Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints 222-223-204

Ok bored here so looking at another light caliber coyote gun
222,223 or 204
Give me a couple pros and cons

You need one (or more) of each......

222 in a bolt gun is my favorite, 223 in an AR covers a wide range of bullet weights. 204 is the flattest of the three but is better suited to varmints rather than predators IMO

Yeah..one of each.

Gotta admit I never shot a coyote with my .204.

Shot lots of them with a .222 and .223 and for calling, especially at night, I like the .222

I'd like to get another 222, I've been without one for a few years.

I need to see what my options are for a svelte little duece

I really want a 222. I have a 204 but my baby is 223. Its a ruger American rancher with a 4x12 diamondback. Sub moa with 53gr vmax and varget. The rifle is short and light. Easy to wear on my back when im dodging through trees on my snow machine. Its a wolf killer. I like having a little heavier bullet than the .204 because I take a lot of 300+ yard shots and its a little less effected by the wind.

a model 600 in the deuce is short, sweet and kinda svelte...

I screwed up about 2 yrs ago and sold my model 7 youth in 223 ( a guy threw an offer I couldn’t refuse)
So looking to get a bolt action truck gun for coyote, not much of an ar fan for coyotes. I have my big gun 25-06 but wouldnt mind a little gun as well, short handling etc, quiet, up to 200-250 yards.
Thinking either a tikka compact or model 7 found a Mohawk but want to see it

hunts,

I had a 600, or a 660 I forget which , in 222 years ago. wish I still had it, I liked that dog leg bolt

You just described a 221FB

Way back in the day the 222 was the quintessential varmint caliber. I'd love to have one but I shoot left and get spurned by rifle companies.

The 223 obviously has availability of ammunition in it's favor.

The 204 is freakin fast, and it's not said to be so hard on pelts, if that mattes to you.

I was about to buy a 204 when I found out about the Tikka T3x Lite Stainless 22=250 1:8 in left hand, and I jumped on it. I'll still prolly get a 204 before year is over. Ammunition is a lot easier to find locally than .17 Remington, even though I have 2 of them.

A few years ago a special run was made of Ruger American rifles in the compact configuration in stainless in left hand. Among other calibers, I picked up a .223. I'm gonna try it with Winchester white box 45 gr hp's, which I have a plenitude of, and see if it likes then. Those Ruger American compacts are handy little things.

Way back when, I came into a little Socko Vixen in .222. I cut the barrel to 20" and slimmed and contoured the stock, sweet little rifle. Later traded it to a buddy who some time later was showing me the rifle and gushed over rechambering it to .223? go figure what some guys want?
I prefer the small .17s for predator hunting, I currently use a .17 mach4 and love the little .17 ackley hornet chambering, they just suit my style. Even the big .17 Rem seems like to much gun for my purposes.

They arent many, and even fewer with a tight twist if you care...

Ive got a Ruger#1 with a 9 twist and a "build" with a 14 twist..never felt hampered by it.

But looking for a deuce to suit me led me to a build..Rem 700 action, B&C stock, barrel off a LVSF in .221fb, punched out to .222...good to go!

I'm partial to the 222 Rem and have been beating up on the coyotes this winter with a Model 70 in 222 R.



Last week


Packed up the Model 70 to clean it up and sell it and have broke out the Sako until my 20 Practical barrel and 223 Upper get here, they'll go on the bike and save the Sako for when I take the truck and hike farther

[Linked Image]

With Speer 52gr FB HP's the 222 Rem has been dropping them on the spot and the fur is in good condition.

So far 2019 and 2020 I've killed coyotes with a 22 Mag, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 223 Rem(Weatherby Vanguard youth, killed a coyote with it and gave it to my Granddaughter), 22-204, 22-250, 6x45mm and a 25--204 plus 12 and 16ga shotguns, they all work just fine..

222 and 223 give a better selection of bullets than the 204. The 204 bullets are primarily designed for smaller thin skinned varmints (think ground squirrels and PD's) they generally have thinner jackets and are more explosive. I tried a 204 for a while but had a couple of splashes when I hit the shoulder blade and in both instances the coyotes got away and probably suffered quite a bit before dying - even a coyote doesn't deserve to suffer. I went to the 35 gr Berger in the 204 for a while but eventually went back to the 22 calibers for the better bullet selection.

drover

I hear the .222 is not as loud. The 223 is the most versatile option.

erich,

Nice Van Van!

If ya can't decide, how about a .22-204?

I have a fast twist Brux on a Rem 7 that shoots 75 gr. SSII's over Varget.

It's my truck gun, tough on hogs.

DF



Edited to add photo.

Worta weird looking but very handy. Lone Wolf stock, light 22" Brux, Jewell trigger. CDS set up for this load.

All great cartridges.

My choice for a light bullet launcher is the triple deuce. Mostly because I think it's cool and wanted something different.

For calling a .221 Fireball is just right. 40 yards, 40 gr NBT, 19 grains RL7. Winning formula. I have killed coyotes to 450 with it, but much better inside 200. Quieter than the 22-250 that's for sure, but if you want to replicate the sounds commonly heard on farms with your rifles report, the .17 Hornet is best. Does not alarm coyotes near as much as the larger centerfires. When sweeping an area calling it's possible to shoot coyotes a couple hundred yards apart when using the .17 hornet but the 22-250 is gauranteed to blow the area out. The little .17 is marginal for coyotes but it is an interesting cartridge because of it's light report.

Very nice, what stock is that?

HS precision. since discontinued...

Other than the obvious “all three,” if you want a 250yd truck gun for yotes, a vanilla .223 is available in a numbing variety of rifles so finding one that trips your switch should be easy. If you reload, you can shoot 40gr to 75gr bullets depending on twist. If you don’t reload, ammo is still available everywhere.

The other cartridges mentioned might give you stronger gun loony feelings, but won’t clobber coyotes any easier. Sometimes the struggle is the allure, and the .223 would probably be least satisfying in that case.

As we learn from the far North, "It's the boolit, not the headstamp"....

DF

Since I switched to the 40 grain Bergers, I've had better results with the 204 than either the 222 or 223.but they all work pretty good if you stay off the ball joint in the shoulder.

Be sure you know the regs. A Louisiana hunter killed a really nice buck with his .204. It was written up in a local rag. Only problem for him, 22 cal is the min legal. The possum cops charged him, took his trophy.

Bottom line, if you shoot a nice buck with a .204 in Louisiana, don’t write it up. If you do, say it was a .223. Possum cops read, too. Well most of them.

DF

Rifle selection would be first choice....

223 easiest choice.....no flies on a good 222

Something from Tikka....CZ perhaps in the 222

204 ? faster & flatter !

The OP said he was looking for a coyote rifle, and of the 3 cartridges he asked about, the 223 wins hands down. It is more versatile, and is available in more rifles and ammo choices than the other two combined.

I think I would go with .204. If you're trying to make dead coyotes, the 39 and 40 grain bullets are great. The 40 grain VMAX has a better BC than anything a 1-14" twist .22 cal will launch. It acts like a scaled down, but not slowed down, .22-250. If you are trying to save hides, I would look at the 32 grain VMAX or Blitzking .. no promises. The Varmint Grenade would be another consideration.

I haven't had good luck with any of the .22 cal bullets not tearing things up. (Of course, I am TRYING to tear things up.) I would give the 35 grain VMAX a try up close. It might blow up on the entry, not exit. I had a .22-250 that shot those very well .. and nothing else. It was a tweety bird hammer.

It might be interesting to try some of the light lead-free bullets in either diameter. They get some crazy velocity .. might come apart inside better than a lead core bullet. Wild guess ..

Well the 204 knocked the crap out of these coyotes...

And it does pretty good on cats too

I’ve had 2 222’s and they work, more than a dozen 223’s, a few 22-250’s, 243’s too and the 204 really comes alive with a 40 grain bullet but I’ve said that already. Truth is they all work and have their own benefits.

.222-I like it with 40 grainers. I put them over AA2015 BR in Dad’s old Savage 340. Gun doesn’t see a lot of use these days as I live 400 miles away and dad uses the .22-250 now. Not super picky to load for and works for its intended purpose. Much Quieter than a .22-250 or any 6mm. No recoil so can see shots. I personally think it’s quieter than the .223, but that could be just perception.

The .223 is pretty vanilla. Does not use a lot of powder. No recoil, so like .222, can usually see shots. My current .223 is a 9 twist. So I have used bullets 50gr and up to 60gr. Up to 300 FPS more than a triple deuce with these bullet weights. Can go even heavier but I have not. Decidedly more than a .222, decidedly less than a .22-250, but flat works. Not much could beat the .223 for a utilitarian varmint gun.

I have not used the .204, but from my reading it has all the good attributes of a .223 (less powder, report, recoil) with the speed of a .22-250. Only negative I see is not as many bullet choices in .20 cal. Not much of a negative IMO.

I agree TWR. I use 37gr. bullets in mine.

K22, which 37 grain bullets? I know you have the other Montana I want, a re-barreled 17 Remington. I'm sure it's a gem too especially with the 30 grain Golds being available again.

I have a Montana that I rebarreled to 22-250ai and had a 223 re-chambered to 223ai but I sold it to a good friend. If I'd went 17 Remington, I'd probably still have it but at the time good 17 caliber bullets were unavailable.

Which brings up a good question, which bullets do you prefer in your favorite caliber for coyotes?

222, I used 50 grain NBT's
223, I like 55 grain NBT's
204, I like 40 grain Bergers, Hornady and NBT's

A bad bullet, or the wrong bullet can turn any caliber into a bad choice. As Sick says, bullets matter more than head stamps.

And you are correct, the 17 Rem. rebarreled Montana is a gem. It actually exceeded my expectations. It's nice when that happens.
The bullet I use is the 37gr. CRT (Custom Reloading Tools) and I should add, they no longer offer it. I have enough to last me, but sure hated when they quit offering them. The Cat in the photo was shot at a little over 225yds., no exit. Not a good bullet proof I know, but I have shot plenty of Coyotes with the same bullet and never had an exit nor a runner.
As a side note, the Cat flipped over backwards and never moved.
Blaine Leisy owner of Blackhole Bullets designed a 37gr. bullet close to the CRT. We corresponded while he was developing it and although I haven't tried it on game yet, he says that others have with good results. (pelt saving)
And speaking of Blackhole bullets, I have a 17 Rem load with Chan Nagel's 30gr. bullet that shoots really well. I bought some Blackhole Bullets in 30gr. and reloaded them with the exact load I used for Chan's bullets. It produced the same group size at the same impact point. That was a shock, a pleasant shock.
So I guess what I'm implying is to try the 37gr. Blackhole Bullet that Blaine makes.

I would give you velocities but the Lab Radar we use will not register 20 or 17 cal. loads. Guess I'll have to break down and buy a Chrony.

The one regret I have was rebarreling a Kimber Montana in 204 to the 17 Rem. I wish I would kept the other Montana in 204 and used a 223 Montana to rebarrel. Hind sight.

IA fog: Based on nearly 60 years of chasin Coyotes - go with the 204 Ruger and don't look back!
I've tried'em ALL!
More later.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

my 222s, are chambered in 223, with a case full of powder , from some 222 load data....

pretty much with the same MV as a 222....

does that count?

Counts for me. I'll probably load a few or more for mine like that.

In the 204, I've had good luck with the Winchester 36 ? grain loads on coyotes.
I use 32 gr V-Max on prairie dogs (pretty good red mist factor and no ricochets)
Those sometimes "splash" on coyotes, so I went to the 40 gr Nosler. Exits every time about the size of a penny.

Just recently sold my Ruger M77VT .204 Ruger- just don't do enough prairie dog shooting any more to justify keeping it.

I do, however, have two bolt-action .223's, one a CZ 527 M1, the other a Savage Axis II. Not sure why I have both, but I do.
Anyway- I recently started shooting some factory ammo, Fiocchi 40 grain V-Max, in both. Both of these rifles shoot little, .3-.5 inch groups with this ammo, and accuracy between them is so close that I have to say they are equally accurate, at least with this ammo. Both of these will make great, light coyote guns, and the 40 grain V-Max is a great bullet for this purpose, IMO. Advertised MV for this ammo is 3650 fps.
I lean toward liking the CZ a bit more- Mauser-style small action, great metal finish, and it has a set trigger if needed. The Savage is, well, a Savage, but a very workmanlike piece of work- nothing fancy or spectacular, it just simply works.
Both of these rifles also shoot very well with Barnes 62 gr. TSX bullets, so if the opportunity to ever take a deer with .223 (not here in Colorado), this bullet would be a good choice.

Mark Shubert: Thanks for that first hand info on the 40 grain Nosler bullets - I may pick some of those up as well and give them a try.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

222 holds a special place with me. Killed my first called coyote with one in a model 700.

204 would be my second choice. Fast and flat. Thumps them dead and the kills I had with mine did not exit. The insides were turned to mush and dead in the tracks. Hard to find factory rifles that aren’t varmint profile barrels though.

223 works but it’s just common and plain. There will be more options in factory rifles and ammunition though. I have a couple 223 rifles. My favorite is by far a model 7 predator. Light and fast handling. Pair it up with a low power scope and a good reticle (German 4) and you can really pick up the hard chargers.