Best 5.56 bullet for Coyotes

MAHLMAN · Oct 23, 2024

So I look for this topic in Hunting and Fishing and did not see anything. I have four 223 candidates for this to load. 64gr soft point, 62gr TBBC, 55 and 60gr orange tip. Longest possible shot is 200 yds and likely closer to 100-125 yds. An AR-15 is what I will be using. I have to admit that even though I read about those plastic tip wonders I am concerned about tips breaking off and causing problems.

John? · Oct 23, 2024

I use the Win 64 soft point to good effect. The Hornady 55 grain SP also does creditable work on the Yodel dogs.

Gwak06 · Oct 23, 2024

Try the 77gr TMK

MAHLMAN · Oct 23, 2024

Gwak06 said:
Try the 77gr TMK

Looking to use one of the four bullets I have on hand and which one of those is best. The 77gr is not on the mentioned list.

Aftermath · Oct 23, 2024

MAHLMAN said:
So I look for this topic in Hunting and Fishing and did not see anything. I have four 223 candidates for this to load. 64gr soft point, 62gr TBBC, 55 and 60gr orange tip. Longest possible shot is 200 yds and likely closer to 100-125 yds. An AR-15 is what I will be using. I have to admit that even though I read about those plastic tip wonders I am concerned about tips breaking off and causing problems.

Which of those give you the most confidence of being able to hit a target that isn't there for very long? That's the one.

MAHLMAN · Oct 23, 2024

Aftermath said:
Which of those give you the most confidence of being able to hit a target that isn't there for very long? That's the one.

Any of them. Now which one is most lethal in 12" or so of body depth from the side assuming good but not perfect shot placement because as you mention they may well be on the move.

Aftermath · Oct 23, 2024

Who cares about 12" of penetration? It's a fucking coyote. 3 inches in and you have penetrated the heart. 12" and you are all the way through. Besides, it's a fucking coyote. Put another one in him or not.

MAHLMAN · Oct 23, 2024

Aftermath said:
Who cares about 12" of penetration? It's a fucking coyote. 3 inches in and you have penetrated the heart. 12" and you are all the way through. Besides, it's a fucking coyote. Put another one in him or not.

OK since I have to spell it out for you I will do so. Obviously I want to know what works best and does the most damage in a short 12" path without leaving the body. I swear you guys who just like to jump on answers with derogatory comments and cussing are pretty darned worthless. If you have nothing of worth to say then just stay away.

Aftermath · Oct 24, 2024

MAHLMAN said:
OK since I have to spell it out for you I will do so. Obviously I want to know what works best and does the most damage in a short 12" path without leaving the body. I swear you guys who just like to jump on answers with derogatory comments and cussing are pretty darned worthless. If you have nothing of worth to say then just stay away.

It's a fucking coyote.
You have obviously never killed even one.
Tell ya what...you go shoot all of your crap at 12" of ballistic gel and come back and tell us all how it worked out for you.

MAHLMAN · Oct 24, 2024

OK genius everybody at some point in time has never shot a Coyote. Except for you. Some of us prefer to do it right the first time and ask those who have actually done it what they had the most success with. So are you just bored tonight or normally this abrasive and useless?

Aftermath · Oct 24, 2024

MAHLMAN said:
OK genius everybody at some point in time has never shot a Coyote. Except for you. Some of us prefer to do it right the first time and ask those who have actually done it what they had the most success with. So are you just bored tonight or normally this abrasive and useless?

Are you 12 or 13?

Gwak06 · Oct 24, 2024

The soft points and TBBC will probably pass all the way through. I can't speak for the orange tips.

roostercogburn98 · Oct 24, 2024

@diggler1833 shoots a few nasty critters I believe

SupressYourself · Oct 24, 2024

What the heck is an "orange tip"? Hornady V-Max? If so, yes, that's what you want. 50, 53, or 55, pick one. Go buy a new bullet if you have to. The V-max is not expensive. I prefer the 53s, but they all do the same thing: penetrate a few inches and blow up. Most will not exit, but turn innards to soup. Most yotes are DRT. If not, put another one in them, that's what an AR is for.

DIBBS · Oct 24, 2024

I'm guessing an orange tip is a Nosler ballistic tip. The bases of same are pretty strong and usually drive all the way through a coyote.

Probably the most explosive bullet I have used is the v-max, as the poster above suggested, but you are likely to have mixed results depending on how hard you push them , and where you hit the coyote. They may blow up on the surface and not penetrate, but as the above poster mentioned if they get to the vitals = money. The 53 grain is a great high BC bullet, but you need at least an 12 ? twist to stabilize them IMHO.

Soft points (50,55) work well, but in most instances you will have a complete pass through. Perfect shot...broadside... vmax. Otherwise I would , and do use out of fast twist bolt actions, 75-80 grain amax and ELD's. I am not calling them close, and these pass through as well in most instances.

I wouldn't be worried so much about a bullet staying in the coyote, find something that shoots accurately and start whackin and stackin.

nockhunter · Oct 24, 2024

Try the 55g Hornady SPSX and the 55g Speer TNT.

Mike

hkguns · Oct 24, 2024

They're all going to pass all the way through a yote.

Guess, what? It won't matter. It will be dead or it won't and if it won't, shoot it again. You have a 30 round "clip" after all.

Pick one and blast away.

diggler1833 · Oct 24, 2024

roostercogburn98 said:
@diggler1833 shoots a few nasty critters I believe

Thanks.

OP: There are definitely dudes who kill more yotes than me, but I find myself having to dispatch 25-50 per year here on the ranch just to keep their numbers in check.

My backdoor AR is an 18", 5.56, shooting the now obsolete 64gr Speer Gold Dot. It punches nice big holes in coyotes. I've never lost one, or had it make more than a 25-30 yard journey after a good hit. If you already have 64gr soft points or the 62gr TBBC, either will make for an excellent dog-killing load...albeit NOT fur friendly.

I've also killed ~20 hogs with the same bullet and it works great there too (even passing through >75% of the time). Rarely do you get much crossover (expansion vs penetration in thin vs thick skinned game), but those LEO specific, bonded bullets in .223/5.56 seem to wear both hats well.

zeroz · Oct 24, 2024

50 gn Vmax dumps energy and blows up sometimes with no exit. Obviously depends, but DRT for the most part. Pretty much any bullet will dump them quick with good shot placement . If you're after hide preservation the lighter varmint bullets should definitely be a consideration.

MAHLMAN · Oct 24, 2024

Aftermath said:
Are you 12 or 13?

Useless it is.

MAHLMAN · Oct 24, 2024

SupressYourself said:
What the heck is an "orange tip"? Hornady V-Max? If so, yes, that's what you want. 50, 53, or 55, pick one. Go buy a new bullet if you have to. The V-max is not expensive. I prefer the 53s, but they all do the same thing: penetrate a few inches and blow up. Most will not exit, but turn innards to soup. Most yotes are DRT. If not, put another one in them, that's what an AR is for.

I think they are VMax bought as pulls so not sure. Had a string of four cross in front of me the other day so maybe I will load a few different ones you guys like and see what they do.

MAHLMAN · Oct 24, 2024

diggler1833 said:
Thanks.

OP: There are definitely dudes who kill more yotes than me, but I find myself having to dispatch 25-50 per year here on the ranch just to keep their numbers in check.

My backdoor AR is an 18", 5.56, shooting the now obsolete 64gr Speer Gold Dot. It punches nice big holes in coyotes. I've never lost one, or had it make more than a 25-30 yard journey after a good hit. If you already have 64gr soft points or the 62gr TBBC, either will make for an excellent dog-killing load...albeit NOT fur friendly.

I've also killed ~20 hogs with the same bullet and it works great there too (even passing through >75% of the time). Rarely do you get much crossover (expansion vs penetration in thin vs thick skinned game), but those LEO specific, bonded bullets in .223/5.56 seem to wear both hats well.

I will try the TBBC first as I have a lot of those. I don't know why but there seem to be a lot of Coyotes around here all of a sudden I see them on walks in the daytime now and my friend who hunts my ridgetop sees more now. Fur is not a concern but pets and neighbors calves are.

Modoc · Oct 25, 2024

SupressYourself said:
What the heck is an "orange tip"? Hornady V-Max? If so, yes, that's what you want. 50, 53, or 55, pick one. Go buy a new bullet if you have to. The V-max is not expensive. I prefer the 53s, but they all do the same thing: penetrate a few inches and blow up. Most will not exit, but turn innards to soup. Most yotes are DRT. If not, put another one in them, that's what an AR is for.

Looking in my bullet selection, Orange are/were Nosler Ballistic Tips. I hav them in 40 and 55 grain 224 dia. Any of the tipped cup and core have done the job for me in 221 Fireball, 222 Remington, or 223/5.56, and 22-250 if kept in the appropriate range for the cartridge.

diggler1833 · Oct 25, 2024

MAHLMAN said:
I will try the TBBC first as I have a lot of those. I don't know why but there seem to be a lot of Coyotes around here all of a sudden I see them on walks in the daytime now and my friend who hunts my ridgetop sees more now. Fur is not a concern but pets and neighbors calves are.

I think that even though the TBBC isn't designed for this, you'll get some fantastic results. Bonus that you'll be able to 'Texas heart shoot' one and still reach the vitals.

I'm loaded with coyotes again, and they're in packs. I'm just trying to fill my last buck tag before I declare war on the yotes again because all the noise is going to drive the big boys away (does don't care).

Bluewave · Nov 6, 2024

IMO, Federal Premium 62-grain Fusion is a perfect choice!

MAHLMAN · Nov 6, 2024

Working on a light weight AR for this. Complete Aero Enhanced upper 14.5" free float barrel with MBT trigger and Holosun 2moa green dot. I will see what it does this weekend and go hunting from there. Lots of pests moving into this area all of a sudden. Lots of Raccoons since no one hunts them anymore. A bear has been spotted on trailcams along with Mountain Lions in the general area and Armadillos digging cow and horse leg breaking burrows everywhere plus river otters which are destroying fish populations in creeks and ponds now too. Went for a lot of years here with no trouble and the flood gates seem to have been opened for some reason.

It is a return to what used to be around here I guess. There is a little unincorporated spot on a road nearby known as Screamer. It got that name in the early 1800's because of all the screaming Mountian Lions around there. Elk river just south of here and the Elk are being reintroduced in areas again too.

gopherslayer · Nov 11, 2024

Of the 4 listed I’d use the 55gr Noslers.

softcock · Nov 17, 2024

No love around here for the 50 Blitzkings ?
.

gopherslayer · Nov 17, 2024

softcock said:
No love around here for the 50 Blitzkings ?
.

Probably but he asked about what he had on hand. In a rare feat for me I stuck to the question asked. Time for a beer!

MAHLMAN · Monday at 6:13 AM

gopherslayer said:
Probably but he asked about what he had on hand. In a rare feat for me I stuck to the question asked. Time for a beer!

Correct, and answering the question as asked seems to be a scarce commodity around here at times. I appreciate those who limit themselves to the question asked with relevant comments. Can't give anyone a beer but I can thank those who did answer the question.

Aftermath · Monday at 8:45 AM

MAHLMAN said:
Working on a light weight AR for this. Complete Aero Enhanced upper 14.5" free float barrel with MBT trigger and Holosun 2moa green dot. I will see what it does this weekend and go hunting from there. Lots of pests moving into this area all of a sudden. Lots of Raccoons since no one hunts them anymore. A bear has been spotted on trailcams along with Mountain Lions in the general area and Armadillos digging cow and horse leg breaking burrows everywhere plus river otters which are destroying fish populations in creeks and ponds now too. Went for a lot of years here with no trouble and the flood gates seem to have been opened for some reason.

It is a return to what used to be around here I guess. There is a little unincorporated spot on a road nearby known as Screamer. It got that name in the early 1800's because of all the screaming Mountian Lions around there. Elk river just south of here and the Elk are being reintroduced in areas again too.

Are you planning to hunt raccoons, armadillos and river otters with a 14.5" barreled AR and 2MOA dot sight?

MAHLMAN · Monday at 9:40 AM

Aftermath said:
Are you planning to hunt raccoons, armadillos and river otters with a 14.5" barreled AR and 2MOA dot sight?

The AR is mainly for the Coyotes. Just mentioning the other critters in passing though I would not hesitate to shoot any of them if it was all I had with me. A scoped 22LR works fine otherwise.

Aftermath · Monday at 9:48 AM

MAHLMAN said:
The AR is mainly for the Coyotes. Just mentioning the other critters in passing though I would not hesitate to shoot any of them if it was all I had with me. A scoped 22LR works fine otherwise.

I agree with the effectiveness of a 22LR. Even on Coyotes within range but most certainly the critters listed.
How many River Otters have you shot using a 22LR?

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