.223 not cutting it for coyotes

Anyone that says a 223 does as good a job as a 243 needs to actually kill a few with a 243. Sure 223 will kill them but with a larger/faster bullet, you can be off a little and still not have to chase them down. There a reason contest hunters want more horsepower. All the guys saying “just work on shot placement” need to realize that some guys like to be able to knock down runners on the spot with less than ideal shot placement.
 
Who said a 223 is as good as a 243? I missed that one. But a shot in the leg is still a shot in the leg, same if you unzip their stomach. He shouldn't come on here and say the 17 Hmr is better just because he finally made a good shot., lol.Originally Posted By: reaper4Anyone that says a 223 does as good a job as a 243 needs to actually kill a few with a 243. Sure 223 will kill them but with a larger/faster bullet, you can be off a little and still not have to chase them down. There a reason contest hunters want more horsepower. All the guys saying “just work on shot placement” need to realize that some guys like to be able to knock down runners on the spot with less than ideal shot placement.
 
when i started coyote hunting way back in the day, i saved enough money to finally buy my very first rifle. i wanted a rifle i could use for everything from jackrabbits to elk. i bought a 300 win mag at gibsons. anybody remember the gibson stores?

i killed a shiz load of coyotes with that dang 300 mag. i wounded and lost a bunch too. blew legs off, unzipped em, you name it. truth is i never shot that win mag all that great because it kicked like a mutha.

just saying like others have already said, gotta put the bullet where it matters. 223 will kill coyotes as well as anything.
 
I remember Gibsons. What I remember most, was when they were going out of business. There was one, I was in, they had a fiber barrel full of barreled Mauser actions, barreled by P.O. Ackley (local). No stocks, just barrels fitted to Mausers and no indication of what kind of barrels. Whole bunch of different calibers, standard and wildcat. Cheap. But cheap was more than I had at the time and I didn't buy one. I knew what I was looking at, too. But broke is broke and I was broke.

Have many times wished I could have bought the whole dam barrel full.

- DAA
 
I remember Gibsons too. That was my favorite store to go in when I was little to take a look at the knives and guns. Got my first pocket knife and BB gun there.


Even though this is an old thread I'll add my experience with the .223 since that's my main tool of choice for all around critter killin. I've shot 18 coyotes,2 bobcats and a badger with it this Winter. Shots have been anywhere from 50 to a little over 300 yards. All but 3 animals have went straight down. And two of those didn't make it over 25 yards before falling over. One coyote made it about 50 yards before giving up the ghost. I've mainly been using a 55 grain softpoint. Behind the shoulder and neck have been where I'm putting the softpoint. I haven't ever really been a huge fan of softpoints but they're growing on me. You get an exit every time on broadside shots but generally it's not too bad of an exit wound.
 
Seems every year we get a post about the 223. A 17 HMR will kill a coyote but the 223 isn't enough. I wonder how many coyotes have been killed though the years with the under powered 223? I wonder what the coyotes would have to say.
 
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Originally Posted By: pyscodogSeems every year we get a post about the 223. A 17 HMR will kill a coyote but the 223 isn't enough. I wonder how many coyotes have been killed though the years with the under powered 223? I wonder what the coyotes would have to say.

If I were to guess and judging by how hard .223 ammo is to come by I'd say the .223 probably kills more coyotes than just about any other cartridge. That's strictly a guess of course. There's no way to know for certain but if I had to bet money on which kills the most every year I'd put my money on it.
 
Way back when I hunted for pelts, I took a fair amount of fur with the 223. While it worked fine in most cases, it would do strange things every once in a while. A broadside shoulder shot would become an intestinal unzip. I would blame these anomalies as a bullet failure of some sort, which it may have been.
My favorite dog caliber however was the 22-250. Instant death with a rip in the hide to prove it. Oddly, my 17 remmy was nearly the equal of the 22-250 without the damage. Only had one runner and that was a 400+ yard yard shot in a fairly stiff wind but the dog was recovered.
 
I shot Vmaxes for 2 years in my 16" AR 223. I constantly had runners and spinners. This year I switched to soft points and they are hammers. Most are now DRT. You hit them in the chest or front shoulder and they don't go anywhere.
 
I tried the 55's and the 53's. I just didn't have any luck with them. Don't get me wrong they would kill coyotes but I almost always had to use follow up shots or track them down 50 to 100 yards after the shot.
 
I have killed a TON of coyotes with the 50gr Vmax, but they like a little bit of speed. I am running them at 3500fps from a 20" 223 Ackley. They perform quite well with very few runners as long as I keep my distances under 300yd.

That being said, having more bullet and more speed sure is nice.
 
Originally Posted By: jskinn22I shot Vmaxes for 2 years in my 16" AR 223. I constantly had runners and spinners. This year I switched to soft points and they are hammers. Most are now DRT. You hit them in the chest or front shoulder and they don't go anywhere.

I agree, I will never shoot a vmax at another animal again. I switched to 65gr SGK and they hit like a supersonic brick.
 
Originally Posted By: mattman215This does not add up That's what my wife said when I told her I actually save money by reloading my own ammo.
 
I have only lost one with a 223 and it was a bad shoulder shot with a vmax. This year I’m going to try a 6mm arc upper I just put together. I’m hoping to extend my range some and have better bc for the wind.
 
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