Coyote Caliber?

[dwinmeade]

Gentlemen,

With woodchucks coming out, I plan to use them as coyote bait. I'll be shooting at 50 yards, at night with a red light. My rifle choices are:

AR-223, 18" Wydle SS sporter barrel, shooting a 52g Berger FB Varmint.
CZ 527 in 223, 22" regular barrel, shooting a 52g Berger FB Varmint.
Remington 700 in 243AI, 26" semi-heavy barrel, shooting a 80g Berger FB Varmint. (Soon to be a 62g Barnes V. Grenade.)
CZ 527 in 6.5 Grendel, 26" Varmint barrel, shooting a 90g Speer TNT/95g Vmax.

My first choice is the AR...my question: does the 223 have enough killing power for coyotes?

 

[Plinker147]

Yes

 

[Hellgate]

Yes to the .223. My favorite bullets are the 60gr V-max and the 55gr Ballistic Tip.

 

[brcfo_outdoors]

.223 is, but if you go that direction, I would go with the heaviest bullet you can find. In CA we have lead restrictions so the only real factory non toxic load I can find is a Barnes 55gr and it just does not put them down. When coyotes run off, depending on brush and terrain, sometimes they can be impossible to find, especially if they go down a hole. I also don't like not knowing whether I hit them and need to pursue, or I missed and just need to let them go. They are tougher critters than most give them credit for.

The 55gr (and I am assuming 52gr) is meant for a 1:12 twist barrel which the CZ 527 has but the Wylde AR probably does not. If its around a 1:8 then you may experience what our troops in the sandbox experience when they shoot a scrawny insurgent and that person runs off.

Personally I am upping to a .243/6mm in the interest of "bang, flop" based on a couple of bad experiences. My recommendation would be to consider the .243 or 6.5 you are looking at.

 

[Deleted member 115360]

Is it 50 yards? If all of your shots will be 50y or less, you need a shotgun.

 

[Capt RB]

50vmax 50-55blitzking Benchmark cfe223 or 748. If they don't fold up with these from your 223 you are the problem. Inside of 50yds though a 3 1/2" turkey load has done well for me. Have shot a half dozen while turkey hunting and it is very lethal. I use an 835 I've had for years and copper or nickel plated #5 is the only load I use in that gun.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Heck a 204 with 39 gr SBK will kill them deader than a door nail . Just talk to "Reemty J" he has killed hundreds of Yotes with that caliber. I use a 223 with 65 gr SGK and stops them in their tracks and saves fur.

 

[2Rope]

Your AR is perfect coyote medicine... I use an AR (223) or my 204 and kill 30 to 50 a winter. A few may run off but that's due to shot placement. Just my opinion. I use a 6mm AI with 105 Bergers running 3250 fps if the range might be over 4 or 5 hundred yards, and it works too!

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Heck a 204 with 39 gr SBK will kill them deader than a door nail . Just talk to "Reemty J" he has killed hundreds of Yotes with that caliber. I use a 223 with 65 gr SGK and stops them in their tracks and saves fur.

Just to add on if the coyote is average size 20-30 lbs I use a 204 or 223. If they are any bigger I go to my Barrett 50 BMG to make sure I get um!

 

[Mustang72]

223 with a v-max. In over 20 years(I think) I only remember losing one. That was.due to shot shot placement. I am sure he died just the same!

 

[DSheetz]

It has a lot to do with the bullet design and a ton to do with shot placement I've used a 223 to kill coyote with for over 36 years and haven't lost but just a few and will blame my shot placement for those not the round .

 

[Deleted member 115360]

I was on the fence with .223, because I've had mixed results, but it really was a bullet issue. I switched to varmageddon ammo for my .223, but I haven't shot a coyote with them yet.

Watching Geoff Nemnich kill coyotes on the lucky duck YouTube channel dispelled any doubts for me on the .223 with proper ammo.

 

[westcliffe01]

If you are sure the shots will be that close and if you believe they will not run the second you turn that light on.... Neither of those has worked out for me.

In MIchigan, the closest I have gotten to a coyote is 125 yards. Longest shot 430 yards. That is definitely not 223 territory, my 243 ackley works much better and kills them on the spot. If the wind is blowing and shooting 55gr in a 223, the wind will blow the bullet off by 2+ feet in 250 yards. And coyotes tend to not stop moving.

Our coyotes run the moment you turn on a distress call or a light. I had to upgrade to Gen 3 NV. Expensive. Today one has less expensive options with Sionix and other digital NV that is way better than alternatives. And thermal is cheaper than ever although still at the top end of the cost scale. Much safer when one has livestock, owners dogs running around etc.

 

[DSheetz]

I've ran 55 grain Sierra boat tail hollow points for a lot of years in my 223 at around 2900 feet per second mv and had real good luck with them I don't know what a person would want in the lead free places . They don't exit on coyote when I hit the right place and on cats or fox most times just a little copper jacket comes out the far side rib cage .