.223 Rem bullet mold for coyote hunting

[Tom_in_AZ]

Anyone have experience with hunting coyotes/varmints with cast bullets in a .223? Favorite mold?


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[Shopdog]

I use the Lee 225-55RF. Also have an RCBS which is basically the same thing,just a better mould for me.But the Lee works good.

Got a tack driver first year #16 (stainless) Savage 223.Ordered it from a great old LCS owner when they first became available. Slapped a 4 1/2-14 Simmons on,spraybombed it and started blasting varmints.Handloaded with the cheapest bullets I could find(TNT's) . It also got fed those white box Winchester when they hit wallyworld shelves.The rig was __" all day long,haha.Fast fwd 20 or so years.Was talkin chit chat on a forum about blasting something with a 223?.... so one day at lunch I loaded up 5 225-55RF that had right much development time in a another "early" Savage,this one being from the 1970's? as a 22-250.

So stepping out of the shop ,blasted the 223 at the 50 yd berm and the first load went into a single ragged hole.Tried it @100 same thing.Put it up and forgot about it.

Recent health issues( wanker Drs left me for dead on the operating table) saw me shelving my '06,CB varmint "vaporizer" so out comes the 223...... IMR4198 @2000fps will flat out embarrass 90% of JB shooters.Ragged holes at 100 with boring regularity(I shoot alllmost everyday)..... so went varmint hunting,best I could with <10% EF on the ticker.Jacked a Ghog a week or so ago.

You need velocity,getting there is up to the individual. If you don't..... go bigger on the calibre. Cast "starts @2500fps" for me.Accuracy and the fine red mist.Good luck with your hunting.I may one day go back to shooting JB's..... but don't hold your breath.

[Tom_in_AZ]

Thanks for the info. I may try that mold and powder coat some to try in my Rem 700


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[Shopdog]

One note about the 2 cav Lee..... it is a complete waste of "my" time weight sorting. Lyman M5 scale doesn't budge checking them.I cast in an ancient Lyman 10# with no thermometer,PID's.... nuthin but me and a pot.Heck,I even dump sprues back in.Just been at it for 40 years.Watch the puddle,watch the alloy,keep it right at that point where they're just wanting to frost.Adj the cadence accordingly. Don't be afraid of velocity,hunting ain't benchrest..... you don't need 10 shot groups.You need 3 shot bugholes with NO foulers allowed.Cold bore 1st shots have to be in "the hole".

[Mr_Sheesh]

I'll be doing some Chucks with the 63ish grain boolits from the coming mold buy, but for Coyotes I like 243 more; Tough dogs and you have to hit them hard, more than once sometimes.

[Tripplebeards]

I've been contemplating the same. I have a Remington ltr and and a POF p415. I've knocked yotes off their feet and never flinched using 60 gr vmax loaded with 25 gr of benchmark. Very accurate load. My avatar is a 100 yard group from my 14.5" barreled POF. I would like to hear some feedback of someone that has harvested 3 to 4 dozen coyotes with cast 223. If it were me I'd want to cast a hp so there is some Energy transfer. I've seen gut shot coyotes run and never recovered. I like my 243, close counts when using a 70 gr ballistic tip loaded at 3650fps. No matter where they get hit they aren't going anywhere. Good luck and let me know how it turns out. I'd also want my cast to be going at least 2400 fps so there is enough shock value to dispatch them with the small caliber IMO. Coyotes are tough critters and can run 3 counties and keep going with a marginal shot. I switched over to lead bb shot out of my 12 gauge yeArs ago. It will dump s coyote aiming at it head out to 70 yards and the farthest I've taken one with heavy shot bb was a 108 yards. Drop where they stand.

[DonMountain]

I would like to hear some feedback of someone that has harvested 3 to 4 dozen coyotes with cast 223. If it were me I'd want to cast a hp so there is some Energy transfer. I've seen gut shot coyotes run and never recovered. I like my 243, close counts when using a 70 gr ballistic tip loaded at 3650fps. No matter where they get hit they aren't going anywhere.

I am with Tripplebeards on this one. I live on a farm where coyotes are a real problem. And I generally use my AR-15 Delta Match H-Bar in 5.56 NATO for shooting these kinds of pests, along with groundhogs. But cast projectiles just don't do the job on the larger animals. So I use Hornady 60 grain V-MAX jacketed bullets at maximum speed to at least wound the coyotes sometimes at really extended ranges. And I know they will die eventually. If I wanted to "collect" coyote skins or something I would definitely resort to a larger caliber, of which the 243 is a good one. And with a jacketed bullet for extended ranges and faster velocities. I don't have a 243 anymore because it wasn't large enough to kill deer effectively, so now I use a 6.5x55 for extended range shooting on coyotes when I don't have the AR-15 handy.

[Tripplebeards]

I am with Tripplebeards on this one. I live on a farm where coyotes are a real problem. And I generally use my AR-15 Delta Match H-Bar in 5.56 NATO for shooting these kinds of pests, along with groundhogs. But cast projectiles just don't do the job on the larger animals. So I use Hornady 60 grain V-MAX jacketed bullets at maximum speed to at least wound the coyotes sometimes at really extended ranges. And I know they will die eventually. If I wanted to "collect" coyote skins or something I would definitely resort to a larger caliber, of which the 243 is a good one. And with a jacketed bullet for extended ranges and faster velocities. I don't have a 243 anymore because it wasn't large enough to kill deer effectively, so now I use a 6.5x55 for extended range shooting on coyotes when I don't have the AR-15 handy.

That 70 gr ballistic tip almost cuts yotes in half if you hit a rib.lol The first double I called in I shot one and it was beautiful. Bullet size hole in and out. I got lucky and missed a rib in and out. The second one that came in to check on its buddy I put a hold through its ribs and out the other side with a broadside shot. The hole was large enough I could clap my hands in it. This load is a lazerbeam out to almost 300 yards sighted in 1.4" high at a hundred.


On another occasion I called one in and it decided to sit down and stair me down. I took its head almost clean off at a 100 yards with the same round. That 70 gr ballistic tip is hit or miss. I called in a bobcat and shot it at 10 feet. Caught the bottom of its chest and out the heart on the other side. Bullet hole in and out. Bobcat never moved. I switched to shotgun for calling the next day after I blew a beautiful cat almost in half that I called in 75 yards away from the other spot. Was almost in tears that I wasted the pelt of the 2nd cat I ever called in. I had a beautiful bob hang up on me my last trip out at 200 yards, of course I had my shotgun with me...you just can't win.

Now, for coyotes I don't care my 243 700 vls that wears a hs prescion stock can grenade them all. I've spend enough Benjamin's on getting coyote pelts tanned.

[DonMountain]

That 70 gr ballistic tip almost cuts yotes in half if you hit a rib.lol The first double I called in I shot one and it was beautiful. Bullet size hole in and out. I got lucky and missed a rib in and out. The second one that came in to check on its buddy I put a hold through its ribs and out the other side with a broadside shot. The hole was large enough I could clap my hands in it. This load is a lazerbeam out to almost 300 yards sighted in 1.4" high at a hundred.

Of course different rifles and calibers and loads and bullets for different types of hunting. All of my coyote hunting is kind of a chance happening here on the farm and my object is just getting rid of the pests so that they don't kill any more "valuable" animals that I prefer hunting, like deer, rabbits, turkey, and the chickens we keep of course. So, when someone sees a coyote and grabs the rifle, it is almost always a running shot or the coyote is eating something it has already killed out in a field and still moving around. Hence a 20 round clip of 5.56 NATO does the job handily and I have 19 more rounds to make a possible hit with as it runs away after the first round. And I am pretty sure a good first shot will kill it, but I may not get the dead body as a trophy. If I was calling them in though, I might consider using the M1 Carbine with the Lyman 308359 bullet for close range and good penitration. And a quick second or third shot.

[popper]

I can get 2100 with 145 gr. in BO, hopefully a chance at buddies place this fall. He hits them with 223 and they run off. Bout the same with pigs unless you get a really good shot.