fur friendly cartridge

[Buddro]

I was looking at a cheap model seven the other day and it got me to thinking, if I was going to build a light packable coyote gun that wont destroy pelts what would it be?  

   I seldom call in areas where I can see very far, we will call 250 a max regular range.  I do prefer  to shoot non toxics, I've had good experiences with barnes TSX's  (I will soon be trying drt I  a .270)  but the availability of non toxics isnt a must. Lastly I lean toward odd ball cartridges, I have a .223 if I ever get in too much of a bind to hand load I can always fall back on that.  I have looked into some of the .17s I think they could be a good way to go.  everyone I know with .204s destroys pelts, but it may be an option loaded down with a shorter barrel?  what other interesting .20s are out there?  any suggestions?

[dse]

The 20 tactical but it's not much slower than the 204. 

222 rem, 221 fireball, 22 K-hornet all fill the bill for fur friendly be odd balls.

[ctracingraptor]

204 Ruger 

[muledeerarea33?]

Savage .17hmr is deadly accurate! I’ve yet to kill with mine but it groups good with any ammo out to 150 yards.

[nateNAU]

10 minutes ago, Buddro said:

everyone I know with .204s destroys pelts, but it may be an option loaded down with a shorter barrel?  

I use a 204 and I have never had an exit to sew up. Same with a 222. 223 with any kind of factory ammo in my experience is not fur friendly. 

[Buddro]

.222 rem is just too close to .223 rem to justify the difference.  frankly all of the other .224 cartridges are too close to justify not going with a .223.  THAT I CAN THINK OF, IF I AM WRONG SAY STUFF.  ctrac  what kind of load are you shooting out of your .204? And what kind of barrel?  I think it may be a good choice with a slower round, maybe.

[Delw]

17 remington  itty bitty hole on the outside inside is jello

[Delw]

.223 is good but you will want to run med loads if you reloaded and bullets that dont expand, nosler used to make partitions for the .224 dia stuff, I used them on my 22-250. believe it or not berger target hollow points work fantastic as the don't grenade on impact you do have to hit them in the right spot though

[photofool]

I carry a 12 gauge shotgun and a 223 when calling coyotes. Use the shotgun 80 % of the time. Don't shoot the front shoulders with the 223 and the fur is all good.

[Buddro]

I use a shotgun frequently as well but it's not practical to haul 2 guns on extended hunting trips.  .223 does a fine job, like I said I currently use barnes tsx in a .223 ar, they dont tend to blow big holes and they drop anything.  great thing about that set up is that it's kind enough for the occasional bob cat and fox that I call in but still has plenty of power to take a quartering shot at a lion should I accidentally call one in.  

 

       The thing is if I go ahead and build another rifle the point will be to have something fun and different.  also to build rifle that's a lot lighter than the heavy ar that i lug around currently

[lancetkenyon]

.221 Fireball

[SHOOTER]

I've had good luck with .223 and a 60gr vmax around 2800fps. 1 little hole in and never had an exit. Inside is jello. I've have very different results with the 50 and 55 gr vmaxs tho so I stick with the 60gr. 

[bryce525]

I shoot 26 grain Barnes Varmint Grenades out of my 204 AR15.  Out of the 24" barrel I'm getting just over 4000 fps.  I've never had an exit or a major blow up damaging fur.  Closest shot so far was maybe 20 yards and the longest was 200.  Even close range shots on fox were extremely fur friendly.  I used to stack fur with a 22-250 and tried dozens of bullets with mixed success and a lot of time spent stitching pelts.  I picked up the 204 and 26 gr varmint grenades and have never looked back.