22BR coyote calling rifle

[Toby Bradshaw]

In building a dedicated coyote calling rifle to replace my Rem 700V .222, I wanted something with a flatter trajectory for the occasional 300-400 yard shot (although more than half of the coyotes I shoot are less than 100 yards away, according to my records). I like the performance of the 40gr Nosler Ballistic Tips that I've been using -- I was just looking for a little more speed, and the possibility of switch barrels chambered for 22BR, .20-.250, .22-250AI, .22-.243, .243AI, etc.

For many reasons I decided on a 22BR, which should push the 40gr NBT out the barrel at 4100fps or so. At 100 yards the 40gr NBT will still be going as fast as my .222's velocity at the muzzle. I hope that the extra recoil from the 22BR won't prevent me from seeing the bullet impact on the coyote as I can with the .222.

The BR case is famous for not feeding well from a magazine, but I've found that even with the short 40gr NBT they feed perfectly from the single-stack AICS magazine (without using the Primal Rights magazine conversion -- although that is an option). Pam and Jeff at CDI provided the bottom metal, 5-round AICS mag, and (free!) inletting service. The stock is a B&C Medalist that I picked up used in the classifieds on this site. The rifle balances just in front of the magazine, so it's comfortable to carry even when not using my Boonie Packer sling.

I thought about using a trued/timed/bushed/etc. Rem 700 action, but decided instead to go with the Kelbly Atlas Tactical (Ryan Pierce had the best price that I could find). The Atlas Tactical comes standard with the AICS magazine cut, small diameter firing pin, and melonite surface treatment so that no (or minimal) bolt lube is required (a great feature for a hunting rifle used in dusty conditions). As expected from Kelbly's, the action was dimensionally spot-on. The Atlas Tactical also has the TG mechanical ejector, which works exceptionally well with the BR case, and is also nice for setting up sizing dies because it doesn't put pressure on the case head when in battery. I could do without the enormous "tactical" bolt knob, though, so maybe I'll look around for something more tasteful.

Steve Kostanich fitted and chambered the Krieger #5 14tw barrel, finished at 24". Steve's 22BR reamer has a 0.246" neck, so I'll be doing some neck turning -- not a huge deal given the relatively low volume of shooting in coyote hunting. I got a Forster FL die and had the neck honed to 0.2405" to give 0.0025" squeeze on the 0.2430" necks. I'm using a Wilson seater die.

After I sponge-camo paint the rifle I will install a Jewell trigger. The scope is a 3.5-10x40 Leupold VX-3i with a duplex reticle, which was on sale for $326. A 40mm objective is all I need for coyote calling, since 90% of shots are taken at the lowest magnification where light transmission is highest. For a hunting rifle I prefer Talley Lightweight low rings over the 20MOA Picatinny rail that came with the Atlas Tactical action. I have Butler Creek flip-up caps for both ends of the scope.

I had to do a little grinding and sanding to get everything to fit and function, then bedded the action. All-up weight is just over 9 pounds.

As soon as the paint is cured I'll take it to the range for a shakedown cruise.

Altogether I have almost $2800 in this thing. I hope that it earns its keep in the high desert!

 

[pauls]

Nice!!

 

[jds holler]

That's a mighty sweet rig Bradshaw. I like about everything about it, but that bolt handle is pretty freaky. I guess you could use if for a kickstand when ya wanna set the rifle on the hood of your truck.

I also have a tight-neck 22BR, but I've measured mine at .248. (chamber casting) Mine is a 20" Light Varmint 40XBR. I'd like to try mine on coyotes, but I'd need a different scope than the 24X Leupold BR scope it's got.

I think your scope will be great for calling, and not recoil off the dog at 10X. I've been using a 222 for coyote calling all my life, but just rebuilt it as a 20-222 for the same purpose. My favorite bullet is the 40 V-Max for both the 222 and the BR. Favorite powder for both is BLC-2. Haven't had the BR for that long yet to try a lot of different stuff, but everything I have tried seems to work. I think a real shooter could make my rifle shoot bug holes, but I mostly shoot .4 to .6 groups.

Oh yeah -- get a sling. jd

 

[stacy]

NICE RIG I'M FIXING TO START ON A 22BR SONG DOG TOY MYSELF I BE USING THOSE 53GR VMAX'S AND H-322 GOING WITH A 12 TWIST

 

[tmx199]

Nice set up! In my 22BR I'm going to try a center feed mag box from wyatts in my model seven remington.

 

[MQ1]

Toby,

Whose mag are you using that feeds a 22br and 40 Nosler?

I've built a similar switch barrel rifle many moons ago, but could not get the 22br to feed from the single stack AICS mag because the feed lips were too short.

MQ1

 

[AckleymanII]

I had a lot of "nippers and spinners" with a 40g ballistic tip, especially at 200 yards. 55g Nosler ballistic tips are a whale of an improvement. If you hit them behind the diaphragm with a 40g, they are gone, not so much with a 55g Nosler BT, and a 55g Sierra btsp, #1365 is awesome also. The 55g Sierra lead tip blitz at 3550 massacres a coyote, I hope you try a box because they are very, very accurate.

I know you are looking for speed and increased hydrostatic shock, but the 40's bleed off speed in a hurry.

Your hunting terrain and calling situations may all be close range, but don 't forget those crows that will be out there at 250-300 yards coming to the call. ON blue bird days, we always ended up crow hunting, got to love those black powder puffs!

the 22/250 AI with the 53-55g at 4100 in a 12T is my all time favorite coyote/crow rifle with astounding accuracy, like a big 22 PPC!

You sure have put together a great rifle!

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

Toby,

Whose mag are you using that feeds a 22br and 40 Nosler?

I've built a similar switch barrel rifle many moons ago, but could not get the 22br to feed from the single stack AICS mag because the feed lips were too short.

MQ1

It's just a vanilla AICS .308 mag. I'll take some video of it feeding/ejecting when I have it finished. But it's been flawless so far in testing.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

 

[AckleymanII]

I gotta disagree. I've killed a pile of coyotes with the 40 BT out of a 22 Dasher at 4200, and never had a problem with performance.

as the distance increases, you will have problems. We hunted Mexico for years, was average to kill 32 on a weekend and 100-230 on a two week hunting trip...bullet testing.
What appeared to happen was the hydrostatic shock diminished greatly beyond 250 yards. Of course a perfect hit is a perfect hit, but often a coyote will be shot on the move, or move as the gun goes off giving a hit that is further back in the body than you would like. Of course, a 40g bullet will often not penetrate well on quartering shots, coming and going and totally disintegrate on some large ribs. Were the 40 ballistic tips fails miserably is on a hip joint where the coyote is running and you did not leade him enough.

On one hunt, I shot a coyote in the head at 320 yards as he was looking over a bush. I aimed right between his eyes, a tad of daylight over his head, 22/250 AI with a 50g Nosler ballistic tip with a MV of 4200 out of a long barrel, 12T Hart bbl. That bullet did not go through that coyote's skull, but he was graveyard dead with the bullet impacting him right above the ridge of the left eye socket.

I also had a 27" 223AI with a 12T, zero freebore that I shot the 40g NOsler at 4150 with a hot load of N133 or old AA2015. We had several coyotes at 300 yards that were lost, spinners...figured out they were not dead and took off, never to be found. Obviously the wind had blown the bullet impact behind the diaphragm, bullet blew up on a rib, or they moved during time of bullet's flight. I was not used to seeing coyotes run off, I despise it! I had just opted out of shooting Sierra 60g at 4000 fps out of a 6 Remington and everything just flopped near and far.

So, I took to a trial on two bullets on the next trip to Mexico, 55g Nosler ballistic tips at 4100 and the Sierra btsp at the same velocity. We did not have many even twitch their tails, must less spin. I shot several in the stomach to see what the results would be, and they just died. I can remember shooting a couple in front of the rear let on broadside shots(kidney shot) and they just died.

Quartering shots going away, are horrible with a 40 Nosler, there is no penetration and little if any hydrostatic shot to the vitals. The bullet will blow up on a leg bone or hip joint, they flop for a second, and a coyote can run like it's tail is on fire on three legs.

What really pissed me off on the 40g Nosler was a stand where the coyotes would not stop at all, they were hard charging. I hit a hard charger coming in on a quartering angle around 125 yards. The 40g broke his shoulder and that was it. He flopped and jumped like a yo yo for what seemed like minutes, running plowing the ground with his nose, flipping around and round on the ground, and I was trying to get a beade on him. He flopped over into a ditch, I grabbed the 1100, ran out and finished him off. We got 7 on that stand, bad weather moving in, barometric pressure dropping like an anvil.

We also played with the sierra 45g Spt which is a high velocity bullet and extremely accurate. This is a much better bullet, but they too seemed to run out of gas around 275-300. The 55g Nosler at 4050-4100 is a great 500 yard coyote bullet, as long as you do not hit them behind the diaphragm at that long distance, but at 350 they are dead when shot in the stomach and a tad further back.

Coyotes and white tail bucks in the rut have a will to live that is simply unbelievable.

I shot the barrel out of two 27" 22 Br's with the 55g Sierra bthp and spbt at 3700 fps with R#15, one heck of a killing round, 12T with zero freebore...p. dogs and coyotes.

 

[cath8r]

as the distance increases, you will have problems. We hunted Mexico for years, was average to kill 32 on a weekend and 100-230 on a two week hunting trip...bullet testing.
What appeared to happen was the hydrostatic shock diminished greatly beyond 250 yards. Of course a perfect hit is a perfect hit, but often a coyote will be shot on the move, or move as the gun goes off giving a hit that is further back in the body than you would like. Of course, a 40g bullet will often not penetrate well on quartering shots, coming and going and totally disintegrate on some large ribs. Were the 40 ballistic tips fails miserably is on a hip joint where the coyote is running and you did not leade him enough.

On one hunt, I shot a coyote in the head at 320 yards as he was looking over a bush. I aimed right between his eyes, a tad of daylight over his head, 22/250 AI with a 50g Nosler ballistic tip with a MV of 4200 out of a long barrel, 12T Hart bbl. That bullet did not go through that coyote's skull, but he was graveyard dead with the bullet impacting him right above the ridge of the left eye socket.

I also had a 27" 223AI with a 12T, zero freebore that I shot the 40g NOsler at 4150 with a hot load of N133 or old AA2015. We had several coyotes at 300 yards that were lost, spinners...figured out they were not dead and took off, never to be found. Obviously the wind had blown the bullet impact behind the diaphragm, bullet blew up on a rib, or they moved during time of bullet's flight. I was not used to seeing coyotes run off, I despise it! I had just opted out of shooting Sierra 60g at 4000 fps out of a 6 Remington and everything just flopped near and far.

So, I took to a trial on two bullets on the next trip to Mexico, 55g Nosler ballistic tips at 4100 and the Sierra btsp at the same velocity. We did not have many even twitch their tails, must less spin. I shot several in the stomach to see what the results would be, and they just died. I can remember shooting a couple in front of the rear let on broadside shots(kidney shot) and they just died.

Quartering shots going away, are horrible with a 40 Nosler, there is no penetration and little if any hydrostatic shot to the vitals. The bullet will blow up on a leg bone or hip joint, they flop for a second, and a coyote can run like it's tail is on fire on three legs.

What really pissed me off on the 40g Nosler was a stand where the coyotes would not stop at all, they were hard charging. I hit a hard charger coming in on a quartering angle around 125 yards. The 40g broke his shoulder and that was it. He flopped and jumped like a yo yo for what seemed like minutes, running plowing the ground with his nose, flipping around and round on the ground, and I was trying to get a beade on him. He flopped over into a ditch, I grabbed the 1100, ran out and finished him off. We got 7 on that stand, bad weather moving in, barometric pressure dropping like an anvil.

We also played with the sierra 45g Spt which is a high velocity bullet and extremely accurate. This is a much better bullet, but they too seemed to run out of gas around 275-300. The 55g Nosler at 4050-4100 is a great 500 yard coyote bullet, as long as you do not hit them behind the diaphragm at that long distance, but at 350 they are dead when shot in the stomach and a tad further back.

Coyotes and white tail bucks in the rut have a will to live that is simply unbelievable.

I shot the barrel out of two 27" 22 Br's with the 55g Sierra bthp and spbt at 3700 fps with R#15, one heck of a killing round, 12T with zero freebore...p. dogs and coyotes.

This is the type of knowledge that makes this one of the best forums going! Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[Brians356]

On one hunt, I shot a coyote in the head at 320 yards as he was looking over a bush. I aimed right between his eyes, a tad of daylight over his head, 22/250 AI with a 50g Nosler ballistic tip with a MV of 4200 out of a long barrel, 12T Hart bbl. That bullet did not go through that coyote's skull, but he was graveyard dead with the bullet impacting him right above the ridge of the left eye socket.

I once shot a coyote with my 250 AI (87-gr TNT) trotting up a hill, away from me, through broken sagebrush, about 175 yards range. I tracked him through the scope, but only caught short glimpses of his head between and over sage bushes. I got off a snap shot and he disappeared, but I wasn't sure I had hit him. Searching the area, I found him dead, with only a grazing wound on the top of the skull, the bone laid bare and a narrow 3/4" long furrow through the skull, but no bullet penetration, and no avulsion of the brain or bleeding. The shock wave through the head from the grazing bullet knocked him out for good.
-

 

[tbeasley]

I have to totally agree on the Kelbly Atlas action, truly a great action but that damn bolt knob has no place on this action and just plain stupid looking. Just that alone has kept me from their action.
Your rifle looks good, shouldn't have much recoil either..flat shooter

 

[Yote Hunter]

I too have found that I prefer 52-55 gr bullets as the lightest I would use for eastern coyotes. I used to think just speed alone would kill them graveyard dead but found that I prefer 75-80 gr bullets in fast twist 22-250/22-250 Ack. The higher the ballistic coefficient the more speed and energy is still left on target...especially at 300 plus yards.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

I did a quick charge/seating depth test this morning, 3-shot groups at 100yd off a Harris bipod. The 10x scope magnification (with no parallax correction) was the limiting factor, which is why I ended up using the aiming square on the BR target instead of the rings. The rifle definitely prefers the 40gr NBT on or into the lands 0.004". Groups from jumped bullets ranged from 0.6"-1.0". Charge weights on this part of the target (below) are 32.6gr and 32.9gr H322, which should give around 4070-4100fps.

Where I call coyotes (sagebrush flats, mostly), a 300yd shot is a rarity -- maybe a few times a year. For the last 30 or so coyotes that I shot I kept track of the distance. The average is 90 yards. The longest were a single at 260yd and a triple at 225 yards. There is almost never time to use a rangefinder, hence the need for a flat trajectory. I have missed more coyotes by shooting over them (overestimated range) than under them. The shots are frequently at a small part of the coyote, with the majority of the body obscured by brush, so a midrange trajectory of more than 1.5" causes problems. I don't often shoot at running coyotes, since I've had more success calling them back than hitting them on the move.

For longer range coyotes (not called), I use a 6BR with 95gr Berger VLDs and a rangefinder, but the vast majority of coyotes that I shoot are called in.

Now I just need to load up a few rounds and go call some spring coyotes.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

I loaded up some virgin Lapua cases with 32.9gr H322, 40gr Nosler Ballistic Tips seated 0.006" into the lands, and went to the range to get zeroed. The first 3 shots from a clean, cold barrel at 100yd, shot off a Hart rest shown below. That'll do, pig.

 

[AckleymanII]

Toby, sight in for 200, aim at the top of their back at 300...done

Good luck!

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

Toby,

Whose mag are you using that feeds a 22br and 40 Nosler?

I've built a similar switch barrel rifle many moons ago, but could not get the 22br to feed from the single stack AICS mag because the feed lips were too short.

MQ1

It's just a vanilla AICS .308 mag. I'll take some video of it feeding/ejecting when I have it finished. But it's been flawless so far in testing.

 

[Brians356]

That sounds soooooo sweet. Like fine Edwardian machinery.
-

 

[snert]

I have only shot about 6 coyotes, so I am NO experienced coyote shooter. However, I shot 2 with a 357 Herrett, 180 grain SSP bullet and they died right there. I shot 3 with a 22-250, 55 grain Vmax at 450 yards and all three spun and made it into the corn. The last one I shot at 330 yards with a 150 grain 7mm NBT out of a 7mag. Hit him twice before he gave it up. I know this about eastern coyotes...they are NOT prairie dogs! They take some killing.

I think if I were to build a gun for here it would be a 6mm of some sort, and i would try the 87 grain Vmax or even a light 308. Not cause the other guns don't work, but for 100-300 yard shooting on a 40-50 pound dog, I want a little more bullet.

For what you are doing and where, it sure looks like you got it knocked. I like that rifle. I do have to say that the camo looks like "bread mold" color, but I can sure see how it would fit in sage brush. Darn nice rifle you made there. I have gun envy.