Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Coyote rifle and scope opinions

I live In Connecticut an have been doing a little coyote hunting. My so shoots 4-5 per year and uses an AR with my S&B 1.5-6 x 42.
Most shots are under 100 yards, however an occasional 200 yards is not unheard of. Only 1 in 7 of his kills in the last 24 months was 200 yards.
I have a Winchester 100 in .308 with a Kahles scope that I bought on the fire last month or my .358.

But an excuse for another build.
Maybe a .243 in a Savage or a Browning bolt action or semi.
I like thumb safety’s in a bolt action rifle.
Will a 1-4x24 be too small?

I’ll spend more money on a better optic, the guns all shoot pretty good.

Your scope magnification is personal preference. I feel that 1-4x is adequate for 200 yards but I'm good with 10x in open country where some prefer 16x, 18x, or 20x.

Can you hit a 5" target consistently with your 1-4x scope at 200 yards? If yes then don't sweat it.

Good luck!

I prefer a 1-4 or 1.5-5 on my general purpose varmint rifles. I kill the majority of my called coyotes inside of 50 yards and 250 is no stretch at 4x or 5x but a moving coyote or pig at 15 yards can be tough at 6x.

I used to use a lot of 3x9 scopes and such for called coyotes. Usually kept the scope set at 3 to 4 power. Now I mostly use fixed 6 powers and a few 1-4x scopes. I rarely shoot past 200 yards.

For 100 to 200 yard shots consider a 223 with a 3-9 scope. 40 and 50 gr bullets hammer a coyote at those distances, very little recoil and a
3-9 scope is plenty of magnification. I prefer the Nosler ballistic tips but for coyotes just about any bullet in that weight range will do.

drover

i have a few coyote rifles and yes the 223 rem cartridge is a good killer of coyotes, but if you want a 243 win. they do kill animals a little better ,but you do need to use a better bullet like a Nosler Partition if you want to save the hide. i do like higher powered scope too with a smaller crosshair with a powered reticle for night time calling.

Build the .243 and a 1-4x is not too small.

Go an AR upper in 6x45. Will do everything you want with less powder.

I use a 4-12x on multiple coyote rifles.
But I get shots out to 400.

3-9 habicht on the .308 model 100 or sako .243

My favorite is a Leupold VX5 2X10 with a 30 mm tube, great for low light on 2X and you never need more tha 10x for coyotes.

My favorite is a Leupold VX5 2X10 with a 30 mm tube, great for low light on 2X and you never need more tha 10x for coyotes.

All my dedicated coyote/varmint rifles have at least a 3X9 on them. A couple have 4X12's, and 3 are 5X15's. I like plenty of magnification, especially if I'm hunting the open areas. If I'm in heavy cover, it's a simple thing to turn the scope down as low as it'll go. I've never understood why some hunters want to shy away from the higher power scopes. Just because a scope is say, a 5X15, doesn't mean that you have to set it on 15 power and leave it. I rarely crank one up all the way, but I have on long shots, or when I wanted to get a better look at something.

For me personally, I don’t want a baseball bat mounted on a rifle ruining the balance. I take far more offhand quick shots at under 100 yards varmint hunting than I do long shots from prone or a rest. And I carry a binocular for looking at things.

A 3X9 scope isn't going to be much larger than a lower power one. Same way with a 4X12X40. I have missed coyotes that came running in so close that I could not find them in the scope because I had the power turned up too high........BUT, on the flip side, I've made shots with the higher power that I would not have made if the scope had been set on the lowest power, because I was able to see better and pick a hole to shoot through in heavy cover.

It's a matter of personal choice, and I figure that you can't hit what you can't see, so I just like the extra magnification that I get on the higher powered scope. Say what you want to, but a coyote at 200 yards is a lot bigger target with a 12 or 15 power scope, than he is with a 3 or 4 power one. At least it is for me.

Sounds like all your chances so far are in close, so you've not needed more than four power. And in close, you don't need a cannon, either, so a 6x45 in an upper might be just about right. Maybe even a six Grendel?
I've only gotten coyotes with either a 223 or a 2506, none over 300 yards. I'm blind and shaky. The 223 was fine, maybe a little wimpy past 200, while the 2506 was overkill all the way out to the 300 yard "long dog." So I have a barrel, an action, and I'm going to do either a 6-250 or 6 Creed to fill that "just right" power need.

I recently switched from a Leupy 1-4x20 to a straight Leupold 4x33 over top a Ruger 77 in 250 Savage. Handy. Terry

I traded my new 243 to my oldest son. He wanted something for Coyote. I said "Well I have an Ruger American in 243 Win that would work great for Coyote." Being Dad I tossed in a 3x9 Burris and 6 boxes of ammo. It is hard to go wrong with any solid 6mm design for things white tail deer size and smaller. The only way to get any better is to make it a semi-auto, pump or lever action. Most people do not shoot coyotes more than 300m and you normally want something light, compact that shoulders and swings well! Coyote's are normally running at a trot stop trot stop sniff pee trot....So you almost always have to lead them so the last thing you want is anything that recoils so bad that it hurts your sight picture between shots.

That said 223, 25-06, 6 Dasher, 7.62x39 and a good many other cartridges work great as well. I am not recoil sensitive but I do not like to use more gun than I need to if I have choices since recoil can take you off target it seems silly for instances to take a 30-06 for instance to shot a coyote or a badger for example unless you have no choice. The closer to the ground and the more things they can dart between the less I want any more recoil than is needed. I understand your first shot is your most accurate but I like to have a quick followup shot if I should need it.

FF AR,Illuminatti and 75gr Hornie HPBT's.

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

What you are describing is the perfect place for a .223 Rem and Hornady Superformance 53gr V-Max and a low powered variable scope like Leupolds 2.5x8 or 1.75x5
My Calling Rifle is a Remington 700 VSII .223 Rem with a Hornady V-Max handload, scope 4.5x14 40mm Leupold but I also shoot Praire Dogs with this rifle as well and Iowa is more open country and I hunt South Dakota as well. If I hunted east of the Mississippi River I would go with a 2.5x8 Leupold scope.

Just FYI I also hunt with a 6mm Rem also, but you have a deer rifle so I would get a .223 Rem.