Hornady 68-grain HPBT for coyotes?

[spencerhenry]

I sell hides, when I still used a 223, I tried many bullets. 60gr Sierra, 55gr hornady, 69gr Sierra, and plenty fo others, I settled on the 55gr vmax at 3050MV. Almost never lost a coyote, almost all went down right there, a handful ran a few feet. Almost never an exit wound unless the coyote was under 40 yards, killed coyotes reliably from 40yards to over 600.
Soft points were too inconsistent, some would exit leaving a big hole, others would not, sometimes the coyote ran off like it wasn't hit. The 68 and 69gr target bullets penciled through and coyote would run a very long way, sometimes never to be found. I found a couple of carcasses in the spring from ones that ran off without enough of a blood trail to follow even in the snow.

I now shoot a 17-223 with 25gr hornady hp. No more complaints about bullet holes, even entrance holes, from the fur buyer. I have killed about 65 to 70 with the 17-223 now, I have not lost one yet. "Big" coyotes go down just as easily as the small ones, amount of fur has never made any difference on the ones I shoot. I have weighed dozens of coyotes, smallest 27 pounds, largest 43 pounds, almost all between 32 and 37.

 

[SSL]

I sell hides, when I still used a 223, I tried many bullets. 60gr Sierra, 55gr hornady, 69gr Sierra, and plenty fo others, I settled on the 55gr vmax at 3050MV. Almost never lost a coyote, almost all went down right there, a handful ran a few feet. Almost never an exit wound unless the coyote was under 40 yards, killed coyotes reliably from 40yards to over 600.
Soft points were too inconsistent, some would exit leaving a big hole, others would not, sometimes the coyote ran off like it wasn't hit. The 68 and 69gr target bullets penciled through and coyote would run a very long way, sometimes never to be found. I found a couple of carcasses in the spring from ones that ran off without enough of a blood trail to follow even in the snow.

I now shoot a 17-223 with 25gr hornady hp. No more complaints about bullet holes, even entrance holes, from the fur buyer. I have killed about 65 to 70 with the 17-223 now, I have not lost one yet. "Big" coyotes go down just as easily as the small ones, amount of fur has never made any difference on the ones I shoot. I have weighed dozens of coyotes, smallest 27 pounds, largest 43 pounds, almost all between 32 and 37.

Good to know. I have a very accurate .17 Remington and a bushel of 25-grain Hornady HPs. Only real concern now is the wind we usually have, but I would guess you have plenty in Colorado too!

 

[pdhntr]

My long-time .223 load for groundhogs and coyotes has been 50-grain VMax or 52-grain HPBT bullets (both shoot under .5" in my rifle). Now that I have a rifle with a 1-8" twist, I decided to try heavier bullets out of curiosity. Surprisingly, the Hornady 68-grain HPBT Match bullets shoot every bit as well as my former stand byes with the first load I tried without any load development. The idea of the heavier bullets is both logical and intriguing in my area where the coyotes grow very heavy coats, are mostly of a good size and the wind never seems to stop. My .22-250 is a 1-14" twist and accuracy is out the window with anything over 55 grains, and my .243 is just a bit too heavy to want to pack very far. Like Goldilocks, the .223 is just right.

My question is: Though mostly thought of as a target bullet, has anyone used the Hornady 68-grain HPBTs on coyotes and how were the the results? Is the jacket too thin and blows up or is it too thick and merely drills a small hole through?

I have been following this thread and hesitated to add anything as what I have to say has nothing to do with the 68 gr. Hornady. But for what it is worth....

Several of us up here have been using the 60 gr. Sierra TMK for coyotes shortly after they came out with the bullets. This is northern Wisconsin, and we basically have two different sized coyotes, if you get my drift, while the smaller ones still are large coyotes, and heavily furred.

The 60 TMK will stay in a coyote on lengthwise shots, but exit on side shots. The exit has been dependably small in most cases, if you are saving the hides.

We really like the bullet as it is incredibly accurate in everything we have put in it, mostly AR's, but I have shot a bunch through my 1/12 22-250s, and a couple bolt .223s.

If you can't find any, I might be able to spot you a few to try out.

Jim

 

[Darwin]

My long-time .223 load for groundhogs and coyotes has been 50-grain VMax or 52-grain HPBT bullets (both shoot under .5" in my rifle). Now that I have a rifle with a 1-8" twist, I decided to try heavier bullets out of curiosity. Surprisingly, the Hornady 68-grain HPBT Match bullets shoot every bit as well as my former stand byes with the first load I tried without any load development. The idea of the heavier bullets is both logical and intriguing in my area where the coyotes grow very heavy coats, are mostly of a good size and the wind never seems to stop. My .22-250 is a 1-14" twist and accuracy is out the window with anything over 55 grains, and my .243 is just a bit too heavy to want to pack very far. Like Goldilocks, the .223 is just right.

My question is: Though mostly thought of as a target bullet, has anyone used the Hornady 68-grain HPBTs on coyotes and how were the the results? Is the jacket too thin and blows up or is it too thick and merely drills a small hole through?

There is utube vid where a guy uses a short barrel AR and 75 Horn hpbt at 2600 into Balistic gel. Goes six or seven inches then blows up.

 

[SSL]

There is utube vid where a guy uses a short barrel AR and 75 Horn hpbt at 2600 into Balistic gel. Goes six or seven inches then blows up.

I'm limited to AR loading length unless I want to single-load them. My Ruger uses AR magazines and anything over 2.25" OAL won't fit in the magazine. I see that the 75-grain HPBT is listed as .2.25" OAL. Might have to try some.

 

[SSL]

I have been following this thread and hesitated to add anything as what I have to say has nothing to do with the 68 gr. Hornady. But for what it is worth....

Several of us up here have been using the 60 gr. Sierra TMK for coyotes shortly after they came out with the bullets. This is northern Wisconsin, and we basically have two different sized coyotes, if you get my drift, while the smaller ones still are large coyotes, and heavily furred.

The 60 TMK will stay in a coyote on lengthwise shots, but exit on side shots. The exit has been dependably small in most cases, if you are saving the hides.

We really like the bullet as it is incredibly accurate in everything we have put in it, mostly AR's, but I have shot a bunch through my 1/12 22-250s, and a couple bolt .223s.

If you can't find any, I might be able to spot you a few to try out.

Jim

Thanks. I'm thinking of trying the Hornady 60-grain VMax too. I'll see if I can locate any or the TMKs while I'm at it. Nice to hear real-world experiences.