Author Topic: which bullet for 223? (Read 889 times)

myronman3 · « **on:** January 02, 2005, 05:57:57 AM »

hello gents; and scruffians, too.

i shot a fox this year with my 270 and nosler 150 bt's. messy to say the least. i bought a bushmaster varminter and plan on starting predator calling here before long. animals that might respond are coyotes and fox; maybe a wolf (obviously wolves are protected).

i would like to get a coyote and a fox mounted. which bullet and what weight should i be looking at for the least amount of damage to the hide?

should i be looking at lighter bullets or heavier ones? fragmentable designs or ones that hold together and zip through?

Graybeard · « **Reply #1 on:** January 02, 2005, 06:37:50 AM »

Either 55 FMJ or the 40 Nosler BT or 40 Hornady V-MAX would be my recommendations.

varmit_master · « **Reply #2 on:** January 02, 2005, 09:01:31 AM »

Hi Llike GB said a FMJ or you could try like a federal 55gr trophy bonded bullet would work and not make a big hole in the fur as a V-max or a BT would or you could try a 55gr pointed soft point bullet hope you like your new gun i am goning to have to get me one soon VM

Graybeard · « **Reply #3 on:** January 02, 2005, 09:07:26 AM »

Hmm VM, have you put those bullets you're recommending into such critters? The 40s don't exit for me and thus no pelt damage. It's not the entrance hole you worry about, it's the exit. If it don't exit no pelt damage. In my experience 50s and 55s are gonna exit and PTs are designed to assure exit. If you have an exit with other than a FMJ you're gonna have pelt damage.

Hornady even sells the 35s made for the Hornet you can try. They will blow up inside every time to but are not as sleek for long range use as the 40s. Speer 50 TNTs do MASSIVE damage and exit but whoa do they kill.

myronman3 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 02, 2005, 11:38:46 AM »

so your telling me the entry wound is going to be small with 40 grain ballistic tips? i would have thought that they would explode on contact thereby making yet another mess. not so?
if i am understand you correctly, this is good news as i have a bunch of nosler 40 grain bt's all loaded up, sighted in and ready to go.

Thebear_78 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 02, 2005, 12:40:56 PM »

Unfortuneatly I haven't found any reliable way to keep a 223 from blowing the heck out of a fox, they are just too fragile. Coyote on the other hand are easier, any extremly frangible varmint bullet if burried in the body should do the job nicely, the 40gr Vmax or BT should be just the ticket. If you want a nice fox to save either use a 17HMR or a shotgun loaded with lead 2s or BBs.

Plumbrich · « **Reply #6 on:** January 02, 2005, 12:49:02 PM »

When slipping them in the ribs the 40 BTs work great usally no exit.I stopped using them becouse when you hit a shoulder they blew all to heck.Big hole no dead yote usally takes another shot.

I would go with the 50s I like the 50g speer tnt seems to work best for me.Fmj are not legal in alot of areas.They do work well at close range but, I found at longer ranges they dont.At longer ranges they make small hole in and small hole out and no blood trail.

Also another good bullet for yote hunting thats usally over looked is the 45g hollow point (bulk midway) I killed several coyotes with this bullet and it performed very well instant kills and very little hide damage.Only problem this bullet only shot well out of one gun I had and I sold it.

Sask_Hunter · « **Reply #7 on:** January 02, 2005, 03:15:44 PM »

i havent shot many coyotes but i had a 40gr nosler come unglued at about 90 yrds on a coyote. and i didnt hit the sholder. the same day my buddy shot one with a 40gr v-max out of his 22-250 again the bullet came unglued. both were big dog and the one shot with the 22-250 needed another shot.

going to try some 52gr bthp hornadys. if i dont have time to shoot these ill try to shot another one with the 40gr noslers.

Jerry Lester · « **Reply #8 on:** January 03, 2005, 03:13:57 AM »

On coyotes, it's a lot easier to get a combination that won't exit very often. On foxes, it's nearly impossible with the 223 not to have a bullet exit, so I try to use the tougher bullet method myself. I've tried the light weight polymer tipped bullets on foxes, and you'll be lucky if you don't blow'em nearly in half at any velocity.

I load 55g Sierra SPs at around 2600-2800 fps. I try very hard not to hit the shoulders(slightly far back in the vitals).

I've killed a lot of foxes with this combination, as well as bobcats(also easy to blow up), and although you can count on an exit, it's usually pretty small with very little pelt damage in most cases. If you do hit a shoulder on a fox though, it'll make a fairly big hole most times.

varmit_master · « **Reply #9 on:** January 03, 2005, 10:05:41 AM »

Hi the law wont let us use FMJ here in ARK and i would only use the fed TB bullet on a coyote the only thing i have fount that wouldnt blow a fox up is a 22 mag i know out of my 22 250 i think i can load the Hornady 50gr SPSX bullets where they wont exit i have only shot the 40gr BT at paper out of my 223 try a load of lead BB's or #2 out of your shotgun for a fox VM

PA-Joe · « **Reply #10 on:** January 03, 2005, 10:10:50 AM »

First we need to know the twist rate of your barrel. Take a look at www.jamescalhoon.com. You can down load the 223 to 22 mag or 22 hornet levels.

myronman3 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 03, 2005, 12:46:17 PM »

1 in 9

Wlscott · « **Reply #12 on:** January 03, 2005, 01:57:28 PM »

55 grain V Max, 27.5 grains of Varget and a CCI small rifle primer, in Lake City brass.

This is my load in my AR15 and it does a good job on coyotes without tearing a large entry. Usually doesn't exit. THIS IS A MAX LOAD AND SHOULD BE WORKED UP TO GRADUALLY!!!!

I get about 3150 fps out of this load and it will group into a little over a quarter of an inch at 100 yards.