Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Truck gun for coyotes

So I had a model 7 youth 223 which I used as a truck gun for coyotes shouldn’t have sold it but a guy wanted it worse than me
So looking for another short truck gun,
A. Try and find another model 7 youth
B look for a mohawk
C. Get a tikka compact ( which my big guns are tikka and love )
Just looking for options and opinions

AR !!!

My preferred truck gun for Coyotes here at the Ranch for years. Does double duty for pigs and trespassers. 🤠

Anything that fits under the backseat bigger than a 223 that you can shoot straight. How's that for helpful advice?

Cheers!

This...

12ga/308 with 2-7 Loopy.

My truck gun is a Model 7 223 stainless, with a 3X9 Burris.

Mine is a 700 Rem. in a B&C stock with a 3x9 something on it...in .223

my year around truck guns are a Ruger #1 220 swift with a Nightforce scope,12 gauge semi-auto,45 1911 (that 1911 stays loaded always near me ) living out in the country you just never know when you may need rifle or pistol.

Unfortunately where I live, there is no real reason for a truck gun!
Dangit! ! !
Model 7, small Savage, CZ or an AR with 18" barrel would be in the mix for me IF I had need for one!

My favorite all time coyote rifle is an old 700 Bdl with 3-9 leupold pushing 50BT as hard as I can. About 3850fps. Bang flop to waaaay out there.

Take a look at the Mossberg Patrol Rifle in .223. Short moderately heavy barrel, decent trigger, light weight, takes AR magazines, decent price. Under MOA accuracy. Mine has 3x9 leupold on it.

A similar rifle to the Mossberg mentioned above would be the Ruger American Ranch rifle. I have one in 5.56 and it too will take the AR magazines. It's compact but has a nice heavy barrel and is very utilitarian and perfect for a truck.

The M7s are always a good truck gun but the Howa Mini action in .223 would be a good contender at a reasonable price.

here is a good reason why i and some others use a Ruger #1 for a truck rifle ,you keep the better length barrel but a #1 does not have a 4 inch reciever so your rifle out the window swings easier being shorter in overall length and velocity for your bullet is fast. my 220 Swift shoots a 60 gr. Nosler Partiton 3500 fps with a 26 inch barrel.

Howa Mini Action in 6.5 Grendel 20” #1 in a youth stock. Good on coyotes, pigs, deer and probably most anything else one would want out of a truck gun out to 300 yards.

Maybe this?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/852545244

Since my definition of a truck gun is one that I won't cry too much if it gets stolen this would be a great choice. Mine is a RAR compact in .223 w/ a butt pad and a VX2 3-9 lr. Surprisingly handy for a low $ set up.


mike r

Model 7 predator would be pretty hard to beat. They can be had for less than 5 bens if you look around a bit.

I had a Ruger 77 LS compact .223 that made an excellent truck gun.

I used it for hunting sage rats from my truck (on private property)

Sure was handy to swing out the window, with the 16.5" barrel.

Alas it was another that I let go in a weaker moment.

Virgil B.

I'd get an AR15 carbine.

Assuming that you are going to use it primarily for vermin, I’d be really tempted to get the new Ruger 17 Hornet Compact. Looks to be just the checker for the truck.

Something cheap that shoots well like a tc compass or ruger American. Decent scope and call it good.
But AR would be up there as well . I don’t know how you roll or what you got out there

Remington 600 mohawk in 222 topped with a leupold vx111 2-8×36. Compact little thing and it shoots pretty damn good.

An AR pistol with an arm brace & Full Float tube with a suppressor if starting from scratch. Truthfully if you aren't saving fur, any short barrelled accurate rifle you don't mind scratching would work. Lever action .30-30's were pretty prominent for a really long time.

I have used a mini-14 for this a lot. I have a 600 in .308W in my beater truck, and a 16" AR in HBAR configuration with a decent scope in my other truck. There's always a pistol. I quit leaving the mini in the truck when my boys started hunting coyotes with it. For some reason it just never migrated back. When I first took the mini out I used a 788 in .22-250, but when the barrel started getting sloppy it went down the road in trade.

Shooting a AR or any auto loader out of a truck window doesn't work for me.

What is it about truck windows that makes AR's and auto's quit working?

Maybe they drive Chevys Don. They work fine out the window of my Fords

The auto loaders will function just fine, the shell casings flying around the cab can cause problems. Make and model of the truck isn't the problem, I drive Ford trucks.

Ruger American Ranch with AR mags. Perfect truck gun. Perfect!

Just clip a few turns off the ejector spring and the brass will drop right on the floor of you’re truck. My HP competition ARs have that mod and the brass drops in a nice pile 4 inches away. Works great and you can always go back to a standard spring in you like. They cost pennies.

That hot brass from an ar will make your gal loose her shirt in a hurry when you shoot out the window, consider this before trimming the spring!

I don't need a truck gun but I do enjoy predator calling pretty much Oct 1 to March. Another vote for the Ruger American ranch in 223/5.56. Driving stand to stand, it is by far the easiest in and out of the truck and to load/unload whether it is the rotary mag or AR mag. It whacks them just fine out to 300 and is an absolute tack driver. I would also buy a Savage Axis hardwood during the rebate and have it cut to 18". I think that would also be a great rig.

An RAR-Ranch sounds like it might fit your criteria.

Short and cheap, so if it gets scratched, dented, rusty, or stolen you aren't out much money.

Truck gun and coyote shot from the truck.

IAfog: I suggest a Remington 700 heavy barrel in the 20" version and of course in the reliable and accurate 223 Remington caliber.
Best of luck to you with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I had one in 243 once upon a time. That 16.5" barrel sure made it easy to get out the window.

That one left, but it probably should have stayed.

Story of my life.

Same here. Only I have a Nikon on mine.

kwg

Had the same thing happen. Had a Howa 1500 I paid 300 bucks for and put a cheap 3-12 scope on it. I killed more coyotes with that thing than all my other guns combined! A buddy of mine just had to have it. Finally I relented and he traded me a BAR in 30-06; even after I told him that Browning was worth 2x that Howa. )Later I sold the BAR as I just never cared for it.) My younger son is still pissed at me! He loved that 223.

I bough him one of those mini-howas a couple years ago to make up for it. It’s a pretty good candidate for a truck gun too

My fastest coyote kill......dead run in a field, Rem Mohawk 243 using 80gr WW PSP, dropped it on the first shot thru the neck, around 275 yds.

12x Redfield, put him on the far edge of the FOV.........

That one is gone, but if I wanted a handy rifle, I'd take my Tikka T3 Stainless 243, and chop it anywhere from 19-21" - that 600 was 18.5"

Scope would top from 6-10x, Rifle above is for sale ANIB if anyone wants a bug hole Coyote / Deer / Hog rifle.

what ever gun that is in my truck at the time i need it, that's a truck gun

My idea of a truck gun is a gun that I don't mind if it gets a scratch or two. Decades ago, a Winchester 94 30-30 often filled that role. Today, we have even better options IMO.

CZ 527.

Howa Mini

Ruger American Ranch

That Ranch is only 36" long! 223, 6.5 Grendel, 300 BO, 7.62x39, what's not to like? Well that new 6mm ARC might be the best, if Ruger chambered it.

I have used everything from a Henry lever carbine 22 to a Ruger SR-556 as my truck gun.

Lately, I have been keeping a Marlin 22 mag or a Model 7 308 in my vehicle or on the buggy.

I like the AR in theory for a truck gun, but it's another platform I just haven't warmed up to.

I’ve been eyeing one of those lever-action Henry centerfires in .223 for use as a “truck” gun. Has a 20” barrel; also, the detachable box mag (no loaded guns in vehicles, and ammo kept separate around here) would not only facilitate fast loading, one also wouldn’t be restricted to blunt-nosed ammo.

I use a Ruger American w/16" barrel in 300 BLK

2-8 Vortex glass

110 Noslers or V max

I just bought a Remington Mohawk in .243 for coyotes. I have been using a Tikka T3 Lite but it's length is an issue. It shoots too darn well to mess with - single hole groups with Sierra 70 gr Blitzking and Varget.

Sometimes, I use my Mini 14 when calling - it shoots just under 2 inches at 100 yards, which is good enough for called coyotes where and how I hunt.

I kept this'n in the pickup truck when checking cattle.....Grandson 'borrowed' it.
So, I guess I need to build myself another new 'runnin' coyote' truck rifle too.

I saw the perfect rifle in a gun shop in Hico, Texas. It was a tang safety Ruger 77 Ultralight in 223. A tiny light rifle. It was sort of beat up, so it appeared to have been a truck gun at one time.

And, my 220 Swift was once a truck gun. It’s a 77V and the barrel had been shortened to 20”. I bought it off a New Mexico cowboy that had the barrel shortened so it would fit on the top of the dash of his truck. Back when they had flat dashes. He said he could grab it and pop a coyote very quickly.

Coyotes and pigs AR-15 .223 carbine, almost never leaves my jeep, but I have 4 gun racks in my jeep, others .243 A.I. 12 ca. 870 and what ever. Rio7

My truck guns get beat up, also need tough scopes.

1/2" accuracy is good enough. They have to be light enough and short enough to handle in the cab....and they can get stolen. Shop the pawn shops in your area and you can find the Remington 783's that are very, very accurate. They are disappearing fast, and they are heads and shoulders ahead of a Savage anything.

I am not a big fan of AR's as they are too dam heavy I do have one custom bushmaster with a 16" barrel, still not a truck gun.

Tikka would be my second choice...lot of money to loose if they are stolen.

Guns are darn hard to find, and why pay three prices for a truck gun that someone may steal, accuracy and cheap price rules the day for me.

Scopes....the old burris made in America, 3x12 with the light collector on the front is a battle tank of a scope, still not too long. With the muzzle on the floor board, the scope has to be very rigid to not get bent bouncing up and down on the edge of the seat. Scopes made with 7075 al bodies are best...bar none....many others are just junk for taking any kind of hard use.

One of my favorite truck guns was a Thompson Center Contender in 223, 20" barrel made for a very light and handy rifle, but I would not leave it in the truck.

After owning 6 Ruger #1's, no more of them for me as they can be just too cantankerous to tune, three point bedding system, no adjustable trigger, barrels were Schitt on the older ones to begin with and you have a small fortune in one by the time you get it to 1/2" groups day in and day out.

Hunting pards had some rifles that were of notable mention:

TC contender in 22 Mag
TC Contender in 221 Fire ball

Old Sako in 222 and 222 Mag

I had a Ruger Mark II in 6 Rem compact and it would not shoot. Have had every model 7 made, they can be difficult to tune until you put on a gentry muzzle break, then 1/2"-5/8" groups abound.

For leaving guns in the Truck, the Rem 783's and the TC Venture's are both a great option. You can re spring both of these model guns and get triggers down to 1.5 lbs if you like.

Mine is an AR

purty close here

Ruger American in 300 BO

Sure with they would have designed the early ones with the AR mag's

I'd buy this one but I'm broke.

https://www.proxibid.com/Remington-760/lotInformation/61415298

700 ADL synth .243.....last 20 yrs.
Now wears HS stock.
And I aint shot anything with it since the upgrade

I keep a TC Venture 2 in 223/5.56 in my SxS on the farm full time. This might be the most accurate rifle I have ever owned and with several different loads. 20 above or 20 below zero it don't matter this rifle works and shoots. I keep a bipod on it and can shoot 5 shots touching off the back or front of my SxS. Anyway it is not fussy about ammo & the trigger is the best factory trigger I have.
I bought a 5 rd. magazine from FCW so it gives me a little more ammo for those runners.
And to the windshield dude, I hear you, I kept a Ruger Mini 14 223 in my Ford F-150, the windshield cracked when I shot a coyote, it was around 15 below zero and the empty case flew into it and cracked the glass, I learned my lesson about semi auto's, windshields and colder than hell temps. AR's don't have the ejection speed of a mini or SKS. But I wouldn't trust it not to break a windshield. LOL

^^^This^^^

An AR has been my truck gun for YEARS.

Works well for Coyotes, hogs, other varmints.
And a great deterrent for trespassers. 🤠

AR is a damn good tool, for daily work. Rio7

In the town where I hunt in MT, I have seen coyotes once or twice in 12 years.
But when my brother [who lives in that town] gets in a plane to shoot coyotes with a shotgun, he says there is a coyote on almost every section [square mile].

I found a Winchester Ranger 94 in 30-30 several years ago made in mid 70's. It was eat up with rust on outside of the barrel and action but I got it for $150. 0000 steel wool and oil with some cold blueing cured the rust. Looks rough but shoots great and had been my truck gun since. Thinking about looking for and overhead cab mount for it but have not found one for my F150 yet. Coyotes getting so brave around here they'll walk down the middle of paved roads at night.

look at Shelf-it/Rifle-it, too......

http://www.vdpusa.com/truck/shelf-it.php

An AR is the logical choice and I used one for a while but the past couple of years I've had some form of .223/.223 AI, usually in an MDT chassis with a SWFA 6x. I just prefer a bolt.

Old thread, but here goes: I like the convenience of a bolt gun and internal magazine for unloading the chamber, after the excitement is over and you go on your way.
It can be a PIA to take a mag out, work the charging handle to get the round out, stick it back into the mag, then reseat the mag. This isn't to mention that bulky magazine getting hung up on your shifter or whatever else you can think of.

I don't own any ARs and never have, but have been around the platform enough and shot them enough in and around vehicles to know they aren't what I want for a rifle that never leaves the pickup.

T inman,I have noticed you are a big fan of the .223, and a vet, is it the M-4 platform you dislike? I abuse the hell out of my AR's and they are handy jeep guns. Rio

Thanks...I'll check them out

Not necessarily. I think it is a solid design, but bulky and can easily get hung up on things, especially the magazine and most especially when getting in and out of vehicles quickly, or leaning out of windows.

I fired my M16 A2 and A4 so much that I honestly never have had a desire for an AR. I 100% see their utility, reliability and in many cases, accuracy and understand why they're so popular. They're just not for me. I may change my mind one day. Who knows.

The only reason I prefer and carry an AR as a truck gun is pigs. For me it’s the easiest to shoot and most effective combo that I can use to lay down multiple pigs before they hit the brush. The fact that 4 20rd mags fit neatly in my door pocket is a handy bonus.

If I lived where the only truck gun targets were crows, bobcats, coyotes and the like I’d be perfectly content with one of my bolt rifles in the back seat.

T inman, What ever works for you is ok with me, The Kid and I agree on the AR being the best platform if you are dealing with pigs.coyotes, bobcat, and other critters, and as you can see I deal with to damn many pigs. Rio7

If large volumes of pigs are in the mix, I could get past the bulky magazines to have plenty of rounds. That does make perfect sense.

T Iman, I get around the bulky mags by using 10 or 15 rnd mags, and i carry a bag in my jeep with 6 or 8 more mags, if i get out to walk i just stick a extra mag in my back pocket, Rio7