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Which would make a better coyote hunting rifle out to 350 yards? The 204 would either be shooting a 39 grain sierra or a 40 grain nosler and the 223 would be shooting either a 50 grain nosler or 52 grain sierra.

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Im guessing the .204 would be more fur freindly, but either would work well..

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I know I am going to start using my 204 for coyotes instead of my 243. Thursday I missed a coyote with the 243 that was between 25 and 30 yards away, and I know I could have hit it with a flatter shooting rifle.
Ingwe, I'll stop by the store today (Sat)- I have been gone for a few days.
In a serious vein, I haven't killed a coyote with my 204 yet, but have shot some prairie dogs with it and have been very impressed with it's capabilities. It's the most accurate rifle I have ever shot or owned by a substantial margin, and seems to hit PDs very hard.

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I use the 40 grain Nosler out of my 204 and have been very impressed with the performance on coyotes out to 400+ yards. I haven't killed a dog past about 100 yards with my 223, so take it for what its worth.



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ive shot a lot of coyotes with my .204 and some with my .223 i like the .204 by far.on p-dogs the .204 wins every time.

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I just sold my 204 and ordered a Rem model 7 predator 223 last night. I was shooting 40gr vmaxs out of my 204 and it tore at least softball size holes in every coyote and fox i ever shot with it. I really want to try for a bobcat this year and dont want to blow a huge hole in it if i call one in. Went with the 223 also because it will be cheaper to shoot as far as factory ammo. The 204 was just too heavy for my likings for walking coyote hunting. It was a Rem 700 SPS varmint. Was scary accurate though.


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Vmaxs are bad juju om pelts IME. The Nosler BTs have been extremely fur friendly though.



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A .223 out to 300 yards just has a little more going for it in my experiences. And more bullet choices. Having run both for coyotes, I did have a few runners with a .204 and the .223 but for coyotes to 300 yards, a .223 and a 55 grain Vmax is a match made in heaven. If you choose a .204, I'd run the 40 BT, or the 35 or 40 grain Berger...

55 grain BT's at .223 starting MV's will exit more often than not and you will have some runners that shouldn't be running more than likely. Vmax's work better at .223 velocities, at the least the 50, 55, and 60 grain offerrings, than do BT's in my experiences. BT"s are more tailored for .22-250 MV's for putting down coyotes quick.

YMMV...


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Personally, I like the .204 a lot. Then again, I like the .223 a lot.

.204 vs .223 is like .270 vs '06. What one does well, the other does well, what one does poorly, the other also does poorly. ... at least with standard twists in each. If you are unhappy with either one and you need a different answer, you need a REALLY different answer.

IMHO if you're worried about the difference between .204 and .223 on fur, you're better off with a .17 Fireball or .17 Remington.

Tom

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I would prefer the 223. My favorite coyote rifle is the 6x45 or one of the larger calibers like a 243, 25-06 or some flat shooting caliber for long range shooting and a lot of coyote shooting is way out yonder and running and I like that.

I am not very particular what rifle I use for coyotes however and its not uncommon for me to walk the desert for them with a iron sighted 25-35 or Sav. 250-3000 or even a 375 H&H if the notion moves me as it adds to the difficulty of the hunt. I don't believe missing a coyote is of any great importance in the big picture, but then that is my outlook on hunting in general..Its fun and I enjoy it, but its no longer imparitive to succeed.

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204 vs 223 ???...I'll take my Swift anyday although this is a third choice..with the 220 everything goes dead before you realize the gun went off!!!


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Can't argue with that.

If you're not trying to save the hides, use whatever yanks your crank. Big 6mms up through the .30s ... no problem, much fun. A few years ago I dragged around a 7mm STW with 120 grain ballistic tips at 3700 fps at the muzzle but nothing came to my call so I never got a chance to try it. Man, i wanted to hammer a coyote or rock chuck with that rig.


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I like both calibers for coyotes and they both work fine. I prefer 223 but only because it is coming from my Model 7 Predator.

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I watched a program today featuring a P-dog hunt in Wyoming, at the Silver Spur ranch. The hunters where both using AR-15 type rifles in the calibers .204 Ruger and .223.

It was a very good show and informative to say the least. They shot a lot of rounds, over 2000 and even went into showing the viewing folks that firing 20 rapid rounds and getting their barrels hot was not an issue with these rifles or the calibers chosen. Now with very hot barrels they fired at a target to see if the guns held zero or tight enough groups.

They shot 1-MOA on the target and I would have thought the group size would be larger but I was wrong I suppose. It was a good show and I came away thinking there is not much difference between the two calibers, other than a big difference in velocity with the .204 using a 32 grain bullet. However, the .223 with heavier bullet was better at long range.


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Not sure why some people are getting "softball sized" exit holes on "every fox and coyote" they've shot with Vmax bullets. I've used them in 223, 22-250, and 17 Fireball and found them to work very well on fox and coyote, dropping the animals quickly with minimal or at worst moderate exit holes (often no exits, if shot through the front of the chest). The only time I get large holes is if I hit the critter around the "edges", and that will happen with any bullet. I highly recommend the Vmax for predator calling.

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I have no experience with the .204, but I've been using a Ruger 77 in .223 and 55 gr Vmaxes handloaded to about 3000 fps for the last five years and can honestly say it's been quite fur friendly. Of course, most of my shots have been on called coyotes out to 200 yards, the majority of which have also been full frontal shots with no exit wounds.

By comparison, I've experienced devastating fur damage with Winchester white box 45 gr. hollow points and various other "hot" ballistic-tipped factory loads.

I'm still playing around with other bullets - Speer 40 gr, Sierra 52 gr. HPBT match, 40 & 50 gr V-max's etc. So far I like the 55 gr, V-max, mildy loaded.


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Laker: The 204 Ruger is the superior cartridge - especially at the ranges you will be shooting - for NUMEROUS reasons not the least of which is lethality, flattter trajectory, less wind deflection, bullet speed and lack of recoil.
Reconsider using the wonderfully accurate Sierra 52 grain bullets from a 223 for Varmints - these bullets are hard as nails and lethality on Coyotes is oftne "iffy" - at BEST!
The 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip is a very lethal projectile for Coyoting though!
Best of luck with whichever you choose - get after'em theres lots of Coyotes out there.
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Back up for more opinions.

Good thread.


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AB2506

What are the average size/weight of your foxes up there? Ours are pretty small down here, maybe 8-10lbs or so.


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Originally Posted by laker
Which would make a better coyote hunting rifle out to 350 yards? The 204 would either be shooting a 39 grain sierra or a 40 grain nosler and the 223 would be shooting either a 50 grain nosler or 52 grain sierra.


.223 with the Nosler easily......


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