does anybody know wich gun will do the least amount of pelt damage? ill be using 40 gr vmax out of the 204 and a 50 or 55 grain vmax out of a 22-250. will one do less pelt damage or is their even a differenc? ill be shooting coyotes mostly with foxes, badgers, and bobcats on the occasion.

Vmax bullets are not good fur bullets. They destroy pelts when they encounter bone. Either cartridge will do a great job if you shoot soft points. Polymer tipped bullets are not good for the fur hunter, I've had to throw away 4 coyotes that hunting partners have shot this year due to Vmax blow ups. Hollow points are not any better. I've tried most of the bullets out there and nothing is as consistently good as a plain old soft point.

I totally argee Ranger1, Sunday I shot a coyote at about 50 yrds with a wal-mart value pack winchester 45 gr hollow pnt from my 22-250. The damage the hollow point did was unbelievable, the right side of the coyote was GONE! I had loaded some 55 gr soft pnt sierra's sitting on 33.3 gr of 3031, the next dog was hit with that load just behind the front shoulder(as the first dog was hit) at about the same distance. The bullet did not exit...pelt damage was entry wound only!

Vmax bullets slowed down to under 3K are a very good fur bullet in my experiences. Running one at 3500 plus will not yield similar results.

A 35 Berger in a .204 is also a very good fur bullet in my experiences.

And I disagree with all of you. I am running 55gr Vmax out of a 22-250 at 3750fps. I've shot coyotes at 25yds and at 450yds and distances in between. The only time the holes are unacceptable are if I hit a coyote close to the armpits where there is a hole in the leg and the chest. Then the sewing is a bit much. Otherwise, it drops them like no tomorrow. If I do have an exit, it is between a nickle or silver dollar size. If you can't sew that up, get your mama to teach how.

As to your original question, either cartridge will work well, with the least damage edge maybe going to the 204. And I will recommend the Vmax as a good all around coyote bullet. It is by far the best I have tried.

This is a prime example of "whatever works" for you...

And us varmint chasers are the worst of the lot when fighting over ballistic gack...grin..

Ya think?? What would make you think that??...I think you are wrong....








Ingwe

I've had nothing but good experiences with the 50gr V-Max at 3750fps, as well. The bullet stays in the animal 90% of the time for me. I've only had a few bullets that blew up on the surface, but that was when the bullet hit a large bone (hip joint on a running coyote, for example).

My favorite cartridge is a 17 HMR..grin...

Don't know if its my fave...but point of fact is Ive had more fun with it in the last few years, than with any other...


How we gonna get in a ballistic gack pizzin match if we agree...

Sheesh...this is no fun.....


Ingwe

Should have added on the end "for coyotes"...

But that still prolly wouldn't have caused a pissing match for us...grin...

I agree...to disagree!!!

Idahostalker: I would lean toward the 204 Ruger cartridge with "32" grain bullets NOT the 40 grainers - to save pelts.
I hope this does not cause you much delay in getting after the Predators but I am using the 32 grainers in my various 204 Varminters and on the larger Varmints it is more fur friendly than the 39 and 40's out of the 204 or the 55's I use in my 22-250's.
I think I would opt for the Berger 32 grainers in the 204's as well. I am using the 32 grain Sierras in all my 204's and based on some small amount of comparison on fur damage I would go with the 32 Bergers.
I am not much of a pelt saver.
Best of luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Doesn't seem that the pelts are worth enough to make them worth sewing. It's not like the '80's when they brought top dollar.

204 with 32's better yet 17cal with 20-25gr bullets .

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What's better 17hmr or 17rem ?





.That's an old question people would ask on predator masters -laf..

.17 fireball???



Ingwe

Probably the wisest, most logical answer to any question I've ever seen on the varmint forum!

Totally agree which is why I use a 243 with 55 & 70 gr Ballistic tips ;^)

Ghostman: I like your thinking. Before I sent it back to the factory for extractor problems I was playing with 90 grain TNTs in my .270 WSM. Can't wait to sneak close and severely [bleep] somethin' up!! If a varmint is still in one piece you aren't hitting it hard enough.

Tom

To the OP....I used a bunch of different bullets and loads from my .22-250's with similar results--large exits. I switched to the .204 with 35 grain Bergers and had great results on a few dozen coyotes and a couple of bobcats. After I switched to the .204, my hunting partner tried some 60 grain v-maxes in his .22-250 with excellent results. (We've only killed a handfull of coyotes with it but it's the ONLY bullet we had any good fur results with.) The 60 gr V-max seems to be heavy enough to not "splash" on the surface like the lighter v-maxes but still disintegrates inside. I'm afraid you will have splahes with the 32 gr .204 bullet too if you call enough coyotes. (Same for the 39 gr Sierra BlitzKing.) Like the .224 50 and 55 gr V-maxes, they will kill like the Hammer of Thor on most shots then splash on a quartering-on shoulder shot. JMHO. YMMV.

Oh, and although the 40 grain .204 V-max will be a better choice than the 32, the 40 will not stabilize in all 12 twist .204 barrels. It depends on the gun.

Ain't that the truth... Rifles, too. And calls. And cammo. And dang near anything associated with any of the above.

What about the 17 fireball? Has anyone used them for coyote hunting? Does it have enough? Just bought one for PD hunting on the eastern side of colorado. I have a swift that does great but I do not shoot extended strings of shots with it, so the fireball will make a good switch out. Just wondering if it would be a viable option when we go coyote hunting, gut feeling is that it would be to light.

I took the DCE from my church calling a couple of weeks ago. He was shooting the Savage 11 in 22-250 with 64 grain PP factory loads that I had loaned to him for shooting does in early January. He shot 4 dogs and I was surprised how little damage there was to the pelts when he was skinning them out. Small hole in, nickel sized hole out. They didn't drop quite a quickly as those that I shot with the 75 grain VMax, but they didn't have 4" diameter holes in the off-side either.

Jeff