Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints .25 caliber 85 gr. ballistic tip on coyotes

I shot two coyotes this past weekend with my 257 weatherby mag and was not happy with the bullet. Pin hole going in and maybe a quarter sized hole coming out the other side. The bullet didnt come apart like the ballistic tips i run in my 22-250 and 243. Is the bullet not as explosive as other ballistic tips or do you think the bullet didnt have enough time to expand as both shots were less than 125 yards. if anyone has a better suggestion for bullets please let me know.

I think it probably exploded and the only reason that there was a small hole was that only a small portion of the bullet was able to make it out. The 85g BT in .257, especially at .257 Roy velocities is a grenade in my testing(25-06 velocities).

If you want 1 hole with mush inside, try the 75g Vmax. The problem is you give up some wind drift if shot are going to be long.

sounds like it worked! DRT yote! Just for grins, you may want to try the 87g Speer TNT...just for grins!

Good luck!

If your just wanting one small hole I would look to one of your other guns.

That Speer 87 grain TNT is hugely accurate in every quarterbore I own, about 7 rifles IIRC... It's brother bullet, the Speer 87 grain SP, is also accurate, along with Sierra's 90 grain HPBT. I haven't found a rifle that won't shoot any of these bullets.

It sounds like your 85 gr. B.TIP did exactly what it was supposed to do. Their supposed to be fur friendly. So pelt that coyote out and make yourself a hat or something

It either punched a small hole through the yote or exploded inside with 1 piece going thru. You should really do a little surgery to find out what the bullet did.

If you want a more fragile bullet, either the 90 grain Sierra HPBT or 87 grain Speer TNT ought to fill that roll. If you want a tougher bullet, the 87 grain Speer HotCore would be worth looking into.

Jeff

I should have explained a little more. both were shot in the side right behind the shoulder mid way up the body. Both went down but got up and ran. One expired within about 50 yards and the other took one more shot to finish off. I guess im used to my 22-250 with tiped bullets where it goes in the body cavity and doesnt come out and they are drt. I just figured it would be more like that. I may have not hit enough body mass for the bullet to expand all the way.

Jeff: Say what? My box of Sierra 90gr. HPBT bullets is labelled Gameking, supposedly a hunting bullet for deer, hogs and like size critters, similar in performance to the 100 gr. Spitzers offered by other manufacturers. The 87gr. is labelled Varminter. Did I misunderstand?
If so, DRAT! I am planning to work up a load with that bullet for Pronghorn next fall. If so, oh well...I have plenty of others to choose from.

I would not recomend the Sierra ANYTHING for a big game animal. The ones the build that are supposed to be tough enough for big gmae really are not IME. Try a 100gr TTSX and you will never go to any other bullet.

This is something like the what happends to the yotes when I hit them with the 85G ball tip from my 25-06AI. This dog was shot with my 220 swift.

You can sew him up, though, right?

How far was the shot?

That hide would make a nice vest. Already got the arm holes...

I like how you think.

I dident even think of the vest idea thats a good one. If I had a chance to do it over I would have only shot the yote one time and directed the second shot at its mate

I've got some loaded up & am gonna try to get out tomorrow. I haven't shot anything except paper with them. I'm kinda expecting a huge exit.

Yeah, I would expect they are pretty nasty. I would rather load up one of the 100 TSX's.