Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Savage 223 on coyotes

What does everybody about a savage axis ii in 223 for coyotes, my price limit is low and it seems like one of the few options a for a college kid to get into predator hunting.

300 yards and in it would be effective. Buy a few different boxes of ammo and find which one it likes. Edk

Like this one ??

Budget entry.....don't expect much from the scope/mounts

Factory ammo ??

Or look for a used Tikka...........(:

https://gunzonedeals.com/product/SAV-57256-AXIS-XP-223-REM-WEAVER#product_detail

Keep your eyes on sales from Cabelas and Sportsmans Warehouse if you have either near you, they often have the Axis for around that price and it would save you having to find and pay a FFL to receive one shipped from a dealer.


drover

A Savage Axis in 223 will serve you just fine for an inexpensive coyote rifle.

Keep your eyes on sales from Cabelas and Sportsmans Warehouse if you have either near you, they often have the Axis for around that price and it would save you having to find and pay a FFL to receive one shipped from a dealer.


drover

The cheap rifles kill coyotes just as good as an expensive one. And with today's quality issues you may have just as good a chance at getting a good one. Money doesn't buy quality too often now days. Nothing wrong with the caliber, I've been using that caliber over 45 years. I even download it for certain areas. It will get it done, if you do your part.

I have the Axis in 22/250 for the same purpose and have been mostly satisfied. It replaced a Remington 700 as the Axis is more accurate with 52/53 gr polymer tipped bullets. If I can find an left hand Axis in 223 I'll snap it up for a loaner.

My only gripes regarding the Axis are the trigger and the stock. The trigger was rather heavy at well over 6 #. I slowly cut a half coil off the trigger spring until I got the trigger down to roughly 3.5#. I tried this first rather than replace the trigger to save money. I had nothing to lose as I was going to replace the trigger anyways. It is still a little gritty but I can live with it.

The stock is pretty flimsy and I was experiencing random fliers. I discovered on this site (thanks to Mule Deer) this was likely due to the stock flexing and contacting the barrel. I did the cheap route again by shimming the barrel at the tip of the forearm. This has worked well but I want to put in a rod the length of the forearm and epoxy it in to float the barrel as well as add a little weight to the gun. If it doesn't work out I'll probably learn something and it gives me a reason to get a better looking stock.

Savage Axis ergonomics are rather subjective. I'm not a fan overall. I'd rather have a Ruger American if going budget-ish.

They are decent rifles, the stocks can be flimsy but you can take an assortment of deep sockets, coarse sand paper and open the barrel channel so it doesn't touch the barrel when sitting on a rest or sticks and save yourself a bunch of money. I've found that that works pretty much as well as a new stock, put your money into decent glass.

As far as glass for it, my favorite scopes coyote calling rifles are the Leupold Vx-2 1-4, Vx-3 1.5-5, Freedom 1.5-4 with PigPlex. Sightron S1G2 1.75-5, Athlon Argos 2-12 and assortment of 1,5-6x40(most discontinued) note all have very large FOV for fast acquisition and being able to track moving coyotes in the brush. I killed three coyotes in ÀZ and NM this past week with a little 20Practical with the Leupold Freedom. Coyote hung scopes don't need to be expensive just reliable rarely will you need to dial to kill called coyotes.

The 223 is one of the greats as far as predator hunting. Good bullets are the key to killing coyotes. If I have a choice between 1/2" poor bullet and a 1"good one I'll take the less accurate one as it will work as far as I'm going to shoot. The choice in bullets is subjective. Bullets that others have found great don't work for me so you'll just have to experiment.

Good luck and have fun.

It’ll work just fine. 223 is a great coyote caliber. As EdK mentioned, buy a few different kinds of ammo and let the rifle tell you what it likes. I personally like 50 and 55gr ballistic tips. But any 40-55gr bullet will dispatch a yotie very well to about as far as you can hit them. Stay away from the fmj ammo though. Good luck on your hunting.

.223 has to be one of my favorite calibers. It's inexpensive and effective. This will allow you to shoot in volume unlike a .22-250 or .243. Most anything in the 40+ gr weight range will hammer a coyote. If you want to use it as a deer round, I'd step up to the 64+ grain bullet. You'll be well-equipped with a .223.

Savage Model 14 American Classic .223-Shoot 50-55 grain bullets, mostly Win 748, Varget, and CFE223 powders. Great rifle and reloads. Even shooting over the counter 52 HP and 55 FMJ ammo is accurate in that rifle. Leupold 3.5x10 scope mounted. Coyote killer.

I wanted a budget 223 as well but never did like the Axis. Went with a used Savage Model 11 instead. Better stock. Gave me a 1" group with cheapo sighter loads I used getting the scope lined up 1st time out.

I like it.

I don't like the Axis either. A step up to the model 10 or 11 would be what I'd do. Even if I had to buy used. The Trophy hunter, as shown above is a great rifle. Generally shooting way above their price point. A used Steven's 200 would be a prime candidate as well, if the op can find one. Something some guys shy away from is used rifles. A lot of times you can find ones that have not been used at all, or barely used. That gets my vote.

The Stevens 200 I bought a while back was a great rifle, but I put it in a trophy hunter stock and upgraded the trigger. All that can be done, when on a budget. They will be a lot easier to sell than an Axis model, too, if you ever need to sell it down the road.


Let that one go to my buddy, that was looking for a good yote rifle.

I have a wood stock axis 223 that is plenty accurate for my hunting which is usually sub 200yds and has killed some predators. Also have an Axis 2 22-250 that shoots great groups off the bench with factory ammo and often gets the nod when targeting yotes.

Keep your shots to responsible ranges and an Axis 223 will kill yotes no problem if you do your part.

I don't care for the Axis, but everyone I have been around has been superbly accurate and would fit your needs well.

I don't like em either. Not a fan of the long action or the air rifle stock. But people that get em like em. So, buy it & be happy.

i have plenty of 223s... to include the Axxis 2.... Got it on Walmart close out when they are getting out of the gun business here in Oregon. Think I paid $200 for it... too cheap to pass by.

its a solid platform, a very accurate barrel... synthetic stock lets everything bounce off of it.
I just put a lot better scope on top, instead of what came on it from the factory...

I handload all of my ammo, instead of using store bought stuff.

I haven't fed it anything that didn't turn out to be accurate enough for a coyote at a couple hundred yards.
40 grain to 80 grain bullets.. reduced loads to full power loads...

don't let a cheap price make you think they are selling you a piece of junk rifle.

Don't feel bad about using a budget rifle! I think I had more fun when I was young, broke, and using what I could afford. A .223 is a fine coyote rifle inside of 300 yards, and most of those cheap Savage rifles shoot well.

Edit, see the original post is old. If the OP sees this, tell us about your rifle and experiences with it. Let us old timers feel young again.

Rifle shoots like a dream, just under an half inch, and have it consistent at 600! Couldn’t be happier, topped with a Burris fullfield 6.5-20 I got at a fun show for $115

I also bought a used Savage 11 in .223 at Cabela's for my truck gun, and love it. Bought the GF's son an Axis combo in .22-250 for Christmas a couple years ago (adjustable trigger, bull barrel, camouflage stock model). I haven't shot it, but his more experienced hunting buddy told me that it shot great.

OP, Good luck with whatever route you take.

I ended up trading for an Axis in 223 last week. Seems ok but not as well put together as the Savage M-11. One thing right off the bat that I wasn't aware of is that it's a long action and the supplied bases do not allow for shorter scope mounting. I have a 1pc weaver on the way to fix that. I'll just put a cheapo Bushnell Trophy on it and let the G-kids blast way with it.

Funny that I stumbled across this older thread....I bought an Axis 243 for my kids. Got home with it and put it under my bed having never taken it out of the box. Months later I pull it out and look at it.....barrel has 223 stamped on it....Academy gave me the wrong gun and they don't accept returns. Soooo....it is fixing to be my new coyote killer. It's not a huge loss, the gun was not very expensive. I just can't believe they gave me the wrong caliber and I never checked myself in the store before letting them walk it to the front door.

The savage in 223 will be a great starter rifle.

As I recall, Savage made it's reputation with the mod 110 and accuracy. I got a Mossberg Patriot in 243 several years ago with the plastic stock for $299 from Sportsman's. Got home and called Mossberg and ordered a wood stock. Took it out and shot it with the plastic stock and it did shoot very very well! I was concerned how the action was bedded in but seems it worked! Worked well enough I bought another one for one f my brother's! At this point in my life I may never buy another gun 78 and counting next month. But then ya just never know. Might get one of those Savage's just to say I had one!

So, any coyotes with it this winter? Sounds like a great shooter.