SmallCaliberCentral

I was talking with my dad who just purchased a used Savage 30-06 and we started to wonder how a 30-06 bullet would fair against a coyote. The first thought I had was that it would blow straight through and not deliver its energy very efficiently unlike the .204. (obviously still plenty deadly against a coyote though). Everyone here knows the light weight .204 fragments violently due to the high speeds so it makes sense that if you could drive a small grain frangible .30 caliber bullet at very high speeds, it might perform similarly but on a bigger scale? It sounds like a possible recipe for exploding coyotes. lol. Any thoughts? comments? or experience with bigger calibers in this manner? It would be pretty amazing to watch a coyote get blown in half, like when the .204 hits a prairie dog. lol.

Chris

Hi chris_32212. Not a .30-06 but I had great accuracy and varmint style performance with late 70’s vintage Speer 130gr. HP from a .308 Winchester. I’m sure Speer’s or most anyone’s light for caliber thinner jacketed stuff designed for the purpose would do well. My 22” skinny barrel .270 Win. will be spitting out Sierra 90gr. HP when I bring it back out. A friend loved the 125gr. Ballistic Tips for groundhogs from his 26” .300 Win. Mag. The only thing I really don’t like about the bigger cases is the well into the 50’s in grains of powder compared to bout half that for the .204. They may not disassemble a coyote like the .204 does a rat but it will still be plenty dead.

Well, I can offer this: I shot my first coyote in 1969 with my Winchester M70 .270 Win using a Sierra 130gr Spitzer. Range was just over 250 yards, and the coyote was DRT. I've shot many more since while out elk, mule deer or antelope hunting, always with either my '06 or .270, using either 150/165gr bullets in the '06, and always 130 grainers in my .270.

The first one a very long time ago with the Winchester 270:



What I learned over the years was that the lighter "varmint" bullets for these big game calibers really lack sufficient BC for any real "long range" (400+ yards to me) coyote shooting, as they run out of velocity/energy much sooner than their usual weight-for-caliber deer bullets, even though they start out much faster. If you intend to use your '06 for this purpose, concentrate on a good accurate load using something like the 150 or 165gr Nosler BT or similar high BC boatail bullet. You'll save time, money, barrel wear and frustration in the end......seen it myself.

Several years ago I shot a Coyote at about 150 yards with my Remington 30-06...I'm thinking I used 180 grain bullets back then for Deer and it was the only available Rifle I had to reach out and smack that Coyote?Any ways...I aimed at the Coyote when he turned broadside and fired my Model 742 semi-automatic 30-06 and the Coyote flip over on his back and took a permanet Dirt Nap right there on the spot.It left a small entrance hole and a medium size exit hole....not really that big and bad as far as damage and it didn't blow it in half either?

I've shot all my latest Coyote's with my Browning .243 A-Bolt Hunter with 100 grain Hornady Custom bullets and depending on where the bullet hits the exit hole can be fairly large...a few weeks ago I shot one running right at me then turning slightly right and it wasn't too bad a hole,I even had a local Trapper skin her out and is getting the hide tanned for me to hang on my wall.I shot another Coyote over a month ago and my Neighbor kept her to skin out and sell the fur so it was in fairly good shape...it would have been better if I had used 50-60 grain bullets instead.


Personally I wouldn't reccomend using a larger caliber high-powered Rifle to Hunt Yotes/Predators if You intend on keeping their hides/fur or giving away the animals to someone that wants to salvage them.Years ago most of the Hunters around here would shot at Coyote's during Deer Season while they carried a high-powered Rifle,You didn't hear about very many Guys out Predator Hunting so they used their 30-30's,.308,.270 and 30-06 to take out Coyotes and most just left them lay!Now a day You see more and more Predator Hunters and they use lighter Caliber Rifles like the .243,.223,.220 Swifts,222,22 Hornets,.204 Rugers and several different models of the 17,17 HMR etc...!

This year while deer hunting I shot a fox with my '06. My parents have chickens and a few had dissapered so I said I'd shoot any that I saw. I was using 150 grain remington soft points and it was about 100 yards. First shot nocked it down, but it soon got up and was limping through some brush when I shot it again. When I walked up to it I was very suprised to see it still alive! All I could do was back up a few feet and shoot it again. After about 30 seconds it was still not dead and I was too discusted to watch so I took a walk. When I came back it was dead and on inspection all rounds had passed through its boiler room?! I was amazed at the ineffectiveness, but summed it up to the rounds passing through the lightly built fox without expanding. The pelt was infact not very damaged and its now a nice wall hanger. Here is a very poor "picture of a picture" for your viewing pleasure lol.

Thank you guys for you input. I had a suspicion that the larger heavier caliber rounds would have too much penetration and not quick enough expansion for smaller animals. If a guy could get these bigger caliber rounds to fragment quicker with less penetration to deliver more of their energy to the target before passing through, it would be interesting to see the aftermath. lol. Maybe I'm just evil like that. I don't plan to save furs or anything, I just want to see some varmints get turned inside out. lol. I have this visual image in head of a coyote standing off in the distance and all of a sudden the coyote gets replaced with a cloud of red mist. POOF!! lol.

Chris

Chris: Think about what you're dreaming about......the size comparison of a coyote and a .30-06 round. Now compare a prairie dog or ground squirrel with a 204 Ruger round.

In order to get the kind of "performance" you are seeking, you'd have to use something along the order of a 40mm or maybe even a naval 3"/50 to mist an animal the size of a coyote in the manner you describe. At the very least, an expanding bullet fired from a .50BMG.....probably ain't gonna happen any time soon, and NOT with a shoulder-fired weapon that uses the .30-06.

I realize you're just dreamin', but come on dude! (Sounds like it's time for you to spend some time in the PD or squirrel fields soon!)

Rick in Oregon wrote:Chris: Think about what you're dreaming about......the size comparison of a coyote and a .30-06 round. Now compare a prairie dog or ground squirrel with a 204 Ruger round.

In order to get the kind of "performance" you are seeking, you'd have to use something along the order of a 40mm or maybe even a naval 3"/50 to mist an animal the size of a coyote in the manner you describe. At the very least, an expanding bullet fired from a .50BMG.....probably ain't gonna happen any time soon, and NOT with a shoulder-fired weapon that uses the .30-06.

I realize you're just dreamin', but come on dude! (Sounds like it's time for you to spend some time in the PD or squirrel fields soon!)

The cloud of red mist was was only meant as a joke. I am very well aware that nothing I can legally get my hands on will vaporize a coyote. But it sure would be fun to see. I would love to spend some time the P dog fields but I am way too busy with college right now.

Well then Chris.....finish college, get good grades, get a good job, then you'll be able to afford ANY 204 you want, then you can work on explosive .30 caliber bullets to fullfill your .30-06 coyote misting daydreams.

By the way, you've never really had fun with a rifle unless you've spent a few days in either an active prairie dog or ground squirrel field with an accurate smallbore varmint rifle.....really.



Once you launch your career, you'll have some time to have some REAL fun with that rifle!

Chris- I hear you. College sure puts a damper on shooting and hunting. I have my first round of midterms next week and I have been dreaming about my shooting bench more and more.....

-Neil

chris_32212 wrote:

Rick in Oregon wrote:Chris: Think about what you're dreaming about......the size comparison of a coyote and a .30-06 round. Now compare a prairie dog or ground squirrel with a 204 Ruger round.

In order to get the kind of "performance" you are seeking, you'd have to use something along the order of a 40mm or maybe even a naval 3"/50 to mist an animal the size of a coyote in the manner you describe. At the very least, an expanding bullet fired from a .50BMG.....probably ain't gonna happen any time soon, and NOT with a shoulder-fired weapon that uses the .30-06.

I realize you're just dreamin', but come on dude! (Sounds like it's time for you to spend some time in the PD or squirrel fields soon!)

The cloud of red mist was was only meant as a joke. I am very well aware that nothing I can legally get my hands on will vaporize a coyote. But it sure would be fun to see. I would love to spend some time the P dog fields but I am way too busy with college right now.

Get that education behind you because it does pay off later on (as long as you choose your career wisely).

I'm sure if You would shot the Ballistic Tip bullets in a 30-06 or even the .270 WSM it would do some pretty good damage on a Coyote,Fox, or Bobcat...and a Deer for that matter?


I know a few Guys that actually shot Ballistic-Tip bullets when Deer Hunting....that would not be ideal in my opinion cause if You would do a shoulder shot or hit any major/solid bone I'm sure that that bullet would expand pretty good and damage more meat?I actually have 130 grain Ballitic-Tip bullets that came with my .270 WSM Browning Bolt-Action but opted to use the other Winchester 150 grain soft-tip bullets instead.I guess if I can't trade or sell the Ballistic-Tip bullets off and I finally run out of the regular bullets I may try the BT bullets and shoot Coyotes only?

GTO: Here's another prime example of internet badmouthing and repeating of "stories" of a bullet that had trouble over FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, and has since been completely redesigned for excellent flight properties (BC) and game performance. It is now recognized as a very fine deer bullet, and has been for quite some time.

I've hunted with BT's ever since the day they were introduced, had some excessive meat damage from shoulder-shot mulies with my .270 way back then (1995~), but since have taken elk, deer, and antelope with them with perfect performance every time. When using my .338-06AI for elk only, I use Partitions or TSX's for more controlled expansion on the heavier animal.

Being Nosler is only a few flaps of the crows wings from me here, I've had many conversations with their engineers about the BT, and know for a fact from this and actual experience that it is now up to par for what we'd all expect for an expanding deer bullet with excellent BC. Checking my hunt log from recent years, it shows the last 8 mulie bucks taken were all shot with either my .270 Win and the 130gr BT, or my 7mm-08 Ackley shooting the 120gr BT....all one-shot kills.

Next time you want to relay stories of poor bullet performance on the internet, in all fairness to the manufacturer, it would be highly recommended if the encounter being discussed was based on your own personal experience, and not from "a few guys" you know. Just a thought.

chris_32212 wrote:I was talking with my dad who just purchased a used Savage 30-06 and we started to wonder how a 30-06 bullet would fair against a coyote. The first thought I had was that it would blow straight through and not deliver its energy very efficiently unlike the .204. (obviously still plenty deadly against a coyote though). Everyone here knows the light weight .204 fragments violently due to the high speeds so it makes sense that if you could drive a small grain frangible .30 caliber bullet at very high speeds, it might perform similarly but on a bigger scale? It sounds like a possible recipe for exploding coyotes. lol. Any thoughts? comments? or experience with bigger calibers in this manner? It would be pretty amazing to watch a coyote get blown in half, like when the .204 hits a prairie dog. lol.

Chris

On this note I wonder how the 110 gr bullets from Sierra would do in a 308 or 30.06 (wouldn't expect to see exploding coyotes though). Don't really have a need for them, just ended up with a box when someone was transfered from my Navy days just hate to see them go to waste.

Jim White wrote:

chris_32212 wrote:I was talking with my dad who just purchased a used Savage 30-06 and we started to wonder how a 30-06 bullet would fair against a coyote. The first thought I had was that it would blow straight through and not deliver its energy very efficiently unlike the .204. (obviously still plenty deadly against a coyote though). Everyone here knows the light weight .204 fragments violently due to the high speeds so it makes sense that if you could drive a small grain frangible .30 caliber bullet at very high speeds, it might perform similarly but on a bigger scale? It sounds like a possible recipe for exploding coyotes. lol. Any thoughts? comments? or experience with bigger calibers in this manner? It would be pretty amazing to watch a coyote get blown in half, like when the .204 hits a prairie dog. lol.

Chris

On this note I wonder how the 110 gr bullets from Sierra would do in a 308 or 30.06 (wouldn't expect to see exploding coyotes though). Don't really have a need for them, just ended up with a box when someone was transfered from my Navy days just hate to see them go to waste.

I really don't know enough about that bullet. I would have to do a bit of digging to even know what it is and I am currently doing my homework from college. If your interested in selling them though, let me know and I will see what I can find on them and see if its something I would be interested in buying.

Chris