Re: The new 17 WSM
back story....(squiggly line squiggly line)....
back in the day when i had time i used to take coyotes with the .22 mag - but that was in the spring, summer, fall when they had light coats, close range 75 yards or less.
shot placement obviously was the key, and if it wasn't standing still, wasn't worth spooking / educating it with a poke and hope shot. some yotes were recovered, others not.
after the 17hmr or 22 mag debate on coyotes and hogs, there are alot of guys taking yotes and hogs with both the 17hmr and 22mag regularly.
i swore by the added weight and various bullet designs of the .22mag that it was the better round for penetration, energy, etc. and have taken a few coyotes back in the day.
back to the present (squiggly line, squiggly line)...
few weeks ago whacked a coyote (my first "winter pelted" coyote) through the gut with .308 110 vmax. the winter pelt was so thick it absorbed the blood for a good 40 yards, and only then a few trickles, before i found it lying another 15 yards away, in thick cover, on the side of a creek bank. if it weren't for some snow on the ground, i probably wouldn't be able to pick up the blood trail or the light treading it made through the leaves.
though less than an optimum shot, a 30 cal hole through the gut didn't exactly produce the kind of bloodtrail you would think with the winter pelt. the pelt absorbed a great deal of the coyote juice, i can't imagine a .22 mag or .17hmr or this new round producing any better unless the shot placement is right on and you drop it were it stands.
now with more demands on my time and energy, those reuccuring careful patient shots with a .22 mag are not as frequent and for a more of a reality check of only being able to get out every now and then, i wouldn't take the .22 mag out nowadays for a specific coyote hunt, as there are better options for a dedicated yote getter.
after the latest experience i wouldn't carry anything less than .223 with 55+ grain, and <span style="font-weight: bold">i retract any of my .22mag or .17hmr is good enough for dedicated carrying rifle for yote, AT LEAST IN WINTER on larger easterns.</span>
point is, i guess, that unless it's all you have, DEDICATING a .22mag, lr, or 17 hmr, or perhaps even this wsm for coyotes is not the best option, especially for winter coated dogs, especially if it's a hurry up shot, in field conditions, longer than 75 yards.
granted if out for some other game, and the target of oppurtunity arises, yeah i'd take the shot with a .22 mag, 17 hmr, etc. if the conditions were right. but dedicating it with the intent of specifically going for coyotes will most likely end in low percentage harvests and heartache for the amount of effort put in to get one or a few coyotes on a coyote intended hunt.
if rimfires are the only thing allowed in some areas well then there is no option.
the WSM round should be one heck of a groundhog / prairie dog / ground squirrel getter though.
personally as mention a few posts ago, if getting a new rimfire on the market, i would have preferred the resurgence of 5mm or something that has more girth than .17 cal. a bigger hole, no matter how fast, is usually better. but who knows, maybe the combination of the FPS and 25 grains will be the shit.
IMO this new cartridge will perhaps going to open the door to new offerings in the rimfire world, and perhaps have manufacturers relook at what can be done with modern powders, bullet design, and manufacturing processes to fill the niches and perhaps achieve a round that has the girth and speed to satisfy old schoolers such as myself on penetration vs. trajectory tradeoffs.
so yeah the new WSM should be exciting to anyone that's a shooting enthusiast whether punching paper, hunting, or both.
it's the next step in evolution, and has it's place.
cost vs. performance is probably going to be the deciding factor of it's success or demise. though midway has a price on a box of it, no one really knows the extent of supply / demand to justify a higher or lower price.
even if at $20.00 a box of 50 seems reasonable for a groundhog slayer, if it lives up to the claims, for someone that doesn't reload or can afford the same 50 rounds of .223 critter shelf ammo.
but making assumptions and ruffleing each others feathers and leaving a bad taste in each others mouths on a cartridge that no one has in their hands yet is like fighting over if the 2016 silverado is better than the 2016 F150.
until it's in our hands with actual data, assumptions are just that, and perhaps all of my jibber jabber will be bunk too.