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Long Range Coyotes And The Custom Specialty Pistol |
Long-Range Coyotes And The Custom Specialty PistolBy Steve Hugel
©Copyright 2009, The Varmint Hunters Association, Inc.
How I spotted the coyote as far away as I did that day, with conditions as they were, I’ll never know — luck, I guess. He’d exposed his vulnerable white underbelly to me, though, and unbeknownst to the little predator this oftentimes results in his undoing. Even at about a half mile away with an absolutely intolerable mirage, I still could make out through my binocular the little white spot that appeared suddenly atop the small rise in the cactus flat where there had been none before. He’d reacted to my howling just long enough to attempt to satisfy his curiosity, and then a moment later was gone. There was a small opening in the cactus beyond the dirt mound he’d been standing on and I thought I saw just a blur of movement then as he passed through it. Not far from there was an intersection of several arroyos, and I thought he just might be heading that way to hole up in some shade out of the midday heat. It seemed like a worthy enough challenge, so after glassing around to check for any nearby customers I was off in pursuit of him.
This coyote was taken by author at 906 yards, measured via laser, with his custom XP-100 6.5-284 Winchester and Burris 3-12x LER pistol scope using the target turret in combination with the Ballistic Plex reticle, as detailed in article.
Soon I dropped off into the main arroyo and quickly made my way to a side draw that would lead me concealed to the offside of a small tepee butte (a mound of earth on the prairie that sort of resembles a gigantic Hershey’s Kiss), with a short crawl to the top. As I peeked over the edge to view the confluence of arroyos, I unsnapped the buckle I’d installed in the sling attached to my custom 6.5-284 Winchester XP-100 handgun, wriggled out of my small camouflage daypack, and propped the pistol up in front of me on the outstretched bipod legs. I then brought the binocular to bear and glassed in and above the arroyos. Nothing. But then, of course, in that maze there would be a myriad of places to hide. I knew I’d have to somehow get him to tip his hand, so I chambered a cartridge, grabbed my howler, and let loose with a couple of aggressive howls and barks. I then quickly scanned back and forth for any telltale movement. Suddenly, there he was, standing broadside a ways off in the cactus flat, staring a hole right through me. I grabbed the laser, took a quick reading at 435 yards, and got set up behind the gun. But just as I lined up the Ballistic Plex reticle in the 3-12x Burris LER scope for that range he turned and quickly started rackin’ up even more yardage. When he’d put 50 or so more yards between us, I dog-barked him to a stop, held the 475-yard interpolative mark a little high, and put a 6.5-caliber 129-grain Hornady SST bullet right between his ribs. He made a 30-yard death run, then collapsed among the tall cholla cacti on the flat.
Handgun hunter Mitch Griffin kneels next to author's portable long-range silhouette target. This target was shot multiple times from various shooting positions out to and including 900 yards with author's custom XP-100 6.5-284 Winchester.
Four hundred seventy-five yards with a handgun! Amazing, some would say. But if one takes the time to think about it, one question should come to mind. Is it really such an accomplishment? Nowadays, with all the resources available to a motivated shooter, engaging targets at long range has become much more common than even 10 years ago. Laser rangefinders, higher magnification scopes, ballistic and ranging reticles, and better access and understanding of tactical (sniper-like) shooting systems, have all contributed to more accurate shot placement at long range in the field. Although all this is commonplace among tactical riflemen, it’s not often seen among specialty pistol shooters, though the concepts and application are really one and the same.
As a “walking spot and stalk” hunter, portability is right at the top of the list of requirements when it comes to the gear I carry afield. After walking many miles in hunting country, one quickly comes to appreciate the qualities of long-range pistols. For this reason, I’ve practically abandoned rifles these days in favor of the portability of the “little guns.”
Unfortunately, the only major company that’s still producing “little guns” is Thompson/Center Arms, in the form of their G2 Contender and Encore lines. There are some smaller companies around, though, that offer their own versions of specialty pistols, and several have been quite successful. Companies like H-S Precision, E.A. Brown, M.O.A. Corporation, Competitor Pistols, Weatherby, and others referenced at the end of this article all produce long-range pistols. Regrettably, though, two of the most popular offerings of the recent past — Remington’s XP-100 and the Savage Striker — are no longer being manufactured. Fortunately, though, they still turn up occasionally here and there as a used item in gun shops, at gun shows, or on the Internet.
Oftentimes while spot and stalk hunting, long shots may be all that’s presented to a hunter. Although some factory offerings will suffice, to make the best of these situations full-blown custom handguns can give a hunter that extra edge in performance that can mean the difference between taking home a “trophy” coyote or just a good story. Long ago my handgun-hunting partners and I came to the realization that if we were to fully realize the long-range potential of specialty handguns in the field we would need to go the custom route. We knew we would have to chamber handguns in larger capacity cartridges with longer barrels, and faster rifling twists to stabilize longer, more aerodynamic projectiles. But this is not so easy a task with a handgun as it is with a rifle. With a velocity loss of 25-40 fps per inch of barrel length, downrange velocity now becomes the pivotal factor, and velocity is an important aspect of terminal ballistics, especially with thin-skinned, fleet-footed prey like a coyote. Often enough, even when mortally hit, coyotes can move out like a scalded cat, sometimes covering 100 yards or more just that quickly. When hunting the high sagebrush plains of the West that can spell “lost fur” easily enough. For this reason a handgun hunter who is attempting to increase his ranging ability must find a cartridge and bullet combination that will get him beyond 300 yards with enough velocity and energy to put varmints down, right there, for keeps. For 18-inch and shorter barrels this means large-capacity cases and high ballistic coefficient, polymer-tipped bullets.
For this particular project I elected to go with the tried and true darling of the thousand-yard benchrest fraternity, the 6.5-284 Winchester caliber and case on the XP-100 action. Cartridges based on the 284 Winchester case capacity have a reputation for good velocity and accuracy. Besides that, Lapua is putting out excellent brass now for the cartridge because of its popularity with 1,000-yard competitors.
Handgun-hunting partner Ernie Bishop, now of Gillette, Wyoming, also had been using his custom XP-100 284 Winchester for a number of years on big game and varmints, and had been quite pleased with its performance for long-range hunting. It seemed to be very close to the upper end of efficiency in an 18" barrel. Now, it should be noted here that the overall length of a loaded 284-based cartridge is really too long for the short XP-100 action. But there are modifications that can be made that will allow ejection of a long cartridge from this action. Sometimes an “ejection notch” can be machined into the forward part of the action so the bullet tip will clear the front of the loading port as it’s ejected. The bolt stop itself also can be moved back to the rear of the action, allowing for quite a bit more room for ejection. The combination of these two modifications allows for ejection of even the longest overall length 284 Winchester-based cartridges.
Now, I am going to go out on a tangent here and talk some about what I consider to be the ideal large capacity case for the XP-100 action that would give a long-range handgunner the biggest bang for his buck. That would be the Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum (RSAUM) cartridges. Had this cartridge line been available when I had the gun built, I would have selected one of these shorter overall length cases instead. They are ideally suited for short actions, even more so than Winchester’s Short Magnum (WSM) line, in my opinion. The RSAUM cases are somewhat shorter than the WSMs, with a little less case capacity, right between the 284 Win. and the WSMs. I can’t think of a better large case capacity fit for the XP-100 than the RSAUM series. Unfortunately, though, the popularity of the line is overshadowed by “magnumitis” — an affliction that pervades the shooting community, and sadly may eventually sound the death knell for Remington’s excellent line. Just thought I’d put a little plug in here, ’cause honestly, as a long-range handgunner it’s real easy to like those “little big” cases.
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