Looking for fur friendly bullet in My 257 , for windy days here in Ill. anyone have a bullet that will work Thanks Ozzie

Ozzie,
I've killed a fair number of coyotes with the 'bob and I have never found the magic bullet that will give me the combination of long range ballistics I want and itty bitty holes in the hide. The 117gr SST is probably as close to what you would want as anything...but I could get them to give the best accuracy. I think they are too long for 1:10 barrels. A 22-250 with 60gr BT's is a better combo for what you want.


Good luck and have fun searching!

Barnes use to make a 90 grain solid, 80 grain TTSX would be the next best choice, then 100 grain cup and cores. Varmint bullets in 257 blow big holes. Deer bullets blow smaller holes depending on placement.

I shot a fox a couple years ago with a Roberts. He was still technically in one piece.

A fur friendly "quarter-Bob" load...not sure there is such a thing unless you decrease bullet speed, but there goes the long range capability.

I used to load 87 gr SPs in the wife's Bob for vermin and such, kept the speed around 2800 fps, these worked well on broadside coyotes with exit holes 25-50 cent piece in size. I find light, varmint class bullets at slower speeds in the 24-27 calibers tend to be more "fur-friendly" (if there is such a thing in these calibers) than driving the same projectiles faster, but shoulder or leg bone will even change that outcome.

I have quite a few "coyotes loads" for various calibers but I always come back to the 222 Rem shooting a 50 or 55 grain SX at 2900 fps as my primary fur harvester. If one wants a truly "fur-friendly" load I would suggest something in the sub-22 cal range. In these sub-calibers bullet choice is more critical I believe, unfortunately the options are often limited.

I had an avid coyote hunter once Tell me that he swore by a nosler partition out of a 25-06. I don't remember which weight. He said he shot them from 8 feet to 300 yards never having to sew a stitch.

Have used the 100 & the 115gr partition in the 25-06 and that is not my experience.

You don't have to 'sew a stitch' if ya never pick them up.....

I found this to be the case with the coyotes I've shot with the Roberts. Placement is critical.

A dedicated fur rifle is not always in the budget but if you're shooting fur and getting tired of sewing holes, how about saving all your fur from one season to put toward a dedicated fur rifle. Just a thought.

I used to put up fur on shares with several local callers when I lived in the lower 48. One of the guys was using his faithful 270 as it was the only rifle he had. I sewed up his coyotes for three years, some of which looked like they'd swallowed a grenade. The fourth season I told him he was saving his fur money for a coyote gun or finding a different fur handler. I even waived my share to help him out. He did and ended up with a 22-250. While not the best of fur friendly rifles for non handloaders, still much better than a 270. I'm not sure which factory load he finally settled on but he found one that was not too damaging. I want to say it was Remington's 55 grain SP but it's been 15 years since I was doing the fur handling. When I left for Alaska I know one of his buddies was helping him get started in reloading with the old Speer 52 grain HP. Several of us had great luck with that bullet on fur in Swifts and 22-250's.

I pick 'em up and hang 'em on the fence by the road to make it easier for the crows, magpies, and vultures to find and feast on.

I use the 100 gr Nosler BT for general hunting, when i’m not deer hunting. The rifle is a 260, but that’s not much different. That bullet doesn’t seem to blow a big hole on exit. I shoot them in the lungs (if they’ll hold still for a moment), so i’m not hitting any big bones. Still, i’d imagine that a mono metal bullet might not open too much, and might be a good choice.

Another option, which has worked great, is to use a 223 and the 40 gr Nosler BT. Most have stayed in the coyote, and it drops them really fast.

For the Roberts, doesn't Sierra still make their 90 grain FMJ, or has that been long gone for a while?

local guy had about 15 boxes of them, he was trying to sell a few years ago, at $10 a box...

117 gr hornady RN works out of the 257 ...I have shot a few coyotes while deer hunting not much fur damage...

I suggest the 80ttsx, although I've not used a 257, the ttsx in a 7mag is not too hard on yotes.

90 grain Sierra GameKing HP.

Even though this is a hollow point it is a fairly hard bullet.