#3291826 - 01/21/22 05:14 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Timgunner]
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Die Hard Member III
Registered: 12/29/11
Posts: 3369
Loc: Buffalo, MN
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My opinion Vmax are garbage, I've never ruined so much fur or seen so much splash damage and runner's, they wont handle bones.
65gr SGK have been amazing, no splash damage, quarter size exit no matter where you hit, fox or coyote. Vmax turned up to hit coyotes hard will destroy fox or bobcat. The sierras are much more accurate for me also and they hit like a brick instead of a soft vmax grape.
I lost I Flickr password or I would post some pics, I've got pic of a coyote I shot, it was quartered towards me at 30 yards and the vitals were behind the shoulder, the coyote ran 300 yards spraying blood all over itself from a a knicked artery from a 53vmax that landed on the coyote exactly where it should and the splash damage was horrible. I've got another pic of a red fox I made a bad shot on the move, I hit the fox in the spine first and as it was spinning I hit it in the rear leg then the head, three bad 65gr SGK on a small fox and no hits could be seen except the exit of the rear leg.
If I wanted to survive getting shot with a 223, vmax would be my bullet of choice. Soft weak varmint bullets can perform neat tricks with perfect shots but overall they're soft and weak, they're a handicap that normal hunting conditions..... like bones, will be defeated. And if you're shooting 30 yards or 500 they are going to have completely different terminal performance.
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#3291842 - 01/21/22 06:55 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Rock Knocker]
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Predator Master
Registered: 04/17/17
Posts: 62
Loc: Minnesota, USA
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My opinion Vmax are garbage, I've never ruined so much fur or seen so much splash damage and runner's, they wont handle bones.
If I wanted to survive getting shot with a 223, vmax would be my bullet of choice. Soft weak varmint bullets can perform neat tricks with perfect shots but overall they're soft and weak, they're a handicap that normal hunting conditions..... like bones, will be defeated. And if you're shooting 30 yards or 500 they are going to have completely different terminal performance. A 53 gr V-Max is my bullet of choice, but then again, I only use them to shoot prairie dogs out west. That bullet would not be my 1st choice when hunting Coyotes though. I did have 1 opportunity to take a coyote with one of my .223's shooting that bullet. We were out P. Dog hunting and stopped shooting for lunch. About 20 minutes goes by and my friend starts pointing a mentioning a coyote he see's out in the field chowing down on a few dead dogs. I jumped on my rifle and anchored him with a shot to the skull-diddley! Select a bullet/caliber combination depending on what your hunting. When I go out hunting coyotes here in Minnesota I grab my 6.5 Grendel with a 120 gr Nosler Spitzer BT or a Sierra's. If I'm shooting one of my .223 it will be a slightly heavier bullet.
_________________________
Yes, I realize speling is a chalunge for sum of us...I am inkluded in that grup, so pleze fourgiv me. Ski-U-Mah!
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#3291937 - 01/22/22 09:07 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Rock Knocker]
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Seasoned Member
Registered: 02/08/20
Posts: 127
Loc: Missouri
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I’ve shot Nosler, Berger, Barnes, Hornady, and Sierra at coyotes out of my 223AI and my swift both. I’m a nosler fan by choice. But if you’re not reloading, a 53gr and 55gr Vmax have done well for me. I’ve never heard anyone call them garbage.
I can promise you, just about any BT or HP bullet will eventually tear a hole. You can’t always get the perfect shot, that’s obvious. But I’ve hunted coyotes with the best of them, and I’ve seen plenty of bullets blow holes in fur. It just happens.
_________________________
Austin Laughlin - Laughlin Guide Service - Missouri
Speed Kills
Rem700 - 223AI
M77 - 220 Swift
Rem700 - 204 AI
CZ527 - 17 rem
Rem700 - 243AI
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#3291970 - 01/23/22 09:20 AM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Rock Knocker]
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Die Hard Member III
Registered: 01/19/11
Posts: 3066
Loc: colorado
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My opinion Vmax are garbage, I've never ruined so much fur or seen so much splash damage and runner's, they wont handle bones.
65gr SGK have been amazing, no splash damage, quarter size exit no matter where you hit, fox or coyote. Vmax turned up to hit coyotes hard will destroy fox or bobcat. The sierras are much more accurate for me also and they hit like a brick instead of a soft vmax grape.
I lost I Flickr password or I would post some pics, I've got pic of a coyote I shot, it was quartered towards me at 30 yards and the vitals were behind the shoulder, the coyote ran 300 yards spraying blood all over itself from a a knicked artery from a 53vmax that landed on the coyote exactly where it should and the splash damage was horrible. I've got another pic of a red fox I made a bad shot on the move, I hit the fox in the spine first and as it was spinning I hit it in the rear leg then the head, three bad 65gr SGK on a small fox and no hits could be seen except the exit of the rear leg.
If I wanted to survive getting shot with a 223, vmax would be my bullet of choice. Soft weak varmint bullets can perform neat tricks with perfect shots but overall they're soft and weak, they're a handicap that normal hunting conditions..... like bones, will be defeated. And if you're shooting 30 yards or 500 they are going to have completely different terminal performance. My experience in a couple of hundred coyotes could not be more opposite. Over the last 23 years of coyote hunting I have tried numerous bullets. Mostly in 223 but also in 22-250. I have never seen the "splash", ever! I have made some poor shots that opened up coyotes like a zipper, but that has less to do with the bullet than the shot. I have killed coyotes with 55gr vmax at 30 yards, where I got an exit wound, to 612 yards. I have killed dozens between 350 and 500 yards, but most of my kills are in the 150 yard range. I have lost an occasional coyote, but its pretty rare. I have used no other bullet in the 22-250 or 223 going back to about 2005, and I have zero reason to try something else at this point. I sell fur, fur buyers complained about the 22 cal entrance wound, so I switched to a 17-223. No more complainnts from the fur buyer. The fact is, most people talk about saving fur, but maybe save and skin one every now and then. When you start selling a dozen of the best hides every year for real money, you find out real fast what works and what doesn't.
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#3291983 - 01/23/22 10:58 AM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Timgunner]
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Moderator
Registered: 02/01/03
Posts: 6168
Loc: NM
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A bullet I've found to work well in everything, my 222 Rem, 223, 5.6x50R Magnum and 22-250's ia an old timer that was the goto bullet for fur hunters a while back. Speer 52gr Varmint FB HP #1035 accurate and rarely exits. 222 Rem  223  5.6x50R Magnum  22-250 
Edited by AWS (01/23/22 11:06 AM)
_________________________
After the first shot the rest are just noise.
Make mine a Minaska.
Heaven has rules and walls, He-l has open borders
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#3292057 - 01/23/22 08:00 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Timgunner]
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Die Hard Member II
Registered: 03/25/07
Posts: 1647
Loc: SW Wisconsin
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My most epic bullet splash......
210 yards, quartering to me, 22-250 Ackley, 75 Amax at 3500.
At the shot, the coyote took off like a raped ape.....WTH?
He made it about 100 yards where he crawled under a downed tree, still breathing his last 30 minutes later.
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#3292420 - 01/26/22 03:14 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Timgunner]
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Die Hard Member III
Registered: 12/29/11
Posts: 3369
Loc: Buffalo, MN
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Hunting bullets cant bounce off bones. Theres many better options than soft and weak bullets, I shot vmax and 52 berger HPs for years and gave the same hand loads for my two buddies to shoot in our matching ARs.
I didnt get my head out of the varmint bullet hole until I accidentally only had 65gr SGKs and I never looked back. Varmint bullets are a handicap to any rifle.
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#3292433 - 01/26/22 05:39 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: alf]
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Die Hard Member III
Registered: 08/27/09
Posts: 2902
Loc: West
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My most epic bullet splash......
210 yards, quartering to me, 22-250 Ackley, 75 Amax at 3500.
At the shot, the coyote took off like a raped ape.....WTH?
He made it about 100 yards where he crawled under a downed tree, still breathing his last 30 minutes later. Appears to be a bad shot, to me. Barely raking the flesh at a steep angle. If that's what happened, the result would have been the same with just about any bullet or any cartridge. That's what it looks like anyways.
_________________________
Aim small miss small.
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#3292448 - 01/26/22 08:11 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: DiRTY DOG]
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Die Hard Member II
Registered: 03/25/07
Posts: 1647
Loc: SW Wisconsin
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Appears to be a bad shot, to me. Barely raking the flesh at a steep angle. If that's what happened, the result would have been the same with just about any bullet or any cartridge. That's what it looks like anyways.
It was not a bad shot. I hit him just where I was aiming, the angle was not that severe to aim ahead of the shoulder.
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#3292455 - 01/26/22 09:08 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Rock Knocker]
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Seasoned Member
Registered: 02/08/20
Posts: 127
Loc: Missouri
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I still beg to differ on “handicap to any rifle”.
My Nosler BTs, I can shoot a coyote with my AI and my Swift both.. No exit, tiny entry.
I can turn around and shoot a deer with the same bullet, No exit. Insides turned to soup on both.
My 220 Swift, I shoot factory Federals with the 40gr Nosler BT.. I’ve shot both those animals, multiple times, on the same day, and never had a problem. So I guess I don’t see it.
I don’t care if you shoot a 17rem, or a 223, or 300 win mag.. sooner or later you ARE going to blow a hole in something. It just happens. That doesn’t mean they’re “garbage”
_________________________
Austin Laughlin - Laughlin Guide Service - Missouri
Speed Kills
Rem700 - 223AI
M77 - 220 Swift
Rem700 - 204 AI
CZ527 - 17 rem
Rem700 - 243AI
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#3292459 - 01/26/22 09:37 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Austin Laughlin]
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New Member
Registered: 03/23/21
Posts: 14
Loc: MI
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I have taken 467 coyote in the last 4 years and the bullet that I have found to work best in 22 cal. has been the 55 gr. Sierra Gameking, I have tried the 55 Nosler BT and V max and they do not kill as good or as fur friendly as the Gameking.
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#3292494 - 01/27/22 09:24 AM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Timgunner]
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Die Hard Member III
Registered: 01/19/11
Posts: 3066
Loc: colorado
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Two more coyotes in the last 12 hours, 55gr vmax. No splash, no exit. Both shots about 225 yards.
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#3292511 - 01/27/22 12:47 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Randy Budde]
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PM senior
Registered: 01/31/10
Posts: 5904
Loc: Nebraska
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I have taken 467 coyote in the last 4 years and the bullet that I have found to work best in 22 cal. has been the 55 gr. Sierra Gameking, I have tried the 55 Nosler BT and V max and they do not kill as good or as fur friendly as the Gameking.
Not meaning this in any negative way, but how do you keep track that exactly? I can barely remember a number for this year, and couldn't tell you how many last year. Dang impressive btw!
_________________________
photobucket sucks
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#3292517 - 01/27/22 01:51 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: Timgunner]
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Die Hard Member III
Registered: 02/17/08
Posts: 3667
Loc: Ok Panhandle
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I've gotten to where I'd rather shoot 55 grain softpoints over just about anything for coyotes. I've had problems killing coyotes in the past that were running straight away. Softpoints will penetrate into vitals better at that angle. One of the last coyotes I shot was quartered to me and I hit him behind the shoulder. The bullet exited its belly and hit its right rear leg.
They exit a lot of the time and you'll occasionally hit one in the shoulder and blow a huge chunk out of it (splash) but I don't lose one but every so often due to that. Hitting them high in the shoulder can cause that to happen. I shot over 50 coyotes in 2021 with my .223 using a 55 grain softpoint and lost 0 and only had to shoot a few more than once. Shot a few with the same bullet in my 22-250 and again lost none. I'd rather stitch up a pelt than lose one.
_________________________
I didn't climb to the top of the food chain to eat carrots.
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#3292531 - 01/27/22 04:01 PM
Re: Best 22 cal bullet for saving hides
[Re: 6724]
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Seasoned Member
Registered: 02/08/20
Posts: 127
Loc: Missouri
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Exactly! Congrats on the kills! My 50-55gr haven’t let me down yet. Noslers or Hornadys. DRT. If I have one run off, or blow a hole, it’s my fault. Things just happen. But I’ve never lost a single coyote shooting those, not one.
_________________________
Austin Laughlin - Laughlin Guide Service - Missouri
Speed Kills
Rem700 - 223AI
M77 - 220 Swift
Rem700 - 204 AI
CZ527 - 17 rem
Rem700 - 243AI
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