17 vs 20cal coyotes - 250 yards and under

[Jrjones]

They are not as accurate as say a 39gr sierra bk for me. They really do puff a crow well. They come apart fast imo. I wldnt shoot big tuff coyotes in the front shoulder w em on purpose. 3 legged dogs can cover some ground dude. Shot placement

 

[alf]

Focus on coyotes

Should have kept your 6 GT, you had the perfect setup.

 

[Leveraction35]

Should have kept your 6 GT, you had the perfect setup.

Naa I can’t imagine that not blowing stuff up at 50 yards… and, it was 12 pounds naked

 

[BAM]

26 years of shooting the .17 Rem / 30gr. golds = perfect coyote round....

 

[Majday]

Great success with 17 rem pushing 25gr vmax. Bobcat in the chest at 50 didnt exit and yote at 10 in the neck same thing. Really good setup for fur. For your distance i dont think you could get a much better caliber to consistently do a good job

 

[Majday]

26 years of shooting the .17 Rem / 30gr. golds = perfect coyote round....

If only they were to be found...much less any other 30gr

 

[JB10]

Buddy and I went calling yesterday and called in a double. He was using his 300 blackout and I took my 17 Rem. He nearly decapitated his dog and mine you couldn't even tell where I hit it. Both died on the spot about a foot apart and didn't twitch. The 17 has yet to disappoint since I switched to the 25gr Berger. Just wish I could get more dogs to come to the call this year.

Im here in AZ like you. Im struggling real hard this year also calling in coyotes. October was great, then light switch went off after that. Went on a 3 day hunt up more north az and only called in 1 the whole time. Normally im at least 5 a day up in that spot. Im hearing lots of guys here not having a good year.

 

[STOMP442]

Im here in AZ like you. Im struggling real hard this year also calling in coyotes. October was great, then light switch went off after that. Went on a 3 day hunt up more north az and only called in 1 the whole time. Normally im at least 5 a day up in that spot. Im hearing lots of guys here not having a good year.

It's absolutely terrible this year. We started hitting it hard since the 1st weekend of October. I don't know how many hundreds of stands we have made at this point and only have 7 dogs on the year to show for it. Last year we were mid 20s easy by January. We are not calling in any cats or foxes either. Really strange.

 

[JSH]

.19 was brought up, I would jump on the wagon and give one a try, IF, there were bullet supplies available. About like putting all your eggs in one basket.
I read all of the articles at Calhouns and think the rifling has some merit.

 

[L.Sherm]

.19 was brought up, I would jump on the wagon and give one a try, IF, there were bullet supplies available. About like putting all your eggs in one basket.
I read all of the articles at Calhouns and think the rifling has some merit.

if your worried about bullets get a drawing die and make your own from 20cal bullets.
I've shot them drawn down they shot good.

 

[JB10]

It's absolutely terrible this year. We started hitting it hard since the 1st weekend of October. I don't know how many hundreds of stands we have made at this point and only have 7 dogs on the year to show for it. Last year we were mid 20s easy by January. We are not calling in any cats or foxes either. Really strange.

Ive only gotten 6 myself since October. No cats. Called in one fox 3 weeks ago. Buddy missed it so it had a lucky day. Im glad its just not me.

 

[Knifeman]

20 Vartarg with 40gr Bergers!!! Absolute coyote poison!! 11 twist barrel.

 

[snert]

17 fb or 20-222. both good on fur and both easy peasy. 35 gr berger on the 20 vt

 

[JoeInTucson]

I’m only seeing Calhoon as a .19 manufacturer, is that right

I have a 19 223. I am going to go back to its development soon.

 

[JoeInTucson]

I have a 19 223. I am going to go back to its development soon. Yes Jim is the only maker of it.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

Honestly... just my opinon.. speed dont matter much...

For those 50 yard, 100 yards, 150 yards... I wouldnt be after anything with speed. You dont need velocity. More velocity is gonna do more damage.

Your really barking in the 17 HMR rim fire arena to me. They work..

17 hmr on coyotes is way too light, coyotes take some killin, unless you can head, neck shoot, i'd pass you'll have more runners,and non recoverable yotes than hands on DRT.

 

[searcher]

I've shot a number with both the .17 Hornet and the .20 Practical (as well as .17 HMR). If I could only have one of these guns to do my coyote work and saving pelts, I'd use the .20 Practical and lead-free frangible bullets like the Varmint Grenade or Lead-Free Ballistic Tips. Both bullets are inherently very accurate and will almost never exit. The internal devastation usually puts the coyotes down pretty quickly. I'd favor 40 grain weights over the much lighter (25-32 grain) bullets. I've had exits using the 35 Bergers - but they are very accurate as well.

 

[SD guy]

Boils down to shot placement & bullet selection IMHO. Op has a lot of good to great considerations for a coyote slayer IMHO. They All can work. I have 3 or 4 favorites in that list. 9 twist 17 REM & 17 Fireball would do very well with non, plastic tip 25 to 30 grain bullets that are rather slim in availability these days. I am stocked up on 30 gr Bergers so the 17 FB is my personal favorite on the list for the task at hand.

20 VT & 20 practical very good choices as well for task at hand as well. Personally & would steer clear of the plastic tip offerings to reduce potential for a splash on contact. 20 vt would be my preferance here. If you want the most cost effective brass there will be nothing wrong with the 20 practical or 20 tactical IMHO.

 

[Jrjones]

Boils down to shot placement & bullet selection IMHO. Op has a lot of good to great considerations for a coyote slayer IMHO. They All can work. I have 3 or 4 favorites in that list. 9 twist 17 REM & 17 Fireball would do very well with non, plastic tip 25 to 30 grain bullets that are rather slim in availability these days. I am stocked up on 30 gr Bergers so the 17 FB is my personal favorite on the list for the task at hand.

20 VT & 20 practical very good choices as well for task at hand as well. Personally & would steer clear of the plastic tip offerings to reduce potential for a splash on contact. 20 vt would be my preferance here. If you want the most cost effective brass there will be nothing wrong with the 20 practical or 20 tactical IMHO.

This is it! Theres a bunch of stuff that wld work well. I shoot a 20-222. It’s not really far from vartarg. You cld prob take a few hundred fps blanket and Cover all the 20 cals give or take. I don’t really think a called in coyote short range wld bark back and complain. If you had a stash of good ole 17cal hp’s you wld be set w good shot placement. Last summer I loaded my last box of discontinued Berger “30gr” 20cal hp’s shot a cpl chucks w 20-222 and I cld have got the chuck mounted if I wanted. Just an easy load. I say stay away from plastic tips and save em for crows. And btw I’m not skinning a scraggly stink ass coyote anytime soon. I’d just assume shoot them w 243AI and 70gr bullets. Dam near the hammer of god. I have a tanned fur collection in my house shot w a 222 and 50gr spsx. You can do it w any off the little cals w good shot placement. They are all fun and can work. It’s the indian

 

[Leveraction35]

I see HPs in the 25 and 30gr options from Reed, Black Hole and Berger still for the 17s.