7.62 Ball Ammo on Coyote?

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hi All,

I'm having trouble finding any softpoint 7.62x54R locally.

I just picked up 100 rounds of Brown Bear 185gr spitzer.

I'm wondering how a .30-06 class round performs on coyote sized varmints with FMJ ammo. I'm stuck with it until I find (or, maybe just this time, order from the 'net) some softpoint.

I wouldn't use it on deer, but shooting a water jug vaporized quite a bit of it, and showed energy transfer to be adequate even if it didn't "dump" it in with an expanding tip.

I'm thinking hydrostatic shock may come into play here. It's something I dismissed long ago, but I hadn't done anything extensive with rounds running around 3000fps yet either.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Josh <><

 

[Grumulkin]

I'd give it a try.

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

definitely more than enough gun, even with fmj

 

[karlsgunbunker]

Sportsmans Guide has the Softpoint $79 for 250rds I think.

 

[Old Trapper]

Elmer Keith on shooting coyotes with military ball

For what it's worth, Elmer Keith tried ball ammo out of a Springfield on coyotes clear back in the Depression years and observed that song dogs could run off quite a ways after a FMJ passed through them. Coyote pelts were pretty valuable then so it was a significant concern in Elmer's mind.

If you want to reduce pelt damage you are better off with a flat-shooting high veleocity .22 varmint rifle and relatively light rapid-expanding bullets that do not produce exit wounds.

That said, I'm going to see if I can replicate Elmer's experience, but intead with the higher velocity more modern ball ammo. Elmer may have been shooting WWI surplus 220 grain ball ammo that was a lot lower velocity.

This year's fickled fur market suggests we might consider shooting grey fox with a .17 caliber rifle this coming winter.

 

[sixgunner455]

If it's legal in your state, then I would definitely try it. IIRC, in some states (mine, for example) it's not legal to use non-expanding ammo out of a centerfire rifle when hunting.

Should kill them well, though.

 

[Old Trapper]

Game vs. Varmint

Definately, know what the laws in your State say about hunting calibers and bullets.

In most States, the restrictions on calibers and bullets are for hunting game species -- not predators or varmints.

Most States view fur as a valuable natural resource that should not be wasted, so were a State to view a coyote as a furbearer it would be unlilkely that the law would require a caliber and bullet that would blow a big hole in the pelt.

Doesn't the Geneva Convention give the wiley coyote the right to be killed with a humane full-metal -jacketed bullet?

 

[koja48]

'Yotes are tough critters . . . I believe they'd run off. Even soft point rounds out of an '06 likely would not expand . . . must be the reason most folks use smaller calibers, with bullets designed to perform well on smaller game, huh? They used to make sabots for the '06 . . . if that's all you have, I'd definitely opt for the lightest pill available in 30 cal.

 

[glockman19]

how a .30-06 class round performs on coyote sized varmints with FMJ ammo

= Dead varmint. IMHO

 

[rcmodel]

FMJ should not be used for coyote hunting, or any other kind of hunting, period!

I'm not just guessing, because I have done it with 30-06, 8mm, & .303 British in my younger, stupider, poorer days.

First, clean kills will not happen unless you hit the spine or head.
Most coyotes shot with FMJ will drop, get back up, and run a mile or so before dying a slow & painful death.

Second, FMJ bullets have a strong tendency to ricochet across the landscape, and come down who knows where a mile away.
They are very dangerous to use in populated parts of the country if you don't have a berm backstop to catch them!

And you most likely don't, while hunting anything.


rcmodel

 

[10X]

My experience duplicates that of rcmodel. A FMJ will punch through the coyote and it will get up and run a long ways. The exception is a brain shot or breaking their back.

 

[redneckrepairs]

Its plenty to " turn off " a yote with a solid hit, come on nowdays they are regularly taken down with 17hmr dont tell me about an equivilant hit from anything .30 is lacking , as personal experience bears out. I dont " hunt " coyotes as i shoot the dammed things when i see them ( i ranch ) and surplus .308 or 7.63x51 if you insist takes them down fine with a solid hit . My mosin does the same tho at shorter ranges since its not scoped . Do be concerned about backstop with every shot tho since peferation is a given and the round will continue downrange .

 

[koja48]

You could gut a deer with a chainsaw, too, but there are more appropriate choices in tools . . .

 

[Art Eatman]

"I'm having trouble finding any softpoint 7.62x54R locally."

Excellent reason to take up handloading.

Art

 

[Old Trapper]

FMJ should not be used for coyote hunting, or any other kind of hunting, period!

RC, what do you usually shoot your elephants with now that you are older and wiser?

Ever shoot gophers with a 5.56 FMJ? Ever see 5.56 FMJ gunshot wounds?

I've observed .45 ACP ball work humanely on big mule deer.

There are lots of variables -- velocity, bullet diameter, bullet weight, animal size and toughness.

One should always be careful of what's behind their target, that's for sure.

 

[trueblue1776]

I think they would work fine on coyote, especially if you can bust a rib on the way in.

 

[koja48]

if you can bust a rib on the way in

And if you don't? I won't risk the consequences, no matter what the quarry. As stated before, it's all in the perception . . . if it were the shooter who would endure the suffering if he/she were to select the wrong round, would the shooter still opt to use that same round (say, for example when confronting an Alaskan Brown or a Cape Buff)? There's a huge difference between "high percentage of effectively stopping" and "might work, if . . . "

 

[trueblue1776]

And if you don't, a small animal still has a big hole through it. I never lost one with a .270 FMJ, wouldn't a bigger slug work even better?

 

[koja48]

More realistically, a small coyote-class animal would likely have a small hole thru it, essentially the same diameter as the projectile, since it can't expand to create an adequate wound channel or generate significant shock if it doesn't impact heavy bone, such as a shoulder.

 

[eliphalet]

FMJ's are only going to punch a .308 inch hole through the critter unless you hit bone, I wouldn't advise it.

I kinda liked Art's idea.
I found this, you can get started for under $70.

http://www.wideners.com/index.cfm


No idea why this link isn't working, do a quick search at Wideners.

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=2476&dir=210|212|237

 

[jeepmor]

2 options

Start reloading or buy another gun.

There are oodles of options if you start reloading. It's fun, it's easy, it's also really satisfying, take the plunge and I bet you won't regret it.