Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Ultimate Coyote rifle ?

If you've picked the cartridge (say a 243) what would be your ultimate coyote rifle??

I'm starting to think a BAR shortrack would make a good one.

I think this is also what MGOC uses.

Spot

Why a 17 Pred. or 22-250 ackley built on a stiller pred. action with a Mcmillan sako hunter stock...

Thou shalt not bring a caliber less than 6mm to the discussion of 'ultimate coyote rifles'.....

Amen to that!!!

My fav by far is my 6/06.

Dober

Mine's the 6mm Rem... same, same

Bolt gun, Auto loader, single shot... doesn't matter to me, as long as it's accurate. But, I'll say this... I'd rather have a single shot .243 for a coyote rifle, than an AR in .223.

Sav. pred. it comes all camoed out and a med heavy bbl.

I use a Browning BAR Lwt. Synthetic in .243 Winchester. If I shoot factory ammo I use the Remington Premier Accu-Tip 75 gr. V-Max. My handloads use the Sierra 85 gr. BTHP. Other loads shoot nearly as well, I have had excellent performance from these and stick to what works for me. This rifle shoots very, very, well and has proven to be 100% reliable. I've used 100 gr. Remington Core-Lokt's for whitetails and a few coyotes too. It simply works, and does so quite well!

I first became acquainted with the BAR's through an old guy that lived way, way, back in the deep Ozark Mountains along a rough Jeep trail. This old feller was a homesteader from right after WWII. He had built a pretty decent house out of sawed on location Missouri Ozark oak lumber. Eventually he got electricity, inside plumbing, ect. Lived there all his life. He kept a fish box filled with freshly caught fish down at the river where he would place them until he wanted a fresh fish dinner. He killed squirrels, rabbits, turkeys and deer whenever he needed meat. I think he put the "season" in them when he cooked! He had a garden he worked and put up vegetables from. He ran a trapline and had some scurvy hounds that he hunted "varmints" with at night. Life wasn't a bowl of cherries for him, but it could have been worse.

Sometime along the way he bought a BAR .243 and topped it with the old Redfield Wideview 3x9 scope. Pretty cutting edge stuff back in the day. When I first saw the rifle it was worn silver - he carried it constantly during the daylight hours either in hand, or, in his old 4x4 pick-up truck. He had a humped back Browning A5 .12 gauge in about the same shape. Those two old Browning�s put a lot of game on the table for him over the years, kept the vermin out of the garden, and provided protection around the homestead. I was young and the old man and his lifestyle intrigued me. I visited him often and actually worked up a handload with a 100 gr. Hornady spitzer and a dose of IMR-4350 for the BAR. I'd load 100 cartridges for the old feller yearly. He always repaid me in tales of game and varmints he killed with my loads.

Some years later I began conversing with some fellers out in California about coyote hunting. Nobody around these parts messed with them other than to take pot shots whenever they saw a coyote. I was interested in actually hunting them, calling more specifically. Those Cali callers actually had predator hunting clubs and held coyote calling contest! Many of them used the BAR .243 and raved about its performance at knocking down coyotes and how handy it was on fast moving doubles, ect. Some guys in Kansas I got to know used them too.

I had a .30-06 BAR, but it was pretty heavy and long to tote around the Ozark hills and hollars. Plus, any way you look at it, the 06' is a tad more than you need for coyotes! I bought the .243 Lightweight Synthetic and really found something special. Since then several guys I know have bought the same gun and all of them have had great results. I really enjoy mine...

That... is a sweet coyote rifle, I can dig it for sure!

I too ran a BAR in 243 for a while, it worked just fine. But I found I could do the same thing with my preferred bolts so I just sold the BAR.

Good rig though.

Dober

I think Dober has the "perfect" cartridge nailed.. I would have a med/heavy contour, with deep flutes, at 23.5 in...

I put this one together with coyotes in mind. Maybe even for deer if I'm feeling savvy. I know some of you don't like the T/C platform, but I think it works well. Bullberry full bull 11.5in barrel with brake (kicks like a 22 mag) chambered in 6mmBR. Still working up loads and its still a virgin

MOGC,

Did you camo it yourself or buy a replacement stock.

Nice rig!

Spot

That is actually camo cloth tape wrapped around the stock just enough to break up the all black look. I don't use it on the metal because I don't want it to soak up moisture and then sit against the steel and rust or pit the metal. I just throw a few wraps on the synthetic stock to break up the outline a little. Ya know, in case the coyote can identify the outline of a rifle, then he knows I have an evil black rifle and am up to no good... I dunno where that was going.

243 is definitely a better performer for yotes.

nice cat in the picture.

At the NRA Convention in Exhibit hall I had the chance to look at what I thought would be best coyote calling rifles. I had in mind the BAR in .243 or the Savage Predator in the same caliber.
The camo job Savage puts on that Predator is flat out amazing and really has to be seen to be appreciated. But I think I'll go with the fast follow up capabilities of the BAR. Not sure yet.

Ive been shootin coyotes and deer with an old ruger 77 chambered in the 6x51 for about 6 years now,I wouldnt trade it for love nor money,this rifle is HELL on coyotes........

As much as I love bolt guns, I have had way too many coyotes get away when they came in as pairs or even sometimes triples. Getting the first one is usually no problem, but the second one more often than not seems to make its escape.

I strongly prefer an AR15 for a calling rifle. For just driving around and shooting them at long range the bolt works fine though.

I believe an AR in 6.8SPC might have a lot of merit as the "one gun". Combining its bigger bullets and easily personalized platform in a semi auto sounds like a winner to me.

Of course the lightweight BAR sounds like a pretty slick gun as well.

Here is a pic from this last season. I was using my Tikka T3 lite in .223.

AR-15 in a 6.5 grendel - DPMS lower w/panther tactical grip. 24" overwatch upper, magpul stock and a burris 6-24x50.

a beautiful rifle.

I dunno... The 6.8 SPC and 6.5 Grendel both have the same problem as far as coyote carbines are concerned. Too long of a recovery time after the loud noise button is depressed. I would say that the average sized dog in Montana is 35-40 Lbs, and shooting one that goes 50 Lbs isn't unheard of. I've never had a problem with the 223 and 60 grain V-maxes on yotes. Coyotes are tough critters, and even when I was using a 243 I would say it was a rare dog that just laid down and died right there.

Maybe its the terrain that we're hunting in that dictates which is a better caliber. I live on the West half of Montana, we have big dogs and lots of timber. Its rare to shoot one outside 100 yards. Now when I call in the East half of the state, I usually take my shotgun and my 260. You get a lot more dogs that "hang up" at far out yardages where a bigger caliber would work better. We still try to call them into shotgun range though. I use the 260 on the east half mostly because a 140 grain Sierra Matchking is a lot more wind friendly than a 60 grain v-max.

My Coyote arsenal consists of:

222 Rem
223 Rem
222 Rem Mag
22 BR
22-250
6 mm Rem
250 Sav
250 Sav AI
257 Roberts (3)
Plus several 7x57's with proper bullets