Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Coyote, Small Game, Varmints => Topic started by: maddog on February 07, 2012, 09:35:28 PM
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I have a bullet question for you coyote/bobcat slayers out there. I want to hunt coyotes/bobcat with an ar .223 and would like to save the pelts. I hear good things about nosler ballistic tips (quick kills), but worry about the pelt damage. Any input on this bullet or another bullet with keeping accuracy, quick kill qualities, and pelt preservation in mind would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Every coyote that I have seen killed with a NBT has been gutted, skinned, filleted, and just made a general mess of. There's probably been 6 of them that I have seen and they were all shot to hell. FWIW these were all shot with a 7rem mag, but those bullets come apart on impact and it seems that the shrapnel blows right out the other side of a yote. If you're shooting for fur....I'd keep looking.
:twocents:
:twocents:
On the other side of things, all of those yotes and a few deer die right now when they get hit by them. There is some excessive meat damage in the deer too.
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7MM Mag really!?, no comparison and not a fair assessment of the NBT. The NBT shed energy quickly, varmint grenades as well. It will always be a tough balance between quick kills and minimal damage as the damage is what kills quickly. The NBT and the Varmint Grenades are probably your best choice in that caliber for bullets that will do damage but not exit, the lighter the better.
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VarmintVentilator an I use Nosler 55 grain Ballistic Tips for coyotes both in 223 and 22-250. If you shoot them in the shoulder the bullet will usually not exit and leave no damage, however, you hit them in the guts and you will have a mess if you happen to use a 22-250, 223 not so much due to less velocity. You may want to try the 60 grain bullets too, they may prevent blow ups especially on cats. :dunno:
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I like the the NBT's I use the 40gr in my 22-204 at 3900fps small hole in and small bits of jacket on the far side, it is my favorite pelt hunting bullet on coyotes. I have had no surface splashes with it, good penetration from all angles. Have no experience on Bobcats.
For the 223 I use the 50gr and have had the same experiences as above. I don't use the 223 very much anymore and have only killed a few with it.
In the 6x45 and 6mm-204 I've used the 55gr NBT and it can be pretty tough on coyotes if you get close to the edges. The 55gr NBT Lead Free has turned out to be a very good bullet for pelt hunting, good penetration, breaks bone and haven't had an exit on the few I've shot with it, it has only been out a little while and has been hard to get after the fire at Nosler. The 62gr Varmit Grenades have been brutal on pelts with softball plus sized exits. My goto bullet in the 6mm has been the 58 grain V-max.
I find the lighter V-max in 224 to be a little too fragile on larger targets.
I shoot alot of Speer 52gr Flatbase HP's in my 22-250 and 5.6x50R Mag with good luck on coyote pelts.
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AWS,
I am once again now trying to work up loads for my 6x45 Blackhole Weaponry barrel, I have not had much luck over the past year getting it to shoot worth a damn. I am trying some of the 58gr V-Max bullets in hopes that they will vaporize the inurds and not tear up the exit side of coyotes. Have you by chance a desired powder that you use with the 6x45 and 58's? I thought in the mean time I would give some R-10X a go, just to see where the accuracy and velocities are at. Today is a calm enough day with reasonable temps to try some.
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I'm having good luck with Benchmark in the 6x45 with light bullets. I'm shooting a Rem 600 22"PacNor 3groove 1-10 barrel. I have not used the 58 in the 6x45 just in the 6mm-204. The Nosler Australian overrun 55grSP, 55gr NBT and 55gr BK, bullets have been great in my 6x45, since building the 6mm-204 I just use the 6x45 for target shoots, the barrel is so accurate I don't want to waste it.
