My need for another Gun.... Coyotes

[longrangehunter]

So I'm thinking of a Remington 700 w/a heavy R5 SS 24" barrel that is not "fluted". As much as I like the faster 22's, I like knowing I have plenty of supplies to reach for in times like these.... reloading and/or ammo to only buy a military round. That leaves me with buying a 223 again, which I never felt was the best choice for Coyotes long range, so I left my shots to no longer then 350 yards even with the 69 grain plus bullets.

I wish I could just buy a 22 PPC or 6mm PPC USA, or even a 6mm Remington, but the brass and ammo is almost none existent in my opinion! Even the 6.5x47 Lapua would work really well but getting it in the right rifle isn't easy, and I already have a 6.5/300 WSM.

I also like how cheap the 223 Remington is to load and shoot, that and my almost blind and small girlfriend can learn to shoot it well? Ya, I told her I was buying this gun for her...... lol, funny right? But I would like her to shoot with me. She hates the idea of eating game, although she has, and doesn't want me to kill anything again? Wow, I know but that will be left to chance.

So any ideas or opinions? I'm going to use the Zeiss V/VM 5-15x42 scope off my Jarrett 280 AI for this project since it fits the bill so well.

I missed a Coyote the other day.... I went to push a patch down the barrel of my 6.5/300 and grabbed too big of a patch, so it got stuck. I was cleaning the Ruger '06 and since it was sitting there in the gun cleaning rack I took off with that instead..... shooting that gun with a clean barrel is a no-no, because they never go where they should! So that coyote lived another day. Now I will have a Varmint gun fouled out just for such an occasion!

 

[Guy Miner]

1. Get the girlfriend/hunting issue straightened out. If she's a keeper, you've got to gently educate her about hunting - even if she turns out not to be a hunter, it works if she's okay with your hunting.

My wife of 30+ years is terrific about my hunting. She is NOT a hunter, but as long as I bring home the meat in nicely wrapped packages, and take charge of cooking the steaks, and make lots of burger for her tacos etc, she's good with that. Limit the taxidermy to stuff that is tasteful, and perhaps don't insist on having something dead hanging off every wall in the house. Leave entire rooms alone... Believe me, it helps!

OR... You run the risk of being like a buddy of mine who truly loves to hunt, and truly loves his wife... So he no longer hunts. At all.

He's not even "allowed" to hang the antlers of his MAGNIFICENT bow-killed mule deer in their home. The home that he largely built. She grudgingly ALLOWS him to hang those antlers, but no more, in their garage. If they're positioned so that she doesn't have to see them when she uses the garage.

He's in a pickle, but a pickle of his own making. I wouldn't want to be there. Get the girlfriend/hunting issue sorted out. Likely a compromise can be reached, and it doesn't have to involve turning her into a hunter if she's not so inclined.

2. Coyote rifle? Wow, whatever is in hand! I've zapped 'em with cartridges large and small. They all died. One thing I really don't enjoy is using the heavy-barrel varmint rifle on them. It's just too cumbersome. Unnecessarily heavy and bulky. MUCH prefer a sporter weight rifle for coyote hunting. Accurate? Sure, but light enough to hike from stand to stand with in rugged country and light enough to get into action quickly when the coyote only gives you seconds to make the shot.

There ya go, advice from a happily married hunter who also likes shooting coyotes! Take it for what it's worth, and I don't want to hear about you, your guns, and your taxidermy being confined to the garage! :grin:

Guy

 

[Guy Miner]

Oh yeah - on the 6mm Rem... How much brass do you need? Mail order a couple of hundred from Grafs or Midway and shoot for years. Bullets are easy, same as the .243 Win (which works out just as well in the field). Ammo surprises me anymore. For a time I never saw any factory loaded 6mm Rem on the shelves, but in the past few years I've found more. It's not cheap though, so I'm glad I handload.

And yes, the 6mm Rem knocks the SNOT right out of a coyote, be it a 55 gr bullet at nearly 4,000 fps, or a 95 gr bullet at more like 3000 - 3100 fps... Either way equals one mighty dead coyote!

Regards, Guy

 

[wildgene]

...well, I know where there's a really nice 6X284 Browning 1885 Low Wall... :mrgreen:

 

[longrangehunter]

Thanks for the advise Guy. Lori and I have known each other since 2008, she's from Spokane but lived in Seattle for 20+ years. Hence the reason for the lack of hunting, but she loves to fish, camp, hike, and all the hard work cutting firewood around here and in the garden. Yesterday we woke up to six horses in the front yard, my front yard is more like 17 acres of pasture land and another 23 acres of forest. Not sure whom they belonged to, but even my closest neighbor who's live there for eighty years has never seen horse show up..... but he did yesterday after they left my place for his front yard.

Years ago she helped with putting up all my full shoulder mounts in my cabin here. That place is so small you have to go outside to change your mind, and when you walk in it's like they are all staring at you! I haven't brought any of them into my new home I built, yet, but honestly I've got bigger fires to put out. Lori and I split apart over a year and a half ago, she went back to the big city for work, as an Interior Designer there was no real work for her here. Two months ago she started to loose her sight to a hereditary/genetic disease. I told her I need her more then she needs me and asked her to come live with me. She basically lost her vision in eight weeks, not all of it but she cant actually "see things" read something unless it's magnified 6x-7x. She can see things in detail with my Swarovski Binoculars, but driving down the highway with binoculars is totally out of the question!

She isn't against anything I've ever wanted to do...... as a woman she just likes to say what I can and shouldn't do, it just allows her to feel she got a say in things, that and I always ask for her opinion. I know when to give in and trade in my good deeds for another day. I like to keep my priorities straight, and choose my words wisely to make a win-win situation out of anything, but I'm very laid back. Part of the reason she left was because I was so hard headed on the things that really mattered to me, and I put my foot down. But honestly, I'd rather live with someone I love then just have everything my-way or the-highway. We as people change to suit our needs, I have lived a great life and enjoy what I have now and in the past. I'll have her shooting at steel in no time because she's so competitive, that and she can actually see through a scope, which will keep her eye on the ball (steel or target) and we'll both be doing something I enjoy..... teaching someone something I love to do! I already have my sportsman's license, there will be trophies won and lost, I just don't want to lose what I had lost before.... a good friend.

 

[Guy Miner]

"I'd rather live with someone I love then just have everything my-way or the-highway."

GREAT attitude! Am glad you two are back together, and sorry about the eyesight problem. That sounds bad!

Meanwhile, back to coyotes... :mrgreen:

Guy

 

[nvbroncrider]

I'd have to say a 22-250. I haven't seen them run out of ammo for them yet unlike a 223 and besides it will fit the bill nicely and plenty of options.

 

[shoots_5]

260 Rem. Perfect compromise between economy and performance. Light recoil, enjoyable to shoot and very good ballistics with plenty of coyote smacking power. You can always form brass from 308, 243 or 07-08 if you can't find 260 brass. And 6.5mm isn't as popular as most calibers so I've had good luck finding some on the shelves when all the 308 and 224 caliber components are gone.

 

[wayno945]

6x45... just shoot a little bigger bullet outta that 223.

 

[SJB358]

Good luck LRH, sounds like a cool plan and I hope you too get to spend a bunch of time together in the outdoors. Sounds like a great lady you have.

Guy, great advice, thank you. Those were some great pointers.

 

[truck driver]

A nice 257 Roberts is sweeeet to shoot and a 90gr JHP should roll a yote into a ball of fur.

 

[.300winmag]

What about a .22-250 with a 1-7" barrel and run 80 grain Berger's or SMK's out of it? Those bullets have BC's of .445 and .425 respectively. My buddy has a 27" barrel on his .22-250 and is running them at 3,300 with RL-19. Bullets are pretty cheap (especially Sierra seconds) and it would do just fine for coyote's out to 600-700 yards.

 

[.300winmag]

I also should say the 75 or 80 grain Hornady A-Max is also a good bullet, BC's of .414 and .452.... All of these BC's are measured by Bryan Litz by the way.

 

[longrangehunter]

I'm still having a tough time finding brass except for the 223, and my Lapua 338 Magnum. Midway has both and my LGS has enough 223 Remington ammo to launch a war! My girl friend is too small for even mild recoil? Years ago I let her shoot a Fire Form load in the 280 AI, a 140 gr. Hornady @ 2545 fps. The gun weights at least 8 lbs. and it was still too much recoil.

My options for this revolves around availability of reloading supplies, current and in the future, mild recoil, must be accurate and yet cheap to shoot. I have my eye on a Factory Remington 700 that has a 24" R5 Mil-Spec SS barrel w/ a 1:9" twist and isn't fluted that I think would be perfect...... perfectly capable of knocking down a Coyote at a range that Lori could effectively dispatch if she so wishes or me for that matter!

 

[truck driver]

If she is that recoil sensitive I can't see her shooting anything but a 22 rim fire. The retort of the round being fired would be more than see could handle and flinch badly. I've seen some women who couldn't stand the sound of a gun going bang and just plain jump out of thier skin. I should also add some men also.
It sounds like you need to train her to shoot with something small like a pellet rifle and progress to the noise makers if she is really interested and don't try to make her do something she doesn't want to do. It would be the worse thing you could do and she would end up hating guns and hunting.

 

[Guy Miner]

AR-15 in .223 has barely any kick, dispatches coyotes nicely, and can be fitted with a suppressor very easily.

The suppressor reduces the already low recoil to almost nothing.

Consider the AR-15, suppressed and scoped, for an easy-shooting coyote rifle. Works great!

Guy

 

[SJB358]

AR-15 in .223 has barely any kick, dispatches coyotes nicely, and can be fitted with a suppressor very easily.

The suppressor reduces the already low recoil to almost nothing.

Consider the AR-15, suppressed and scoped, for an easy-shooting coyote rifle. Works great!

Guy

That is actually my idea of a perfect coyote rifle. Alot of capability to put rounds down range and also the accuracy and power with the longer bullets..

 

[longrangehunter]

If she is that recoil sensitive I can't see her shooting anything but a 22 rim fire. The retort of the round being fired would be more than see could handle and flinch badly. I've seen some women who couldn't stand the sound of a gun going bang and just plain jump out of thier skin. I should also add some men also.
It sounds like you need to train her to shoot with something small like a pellet rifle and progress to the noise makers if she is really interested and don't try to make her do something she doesn't want to do. It would be the worse thing you could do and she would end up hating guns and hunting.

You could be right Truck Driver, I think I'll have her shoot my 22LR High Standard Supermatic Tournament this weekend, but with her eyesight issues I don't think will work out so well using Iron Sights on a Pistol.

 

[FOTIS]

...well, I know where there's a really nice 6X284 Browning 1885 Low Wall... :mrgreen:

me too!

 

[longrangehunter]

AR-15 in .223 has barely any kick, dispatches coyotes nicely, and can be fitted with a suppressor very easily.

The suppressor reduces the already low recoil to almost nothing.

Consider the AR-15, suppressed and scoped, for an easy-shooting coyote rifle. Works great!

Guy

That is actually my idea of a perfect coyote rifle. Alot of capability to put rounds down range and also the accuracy and power with the longer bullets..

This is what I have in mind only they make it in .223 Remington, order #85504. Same gun, same stock, same 24" SS non-fluted bbl only a 1:9" twist with the newer adjustable 40x pro trigger.

http://www.snipercountry.com/inreviews/ ... ilspec.asp

Remington makes this exact same gun already treaded for a suppressor..... but it's only a 20" barrel. I could have it treaded later on if need be, I just don't think it will be necessary.

I just don't think a semiautomatic gun is the ticket for a beginning shooter in the first place. I rather know that when it goes off it's empty! As a young teenager I had a friend I took hunting deer w/me, Todd. Well Todd almost blew off my calf when I walk past him with a single shot 410 while testing to see if the safety was on by pulling on the trigger! Oh, Ya, and on another late night deer hunt, after he handed me the 410 w/slugs, the barrel was plugged 4"-5" full of mud! Lets just say lucky for him or anyone of my other friends that day Todd didn't see a deer on a drive we had done. Man some people just don't know how stupid things can bring their or someone else's world crashing down!