I have shot coyotes with 243, 243 Ackley, 223, 204, and a ton with 22/250. I used several bullets, but nothing that is really a normal boutique bullet.
Allegedly, Berger 105 VLD Hunting bullets in a fast 6 mm leave small holes for 6 mm. I never had a gun that would shoot them until I got into long range shooting. Once that happened, I started shooting matches. I got a new job so I could afford to shoot matches and a variety of other reasons, and the coyote calling all but stopped. I go 2 or 3 times a year now.
For a DRT gun where fur doesn't matter, the 105 AMAX at almost 3200 fps out of my 243 Ackley is the best I have shot. Out to 300 yards a 22/250 with 55 Nosler BTs or 50 VMAX is just as good. I live in south central Iowa and the coyotes here are a little bigger than in the plains areas of the west, but I rarely had problems with pass-throughs with those bullets at 3700-3900 fps. I ran 70 Nosler BT out of a 243 and if you hit flesh inside 500 yards it would generally put them down right there. Those made a mess about 50% of the time.
I have also used 80 and 85 gr spire point bullets in 243 and 243 Ackley. They are good unless you hit bone. Then they make a volleyball sized hole. NO GOOD for saving fur. The best fur bullet I have used in 6mm is the 75 grain Hornady hp. They killed like lightning to 300 yards and I never had a bad blow out.
204 was good to 200-250 using 40 VMAX. Past that it would kill, but they rarely dropped in their tracks.
I shot 22/250 for a number of years and tried a bunch of bullets. The old timers say a 50-55 grain varmint hp is the best bullet for coyotes. I was stubborn and tried the berger 55 target hp because it had a better bc. It left runners even on 100 yard shots. The shots at 200+ required tracking every time. The 55 spire points worked okay to about 200 yards. After that I would get runners. I killed the most and had the most success with 55 Nosler Ballistic Tip and 50 grain VMAX. Inside 300 yards they were dead when hit. After that they would tend to run, but not out of sight. On shots much over 400 yards they normally made it out of sight.
I will echo the fox warning. The few fox I have shot with 22/250 have been with 55 ballistic tips and 53 VMAX. All of the fox I have called have come close enough to kill with a slingshot. They were normally in 2 or 3 pieces held together by little flaps of skin.
There are always tradeoffs with calling guns. You just have to decide which tradeoffs you are okay with.
Allegedly, Berger 105 VLD Hunting bullets in a fast 6 mm leave small holes for 6 mm. I never had a gun that would shoot them until I got into long range shooting. Once that happened, I started shooting matches. I got a new job so I could afford to shoot matches and a variety of other reasons, and the coyote calling all but stopped. I go 2 or 3 times a year now.
For a DRT gun where fur doesn't matter, the 105 AMAX at almost 3200 fps out of my 243 Ackley is the best I have shot. Out to 300 yards a 22/250 with 55 Nosler BTs or 50 VMAX is just as good. I live in south central Iowa and the coyotes here are a little bigger than in the plains areas of the west, but I rarely had problems with pass-throughs with those bullets at 3700-3900 fps. I ran 70 Nosler BT out of a 243 and if you hit flesh inside 500 yards it would generally put them down right there. Those made a mess about 50% of the time.
I have also used 80 and 85 gr spire point bullets in 243 and 243 Ackley. They are good unless you hit bone. Then they make a volleyball sized hole. NO GOOD for saving fur. The best fur bullet I have used in 6mm is the 75 grain Hornady hp. They killed like lightning to 300 yards and I never had a bad blow out.
204 was good to 200-250 using 40 VMAX. Past that it would kill, but they rarely dropped in their tracks.
I shot 22/250 for a number of years and tried a bunch of bullets. The old timers say a 50-55 grain varmint hp is the best bullet for coyotes. I was stubborn and tried the berger 55 target hp because it had a better bc. It left runners even on 100 yard shots. The shots at 200+ required tracking every time. The 55 spire points worked okay to about 200 yards. After that I would get runners. I killed the most and had the most success with 55 Nosler Ballistic Tip and 50 grain VMAX. Inside 300 yards they were dead when hit. After that they would tend to run, but not out of sight. On shots much over 400 yards they normally made it out of sight.
I will echo the fox warning. The few fox I have shot with 22/250 have been with 55 ballistic tips and 53 VMAX. All of the fox I have called have come close enough to kill with a slingshot. They were normally in 2 or 3 pieces held together by little flaps of skin.
There are always tradeoffs with calling guns. You just have to decide which tradeoffs you are okay with.
