22 Calhoun 55 hp

[Majday]

Hi all. I recently picked up some Calhoun 55gr hollow points that I wanted to try out. I am curious as to whose shot them and how they performed on game to the size of coyotes. One other question i have is what caliber would be best to shot these in? I have 223, 22250 and a Swift. Also any powder/ starting points would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jameson

 

[V509]

Check the website. They may be a bit too fragile for top 22-250 or 220 Swift speeds
Depends which ones you have
James makes good bullets
SILVER!

 

[Majday]

I will do that. I though I saw 3600 was marginal as in a little bit too fast. But I will look a little more at his website. Thanks. Here is what I have.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I shot some coyote with both the 52/57 gr dhp, no performance issues out of the 22-250 for me. I doubt loads were above 3600, rifle was a M700 adl, the barrel I found out had a chamber out of saami spec. It always was flaky, even had multiple Nosler 55 bt ricochet off coyote's head on between the eye shots. That flaky barrel was probably why I didn't hang with the Calhouns. Those should shoot well and the coyote won't know the difference between 3600 and 3500.

 

[Majday]

Thanks for the info. That’s what I was looking for as I have a few of them to try out. I always try behind the shoulder if possible so I would think they perform well with that application. I read imr4350 type powders work well with it h414,760,aa2700. What powder were you using? I have lots of 223 heavy type powders-8208, arcomp,h4895 varget,4064. I was thinking of taking reloading manuals and starting low with the starting charges with whatever caliber I choose- probably the 250.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I was running Varget, H380 with the Calhoons. Try the AR comp, Varget, H4895 in that order. If you try Varget first, you may not try anything else. ALWAYS follow and reference the data(I look at at least 2 sources) and start testing at or near suggested starting charge loads.

 

[Majday]

I was running Varget, H380 with the Calhoons. Try the AR comp, Varget, H4895 in that order. If you try Varget first, you may not try anything else. ALWAYS follow and reference the data(I look at at least 2 sources) and start testing at or near suggested starting charge loads.

Thanks for that. I called Jim today and he suggested h380 as well- he mentioned 36-37gr of that. Also that some powders for the 223. So we will see what route I go. I’ll try the varget probably as I have the most of that. Thanks for the information.

 

[AckleymanII]

Those are a double H.P. design.

I have hunted coyotes since the late 70's, killed a lot of them, and seen a lot more killed as we hunted 4 guys in the truck, usually.

A bullet that does not expand quite so rapidly does better on quartering shots from the rear and from the front. Also, you have to consider hitting the thick part of the upper rib or the shoulder scapula.

When the bullets are rated at 3600, you are dealing with a fragile bullet. It would be easy to swap that bullet for others that are not as fragile.

We tried all kinds of bullets when we were hunting in Mexico where the predator numbers were very high.

Bullets that performed very well in the 22/250 were as follows:

Sierra 45g High velocity spt rated at 4000+ fps
Sierra 50g Spt
52g Sierra match hp
53g Sierra match HP
Sierra 55g spt flat base
Sierra 55g bthp, tough bullet
Sierra 55g btsp
55g Nosler ballistic tip
55g Hornady sp with the cannalure, very accurate bullet
55g Sierra semi point
55g Winchester
63g Sierra semi point
All bergers from 52-60g worked very well, so did Watson 52g hp

I had Speer 52g HP blow up on the surface at 15-65 yards with a MV of 3600 on one hunt. We had to aim for the head and neck after having multiple coyotes get up on and try to hobble off. In Mexico, multiples on a stand is expected where 4 coyotes is not uncommon and our all time record 1 1/2 hour stand when it was lightly snowing south of Nogales was 17, barometer in the truck indicated the barometric pressure was dropping like an anvil.

60g Sierra penciled through at 3500

The bullet is the cheapest part of the hunt, so use a bullet that will penetrate on a Texas heart shot, and call it DONE!

All bullets made on J4 Jackets 60g and under worked well for us, no matter what the maker.

I shot a lot of Calhoon's bullets on ground squirrels and p. dogs. IF those bullets had a hp size of a 52g Sierra match, you would be in business as the jackets are thin and the core is pure lead.

If you ever see any, the Speer 52g Match HPBT is one heck of a coyote bullet, duplicates the Sierra 52g bthp in shape and length, but a tad more fragile....works well.

Our worst trip to Mexico for the weekend was 13 animals picked up, and the best was 57. We drove down to Hermosillo in the state of Sonora to shoot doves and pigeons and killed 223 predators in two weeks. Lots of different kinds of bullet testing. We would shoot 25 straight with one kind of bullet to see the effect of different angles and ranges.

Today, The dove and pigeon shooting down there is still spectacular, but today you have to use their guns, they pick up up at the airport under guard, and you are under guard the entire trip. These trips are much less expensive than going to Venezuela. You will shoot till you get tired of shooting doves and pigeons, and the spotted bass fishing is incredible!

 

[Majday]

Those are a double H.P. design.

I have hunted coyotes since the late 70's, killed a lot of them, and seen a lot more killed as we hunted 4 guys in the truck, usually.

A bullet that does not expand quite so rapidly does better on quartering shots from the rear and from the front. Also, you have to consider hitting the thick part of the upper rib or the shoulder scapula.

When the bullets are rated at 3600, you are dealing with a fragile bullet. It would be easy to swap that bullet for others that are not as fragile.

We tried all kinds of bullets when we were hunting in Mexico where the predator numbers were very high.

Bullets that performed very well in the 22/250 were as follows:

Sierra 45g High velocity spt rated at 4000+ fps
Sierra 50g Spt
52g Sierra match hp
53g Sierra match HP
Sierra 55g spt flat base
Sierra 55g bthp, tough bullet
Sierra 55g btsp
55g Nosler ballistic tip
55g Hornady sp with the cannalure, very accurate bullet
55g Sierra semi point
55g Winchester
63g Sierra semi point
All bergers from 52-60g worked very well, so did Watson 52g hp

I had Speer 52g HP blow up on the surface at 15-65 yards with a MV of 3600 on one hunt. We had to aim for the head and neck after having multiple coyotes get up on and try to hobble off. In Mexico, multiples on a stand is expected where 4 coyotes is not uncommon and our all time record 1 1/2 hour stand when it was lightly snowing south of Nogales was 17, barometer in the truck indicated the barometric pressure was dropping like an anvil.

60g Sierra penciled through at 3500

The bullet is the cheapest part of the hunt, so use a bullet that will penetrate on a Texas heart shot, and call it DONE!

All bullets made on J4 Jackets 60g and under worked well for us, no matter what the maker.

I shot a lot of Calhoon's bullets on ground squirrels and p. dogs. IF those bullets had a hp size of a 52g Sierra match, you would be in business as the jackets are thin and the core is pure lead.

If you ever see any, the Speer 52g Match HPBT is one heck of a coyote bullet, duplicates the Sierra 52g bthp in shape and length, but a tad more fragile....works well.

Our worst trip to Mexico for the weekend was 13 animals picked up, and the best was 57. We drove down to Hermosillo in the state of Sonora to shoot doves and pigeons and killed 223 predators in two weeks. Lots of different kinds of bullet testing. We would shoot 25 straight with one kind of bullet to see the effect of different angles and ranges.

Today, The dove and pigeon shooting down there is still spectacular, but today you have to use their guns, they pick up up at the airport under guard, and you are under guard the entire trip. These trips are much less expensive than going to Venezuela. You will shoot till you get tired of shooting doves and pigeons, and the spotted bass fishing is incredible!

Thanks for the info. I’ll probably use them on rock chucks then as their hp is about the size of the Speer 52 gr trash cans.
It sounds like you have a bunch of experience using different bullets in what works the best or what has good success. I have a boatload of 55 hornady so with cannalure I may have to try as well as 55 nbt. I have limited experience with some hornady 52 hpbt match which worked well the few I’ve connected with. I’ve had good luck with 50gr vmax running around 3600 FPS in the 22250 behind shoulder shots. But thank you for the list on what you’ve had good success with. It is appreciated.
Jameson

 

[AckleymanII]

55g Hornady, 55g nbt are both money in the bank!