223 Twist Rate for fox, bobcat, and yotes

[psrice1963]

Also what bullets are you all using?  I've been thinking about the 55 grain vmax.  Any experience with these or are there better that I should use for saving pelts?

[Ladobe]

Can't do your poll from the information given.   Twist depends on the weight of the bullets you want to shoot, so "best" isn't a valid question IMO without bullet weight.     If for the middle of the road 55gr V-Max you mention, either twist will shoot them, but the 14 is better than the 9 if they will be driven fast (where 16 is even better).   So the general answer would be the 14 for lighter, the 9 for heavier from the 55 they'll both shoot.
 
What is a fur friendly bullet for coyote may not be for a thin skinned fox.   Doesn't take much to kill a fox, doesn't take much to really tear them up either, especially with a splash from an explosive varmint bullet.  So IMO "best" bullet choice is a compromise made to cover all the factors most likely to occur in your hunting the most often (species, range, conditions, etc).    In my 50  years of shooting predators for fur and ADC, fox fur was higher on my want list than coyote, and bob kitty even higher.   So if a 223 was my only choice I'd opt for the lightest bullet that would get it done at the longest normally shot ranges for all three species I could make well placed shots at, and with no exit if possible.   
 
A long time ago I went to the 17's for predator hunting though and retired all the 22's.   More fur friendly, and the bullets seldom exit.  With the hottest 17's a splash from a poorly placed shot will tear them up though.
 
FWIW - YMMV
 
 
 

[backstrap]

I use  the 36gr varmint  gernades out of my 22 250 i know its not a 223, but same bullet diameter .224 i have shot yotes from 7 yards to out past 200 yards and it doesnt exit, i think you will find this out on shooting thin skin critters as well, the bullet was made to blow up inside the animal and not exit,last year a called a bobcat in about 50 yards shot her faceing me while she was setting on her hinny, and shot her with my savage 110 in 223 shotting a 50 gr vmax no exit on her but i think if she was brodside it would have exited and blew the off side up,  any more i just shoot light bullets in my predator rigs 40gr vmax ,36 gr varmint gernades 40 gr serria hollow point,i have read where you can shoot a heavyer bullet and it will just pass through not messing up the hide as well. i am just speaking from my experiance, i just shoot light fast bullets so they will blow up inside with know exit,so i dont think you want a fast twist barrel to shot light bullets

[cjclemens]

I use 45 grain Sierra Varminters in my 1:12 twist Handi Rifle.  They leave a .22 caliber entry wound and no exit on a coyote.  I think any good Varmint bullet should give you similar results.  Just be careful with heavier bullets  - some are made for larger game and tend to be more heavily constructed for deeper penetration and better weight retention.  Those are the ones that will plow right through a coyote and make a mess of the pelt.

[psrice1963]

I ended up buying a CZ 527 American with 12" twist.  Waiting for it to arrive now.  I'm going to put a VX-3 2.5-8x36mm on top which should be good for the short to medium ranges around here.  Can't wait as I've heard so many people talk about the accuracy of the little rifle.

[TopperT]

As of today, I'm shooting Winchester 64 grn soft points from my 1 in 9 H&R.  They group wonderfully BUT.....is this too much of a load.  I will be hunting all of next week in the Allagash (ME)  and the Coyotes there tend to be in the 50 to 60# range and some larger.  Distances should be 125 to 200 yards. 
 
Advice is much appreciated.

[RevJim]

 I used the 50gr Vmax out of a .220 Swift on coyotes. It blew up inside, worked great. I never checked the twist, but it was a Remington 700 Classic factory .220 Swift barrel on a Model 7...awesome combo! It shot the 50 to 60gr swell. In a .223, I used the 40 NBT, and it worked swell too. BTW, it was out a CZ 527 Varminter. Good luck to you.