Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles AR for Coyote

Folks ,

Just wondering if anyone uses an AR with a VarMatch contour barrel for coyote / fox hunting ??
It is fluted but still is .812 under the handguard where the flutes stop . It's by no means a light weight . I carry it in a Timber Butte sling which has 2 straps to go over both shoulders .
One of my buddies varmint rifle is at least as heavy but its a bolt rifle .
If anyone uses a fairly heavy rifle please tell me your thoughts .
The barrel is a Krieger 20" SS and boring accurate from around 60 to 77 grains .It's got a VX 3.5X10X40 on top . I'm also not a spring chicken as I came home from the war in 1970 . But I tried hunting with it Wednesday and it wasn't too bad , but I don't have more than a 3/4 mile walk .

So if you all can help me out I'd appreciate it . I wish I could post pics but that is another story .

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration .

Soup

Having tried it, custom Rem 700 22-250 26" Varmint barrel. I have no use for a heavy coyote rifle, most of my called coyotes are under 100 yards, I've been calling predators since the 1960's. Two of my favorites for calling coyotes Sav 10 sporter weight barrel 22-204 Sightron II 1.5x6x40mm, Sako Vixen 222 Rem mannlicher stock Weaver V-3 1-3x20mm

Soup, I'm not clear if you're asking whether a lighter AR would be better, or ? Yours sounds like a great rifle but heavy as you said. Up to you if you can deal with the weight for hunting, but if you want a lighter rifle that is certainly an option. It's fairly straightforward to build a 20" AR that comes in under 7 or 8 lb scoped, but I'm not sure if that's what you're asking.

The heavier weight of the rifle you've got might be of benefit in keeping it steady though, and you do already have it. How much does it weigh with scope and an empty mag? The one I use comes in at 9 lb even, but I often use a suppressor on it for hunting which brings it to almost 10 lb.

Yondering ,
It's about 10.4 ounces

Pass the 22 Grendel and hold the fluff.

Hint.................

Yondering ,
Thank you for your prompt reply . I'm inquiring a few things . Would the majority of coyote hunters abandon it and build a new one - OR - do a lot of fellows shoot rigs close to that weight . I need to give you all some facts . We only have about 100 acres to hunt , but there is 170 acres behind our farm where a lot of deer / turkeys and everything else live and come out to our place to eat , no one hunts it . . Next to us is 130 acres mixed wood and fields that the owner hunts for deer . Now the kicker , it's all in Southern New Jersey and the only time we can use rifles is from January 1st to March 15th and we can only have 3 rounds TOTAL in the rifle -it must not be larger than .25 cal and no projos over 80 grains . I think that most coyote hunters everywhere else have more walking to do and hunt over thousands of acres in the West , South West , Mid West and the South .
Now you know my fix , whats your thoughts .

Soup

I'd move and live a LOT.

Hint...............

Thank you Big Stick , I appreciate your consideration.
Soup

The nearly perfect coyote rifle, fast handling, fast target acquisition, accurate 200 yards plus.

Any good sporter weight in 223 would be better than what you are packing now. A rifle that heavy has to be a brute to handle on a running shot.

If it were me I would send the AR down the road and get something a lot lighter, you will find yourself enjoying hunting a lot more.

just my .02 cents worth.

drover

Magfed 75 ELD and/or 88 ELD Smooches,do not suck...ala Krunchenticker. Hint.

They needn't be heavy.

Hint..................

Soup- I had a ar with a Krieger barrel. it had a jewell trigger and shot very very good. I was not used to the balance and now use an hk 630 .223 and sako bolt actions in various calibers. 2 of them look like Erich's. the ar's advantage is when you call in 3 or more coyotes. and you are only allowed 3 rounds??? it will work though. I killed quite few with mine. I have harvested over 250 with various calibers.

worked back then, works now......

Then you're the guy to ask...

What's a good fur-friendly bullet for a .223? Our Eastern 'yotes aren't easy to come by and I don't want to blow the bejabbers out of them, just kill them.

I don't shoot/hunt nearly as many coyotes as some of the guys here. With that said, IMO that rifle would work fine for me in your application, but I'd probably get tired of packing it around eventually. Seems like what you've got has the scales tipped a bit more towards "precision shooting" than hunting, although that's not necessarily bad and depends on your preferences. Might as well hunt with it some though, your limits and abilities are probably different than mine.

For my own preference, the ARs I've built intentionally as walking around rifles end up in the 6-7 lb range complete; those vary from 9" and 12.5" barreled short guns (pistol and SBR territory) to 20" light rifles. My son and I hunted this fall with the short guns (he's 11 so a small AR is the perfect size), and I'm leaning more and more to that direction for a handy woods gun; while wandering the woods with my 12.5" SBR (and using it on deer) I came to the realization that I didn't need or miss the extra length of a full size rifle. That is a pretty unconventional point of view though, so you may or may not want my input. My main point is that maybe with the acreage you have available to hunt and what doesn't sound like many long shots, you might be served just as well or better with a smaller overall package than your current rifle.

As I mentioned above though, if you do decide that one is too heavy and prefer to lighten it up or build a lighter gun, options are plentiful. At the extreme end, you can get one of these rifles under 4 lb with iron sights, call it 5 lb scoped. That'll be expensive and time consuming, but 7 lb scoped is pretty easy and a noticeable difference compared to what you've got. The ARs I've built intentionally as walking around rifles are all in the 6-7 lb range complete; those vary from 9" and 12" barreled short guns (pistol and SBR territory) to 20" light rifles.

I'm in nearly the same boat. Due to state imposed restrictions my AR is a heavy beast- 20" Wilson HBar match grade barrel, fixed butt stock. Add the scope and a full magazine and it crowds double digits on the scale. I don't really mind it because my 66 year old gimpy self won't be doing any running and gunning any time soon, so it's primarily a benchrest ammo waster. It is however my primary coyote gun, and the little of that I actually get to do is done from static positions so again I don't feel handicapped by its size. (We do get to have 5 more rounds in the mag while hunting than our Jersey brethren.) I know, I know...

In the thick woods and small farm holdings of western MD and PA where I do all my hunting anymore I simply use the 55 Hornady SP at 3200 fps. None of the guys in my circle of hunting acquaintances uses bullets dissimilar to those. 88 ELD's and the like are simply a waste of money when the coyotes are only 50-100 yards away, and ranges that accommodate extreme long range practice are virtually non-existent.

52gr Speer Flatbase HP's, they've been putting fur on the stretcher for a long time for me. I use them in my 222 Rem, 223, 5.6x50R Mag, 22-204 and 22-250, fast or slow they seem to just work well. I do use the 40gr NBT in the 22-204 a lot.

Pappy348- I have not shot any coyotes out east. my understanding is they are larger. I would love to call in some red foxes some day. my experience with 222 mag 223 and 222- i like 50, 55 and even 60 grain ballistic tips, now. in the past we used 50 grain and 55 grain Hornady sx. Coyotes are hard to kill . you can not skin the ones that get away. hitting the center of the front half of a coyote ; is a fairly small challenging target . i have taken one with a .17 rem ; 6 with a 22 mag. i have lost some with those rounds. not very decisive for me. . in the .223 i use a LOT of N-133 and either a 50 or 60 grain ballistic tip. one of my favorites is my 6ppc sako and 65 grain Hornady. i do not shoot them with a shotgun . 4 buck/41 pellets is very good and forgiving if you get them in to 40-50 yards. and fur friendly.

Reds, despite the fairy tales, ain't real bright. Doesn't mean they come running every time you toot your call though. Once I spotted one mousing in a snowy field and about blew myself unconscious trying to get him to come closer. He never even looked up. I suspect that on that patch of WMA, they hear it all. One busted me about a week ago while I was trying to deer hunt on crunchy ground with my .54. As they usually do, he acted like he'd left a pot on the stove and just ambled off in the opposite direction. If you stay still, it's like you're invisible, even with a couple of yards of blaze orange on. Have yet to see a yote, or gray fox, or cat on that WMA, though they're all in the area, even in my subdivision at times. I'm putting the little woman on a plane to China in a couple of days, and am going to hit it hard while she's gone, weather permitting. Heavy snows in Jan and Feb have shut things down in the last few years.

I've got a bunch of the BT 50s. Thanks.

Yes, Eastern coyotes tend to be a little larger than those out yonder, and there's a lot fewer of them (but still quite a decent population).

I'm certainly no coyote shooting expert, and frankly becoming one is pretty far down on my list of priorities. My cuz is the opposite though and is organizing a couple expeditions for them at his playground in north central PA wherein I'm just a hired gun. Sitting under cover and keeping my yap shut and being invisible is something I can handle, and the heavy AR is dandy for that approach. (PA only recently allowed the use of semi-autos for varminting.)