Fur Bullets for Coyotes

[Bleebs]

I know fur doesn't sell for much nowadays but I'd like to get a fur gun so that I can start putting together a collection at my own house.

I've been looking at a lot of 17 cal and 20 cal cartridges to build into an AR and I've been reading through old conversations about which would work best. I've narrowed it down to four: 17 Tactical, 17-223, 20 Practical, and 204 Ruger but I can't make up my mind...

However, that's not the question I have here. I want to try and make my current AR which is chambered in .223 Remington and turn it into an optimal fur gun. Have you guys had success in shooting something around the 40 gr range with .223 Remington. I've been shooting 55 gr V-Max for a bit and it does a little too much damage on pelts for my taste.

I'm wondering if I can make my .223 Remington work as a pelt gun before I start getting into the smaller stuff. Any comparisons with .17 and .20 cal bullets are welcomed.

 

[alf]

My 22 fur bullet is the Berger 52 grain Match out of my 22 DTI at 3550.

I'm sure they will be equally effective out of a 223's lesser velocity.

 

[STOMP442]

The 52gr Berger varmint is my go to out of both my bolt .223 and ARs. They don't come out and most of the time the coyotes don't twitch.

 

[STS]

I'll offer this anecdotal story for the sake of entertainment. I grew up in Kansas City, and was fortunate to be rather close to where Walt Berger lived in Overland Park Kansas. I was a hopelessly addicted 20 year old budding BR shooter and neophyte coyote hunter. Walt was kind enough to mentor me back then, and the things that I learned from him are still with me today. I recognized that the pure accuracy of those bullets that Walt made, and later the bullets that I made myself, should be great for coyote hunting.
I asked Walt one day if those bullets would work well on coyotes and he said " I don't think so, they will just punch a pencil hole right through them." Well, about 50 years later, and more than 1k coyotes to the credit of those bullets, I have to say that was one of the few things that he totally missed the mark on. Those 52 grain BR bullets are EXCELLENT on coyotes. Rarely blowing a big hole in them unless a poor shot is made and most of the time they stay in the coyote.
Thanks Walt for the memories.

 

[spencerhenry]

I tried many different bullets for coyotes out of a 223. I settled on the 55gr vmax as the best, I only had exit wounds with shots under 50 yards. A chest shot left only an entrance hole, a front on shot made the entrance hard to find.

I sold fur. But even 22 caliber entrance holes were bigger than the fur buyer wanted. I switched to 17-223 never had another complaint about damage. I also never lost a coyote with the 17, out of 50 or so I shot with it.

For fox, or bobcat the 223 is too much, never found a bullet that wouldn't consistently not damage a hide.

 

[AWS]

When I hunted fur I used a 222 Rem with 52gr Speer HPs, later a 22-204 with 40gr NBTs. I skinned and stretched pelts a stitch or two and never had a complaint on bullet holes. Fox I use the Speer 45gr SP out of a 222 Rem.

The 52gr Speer is pretty fur friendly out of my 22-250 out past 50 yards.

 

[L.Sherm]

Those 52 grain BR bullets are EXCELLENT on coyotes. Rarely blowing a big hole in them unless a poor shot is made and most of the time they stay in the coyote.

My nephew swears by them out of his 22-250 and staying inside destroying the vitals is exactly what he's told me.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I like the Hornady 50 gr SX in the 223, especially for shooting under 200 yards when pelt hunting. Also works good for raccoons. They will allow for some seating depth adjustment running magazines. Plus is the very reasonable cost, Benchmark works well with them.

 

[1lessdog]

I'll offer this anecdotal story for the sake of entertainment. I grew up in Kansas City, and was fortunate to be rather close to where Walt Berger lived in Overland Park Kansas. I was a hopelessly addicted 20 year old budding BR shooter and neophyte coyote hunter. Walt was kind enough to mentor me back then, and the things that I learned from him are still with me today. I recognized that the pure accuracy of those bullets that Walt made, and later the bullets that I made myself, should be great for coyote hunting.
I asked Walt one day if those bullets would work well on coyotes and he said " I don't think so, they will just punch a pencil hole right through them." Well, about 50 years later, and more than 1k coyotes to the credit of those bullets, I have to say that was one of the few things that he totally missed the mark on. Those 52 grain BR bullets are EXCELLENT on coyotes. Rarely blowing a big hole in them unless a poor shot is made and most of the time they stay in the coyote.
Thanks Walt for the memories.

What were you shooting them in?

 

[STS]

What were you shooting them in?

22-250, 22 BR and a 22x47 Lapua, with a few other oddball things thrown in from time to time.

 

[Knifeman]

20 caliber Berger 40gr!!!

 

[Bleebs]

I tried many different bullets for coyotes out of a 223. I settled on the 55gr vmax as the best, I only had exit wounds with shots under 50 yards. A chest shot left only an entrance hole, a front on shot made the entrance hard to find.

I sold fur. But even 22 caliber entrance holes were bigger than the fur buyer wanted. I switched to 17-223 never had another complaint about damage. I also never lost a coyote with the 17, out of 50 or so I shot with it.

For fox, or bobcat the 223 is too much, never found a bullet that wouldn't consistently not damage a hide.

Maybe I've been unlucky, but that hasn't been my experience. It's not doing nearly as much damage as my 22-250 55 gr Bergers or my 22 Creedmoor 80 gr ELD-M's by any means but it's still not completely contained. Maybe it's just shot placement or some other factor. I'll keep working on those before I try to develop a new load. Thanks!

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Twist rate is also part of the fur friendly bullet selection as well as velocity. There can be terminal performance differences between 1/8 and 1/9 barrels. I run the SX in 1/9 to 1/12 barrels, running 3200-3300 fps. The bullets will stay inside the head or body shooting less than 200 yards. Spin too fast results in bullets that will grenade on hair, you want 1-2" of penetration than bullet fragmentation and no exit for minimal hide damage. Of course staying off edges and hitting the thoracic cavity is important.

 

[Bleebs]

Twist rate is also part of the fur friendly bullet selection as well as velocity. There can be terminal performance differences between 1/8 and 1/9 barrels. I run the SX in 1/9 to 1/12 barrels, running 3200-3300 fps. The bullets will stay inside the head or body shooting less than 200 yards. Spin too fast results in bullets that will grenade on hair, you want 1-2" of penetration than bullet fragmentation and no exit for minimal hide damage. Of course staying off edges and hitting the thoracic cavity is important.

That's actually something that I haven't thought about. I always think of twist rate being a tool to shoot a certain weight/length of bullet but I've never factored into it how much damage it could do to pelts. My .223 Rem is 1-9 twist so I guess I'm right in the middle when it comes to fast vs. slow but that's something I'll think about going forward as I'm looking at the 17 and 20 cal guns I plan on eventually getting.

 

[sofarfrome]

I used 40gr Nosler BT's in a 222. Tiny entry hole, no exit hole on woodchucks from just under 100 yards. I only assume similar results on 'yotes

 

[Jrjones]

I’ve had good luck w 50gr hornady sx in 222. Also 52gr Speer. One winter I shot about a dozen w that 50gr and got the best ones tanned. It worked perfect

 

[searcher]

I have varmint rigs in all the calibers you mention. I'd keep your .223 and shoot a 50 Varmint Grenade or 50 grain lead-free Ballistic tip. stoke it with IMR8208XBR or Tac. with these bullets, you get the knock-down 50-grain power that greatly eclipses the 35 to 40-grain bullets in both the .223 and the 20R or 20P. Using the lead free, you get the benefit of the round dispersing much more energy more quickly. And they rarely exit, whereas you will get more exits with lead. I have, and consider, the .17 Hornet inferior to all the others you mention. If you have the benefit of all broad side, still shots within 275 yards, the little .17 will kill them dead too. It just doesn't usually work out that way. I take a lot of running shots (out to 600 yards or so) and know that all I need to do is get in a solid body shot with a 50 lead-free within that range and he's likely going down on first shot.

 

[Bleebs]

I have varmint rigs in all the calibers you mention. I'd keep your .223 and shoot a 50 Varmint Grenade or 50 grain lead-free Ballistic tip. stoke it with IMR8208XBR or Tac. with these bullets, you get the knock-down 50-grain power that greatly eclipses the 35 to 40-grain bullets in both the .223 and the 20R or 20P. Using the lead free, you get the benefit of the round dispersing much more energy more quickly. And they rarely exit, whereas you will get more exits with lead. I have, and consider, the .17 Hornet inferior to all the others you mention. If you have the benefit of all broad side, still shots within 275 yards, the little .17 will kill them dead too. It just doesn't usually work out that way. I take a lot of running shots (out to 600 yards or so) and know that all I need to do is get in a solid body shot with a 50 lead-free within that range and he's likely going down on first shot.

Thank you! That's some good advice. That's a big part of why I'd like to try the .223 first. It seems like it might put them down just as good (if not better in some cases). So if I could find a bullet that would work and save the pelt, I'd like to try that first before I start looking for other options. I'll try your suggestion along with some of the others on here and I'll see if I can save myself the trouble of looking for a brand new rifle. Not that a new rifle is a problem lol. I was just hoping that I could do the same thing with the setup I already have.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

If I had the bounty in place that Utah has I would run at minimum a 22-250 and kill as many as possible. Than about 2 weeks a year pelt hunt the last 2 weeks of Dec.

 

[Bleebs]

If I had the bounty in place that Utah has I would run at minimum a 22-250 and kill as many as possible. Than about 2 weeks a year pelt hunt the last 2 weeks of Dec.

Yes sir! I have a 22-250 and a 22 CM that I run during the day and a 6 CM that I run at night.

As I mentioned, I want to get some pelts around the house. Selfish reasons only on this post