Range Report Input on bullet weights and types

[Leveraction35]

I use a 223 for coyote hunting with 55gr Hornady Frontier hollow point match ammo. My shots are 200 yards and under… Preserving pelts is a goal of mine and while I have good results with this ammo, I always wonder about other options.

Would a heavier bullet like a 62, 68 or 70gr bullet result in less exit wounds since it’s slower? I’d imagine there’s a good bit more energy behind those heavier bullets, so DRT results would probably go up

How about bullet style, would a soft point have more internally transferred energy than a Hollow Point? Less exit wounds ??

 

[KnowNothing256]

My minimally educated thought on this is that coyotes are not sturdy, and inside 200 yds I'd expect a substantial exit wound from any "appropriate" hunting/varmint bullet. If pelt quality really is top priority, you could either go to a bonded bullet to keep expansion down, roll the dice with FJM and focus on shot placement, or take shots at parts of the animal that don't carry the main pelt. Head/neck/shoulder shots are what come to mind, and honestly inside 200 yds that seems highly achievable if you're a good shot and the animal isn't moving.

If I was trying to keep the pelts and shooting inside 200 yds, I'd be taking head/neck shots with a light, fast varmint bullet as long as I got sub-MOA accuracy.

ETA: I shoot precision rifles in positional competitions, with plenty of reps at this point, so I expect to be able to achieve 1-1.5 MOA in any position if my shot technique is what it should be. Not to say I don't miss targets, but I'm working on focusing on shot quality over shot speed; when I do focus on fundamentals and high-quality shots, I hit what I aim at at ranges where wind isn't a huge unknown. 200 yards on a game-sized target is well within that envelope. If you aren't confident that you can hit a 4" plate at 200 yds on demand from whatever your coyote shooting position looks like, that's where I'd suggest you focus. Then take neck shots.