Frangible Bullets for Coyote Hunting

I believe those are designed primarily to be used safely in shoot houses for training purposes. In any event, a coyote is just a dog- why not go with a more conventional design?

Coyotes are , pound for pound, a very tough animal. Use real bullets that have a history of accuracy and terminal performance.

A lot of hunters hunting coyote for their fur use very light weight highly frangible bullets so that the bullet enters, fragments, and does not exit, to reduce fur damage. 17 Remington was popular for this.

If your set on using them, try them first on some water filled jugs and/or wet phonebooks and see how the bullet performs.

I have used the Barnes .310 tac frangible on various soft targets including coyotes. The results are impressive. I am pushing a much larger in terms of mass and diameter bullet than the ones you are considering, but at similar velocity from a 7.62x54R rifle. Of 3 coyotes I shot, all were positively DRT with significant missing pieces. Results were more violent than 7mm/110gr V-max at 3300 fps which is really saying something. I would expect comparable results from your .223 bullet but on a smaller scale. I would avoid any quartering away shot to limit the risk of a grisly superficial wound not doing sufficient internal damage to dispatch. Even coyotes deserve a better death than that.

That being said, most any soft point, HP or tipped bullet of 50-60 grains from a .223 is prime coyote medicine and likely to yield better accuracy than your frangible pulldowns. Unless you have elevated concerns for bullets carrying beyond the intended target (which was my reason for using frangibles for varmint control in a relatively populated area), I would reserve those for target shooting. I guarantee they will be a hoot on cans full of water and surplus produce. The Barnes version literally turns into powder on impact with any soft or hard target.

I have used .22’lr and 9mm 147rn solids, if a fragment can get to something important, it could kill it.

Without any testing, I’d likely just use a 55gn fmj.

jmorris said:

I have used .22’lr and 9mm 147rn solids, if a fragment can get to something important, it could kill it.

Without any testing, I’d likely just use a 55gn fmj.

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That would be illegal in some states, I know FMJ is illegal to hunt with in Tennessee where I do most of my hunting. There are better bullets for hunting that are just as easy to find. A coyote deserves a clean kill as much as any other critter does.

mcb said:

A coyote deserves a clean kill as much as any other critter does.

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I was simply saying I would use something I know will kill them vs something I was unsure of.

I know for a fact that .22 LR and 9mm solids turn animals that size off, I would use them again before trying something I knew nothing about and had not tested at all.





Like the OP, I don’t know about the bullets he linked to but some of the frangible bullets consist of a jacket and a non lead “powder matrix”. So they don’t penetrate or damage steel or ricochet. Not sure how humane using them would be on game animals, that said, I would give them a shot on varmints I would also poison to get rid of. If nothing else at least after I had already killed them with something else, just to see what they do.

If the OP has a “no FMJ” mandate to follow, that answers that instantly, a painted jacket tip won’t exempt the bullet.

How about these ?

Varmint Grenades https://www.barnesbullets.com/bullets/varmint-grenade/

LD

As a varmint hunter I use mostly Sierra BlitzKings, 39gr in my .204, 50 or 55gr in my .223 and 58gr in my .243. I've never gotten a complaint from a coyote or prairie dog from the 1,000s I've eliminated.

I would load some for accuracy testing, then the wet phone books mentioned above.

However, if you haven't bought them, I think I would stick to the better known options so you don't end up with something which doesn't work for you. Now, if you have other uses for them and don't mind the risk, rock on.

They are not like the frangibles I have seen in the past and have on hand. I think FL-NC is right, likely shoot house surplus. Not sure of the specs on them nor if load data will be easy to find.