mexico 22/250, 243, and 6 Rem. I have seen multiple bullets of the same weight zip through a coyote and never knock him down, 243 with a brand of 75's. ON the 75g speer hp, they blew up on shoulders and hip joints. ON another, I shot three coyotes in a row with a custom 22/250 14T, shooting the 60g Sierra hp at 3550 fps, with the coyotes never flinching at the shot. ON another trip down in Mexico, I had 7 coyotes on the ground at one time, more coming in as I noticed stuffing my mag full. Then some of the "dead" coyotes started getting up, trying to hobble off, they took another shot, 52 speer large hp doing 3500, tremendous surface explosions... Life happens.

I think that it is a terrible thing that Poly tips of some kind has to be someones pick, that is just messed up. It's like people through their brains away!

The discussion on the SPEED in the 223 with 40's goes on to include several other levels. The 45g Sierra spt at 3650 out of the 223 is a major killer from any angle. In the 223 AI, my favorite colober the heck out of coyote load with with a 55g Lead tip blitz at 3600-3650 in a smooth custom barrel, blows up very dead coyotes. 40g Noslers loaded at 4150 fps with N133 in the 223 AI, does a great job. The 22/250 AI, 12T shooting the 55g at 4050-4100 into tiny bug holes. The next step the speed ball ladder is the 244 AI/6/284 Winchester that shoot the 70g at 4100 and the 60g Sierra's at 4200-4400. I got boared with that, put together a 29.5", 6.5 Rem Mag shooting the 85's at 3900 with blistering accuracy.I saw a coyote flip upside down with all 4 feet up in the air. Then the 270 with 90g Sierra's at 3500 with IMR 3031, the grand daddy coyote massacring load.

The need for speed! For 200 and under yard shooting on coyotes, BC is meaningless. Focus on a good killing bullet.

Best wishes!
 
I certainly do my fair share of reading through posts looking to see what bullets works best for people hunting coyotes. I think the number one criteria for fur saving coyote hunters is a bullet that does not exit, or if it does, the hole left is small enough to not require sewing.
Does that bullet exist? Is there a Holy Grail bullet out there? Well, if you read through the posts, many, many bullets have been claimed to not exit, coyotes DRT etc..
What works for me does not work for someone else and why is that? Perfect example is that I worked up a load using the Barnes 36 gr Varmint Grenade in my 220 Swift. My experience has been that if I hit center mass, I don't get exits on coyotes. I worked up a load for a friend using the same bullet but in his 22-250 and he quit using them because of big exit holes and having to spend too much time sewing them up. Go figure.
So now I am on a mission to put something together for him in that rifle and caliber that will work for him. Part of the fun is trying to find this Holy Grail bullet/powder/caliber combination but that is also part of the frustration as well. The mission continues and I am not going to try the Barnes 52 gr Matchburner in his 22-250.
For me, I have found the Holy Grail in my 220 Swift and that combination is a Sierra 55 gr HPBT (#1390) using IMR 4064 and Federal primers. It works so well in my rifle that I matched a CDS dial to this load. No doubt, the Holy Grail for me will leave many shaking their heads that this combination will never work for them but I don't care because it does for me.
I will continue to read the widely varied opinions here because I enjoy the topic but know just because its on the interest does not mean its so.
 
A lot of people have great results with them. I wouldn't be afraid to use them but I much prefer a sturdier bullet like the 50 grain Nosler ballistic tips for coyotes.
 
Originally Posted By: DiRTY DOG200 yards is a pretty long shot for most of us coyote callers, it's fair to say that the vast majority of called coyotes are taken at far less than that where drift and BC are completely irrelevent.

I spent way too much time(days) going through posts in the Great White North forum documenting how far a few of the guys that post alot in there shoot coyotes at. I made it into a spread sheet, average distance was around 157 yards if I remember right. Thats guys out on the prairie.
 
I found these distances in the great white north forum mostly from member snowshoes. 141 yards average.
5v0sk2.jpg
 
Dirtydog, I can shoot crows out off the front or back porch. The crows are scratching through the cow and horse manure every morning.

I found the 40g V max, 40g ballistic tip, 40g Sierra blitz king(most explosive)and the 50g blitz king, to be the most explosive bullets for 22 caliber. 50g v max was 4th.

A guy really needs to shoot what he has confidence in.

One guy hates for a bullet to shoot a hole through a coyote, while the other likes to see ribs and hair blown for 10 yards out the off side.

I really like the 40g in a short leade chamber for ground squirrels.
 
I have not used the 50's in a 22-250, but have shot quite a few of them in the Fiocchi loaded 223's. They shot very well from the gun I was using them in shooting prairie dogs, so I gave them a try on coyotes this past fall. I got several killed with them, had one that I for sure felt should not have got up after having been shot facing dead on at about 60 yards, (got an interesting photo of all that I found of that one), and after skinning a couple I decided to go to a stouter bullet for coyotes. My remaining loads of 50 vmax are gonna go back to killing prairie dogs this summer. What I found when I skinned a handful shot with the vmax was that I wasn't getting enough penetration. Sometimes the hide would be torn up on entry, too, but what got me was the craters just under the hide with bullet fragments in them. It looked to me like the bullets were coming apart before they got into the chest cavity. Yeah, they worked, but for me there are better options for coyotes. Don't think I had any pass throughs with them. Was running them out of a Stag 16" 9 twist AR.
They do shoot sub MOA for me though, and are bad news on littler critters.
 
Originally Posted By: DavidsavoieI dont think i'd ever try and use the .17 on a coyote outside of maybe a trapped one. But i've had plenty say they've shot raccoon etc with them and have them run off (not on here, but in person etc).

That's because coons are tuff SOBs! Lol
 
I am a little late but I will add that 50grn Vmax out of a 22-250 will flatten coyotes. I shot 4 or 5 a couple years ago with this load. 37 grains of Varget under a 50grn Vmax, bang flops. Another member hit the nail on the head, too far back and you will gut shoot them, too far forward and you will hit the shoulder for a splash. Just put it right in their ribs, no exit.
 
I had an old box(pink and white from age), only problem I have had is neck shot coyote. The vmax seem to open up the neck no matter the distance. They do seem to stay in the head pretty well. Very seldom when stalking do I shoot inside 200 yards on coyote, the snow(crusts up) and terrain often dictate 200+ shots. I have been playing with some Bart's 52 gr ultras, these have been giving better penetration, without nasty exits. Will know more about them after 12-15 more coyote.
 
Originally Posted By: spotstalkshootI had an old box(pink and white from age), only problem I have had is neck shot coyote. The vmax seem to open up the neck no matter the distance. They do seem to stay in the head pretty well. Very seldom when stalking do I shoot inside 200 yards on coyote, the snow(crusts up) and terrain often dictate 200+ shots. I have been playing with some Bart's 52 gr ultras, these have been giving better penetration, without nasty exits. Will know more about them after 12-15 more coyote.

Thanks for the update, please keep us posted. It never hurts to add new information to the toolbox...
 
I don't shoot nearly as many coyotes as a lot of guys on here, but I have had good luck for the most part shooting the Fiocchi 50 grain V Max in .223. Shot one last night about 80 yards, tipped right over, no exit. I've had a couple runners, but I know I hit them too far back. I've had a few nasty exits and one splash. The nasty exits were all quartering away from me, in right behind the shoulder and blowing a big hole out the neck on the opposite side. Had one splash and make softball size hole, quartering toward me at 10 yards, hit the shoulder bone and blew up.
 
There are a lot of factors to consider. I saw a coyote take a hit from a 55 Vmax that was loaded by HSM this weekend. Good center chest hit and the bullet exited the left side of the coyote and left a good sized hole. The coyote spun/flopped and jumped to run, made it about 20 yards before it tumbled dead.

Can I blame the performance all on the bullet? Absolutely not. Velocity, angle of attack are other variables that would have to be considered.

My experience, shooting a lot of coyotes with Vmax's is that they are not fur friendly and that we tend to get runners. That being said, have I seen a coyote take a Vmax and drop DRT? Yep. Have I seen a one hole wonder? Yep. Has that been the majority of the time? Not in my experience. So take that for what you will.
 
Had an unusual occurrence after my post in this thread. I had a coyote layed up in a fence line, only the head was visible. I barked to get it to stand-up, but it only shifted it's head to look at me. 272 yards wind from my 7. At my shot the coyote disappeared, in a min or so I see it 200yards further no chance for a second shot. Lots of blood to start, tracked it on snowshoes for a couple miles until dark. A week later nearby I caught up to it, she was sneaking out from a calling setup. She had a wound on the bottom jaw and a skin tear on her left side about the last couple ribs. It appears the bullet bounced off the under side of the lower jaw bone and ripped the skin only on her rib cage. My buddy was watching from the truck through a spotting scope, said she was knocked off the snowdrift and stood there shaking for 10 seconds before walking and then starting to run.
 
I've been trying the 40 grain Vmax out of my .223. I have very little experience with it yet but I wonder already if I screwed up when it comes to wind. It seems to get blown around pretty easily which I guess should be expected with a 40 grain bullet. Most of my testing has been 200 to 300 yards.
 
Originally Posted By: varhunterI've been trying the 40 grain Vmax out of my .223. I have very little experience with it yet but I wonder already if I screwed up when it comes to wind. It seems to get blown around pretty easily which I guess should be expected with a 40 grain bullet. Most of my testing has been 200 to 300 yards. Fake news! I already posted this drift chart on page 1 of this thread. The math has not changed yet.

33114597278_b4c9a679b5_c.jpg
 
I've shot them in my 22-250 with decent results. The only time I've really had problems was hitting coyotes running straight away. But you'll have runners with basically any caliber or cartridge if you hit them in the guts. So that's not saying much.

My buddies down in Texas shoot 50gr. Superformance for everything from jackrabbits to hogs. I flattened a boar with a shot behind the ear last year using the same bullet. If they'll kill hogs consistently they'll kill coyotes. I wouldn't expect to hit a coyote in the rear end and have it come out of its neck or anything but if you put a bullet anywhere from the ribs on up to the head area it's not going to go far.
 
Years ago I shot lot's of ground squirrels with the 222 Rem and 50gr Hornady SX bullet's. These days if I went after something like a coyote on purpose, I'd use my 243 with 75gr Hornady V-Max bullet's. Developing a load with those bullet's they were blowing up going through a paper target and 2" styrofoam backer. That doesn't seem to me to be a problem as your the one that decides on where to hit the coyote. I did shoot one coyote with that load. Into the rib cage and the coyote fell right down dead, no exit wound. I suspect the V-Max is all the SX used to be! But at the end of the day, it all depend's on where you shoot the animal with the bullet you chose!
 
In 22-250 my best performance on coyotes was with the 55 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. I have a load worked up and a supply of ammo loaded with the 50 gr ballistic tip but have not had the opportunity to put it to work yet for my recent Savage build in that cartridge.

I got a real deal on these, 20 bucks for 3x100 ct. can’t squawk about that!

Three44s
 
Back
Top