Hornady 75gr hpbt match bullets on coyotes

[sniperpro]

So I shot a dog on the run at 390yds last year with a 223 shooting the Hornady 75gr hpbt match bullets going about 2800fps. The dog literally did an end over and piled up dead. Turns out I hit him right above the shoulder it traveled through his back and lodged at the back of his skull. It broke into two parts attached is a photo of the bullet. Just wondering what others experiences have been with this bullet? Or if anyone has tried shooting coyotes with it. This was my first kill with that bullet seemed to do well.

 

[sniperpro]

 

[Deleted member 115360]

I've never shot that particular bullet, but I've had mixed results with match bullets, including one coyote making it beyond 500y before collapsing dead. I'm pretty committed to varmint specific ammo these days for coyotes. I'll shoot deer with some match bullets, but it seems coyotes are a little thin and a little soft for reliable expansion of any kind if you don't hit bone.

Now, Les Johnson kills them all with match bullets, so what do I know?

 

[DoneNOut]

I made a switch to 75 & 77gr 5.56 15yrs ago and I've shot TX hogs and IL coyotes with great lethality.

 

[quigley257]

I can't speak to the lethality of them on larger game, but the accuracy and performance on prairie dogs out of my 1/7 twist ARs is fantastic for such an inexpensive bullet.

 

[sniperpro]

I've never shot that particular bullet, but I've had mixed results with match bullets, including one coyote making it beyond 500y before collapsing dead. I'm pretty committed to varmint specific ammo these days for coyotes. I'll shoot deer with some match bullets, but it seems coyotes are a little thin and a little soft for reliable expansion of any kind if you don't hit bone.

Now, Les Johnson kills them all with match bullets, so what do I know?

Where did you hit the coyote that went 500yds? I have shot ground squirrels with them and if you hit them standing up the bullet doesn't expand but if you hit them length wise they blow up! Seems like expansion happens in about 3inches.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

I'm in, the Process of, testing, the 68 Grain, Horn BTHP's for, the same reason, out of my 16," .223, 1-7 twist for, Yotes.
The idea of, being able to get, a Tad MORE Velocity and LESS bullet Drop than, the 77's,.. APPEALS, to me,. LOL !

 

[Deleted member 115360]

Where did you hit the coyote that went 500yds? I have shot ground squirrels with them and if you hit them standing up the bullet doesn't expand but if you hit them length wise they blow up! Seems like expansion happens in about 3inches.

Just behind the shoulders, maybe a little further back than it should have been. Penciled in and out from about 50y. It didn't lose a drop of blood for over 400y. If there hadn't been a couple of inches of snow on the ground, I wouldn't have ever found it. And that was from a 140gr 6.5cm bullet.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I had nothing but 75s loaded in my rifle I carried every day. It was devastating on every animal I killed with it. Hogs yotes and deer. All head/neck shots.

 

[Liberator]

I've had mixed luck with them. They are a great bullet for range work, but in my opinion are iffy on longer shots. They will open up on closer shots or if you hit bone. I've gone to a different bullet for coyotes.

 

[Hellgate]

I suspect Les Johnson shoots either 52 or 53 gr match bullets that are flying pretty fast. The heavier match bullets are going to go slower and are less likely to open up quickly. A long pointy match bullet is more likely to arrow through on a broadside chest shot and barely begin to open up if shot from a .223 (especially if it misses a rib on the way in). If it is streaking along from a .22-250 or other higher capacity cartridge they might do fine.

 

[ARlife4me]

Speer has 75gr tmj for the 22cal that I'm starting too load.

 

[DSheetz]

Take a little time to study the different bullets they aren't all made equally . The one pictured didn't have a bonded core so you have the core and the jacket separated . If you look at the jacket you can see that it is a relatively thick jacket . That looks to be a match bullet by the design of it , it isn't made to open up like a thinner jacketed bullet designed for varmint hunting , where the jacket will literally be blown into a bunch of small fragments as will the lead core if it is a core and cup bullet design . When you look at the different hollow point bullets say the 52 , 53 and 55 grain bullets made by Sierra the 52 and 53 grain bullets are designed for target shooting and have a smaller opening then the 55 grain bullets made for hunting as well as a thicker jacket . They will all kill it's a matter of how well they do the job by what they were designed to do and at what speed they were designed to be used at . Not all bullets of the same weight are built the same some are designed to open up and some are designed not to open up at different speeds and depth of penetration . Take a look at some 55 grain .224 diameter bullets the full metal jacket bullets , the spire point bullets and hollow point bullets . All weigh close to a given weight but are designed for differing purposes and will have different results when used in nearly the same situations . It's up to us to figure out what bullets we want to use by thinking about what they are designed for , what speed we will be driving them and what the average use we will be using them under . Study will give us a basic starting point then experience of our own and others will allow us to figure out the finer points .

 

[del2les]

Since their release, I have loaded and shot thousands of these in both smooth and cannelured jacket, and the few times I have shot game with them, they have always killed. Most of my shooting with them has been from 223/5.56mm, 22-250 and AI's, and from barrel lengths from 16" to 26". While not my first choice for larger varmint nor deer sized game, I have a few thousand of these still on hand from a large purchase many years ago. At the time, their bulk price was too good to pass on, and they do shoot extremely well in my rifles and loads.