Coyote rifle cartriges

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Buddy of mine wants to hunt some coyotes but he doesn't think he will hunt them enough to justify another rifle, at least not for now. He has a 17 HMR and 30-06 already. He plans to use Remington Managed Recoil 125gr but I'd be worried about blowing out the hide even though it is a reduced load. I'm not too familiar with the 17 HMR but I know I've heard guys using it with some success. What are your thoughts in this situation? What kind of performance could he expect out of the 17?
 
My own rule when I used the 17HMR on foxes and coyotes was not taking a shot over 100 yds.

That really limited me. Where I hunted, if I could get them within 100 then I could get them to 30-40 and then I would just use buckshot.

I would use the 30-06.
 
Consensus on the 17 seems to be that it works at close range but isn't optimal

If he isn't saving pelts, I say use the '06.

If he just wants to try it out and see if he likes it I'd still use the '06 and he can buy a dedicated coyote rifle if he likes it.

12 ga with #4 buck or Dead Coyote loads work well too, assuming he has a 12ga.
 
12 ga with #4 buck or Dead Coyote loads work well too, assuming he has a 12ga.
He does have some 20ga, forgot to mention that. He wanted more reach than a shotgun though. What kind of effective range can a guy get with a shotgun? Never used one on anything larger than a clay.
 
Well, ya know, I've killed several song dogs while deer hunting with my .308 and 150 Ballistic Tips. They worked just as well on the dogs as they do on hogs and deer and one of those dogs was 370 yards. :D I have a .223 that's never killed a dog, just a deer. :D Who wrote the rule that you need a .22 center fire to shoot a coyote? :rolleyes:
 
He does have some 20ga, forgot to mention that. He wanted more reach than a shotgun though. What kind of effective range can a guy get with a shotgun? Never used one on anything larger than a clay.
Modified choke and hv 4 shot works decently to about the same range I'd use the 17. You haven't mentioned what ranges you're planning on, whether hand loads are an option, etc, in your shoes, I'd recommend the 06, if factory loading, look for barnes vortx, winchester razrback (or something like that), or federal fusion loads. None will over expand, the first two are factory lines of monolithic bullets, and the fusion is an accurate heavy bonded bullet, all should be hide friendly enough with heavy preference towards the monolithic bullets for hides and the fusion if we wanna cheap compromise. In my .223, I've moved to speer 50 gr hp or else Hornady spsx, but for my .243 and above, I've pretty much accepted that there WILL be an exit so at least with a monometal, there'll be better expansion than a fmj, and still keep the exit small.
 
Range is dependent on what you guys all have to say. He lives on the other side of the state line so we don't hunt together and I don't know what type of land he has available to him. He is not a handloader and I won't be picking up any extra dies right now. He is fairly set on factory loads.
 
My dad got one last dear season with his Savage muzzle loader. 405 grains of lead goodness. He tipped over. Use the 30-06. Better a dead coyote than a dead cat. Well at least for my dad. A couple years ago they killed his cat. He doesn't really like cats, but its was his. He keeps a grudge for a while. You don't need a special coyote rifle. Use what you have on hand.
 
I no longer use my .17 HMR. One down for four hit, all behind front leg in ribs. The nice thing about the 17 is you can see the hit as there is no jump. Now it is my .222/20 Savage.
 
He does have some 20ga, forgot to mention that. He wanted more reach than a shotgun though. What kind of effective range can a guy get with a shotgun? Never used one on anything larger than a clay.

Shotgun, I’d say 40 yards. I think 20ga offers #4 buck and #3 buck?

With the 17 I’d limit to under 100
 
Have your friend start with the 30-06 and those 125 grs loads. He'll put coyotes down if he can call them in. Success putting them down is less likely with the .17 HMR. If he is successful, he'll be hooked, and then he'll find justification for a new rifle!

Depends of where he hunts. If the territory is pretty open and he's hunting smaller Western coyote, a bolt rifle in 222, or an AR-style rifle (or bolt) in 223 would be great choices. If he is hunting big Eastern coy-dogs in open ground something in 243 Win or 6.5 Grendel would be pretty ideal. If he's hunting wooded/close areas and learns how to set up best for results, a 20 ga and flite control wad ammo may be just fine. If he is after pelts, .5.56 - 6mm 75 - 100 grs FMJ through the lungs may offer the best compromise between effectiveness and limited damage.
 
125 grain factory loads in the 30-06 will get it done and then some. Just don't expect to be saving the hides. They will be damaged enough to become nearly worthless.
 
Factory loads with the 110-grain bullets are advertised at 3,480 ft/sec.

If you handload, 80-grain bullets can be pushed to some 3,900 or maybe more. My uncle had swaged some .32-20 bullets which I loaded in front of some 54 grains of 3031. A nice dis-assembly load for jackrabbits. A Texas heart shot on a feral cat should not be photographed.
 
What are your thoughts in this situation?

You need to define your goal and set expectations.

Are they varmits, do you just want them gone like a rat, lots of stuff will work. Going to skin and sell, traps might be good then, you’ll catch lots of other stuff too.

A 17hmr will kill a coyote at 22lr ranges and them some and a 30-06 won’t kill them any “deader” but if it’s what you have, it will do with a bit more noise and recoil.
 
Factory loads with the 110-grain bullets are advertised at 3,480 ft/sec.

If you handload, 80-grain bullets can be pushed to some 3,900 or maybe more. My uncle had swaged some .32-20 bullets which I loaded in front of some 54 grains of 3031. A nice dis-assembly load for jackrabbits. A Texas heart shot on a feral cat should not be photographed.

Don't know a thing about it except some load data I once saw in a loading manual. :D
 
Never found 110grainers to be very accurate compared with other bullets from the factory and I have been shooting an '06 since my 16th birthday 45 years ago. My go to yote and all around varmint rifle is a Rem 700 sporter weight in 22-250 with a 55 grn VMax. 6-24 Bushnell scope. Combination is Yote magic. What goes in dosen't come out. For awhile as a youngster I used 130 grain Speer hollow point but I had no interest in saving a hide back then.
 
Come to think of it, I've rarely used factory ammo in my '06. My 110-grain handload was with the old Hornady Spire Point (not ogived) ahead of some 53.5 grains of 3031. That was back when you could buy DuPont for a couple of bucks a pound.

No flies on the .22-250, for sure. Back before Remington got hold of it, my uncle built one--back then, the "Varminter"--with a barrel from Jerry Gebby and a Mauser 98 action. Weaver K-10. Half-MOA critter. I guess that was around 1947 or so. He put me into the '06 business a couple of years later. He had me doing a lot of loading for him; no concern about child labor laws. :D

Back during the drouth of the fifties we'd go out at night and spotlight jackrabbits. Save the grass, feed the dogs. This was south of Cuero in DeWitt County, Texas.
 
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