.22 WMR is enough gun!!

[K.L.O.sako]

I can't believe I'm still taking flack for this, but it seems to me people don't know how effective this little round is. I wrote a thread a few weeks ago asking advice on using 22 WMR for eastern coyotes. A third of the responders said go ahead, while the majority said no way it's not enough gun. well i'm happy to say there wrong. dead wrong. i told a friend at work about the kill, it was a neck shot at 35 yrds, and he had the gall to tell me that if I had used a real rifle the yote wouldn't have ran the 30 or so feet before it stoped. I asked how far his last years deer ran when shot with a .270 and he kinda murmured "about 400 yds" but that was different, his shot was humane,( through the vitals)mine was luck that it hit spinal cord. I called him a hipocrite, were stil friends, we just differ on this issue. just so you all know, at the shot the yotes legs locked stiff and her head locked to the right side, she lungged on her back leggs for 10 to 15 feet then plowed the rest. I think she was dead at the shot and her leggs kept going aways any way the gun holds an inch at 80 yards, and i used remmington premeier 33gr ballistic tip rounds. just wanted to vent thanks for reading

 

[Grumulkin]

I believe it's enough gun for coyotes. It's probably even enough for deer...maybe I'll try it next year.

 

[Jackal]

Hey, my little Marlin 25MN, with a little cheap Simmons 3-9 scope can put 7 rounds into a quarter sized group at 50 yards with 3 different kinds of ammo. At 200 yards, I can put 7 rounds of the Remington Premier into about a 3 inch group, if the wind isn't howling. I have used it on 'yotes and it has always done the trick. They die. That's enough to make me happy. For renges under 150 yards, I use Winchester 40 grain ammo and for 150+ yards, I use the Remington V-Max.

 

[Clipper]

What the heck...In MI the only thing legal for coyote after dark is a rimfire or shotgun (non-buck shot only)...I fully intend to try a (very accurate) .22lr until I get the BB loads worked up for the 20ga...

 

[Mannlicher]

An anecdotal story or two does not make the .22 Mag a consistant killer on animals the size of coy dogs. I kill a fair amount of Eastern Coyotes here in Florida with a .22 caliber, but I use a .223 with the Hornady 55 grain Vmax bullets. I can depend on clean kills out to 200 yards with my Colt HBAR.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Well I think it's all relavence... Even a 22LR is capable of killing a yote' at reasonable distances. I've killed a good 30 pounder with #7 bird shot from a 12ga. And I've done it with a 10-22 at 40yds. I wouldn't advise it at 100yds. But a well placed shot with 22wmr at ranges within that cartridges power factor should do the trick quite reliably.

Now, when most people think of huntin doggy's, We think of shots across farm land, out in the woods, across a prarie, where shots are tipically longer. In those instances, yes, leave the 22wmr and 22LR home.

But for those close in shots, shoot the vermin. I'm all in favor of a humane hill of wild game. But the last rabbit or neighborhood feline that that Coyote recently killed, probably wasn't afforded the possibility of a quick death.

-Steve

 

[dfaugh]

The 'yotes around here ar pretty big, and becoming a big nuisance (we HAD none for many years.

Had a coule run accross my backyard a while ago, but they were gone before I could get my gun loaded. The very back of my yard is almost exactly 100 yards from my back porch. (but i own the land for a 1/4 behind it.) I grabbed a .22LR, knowing that at that range, I could guarantee a headshot IF I had a stationary target. Wouldv'e grabbed a .22WMR if I had one.

On the converse, by buddy has just started raising sheep, and there's been coyote activity in the area. Very unlikely I'd get that close shot. So I'm looking at a .22-250 specifically for that purpose.

 

[MCgunner]

I've shot 'em with .22LR and at night, they're going to be inside 100 yards or you ain't gonna see 'em for a shot. I was a yeah vote, BTW. People now days seem to think it takes a .416 Rigby to bring anything down.

I'd not try my .22 mag on deer, though. Of course, rimfire is illegal in Texas on deer, but for good reason. Sure, a good neck shot you can kill with it. The .22LR has taken millions in the night on the side of the road. But, for deer hunting, I like to stop 'em. I've not had, but 3 out of over 3 dozen I've shot in my lifetime go much farther than where he stood. I don't know, maybe I'm just a superior shot... . I see these hunting shows there the deer runs off in the woods and I just gotta wonder. I do take a lot of shoulder shots breaking a shoulder, though, and have had to dispatch the deer after the shot. The reason it didn't run is it couldn't stand up, but i don't LOSE deer that way and it takes more than a .22 to pull that off. I've shot probably 20 deer with a .257 Roberts, though, and only one went very far. It was due to the bullet I was using, didn't open up on a lung shot. I switched to Sierra game kings after that.