Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints .223 Rem

I am new to coyote hunting & have a factory .243 Win chambered Rem 700 (1 in 9.125" twist) that I am currently using. Considering going to a .223 Rem chambered Howa Mini (1 in 8" twist) shooting 77 gr Sierra MK hollow points. Is that a decent bullet to anchor them @ 300 yards if they hit in the boiler room ?

First off the factory rifle usually has a 12 twist which wont stabilize a 77 gr bullet. Second, if you hit them with a 55 gr. bullet ( which it will stabilize) at 300 yards, it will kill him.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. (OP edited) The rifle that I'm buying is a Howa Mini chambered in .223 Rem, which has a 1 in 8" twist so no stability issues with the 77 gr pills. I was more concerned about bullet capability.

I've never shot game with them, so maybe my advice isn't warranted, but doesn't Sierra recommend not using Match Kings for game, accurate as hell though. It'll kill them but there are better bullets out there to get the job done IMO.

Saving fur or not?

No

Nothing wrong with a Howa Mini, I have one myself, although it's a 6.5 Grendel. Nothing wrong with a 223, I have a bunch of them, and it's one of my favorite calibers to hunt with. But, you already have what is coyote killing machine in the 243. Load it with some bullets weighing between 55 and 85 grains, and it'll do the job.

Well I have the Howa Mini in 223, and the bullet you plan on using will work JUST FINE for your intended purpose...

The problem is that the .243 is an older BDL model with gloss blueing & a gloss walnut stock.

And?

I’ve shot lots of them, a 50 grain ballistic tip out of a 223 is a coyote killer if you hit them correctly. That 50 grain bullet or a 77 grain won’t kill them quickly if you gut shoot them.

My favorite 223 bullet for coyotes, and also for bobcats, is a 50 grain VMax. I've killed a lot of them with it, and it's also very fur friendly.

Gloss and polished blue is no problem.

My little Sako is as pretty and shiny as they come


A little work with a sewing machine making a camo sleave works wonders.


And a couple pieces of camo duck tape on the scope.

Those bullets will work fine. 55 grain Vmax maybe even better

I’ve never shot 77SMK but I’ve shot a bunch of coyotes with a 223. I’d recommend 50 or 55BT or 55vmax. I’m sure the 77SMK will kill them if you hit them properly but I would much prefer the faster, lighter bullet for the ranges you are talking about shooting. As others have mentioned, your 243 is an extremely effective coyote round. Load it with 55BT and it will turn a yoties lights out instantly. I wouldn’t worry about the glossy finish of your 243. I’ve never met a coyote that knew what a rifle looks like. They’ll see your movements whether its gloss or not.

There aren't too many bullets out of a 223 that won't kill coyotes long past 300 yards. I've pretty much only been loading 40 grain Ballistic Tips for years and they knock a coyote in the dirt right quick. Starting to test the 50/55 grain Bt's and a bunch of the 53 Vmax, and they seem to about as accurate as the 40's, but I'm not sure how they could be any more deadly.....

Find out what your rifle shoots best and go kill stuff...

Why not give the 55 gr Hornady SP a try? It’s cheap, accurate, deadly (even on deer), and most importantly now days it’s available.

Agreed, one of the best all around bullets if you aren't shooting a lot of distance. I always keep a bunch around

Makes it even better. If you’re planning for 300yds plus consistently, I’d much prefer the 243. The 223 will work, 243 will work much better at those ranges.

I use that combo atop a case full of AA2200. Those 40 gr Noslers killed every Coyote I ever hit with them. That was with a 22” 12 twist barrel. One of my most memorable shots with that gun/load was with one of my buddies and his dad. We were out varmint hunting and a crow landed atop an old telephone pole about 500 yards away as we were driving a two track trail. I jumped out and used the truck door as a rest, gave it some Kentucky windage, and blew that crow off the pole shooting left-handed; I’m a righty. Even my buddies dad was impressed. He was a Korean war vet - sniper.

Hell of a shot, LH or RH.

I kinda like the heavier bullets on the 223, I have fewer runners with them and sometimes you can’t even tell where they’ve been hit. Killed this one with the Hornady 75 grain HPBT match ammo. Shot was about 150 yards and never took a step.

Is that a 9T Kimber TWR?

Yes

Reminds me of a story- We were elk hunting and four of us were scattered along a long ridge watching a canyon where elk had been moving just about every day. About an hour after light a crow must have spotted us and he landed in the top of a huge cottonwood tree down the canyon from us on another ridge and started squawking away. That darned crow wouldn't stop cawing the whole time we were there, so after about an hour we decided it was time to find another area to hunt. Walked down to the truck and that crow was still making a racket about 300 yards away in the top of that tree so I rested on a stump and shot that crow with my 338 WM with 225 Hornadies on board... I think I had enough bullet because before the crow fell out of the tree you could see a baseball sized hole through him to daylight and feathers flying every direction.... everyone in our group got a kick out of that one.....

Bob

About all I shoot anymore in my bolt action 223 is the 50 gr. Ballistic Tip. The longest shot I’ve taken with it on a coyote was 345 yds. He dropped in his tracks.

Anyone know what the twist rate is on a Kimber Montana in .223? I just bought one, but it hasn't arrived yet to find out. Thanks

1-9”

FWIW, 53 V-maxes are VILE out of my 16” AR. With a pretty good BC for their weight. Stacks holes and makes a goodly hole in the opposite side of a coyote. Would love to play with them in a good bolt gun.
26.3 TAC, 400’s, R-P cases.
My gun, work up, etc……

The Hornady and Winchester 55gr BT stuff has done well for me on chucks. As did the old Black Hills 55hr soft point ( looked like maybe Hornady bullets ).

Years ago I bought an ammo can full of the 55 gr sp
I use them in 223 and 22-250
I have tried many different bullets on coyote and those 55s anchor them never had a runner
Most were shot wit 223

I wouldn't bet on a 77 grain MK expanding so you're truly asking whether a .22 cal FMJ will "anchor." I'd say not reliably. It will kill .. eventually .. but without breaking major bones, you probably won't find them where you shot them, they'll run a ways before leaking enough to run out of oxygen to the brain. I would say the inexpensive option is the Hornady 55 or 60 grain soft point. Otherwise 60 grain VMAX or Ballistic tip.

What T O M said above . . .

The 69 and 77 grain SMKs will get there, but only poke a .22 hole.

My experience with the 69s out of a 220 Swift was that more than half the groundhogs hit needed a 2nd shot. I wouldn’t think coyotes would be any different.

Why not use the 64 grain sierra tgk gamechanger?

I didn't know they made such a thing so I looked it up...it should indeed be a viable choice! The Game King has a great reputation.

Having killed a truckload of critters including red fox, coyotes, and groundhogs with the 77tmk out of my ar and tikka varmint(both 1-8 twist) they expand very well. Nothing like a fmj.

One thing for certain, there aren’t enough coyotes left in the world or shooters left with all of the high-tech bullets and fast twist barrels that could ever shoot and kill as many coyotes with those bullets and barrels as there are coyotes that have already been killed without them…

Truth^^^^^^^^but always guys looking to reinvent the wheel..

One thing to think about is with light bullets you can just about hold on fur to 300 yards and kill coyotes. 40gr, 50gr NBT's are great coyote hunting bullets and one of my favorites is the 52gr Speer FB varmint bullet and I use it successfully in the 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 5.6x50R Mag and 22-250 along with the 40gr NBT in my 22-204. I'm a pelt hunter so I don't want to be chasing coyotes all over the place, I want them dead and still sellable, these three have been my goto's for a long time. I have found the lighter V-max bullets to be a little fragile for my tastes and have had too many large exits from 55gr SP's even the highly touted Sierra 1365.

Even Sierra doesn't recommend Match bullets for hunting.

From Sierra website.

"While they are recognized around the world for record-setting accuracy, MatchKing® and Tipped MatchKing® bullets are not recommended for most hunting applications. Although MatchKing® and Tipped MatchKing® bullets are commonly used for varmint hunting, their design will not provide the same reliable explosive expansion at equivalent velocities in varmints compared to their lightly jacketed Hornet, Blitz or Varminter counterparts."

Out of an 18" .223 they're almost built too stout for these skinny desert coyotes. I've killed probably a dozen coyotes with them with body shots and they all ran off 35-50 yards before tipping over.

Small entrance wound and roughly dime size exit.

Hit a shoulder or the spine and they quit right there.

I'm using those and Federal Fusion 64gr SP mostly for pigs but most times don't have time to swap mags and switch over to 50-52gr HP which are my normal coyote calling bullets.

I'll say one thing about the Sierra's, they're damned accurate in my AR's and Ruger American Ranch Rifle.

Ed

I found the gamechanger ammo to be the most accurate factory loads in my .308 savage ultralite and my .223 rap. So i bought a lot of them. Finally tested one out on a bear with my .308 about a week ago and he ran maybe 30 yards and dropped dead. Havent tried them on a coyote yet. The federal fusion shoot great out of my .243 and ive taken several coyotes, a lion and a bobcat with those. No complaints at all about performance with the fusion.

If its factory loads youre looking for luckygunner.com has them for 30 dollars a box. Doubt youll find them cheaper, if you find them anywhere else

Have killed dozens of coyotes with the 45 gr VMax in my 223’s. Same bullet and load for prairie dogs. I use the 69 grain sierra’s for hogs.

Finally got to test out the .223 gamechanger on a yote today. About a 30 yard shot and it dropped him in his tracks without excessive damage. Worlds dumbest coyote. No actual hunting involved. Just slide open the living room window and shoot really fast before he got away kind of deal. But im quite satisfied with the bullets performance. Ill try to enlarge my sample size in the future.

Bullschitoakie,

While a quaint and enchanting Story,there's simply no such thing as a .224" 45gr V-Max...you "lucky" kchunt. Hint. Congratulations?!?

Bless your heart for TRYING though.

Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!...............

Should have went 40s 50s 53s 55s 60s or so on. I used to use the 50g vmax a lot but have moved to the 53g when going light for the little extra bc. In a 40 I like the heavier base of the nbt. They do good things at 4200 from a 22-250.

I ran 50g vmaxes over benchmark in the old model 7 ss truck gun in 223 for years until I built a faux ti 700 with an 8 twist 3 groove pacnor per sticks advice. It's shot 1000s of 75g amaxes and seems barely broke in. I used it to dispatch a coyote in the field across from my house that was trying to lure my dog out. Hut it at about 300 yards and rolled it with my little kids cheeering. The 75 amax hit a bit high in the lungs and you could see day light through the hole. Only a few thousand 75 amaxes left until I start into the eldms which I like better.

Bb

My go to coyote rifle is a 223 loaded with 55g soft points
I find they anchor coyotes well
Those 77 gr should also

The usual here-----YOU GET A LOT OF ANSWERS FOR QUESTIONS THAT YOU DIDN'T ASK !!!

Hip

If you’d like a new gun in a .223 go for it. A great lite gun and fun to shoot. Guy can never own enough guns.
Your .243 is a great option as well. I’ve used the .243 for this purpose for 40 plus years.
The shine.. back “in the day” all rifles had shine, coyotes didn’t mind. You can buy gun sleeves or no mar tapes to wrap your stock for stealth and protection. When hunting mine is laying besides me on stand, across my lap or up and outward depending on the situation. A blued barrel doesnt matter that I recall.
I have shot mostly 55 grain ballistic tips with great success and stretched them out a long way. As far as my abilities for sure.
Whatever you do, remember you are “calling” coyotes. Put more concern in your approach and method to getting them in close than how many miles out you can drop them and you will do well and enjoy a bunch.

Osky
An afterthought. In my case I’ve shot from Havre down to Eagle Pass on too many spreads to remember and I would say my average first shot is well within 100 yards. Other guys here may have other experiences, I’m not the end all do all. Hope this helps.