Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints .22 for Coyote...

Need some opinions on a 22 cal projectile and loads that are fur friendly from 50 to 250 yards on Yotes. I have several .22's (swift, 22-243,22-250-223-222,22 Nos..) so I can produce mostly any speed and weight combo.

Seems like one of the all time favorites is Sierra 52 gr HPBT Match I like it too I think it is #1410

Speer 52gr Flatbase HP old time bullet that is quite reasonably price, very accurate and never seems to fail. I use it in my 222 Rem(3), 223, 5.6x50R Mag and 22-250.

22-250 over a moderate load of H-380 or 4320


5.6x50R Mag Combo gun over 4895


222R over 748 I was testing a $90. e-caller to see if they were worth recommending. It called coyotes just fine in fact it will stay in my line-up of callers.


222R over Benchmark


All loads are book loads.

Sorry no pics with the 223 as computers weren't in common use when I was using a 223 and haven't taken any pics of with a recently acquired 223 as I'm still working with getting up and running.

Ive had probably my best results, fur friendly -wise from 50 gr. NBTs in either a .22-250 or a .223 when speaking strictly of coyotes

A basic 50 gr. Hornady Soft Point in my .222 is also good

223-14 twist
55g Winchester at 3050 fps
26.5g of Win 748

Coyotes look like someone sucked the air out their lungs

I would love to use my .222 just didn't think it would be enough but maybe it would?

222 was one of my favorite coyote hunting rifles, Rem 788. 50g Sierra high velocity spt and their lead tip Blitz loaded with H335 at 3400 fps, anchored coyotes really great!

I have not read of many people using H335, Remember that Walt Berger sat a bunch of records with this powder. Use a Rem 71/2 primer, CCI BR4, or a CCI 41 due to thick cups.

.222 Rem is more than enough for coyotes. For saving fur, it may be the best of what you've listed with most any .224 bullet out there. I've had good luck with el cheapo` Wally World special 55 grain power points as well as much more expensive bullets.

If you're sure your max range is going to be around 250 yards, either slow the bullet down, or harden the bullet up.
Stretching the range way out there makes things more complicated as impact velocity has a lot to do with saving fur, but it sounds like that's not going to be a concern for you and your situation.

We will be calling the entire hunt with most shots under 200 and maybe rarely 1 out to 250-300 top. I can take 2 rifles along. I just picked up a grendal in AR platform that I was thinking about taking as the second one...

Absolutely.

50gr. V-Max.

Landyboy: Over the decades I have had two different government predator control agents (one in Ekalaka, Montana and the other in Miles City, Montana) suggest (it is what they use) the Speer 52 grain hollow-point flat base #1035 for Coyote pelt friendly service.
Do not mistake this bullet with the Speer 52 grain hollow-point boat-tail #1036.
I have used this bullet (31035) and have a lifetime supply of them - my latest Speer Manual (#13) shows they still make this bullet.
Be sure and try this bullet for your needs.
Best of luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Do you think I can get enough velocity out of the 222 with th 52 grain speer or the 50 grain Vmax in a 20" Barrel, I also have a bunch of 53 gr Varmeggedons at my disposal.

Lots of coyotes bite the dust every year to 22 magnums and they don’t produce near the speed attainable with the 222.

Don’t overthink things. If you 222 is accurate and you like using it go shoot some coyotes with it. Stay off the shoulders and you likely won’t have any issues with hide damage. When you boil it down they’re just 30lb dogs.

Also if using a swift or 22-250 for that range I'm assuming you want to keep the speeds down?

The 222 Rem is one of my favorites, it gives up little to the 223 except with heavies. My little Sako shown is one of my favorite calling rifles for down in the valley bottoms and sage brush. I stared out in the 70's with a Stevens 840 and have had a few over the years. All I have left are the Sako, a Model 70(selling it to finance another light weight) and a custom target/varmint rig that I won a very nice custom built 20 Practical AR in a shooting match..

For pelt hunting my other favorite is the 40gr NBT in a 22-204 but it dotes on the 40's at 4000fps and they have proven to be deadly on large northern coyotes as well but it is the only rifle I shoot them out of.

21” Sako triple deuce shooting 50 gr v-max is my go to calling rifle. During decoy season I shoot an AR quite a bit with 75 gr bthp. I get exits and they run further with the 75s. Most of the time you put a v-max in the chest of one, they don’t go anywhere but down. Along about the time I was thinking it was the perfect combo last year, I got a big broadside tear/splash. But that’s one out of a bunch. I’ve also shot cats with it and worked great on them too.

Yes, on all of the above.

Maybe.....

Erich is your M70 222 REM factory or custom?

When I lived in eastern Washington I used primarily three centerfires for coyotes. A 220 Swift with the 52 grain Speer 1035 HP driven hard, a 17 Remington with 25 grain Hornady HPs and a 222 with either 50 grain Hornady SX or Speer 50 grain Spitzer. I always hunted for fur. The 52 grain Speer HP likes to be driven fast if it’s going to be a fur bullet. A friend whom I was skinning for tried them in a 223 and found he had large exit wounds with it. I rarely had an exit with that bullet from a Swift nor did my calling partner with his 22-250. The 17 never had an exit unless I made a fringe hit. The 222 piled up a lot of coyotes. Either bullet did well with only very rare exits. I started using the Sierra 1365 GK 55 grain some and liked it. Tougher bullet and does leave an exit but normally only an inch hole. Works in either the Swift or 222.

So yes the 222 works well for coyote, especially in the parameters you specified.

I’ll toss out the 40g NBT. Tough little bullet. Kills coyotes very well out of my 221 and you have to look for the entrance/exit.

It kills pigs and other stuff IIRC....

Yea I was wondering about 40gr out of the 222. I have a bunch of 40gr Vmax's One thing it is usually windy where we will be.

To me the 40gr V-max is purely a varmint bullet GS and PD's, they are pretty fragile. The 40gr NBT is a whole different bullet and will stay together quite well, I usually find shrapnel and the bullet base against the hide on the far side of the coyote.

Jericho, My Model 70 is factory from the 1970's only changes is the barrel is threaded for a can and it has competition springs in the trigger, I have the original walnut stock and I fitted a youth length synthetic to it for me.

With original stock


With synthetic youth length stock

Do you prefer the NBT's over the Varmageddons?

This is my experience also. I use the 40 NBT's for everything out of my 223's, it holds together and in my experience very accurate.

The 40's out of a 223 at 3750 - 3800 fps pretty much replicates the drift and drop out of 50 gr bullets in 22/250's which for a lot of years was the go-to coyote load for a lot of shooters.

drover

p.s. - they also work quite well on coyotes out of a 222.

Never shot a Varmagedon or looked into them just because of the name, sounds like a lightly built bullet for small critters.

Are the 40 NBT's flat base or Boat tail?

A couple of the guys I was skinning for back when I lived in coyote country were using the 40 grain NBT in a 223 and 22-250. It seemed to work just as described. I never got around to trying them in a 222 on anything other than ground squirrels.

Mart what are you shooting in your 222 Rimmed?

The tipped Varmeggedon 40s kill very well if you stay off the shoulders IME. I’ve killed pigs over 200lb with behind the shoulder shots out of a 223. The wound looks like a big inverted funnel on broadside chest shots. If you hit a shoulder on an angle all bets are off and huge holes may result.

The 40 Ballistic Tip is much tougher.

I sold that 222 Rimmed a couple of years ago but the 40 grain bullets all seemed to shoot the best in it. It shot the 50 grain bullets made with swaged 22 LR cases pretty well also. Right now my only 222 is a Remington 40x but I have a left handed mini Mauser that is going to end up with a 222 barrel on it soon.

My all time favorite coyote load is a nosler 50BT pushed as fast as I can out of my 22-250. I used to use 4064 but 3-4 years back tried 8208 and will probably stick with that the rest of my days. The bullet pokes through the hide.... blows itself to bits and only the solid base comes out the other side. Kills yoties very dead very quickly. I’ve used 55 sierras and hornady sp and they have blown huge holes going out the other side. Vmax have blown huge holes going IN. Ballistic tip seems to be just about right.

Are these the correct ones?

No, those are 55s...50s seem to be preferred out of the .22-250 and the .222

Yep sorry i did notice the 55 after i posted, i got it now 50's in the same thing. Also picked up a box of 40's in the same projectile today..

One-or both- of those should work great for you!

Sure did.......and it was perfect on those javelina.

What do you guys think about 60 grain Vmax's out of my swift at 3300-3400 FPS? Under 250 yrds, Expectations on fur?

There really isnt much difference between a 222 and 223 other than twist.

Dont know where that notion started.

I'm assuming Vmax indicates varmints, probably softer than other bullets i.e. those engineered for large game like deer and hogs.

Re: 222s and 40s........Lil Gun should yield 3600-3700 depending on barrel length. I had a custom I bought 2nd hand, built by Speedy Gonzales, it loved Vmax....over Lil Gun. 1 hole.......I believe it was either a Shilen or Krieger, pretty sure a 12 or 14 twist.

223 and 40s, witnessed the factory Federal 40 HPs, IIRC, my brother dumped a few dogs one afternoon, got a double using his TC Carbine w/6x. They were quite effective

IIRC this coyote was shot with the .224" 40 grain Varmageddon at 60-65 yards. I used that bullet in my .22/6mm at close to 4400 fps.



Where it fell.


The rifle with the coyote.

LOL no pelt damage there at all:)

First off the 60gr Vmax wont shoot out of my swift (1-14"twist), but they do shoot quite well out of my 1-8"twist 22-250. It is perhaps one of the most frangible 22 cal bullets I have ever used. cant think of a worse choice if you want fur friendly.

For fur friendly with the rifles you have........222 with 40gr BT's

I'm shooting 1/12 however based on your experience the Vmax's are probably not want I want to use.

When I was in my early 30s I shot coyotes and some cats to earn the better part of my living. I used a 22-250 for a while, but I switched to the 222 and I found what I liked with that gun. The 222 with 50 grain WW Power Points or 55 grain Remington "Power-Lokt HPs were excellent and give exits that were very small, but dropped the coyotes instantly and I can't even count the number of Coyotes I killed with that rifle.

Shooting for hides around farm/ranch yards I used a standard 22 LR or better still a 22 WMR. Don't under estimate how well they kill. However the 22 was used at ranges out to about 150 max, and the shots at under 100 were easier and usually the Coyote would not tun much The WMR gave better kills and more rage. With that rifle kills to about 200 were pretty easy.
I used a 22-250 and with that rifles I made kills out to about any range I was offered shots. My longest shots were in the 500+ range and I made one that I measured over a pasture at about 630. But about 98% of all shots were at 200-300 and I found the 22-250 was often hard of hides. Some bullet did well but none I ever tried were consistently perfect and I did loose value on about 1/3 of my hides no matter which bullet I used.

When I bought the 222 I found the money gun. I used several bullets and the ones I settled on were the 2 I listed above, the 50 grain Winchester and the 55 grain Remington "power-lokt" I used to buy them in bulk, 5000 in a box from Black Hills. I am always amused when I read articles and excerpt in load manuals who all say the 222 Remington was only good for varminting out to about 250 yards. I can't even count the number of coyotes I got at ranges between 300 and 400 with my little SAKO.
As I said, I killed quite a number at 150 yards and under with 22LRs I think most western school boys have done that and farm/ranch kids all over the USA will tell you about killing coyotes with 22s. It's probably been done a few MILLION times.

A 40 grain 22 Long Rifle at 100 yards is only going about 900 FPS and yet if you shoot them from the liver forward and hit organs the coyotes drop, or run 25-35 yards as a rule and die. Of all the coyotes I ever shot with rim-fires I never lost a single one.

A 50 grain 222 Remington leaving the gun at 3100 FPS is going to be nearly identical in velocity at 600 yards (and 10 grains heavier) as a 22 LR is at 1 yard. So why on earth would anyone think it's not good past 250 yards?
I have proven to myself the 222 is just fine waaaaaay past 250, hundreds and hundreds of times. Not just on coyotes but also on jack-rabbits and Rock Chucks, feral cats and dogs, and all manor of non-living targets just to shoot for fun.You do have to learn your drifts and trajectory, but when you shoot a lot you do learn it, and it doesn't take that long either.

I think the longest shot I ever made on a coyote with my 222 Remington was around 475 yards but I did kill LOTS of them at between 300 and 400. "Lots' meaning enough to pay the bills and even buy a new Toyota Land Cruiser in a 5 month stretch of hide hunting. Paid 100% down, nothing left to pay and all of that was from hides. So you can see, I was killing a lot of Coyotes, averaging $90 each if they were not damaged, and a few cats, which were going for an average of $600 each. At those values, hide damage was a big concern to me.

In every area of life I am convinced that every time facts and some theory disagree, it's the theory that is wrong.

Desk-jockeys and lib-tards can't seem to grasp that understanding, but because they only sit around and deal with theory, theory is all they have to look at.
But most avid hunters and country-boys know what I am talking about here.

I have been hunting coyotes for about 60 years. I used the Sierra 53 gr. HP before they came out with the 52 gr. BTHP. The latter is very effective on coyotes out to about 350 yards with a well placed shot. But in extremely cold weather they don't open up as well. I have seen them run 300 plus yards before dropping. I used them in a Rem. 700 Varmint Special in the 22/250 caliber. The powder that I started out with was IMR 4320 and then switched to IMR 4064. I can't remember exactly, but I think that the load was 34 gr. of 4064. I killed hundreds of coyotes with that load. That caliber is a little tough on hides for fox.

"50 grain WW Power Points"

Are these the same as the Winchester PSP's? I can only find the PP in 62 grain.

Thanks

Landyboy -

You are overthinking this whole thing, if you go back through the posts you will see one bullet consistently mentioned - 40 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. They work, they do not destroy hides and they kill like a lightning bolt strike. While the the V-Max are great for PD and gophers they are to frangible for coyotes if you want to minimize hide damage.

Quite overanalyzing and just go shoot things.

As 'Stick would say - "you have been led to water".

drover

Drover you are correct I do tend to over think things.. I do appreciate all the info on this thread! I am currently working on the .22 load with the 40 NBT's in my .222.

you cannot go wrong with 40 gr NBT-21 to 22 grs of Re 7,& Rem 7 1/2 primer--it just plain kills in a 222.

What speed are you getting out of that load?

hides up here in Minnesota or out west are prime when it gets cold and coyote hides have some value if the hide is not all shot up ,i use a 220 Swift with 60 gr. Nosler partitions seem to usally just be a small hole on a dead coyote.

I will be in MT in December for a week.

Don't know about that load for speed but in both my rifles THE powder of choice is VVN130 with Lapua cases and 205 primers, my custom 40X shoots them at 3590fps and my factory CZ527 shoots them at 3510fps

--3420

"50 grain WW Power Points"

Are these the same as the Winchester PSP's?

Yes I think they are but I am unsure today. Maybe Winchester changed the name and it's the same bullet, but it's possible it is a different one too. (It also possible I am confusing the name myself. it was a long time ago)
It's been a lot of years scene I got any now. That was back in about 1983 on and off until about 1987 or so. I don't know if they ever make them anymore.
The old one were 50 grains, sort of a spitzer but not real pointy. The jackets were fairly thick for a 224" bullet. My SAKO would shoot them into about 3/4" with it's best load of H322. Some Sierras were more accurate, but didn't kill the coyotes as well. The little WW bullet always seemed to expand and hold together and not blow a big hole through their hide Exits were usually about the size of a Nickel to maybe a quarter at times if they were close. It was just an excellent bullet for hunting hides for maney.

Landyboy, I just went to Garf and Sons web site and looked up the WW 50 grain PSP. Now that I see a pic I can say that's not the same bullet. The ones I had were made with a cannelure and the lead tip was about 2/3 as large as those in their picture. But I think I may buy some and see how well they do anyway.
I don't hunt hides anymore, but I'll still sell them when I shoot them. There days the rifle I use most of the time for coyotes is a 16" barreled AR15 in 5.56. The velocity of my loads from the 16" barrel are just about the same as what I got from the 22" barrel of my SAKO 222 Remington, so if that bullet is as good as the ones I got back in the early 80s I am sure I'll be well please with them.

Thanks drover..... I just found a box of 1000 40BT’s..... I guess I’ll have to work up a load for my 223 vixen and try it out on the yoties this year!

Ben

Have had good luck with the 70 grain nosler rdf out of a 22 Creedmoor doing around 3500 FPS. Rarely exit and are drt

What part of MT do you get to hunt in? Fur is prime now and I am out after them as much as possible! Got to do some deer and elk hunting with the kids for a few weeks then all predators for the rest of the winter!

.223

65gr SGK
55gr V Max
50gr V max. I use Varget on all and claimed many coyote and coon.

we like to save the hides with less bullet damage ,i use 60 gr. Nosler Partitions in my 220 Swift now days