SmallCaliberCentral

i was wondering what gun would be better for coyote hunting. the savage 12 long range precision varmint rifle, the remington 700 vls, or the ruger m77 mark 2?

bones-- Welcome to the Forum!!

I would choose the lightest of those 3 rigs for a carry gun. I also prefer a clip fed rifle for quicker follow up shots. JMO

i also forgot to mention that i am going to be taking long shots. so if i got a light gun would that be able to reach farther that the heavier ones?

Loads being equal they will reach the same distance. Heavy target barrels are usually more accurate and take longer to get hot when varmint shooting. A well built hunting rifle will shoot every bit as good as most factory heavy barrels.

so how far would a 204 ruger accurately shoot. and at that distance would it be strong enough to kill a coyote. i am just wondering because i am looking at buying a new 204 ruger and im looking for the best one. sorry about all the questions. What would be the most accurate gun that you know of?

I imagine I'd take a shot on a coyote out to about 300 yards with a 204.


Remington XR-100.

thank you very much for your help.

Actually my reply to your most accurate gun question is wrong.

I guessing you mean .204 specific?

It would be a custom built rifle. For factory rifles you will get as many answers as there are manufacturers. I just happen to have the XR-100. There is a picture of one of my groups in the favorite loads section.

i shot and dropped a coyote at a nikon lazered 287 yards with mine, i am sure it would kill out to 400 yards easily, my set-up consist of a haevy barreled ruger with a zeiss scope alot of money in this set up but well worth it to me

i hear you need 10 ft/lb of energy for every pound of yote. a 40 grain vmax has just over 400 ft-lbs at 500 yards. a 22-250, 55 grain, goin 3640 has 28 ft-lbs more (from the hornady website.) so in the end...how good of a shot are you?

from the few groups i shot with my 12fv, the first 4 shots were touching, and a flier which was my fault (bipod with fist as my rear support.) that was with less than 30 rounds threw the tube. from what i hear, an lrpv is great. building your own would probably put the biggest smile on your face.

jbm ballistic calc says a 35 gr berger with a muzzle velocity of 3675 fps
at 1000 yards will still have 48 ft/lbs of NRG. Does this mean i can kill a 48 lb coyote at 1000 yards with this round. provided i can hold over the required 604 inches ...

Oh i see you corrected it so its 10 ft/lbs so taht means 480 ft lbs will do it

i meant 10 darn it. 30lb yote - 300ft lbs. my bad

Varmonter--The holdover at 1000 yards with the 35 gr. FB HP Berger is the least of your problems. Wind deflection in a 10 mph side wind would probably require you to shoot at a >=45º angle to where you wanted the bullet to impact

My 35 gr. FB HP Berger load leaves the muzzle at 4,225 fps and once you get much beyond 250 yards with 10 mph side winds you have to be fairly lucky or a good wind doper to hit those coyotes unless they are standing broadside to you. Even then you might hit the opposite end of the coyote you thought you were aiming at!! The 35 gr. Berger bullet is real accurate out of my rifle, but it DEFINITELY IS NOT a good bullet for bucking the wind or for LOOOOONG Range shots.

That being said, I still prefer that 35 gr. pill because it has been very fur friendly and most of my shots at coyotes are at 200 yards or less.

Well all 4 of my coyote gun's have h. b. on them. But that is what i like to shoot. As accuracy goes light or h.b. gun's go i think are about the same today. May be just alittle better with the h. b. gun's but not alot.

siverfox thanx my comment was really rhetorical
in regards to the 1 ft/lb nrg for every pound of coyote
which was corrected. I know with a 10mph wind the hold off is
quite acute.I don't think i would really try a 1000 yrd shot with a 204.
I'd be hard pressed to find 1000 yards of open land around here
unless i shot across lake champlain.The folks in plattsburgh probably would not appreciate that.LOL..4225 wow you must have them loaded right up there.Mine are shooting at around 3675 . plenty for the 50 to 100 yard shots
around here.this is the most accurate load i have found (in my gun)using 27.3 g of h4895. But I havn't pushed them over 4k yet either.