Which of these is the easiest to make? Obviously, the .17 Hornet is already done up. Looking for something to use on New England (large) coyotes 40-60 pounds, maybe more; but not far from homes, so noise is a factor. Range is anywhere from 30 yards to maybe 130 yards.
Also, how does one go about building or buying one of these? Or should I just get the .17 Hornet and be done with it?
I would seriously look at the 223 for large coyotes, by the time you build one of the Cats and buy custom dies you could invest in a suppressor for the noise. Second would be the 20 Practical with a faster twist for bullets on the heavy end BUT you can accomplish the same thing with an off the shelf 204 Ruger.
If I were picking a rifle out of the rack to go shoot coyotes with, It would be a 222 or 223. However, if noise is an issue and my shots are 200 & under, the 22 Hornet with handloads is a really viable choice.
In my early 30s I shot fur for a living. I found the 221 Fireball and the 22 Remington were the best overall. The 223 can be about as good, but bullet selection is important and the faster you go, the more important it gets. For killing them it doesn't matter much, but if you are selling the hides you do NOT want large exits (or any exits.) My dad has a 17 Remington on a SAKO and I used it some. It was wonderful in many cases, with no hide damage at all, but you can have 17s break up on the slightest resistance at times, and gusty winds play with the bullets more then I liked. The use of the 204 is interesting, but I can't personally speak about them. They didn't exist back then.
My 221 and my 222 were both used with 50 grain bullets. Hits with Winchester 50 grain and also Remington Power-Lokt HPs would exit the dogs, but the holes were always about 1" and were very easy to sew shut. They could not be seen from the outside of the hide and the buyers were very pleased with the fur I brought them. For a while I tried to find a load that would drop them and never exit. I gave up after many many tries, and found a good bullet that would exit and not shatter would give very small exits and that was better overall then some that didn't exit but others that blew out 3" holes. I loaded by 221 to about 2550 FPS and my 222 to about 2850 FPS and found that just dropping the MV back to those speeds did a lot for the value of the hides. A 22-250 kill on a coyote at 450 was OK but one at 100 was not so good. The 222 would reach them (no matter what the rag-writers told me) out to 450, no problem. I just needed to learn the holds and that was not hard to learn at all. I killed a LOT of coyotes on farms and ranches that had gotten used to buildings and human activity and were wise, but not spooky enough to run off and stay away. Ranchers and farmers would let me kill them as soon as they found I knew how, and that I would not harm any property or domestic animals. Around farm yards the gun I shot the most and killed the most coyotes with was actually a 22 LR. The reason I bring this up is that I never lost a single coyote I shot with a 22 LR. Not one. All were killed, and only 2 were shot 2 times. All the rest were 1 shot kills. A 22 LR at 125 yards is only going about 900 FPS at impact. A 40 grain 22 bullet at 900 will drop them if you shoot well. So a 50 grain bullet leaving the muzzle of a 222 at 2850 has a long way to go to get down to 900 fps and the impact of the 222 at 900 FPS is still a bit better then the 40 grain LR bullet at the same speed. So why in the world would these people think a 222 is "only good to about 200 yards"??? It's not so. In the 204s and the 17s velocity may work for you, but in my experience it will work against you at MVs much over 3000 in the 224 bullets. If you shoot for money, and you use a 224 bore rifle, slow it down to under 2900 and you will earn more at the fur buyers.
If on the other hand you just need them to die, a 270 with a 100 grain bullet makes them REAL dead. But so will about anything else.
The one thing about a 222 or 223 with reloading you can duplicate everything from the 22 Mag to the parent round. The 22H or 221 will never be MORE than a 22H or 221. I load 33gr HP's in my 222 with a very light load of shotgun powder for quiet/mild small game and finisher loads.
The one thing about a 222 or 223 with reloading you can duplicate everything from the 22 Mag to the parent round. The 22H or 221 will never be MORE than a 22H or 221. I load 33gr HP's in my 222 with a very light load of shotgun powder for quiet/mild small game and finisher loads.
That's true, but more often than not, enough is enough, you don't need more. Which is why I have a Hornet, an FB, and .223.
If the Democrats get their way and we get restricted, it would make more sense to own a .223 for the reasons you stated, til then, get em all.
I would go with a 223 in a fast twist barrel. I load 62 Barnes for mine, but I don’t know if it’s gonna tear hides up. That bullet will kill 200 lb pigs well.
I like my 204 with 32's, straightens their legs and makes em shake... No exits. Shot one the other night off my bait pile at my 300 yd gong, same reaction every time.
No need to correlate your "experience" or "abilities",let alone upon a platform vastly different from the 7" RPM Launcher pictured...though feel free to extoll upon what you've "seen". Hint. Congratulations?!?
Mebbe say sumptin' about rifle particulars,boolits,mounts,rings,glass and the like,if only to corroborate your incredible Stupidity. Hint.
Pardon my having had more than a "few" Garands and M1A1's too,as you Google it all. Hint.
Got quite a few coyotes up there? I see you inquiring about fox pros, do you do “ long distance “ calling/shooting? Let me give you a hint sugar tits, most folks call predators to get them reasonably close.... hint 😂😂😂
Where I live we don't have any coyotes, just fox. But for my fox hunting I really like my .17 Remington. Generally it goes in one side and leaves a big bruise on the other side, but doesn't go all the way through. Occasionally it does and then you get a pretty big hole. When I used to go coyote hunting I used a .220 Swift and liked it quite a bit. FWIW a .220 Swift works pretty good on our Blacktail deer though.
I would seriously look at the 223 for large coyotes, by the time you build one of the Cats and buy custom dies you could invest in a suppressor for the noise. Second would be the 20 Practical with a faster twist for bullets on the heavy end BUT you can accomplish the same thing with an off the shelf 204 Ruger.
Pardon the fact I shoot a smidge of 17 Remington,204 and Swift in no particular order(amongst others)...all of which are steaming piles of fhuqking schit in comparison. Hint.
I get it,that you cain't begin to fathom the magnititude...simply because you are stuck,being you. Hint. LAUGHING!
In my early 30s I shot fur for a living. I found the 221 Fireball and the 22 Remington were the best overall. The 223 can be about as good, but bullet selection is important and the faster you go, the more important it gets. For killing them it doesn't matter much, but if you are selling the hides you do NOT want large exits (or any exits.) My dad has a 17 Remington on a SAKO and I used it some. It was wonderful in many cases, with no hide damage at all, but you can have 17s break up on the slightest resistance at times, and gusty winds play with the bullets more then I liked. The use of the 204 is interesting, but I can't personally speak about them. They didn't exist back then.
My 221 and my 222 were both used with 50 grain bullets. Hits with Winchester 50 grain and also Remington Power-Lokt HPs would exit the dogs, but the holes were always about 1" and were very easy to sew shut. They could not be seen from the outside of the hide and the buyers were very pleased with the fur I brought them. For a while I tried to find a load that would drop them and never exit. I gave up after many many tries, and found a good bullet that would exit and not shatter would give very small exits and that was better overall then some that didn't exit but others that blew out 3" holes. I loaded by 221 to about 2550 FPS and my 222 to about 2850 FPS and found that just dropping the MV back to those speeds did a lot for the value of the hides. A 22-250 kill on a coyote at 450 was OK but one at 100 was not so good. The 222 would reach them (no matter what the rag-writers told me) out to 450, no problem. I just needed to learn the holds and that was not hard to learn at all. I killed a LOT of coyotes on farms and ranches that had gotten used to buildings and human activity and were wise, but not spooky enough to run off and stay away. Ranchers and farmers would let me kill them as soon as they found I knew how, and that I would not harm any property or domestic animals. Around farm yards the gun I shot the most and killed the most coyotes with was actually a 22 LR. The reason I bring this up is that I never lost a single coyote I shot with a 22 LR. Not one. All were killed, and only 2 were shot 2 times. All the rest were 1 shot kills. A 22 LR at 125 yards is only going about 900 FPS at impact. A 40 grain 22 bullet at 900 will drop them if you shoot well. So a 50 grain bullet leaving the muzzle of a 222 at 2850 has a long way to go to get down to 900 fps and the impact of the 222 at 900 FPS is still a bit better then the 40 grain LR bullet at the same speed. So why in the world would these people think a 222 is "only good to about 200 yards"??? It's not so. In the 204s and the 17s velocity may work for you, but in my experience it will work against you at MVs much over 3000 in the 224 bullets. If you shoot for money, and you use a 224 bore rifle, slow it down to under 2900 and you will earn more at the fur buyers.
If on the other hand you just need them to die, a 270 with a 100 grain bullet makes them REAL dead. But so will about anything else.
Thanks for taking the time to write. Whole lot of experience talking.
Which of these is the easiest to make? Obviously, the .17 Hornet is already done up. Looking for something to use on New England (large) coyotes 40-60 pounds, maybe more; but not far from homes, so noise is a factor. Range is anywhere from 30 yards to maybe 130 yards.
Also, how does one go about building or buying one of these? Or should I just get the .17 Hornet and be done with it?
OP - From reading you post it sounds as though you do not reload, if this is so then the easy answer is the 223, the ammo is available in an almost endless variety of relatively inexpensive factory ammo in a great variety of bullet weights. For coyotes you would be well served by a 40 - 50 grain bullet which generally shoot well in any over the counter twist rates. Also with inexpensive ammo you will be more likely to practice more often which means less misses. As far as noise - it is not like you will be full-auto ammo dumps, most folks may be aware of a single rifle report but are unlikely to be disturbed by it.
There are literally tons of inexpensive, accurate rifles available, with most of them all you have to do is put a scope on, sight it in and proceed to kill coyotes. If you get an itch for one of the more oddball calibers you can always scratch it at a later date - chances are after using the 223 for a season you will find that it is all you really need anyway.
If not a 223 and 50 or 55 grain Ballistic Tip would get the nod from me.
If so a 40, 50 or 53 grain V-Max or Nosler Varmageddon gets the go ahead or a 204 with any of the 32-40 grain poly tipped Varmint bullets.
Seems I get more exits from the Ballistic Tip than I do from other poly tipped varmint type bullets. I suspect it's because of the heavier solid base jacket.
Shot 2 coyotes last week. One was shot with a 55 grain Blitzking and one with a 55 Ballistic Tip. Both about 200 yards. Had a neck shot on the one with the Blitzking, 1 1/2" exit and didnt even go to the one that was shot with the BT. Of course both were DRT.
I am guilty of generally shooting forward and high so I like the heavier construction of a BT to get through onside bone.
There is something to fast twisting and terminal performance.....
In your shoes, I'd run a .223 with a 7" or 8" twist and shoot the 55-60 grain Vmax. Killed trailer fulls of stuff with these bullets from an 18" 7" at 3100 MV.
What those bullets do, with that twist has to be seen to be believed on big coyotes or either similar stuff. Electrocution. Other less frangible bullets isn't quite as dramatic but still effective.
If ranges were longer, I'd have different recommendations ..
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