500 yard semi auto for coyote??

[RMS65]

Twice in the last three days I had shots off my back deck at coyotes. The closest about 280 yards the other was about 450. Both dogs were walking away when I missed the first shot. Then they went to a full sprint. The first dog at 450 I was using a 223 bolt action and only got off a second shot that fell about a foot behind him. The second dog I used a 223 AR . I dumped 10 or 11 rounds at him as he ran out to woods 550ish yards away.

I'm thinking that 223 isn't the best caliber for this scenario. I'm also thinking a long barreled AR10 might be in order for quicker follow-up shots. What caliber choices should I look?

Thanks
Ron

 

[marc.south1972]

JP Enterprises LRI120 6.5 Creedmoor Ready Rifle Long Range Competition

 

[rlsmith1]

What’s wrong with an accurate bolt gun? I’d rather have the first shot land true than have 30 more ready to be sprayed out there.

If I were you I’d do a 6 Creedmoor in a bolt gun (my 6 Creed with factory 80 ELD VT’s is silly flat to 700 yds and very accurate). If I want more horse power and don’t mind reloading, a 6.5 PRC with their 100 ELD VT would be a laser too.

Personally, I use ARs for yotes I expect inside ~300yds and grab the bolt gun for longer shots

 

[marc.south1972]

What’s wrong with an accurate bolt gun? I’d rather have the first shot land true than have 30 more ready to be sprayed out there.

If I were you I’d do a 6 Creedmoor in a bolt gun (my 6 Creed with factory 80 ELD VT’s is silly flat to 700 yds and very accurate). If I want more horse power and don’t mind reloading, a 6.5 PRC with their 100 ELD VT would be a laser too.

Personally, I use ARs for yotes I expect inside ~300yds and grab the bolt gun for longer shots

i built this that would work well. .308 Woox , Timney trigger , Bushwhacker 46 .

 

[Kickin45]

An accurate AR with an accurate trained shooter behind it can wreak havoc on targets at 500yds.
Set up a silhouette at 500yds and learn your ranges.

 

[Kickin45]

Btw, your spread is gorgeous.

 

[sea2summit]

If you missed a yote at 280 with a .223 a new gun isn’t gonna help you. First off get it to stop for the shot, give it a bark or whistle at that distance and it will stop. Next, suck less 450 is probably a stretch for .223 but not out of the question for a yote as long as you have the right bullet and do all the necessary calculations.

 

[fdkay]

What others have said is spot on, however, any excuse to buy a new gun is a good excuse.
An AR10 in 6m creedmoor spitting out 75-80 grain varmint bullets or a 22 creedmoor with 75's

 

[DCC83501]

I have an AR10 in 6 Creed that is dead nuts with a 55 gr Nosler BT at 500 yards, and is scary accurate with the 108 gr ELDM if there's much of any wind. 18" X-Caliber Barrel.
Also building one just like it in 22 Creedmoor, with another 18" X-Caliber barrel, that will likely be running 55 gr Vmax for dogs out to 400-500. I do find that, for me anyway, the 55 -60 gr pills drop off significantly in precision once you get to 500 or so. Might be me more than the ammo or rifle.

 

[st1650]

A 22 ARC gasser might be easier to tune/build/shoot than a 22 Creed.

 

[RMS65]

If you missed a yote at 280 with a .223 a new gun isn’t gonna help you. First off get it to stop for the shot, give it a bark or whistle at that distance and it will stop. Next, suck less 450 is probably a stretch for .223 but not out of the question for a yote as long as you have the right bullet and do all the necessary calculations.

Thanks. With my bolt 223 I can hit a 3" plate at 160 everytime and 6" plate at 320 almost every time. I still haven't hit the milk jug at 435. For some reason strelock has me going high at 435. I shoot either 75 or 77 gr HPBTs through it. My second shot fell about a foot behind the coyote on a full perpendicular gallop. I'm not terribly disappointed with that given it was well over 450 yards away.

I missed the the movin yote at 280 with the AR that wasn't sighted in for that bullet. The AR was sighted in with 55 FMJ for closer ranges on my property. I was shooting 50gr VMax at the yote.

Can I improve my shooting? Certainly. I'm still learning and looking for helpful advice. Getting the yote to stop is good advice. Thanks for that.

I'm still considering a bolt gun. I was enamored with the quick follow-ups with the semi. It certainly was exciting trying to hit it on the run.

One thing is house is on the edge of cliff making my deck about 100 feet over the creek valley. The small valley is like a bowl and surrounding ridges do weird things with the breeze across valley that I haven't learned how to read yet. That may be one of the reasons my success at my targets drops off drastically past 350 yards.

 

[RMS65]

I don't reload yet so I'm looking for something I can get boxed ammo for.
Thanks

 

[Clayman]

5.56 77gr tmk or 69gr tmk should do fine at longer ranges for you but if you're looking for more I'd probably suggest a 6.5 creedmoor in an AR10. The rifles and ammo is widely available, it's a versatile cartridge.

90gr varmageddon
93gr evostrike
95gr vmax
100gr eld-vt (varmit match)
105gr blitzking
120gr eld match


It's probably not going to be fur friendly if you care about that. A 6mm creedmoor with a light enough bullet might but idk. 22 creedmoor, 22 arc with a 60-62gr bullet might be.

Have to ask others with more experience. 22 creedmoor seems more like a reloaders round.

6mm arc 80gr eld-vt might work

 

[BCP]

223 AR with a varmint bullet and set up some steel targets at those ranges.

 

[marc.south1972]

how about 6 arc . with a 22' Proof Research barrel.

 

[RMS65]

Thanks all. I took and checked my zero and accuracy with my AR. Today I came to the conclusion I do suck. At a hundred yards with five different bullets it was 2-3" high and 2" right with everything but Bulk FMJ. My groups were three inches plus. It's probably a combination of poor trigger control and shooting off a wobbly plastic table. Still this is clearly not the platform for me.

I'm back to a bolt gun. I'm considering a 243 or 6.5 Tikka Varmint. All my other Tikkas shoot well.

FWIW pelts mean nothing to me. I don't care if the gun cuts them in half.

 

[oldrifleman]

You know, if you are shooting into known bowl, you might put out a few bits of colored tape on sticks to give you a picture of what the wind is doing. It will also help you with reading distances.

 

[CA48]

With the tikka 243 you can run factory 58s,55s, and 75s.
I run a 16” 243 t3 and with 55s at 300yards it still blows big holes and anchors them most of the time.

 

[diggler1833]

I have shots at coyotes anywhere from 130 - 380 yards off my back porch. I probably kill somewhere between 15-20 per year within a few hundred yards of the house.

I used to use an 18" 5.56 with a 1-8x LPVO. It worked pretty well. I found that I almost never took a second shot though. I also found that at 250+, the coyotes had a tendency to run just a little further after being hit in the vitals...and I disliked having to search for the carcasses afterwards.

I have since kind of repurposed a 6.5x47L bolt gun with 130gr ELD-Ms for the job. Since it usually stays in the house, I'm rarely lugging it around and it kills with excellent efficiency. Accuracy is phenomenal. Wind calls at 250+ are a lot more forgiving than my 5.56. I think I've had two of my last ~15 'yotes run after being hit with it - one made it about 20 yards, the other about 50. Everything else (even boiler room shots) was anchored.

I still carry that 18" 5.56 around with me on the ranch, but 9 times out of 10 that I see a coyote lurking about after sunup, I'm grabbing that 6.5x47.

That is a nice view that you have from your porch!

 

[RMS65]

Thanks all I'm lookin at the Tikka CTR and S20 in 6.5 Creedmoor now. Any opinions. The CTR takes conventional magazines and has a full length pic rail that might make fitting a scope easier. I'm guessing I shouldn't need a 20 moa rail at these distances with a 6.5

 

[joe777]

Kinda been going through the same thing... 450 on a coyote is like an impossible shot if you don't know exactly what your bullet is doing and your in a big rush, like every coyote shot basically

What kind of 223 bolt gun is it?

 

[RMS65]

Kinda been going through the same thing... 450 on a coyote is like an impossible shot if you don't know exactly what your bullet is doing and your in a big rush, like every coyote shot basically

What kind of 223 bolt gun is it?

Tikka Varmint. Its normally good for MOA or better to 300 with boxed ammo. I got an armadillo at 320 yards first shot. The 435 milk jug still eludes me. My collage aged son shot a page of half MOA targets at 100 yards doing everything "all wrong". His younger brother smacked the 6" plate at 320 with my AR and PMC 55 gr FMJ and blew up the 435 milk jug on the very next shot.Young eyes are wonderful. Luck is even better. I'd take either right now.

 

[FimRire RongLifle]

totally not trying to be creepy but what state is that? I might go sell my house now.

 

[joe777]

Tikka Varmint. Its normally good for MOA or better to 300 with boxed ammo. I got an armadillo at 320 yards first shot. The 435 milk jug still eludes me. My collage aged son shot a page of half MOA targets at 100 yards doing everything "all wrong". His younger brother smacked the 6" plate at 320 with my AR and PMC 55 gr FMJ and blew up the 435 milk jug on the very next shot.Young eyes are wonderful. Luck is even better. I'd take either right now.

If they don't know the drop or sight in distance then it was just pure luck. Sounds like you may just need a really good scope

 

[RMS65]

If they don't know the drop or sight in distance then it was just pure luck. Sounds like you may just need a really good scope

You may be right but I walked him into to the 320 plate. When he hit it a couple times he estimated the additional drop to the milk jug and hit that. I will won't discount luck but he had an idea of what he was doing. Unlike his clueless older brother, he's got some experience and decent understanding of shooting.

 

[702lineman]

Few things to help with what you have till you get a gun you want.

Put a few steel targets in the field and leave them there, and wind flags near them. Gives you something to practice on, as well as known distances for quick dope.

Also keep dope for those targets taped on your rifle.

Peraonally, i hate lightweight bullets. The difference in drop is not much, and energy on target is higher and wind drift is less.

 

[702lineman]

Another big thing i see is you need a bipod and better rear bag

 

[XP1K]

I'm in the 243 or 6 creed camp. After I burned up my 22-250 I moved to a 243 and now a 243AI. 55's over 4,000 fps are pretty fun. I've really become fond of the 6mm.

And that back porch is awesome.

 

[BCP]

My collage aged son

Learnin all them letters and maths

totally not trying to be creepy but what state is that? I might go sell my house now.

Eh could be the eastern part of oklahoma, part of missouri, maybe not tennessee I'd think it would be greener, parts of ohio look like that.

 

[232593]

A 22 ARC gasser might be easier to tune/build/shoot than a 22 Creed.

Facts.