222 Remington for Coyotes

Any one use one on Coyotes? Likes? Dislikes? Good for how many yards on them? What ammo do you prefer on coyotes for the least amount of pelt damage ?

They are fine choice for coyotes. We use a 50gr vmax handload. 24gr H4895. Great to 300 with practice.

I suspect Gulo might weigh in on this one. I believe he put himself through school with coyote pelts from a triple deuce !

Yep! Shot over 400 in Idaho during the 80’s with a 50 gr PSP out to nearly 400yds.
BUT my Rem 700 would shoot 1 hole groups at 150 yds with handloads AND i practiced at 275 & 300 & 325 & 350yds all summer.
It wore a Weaver K12 from the 60’s I had rebuilt and duplex reticle added in ‘83 or ‘84.
The 50 grainers would go in and not come out and liquify the boiler room.
Wind was the enemy over 250.
On windy days I toted the 257 Ackley.

Forgot to mention 19.5 gr IMR4198

...And most accurate factory ammo was from Hornady.

You can nearly get .223 performance (-200fps) out of a .222, but in most cases you'll be limited on bullet weight more so than with the .223. My fatherl-inlaw shoots a .222 that has a 1:14 twist rate which limits his bullet weight to 50gr. or less. My .223 bolt gun has a 1:8 twist rate and shoots 52 to 77 gr. bullets very accurately at greater distances with more retained energy. But if you already have the triple duece rifle, you can still kill a lot of coyote with it.

I use an old rem mod 722 for night hunting. 50gn vmax handload with h322 or imr4198.
J

Recently purchased a Remington 600 in a 222. Have not shot it yet. Anyone else have a 222 in the 600? How do you like it?

Shot a lot or deer with one in 243. Had 18.5" bbl.Very handy and light. Should b great for yotes in .222. What length bbl?

I got a Remington 788 with a 26 in barrel that will out shoot anything I've seen, heard, or run across in my 50 plus years of hunting/ shooting ground hogs. I bought it new in the box for 157 dollars from K-mart in 1977. It came with a 4X tasco and would shoot the lights out to 200 yards.I later put a 3-9 on it. Back in the late 70's you had to have shooting skills wasn't any of this torrent scopes and bdc reticles. It was Ky windage and natural range finders .

I shoot a hornady 50 gr SX bullet. Sand bag and clear no wind day it would shoot same hole 3 sht groups at 150. Never shot any yotes with it but very seldom did it exit from a ground hog and yotes are bigger bodied than G hogs. My son who just turned 32 killed his first deer with it when he was 9...

Oh yes been offered 4 times what I paid for it LOL...

18.5"

Shot a .222 for years.
Very accurate rifle but for coyotes, it was a 300 yards gun at best.
250 yards is really its effective limits.
Most older ones had a slow twist barrel. Regulated to 50 grain bullets and lighter.
Mine shot incredible groups with 50 and under no matter what brand.
Tried 60 grain partitions once and groups were minute of elephant at 100 yards.

I was thinking 50gr hollow points too

I’ve only shot two with my .222 and Nosler 40 grain Ballistic tips but both folded right there.

My 222 is now a door gun !
These two were killed out the back door at 75 and 150 yards with 55 grain ballistic tips .

x2

I've been shooting a .222 Rem for over 40 years. I switched out to a .220 Swift for a couple of years; went back to the .222. As several have said 50 or 55 grain spire points were always golden with 19.5 grains of 4198. I used to buy factory seconds at the Speer plant in Lewiston, Idaho for next to nothing; I think the 50-grain were a penny apiece. With lots of shooting, 300 yards was good; 350 was mostly luck. Shot many coyotes, a few foxes, some wolverines, and wolves. Switched over to the .25-06 for wolves. Within 150 yards (I'm not a long shooter any more) it's still my gun of choice for white-tails and black bears because of it's accuracy. Eyeball shots are pretty lethal. Although ammo is relatively cheap, .223, in my opinion, simply isn't as inherently accurate. I've never seen one, I don't care what make and model, that would compete with a run-of-the-mill .222 Rem. (That ought to get some hackles up; I'll start the popcorn).

Jack

Get that pop corn going....Jack I shoot a Savage model 110 ....plain Jane .223 factory scope that came with the gun it shoots very good. I use it as my predator calling gun. Deadly at 150 yds....still strong at 200.
I like your eyeball analogy....for bigger game. I always thought that even a Grizz could be had with an eyeball shot.

I also belong to the .222 Remington fan club for whatever reason I shot mostly 52 or 53 gr HPBT match Sierra bullets in front of some IMR 3031 powder that caused many a coyote fox and deer and antelope to ride back to town with me ha ha

It's a great caliber in my way of thinking I never tried stretching it's legs out much past 200 yards though.
Allan

Ive got one in a Remington 788 that i bought at estate sale about 10 yrs ago. It didn't even have the bluing wore off the clip spring when I brought it. Ive put less than 50 rounds through it but am impressed with it.

I have a Savage model 24, .222 over a 20 gauge. I haven't shot much with it but the .222 is still accurate even with the terrible shotgun feeling trigger.

I’ve got a Remington 600 in 222 that was my grandfathers. It shoots 50 gr. Hornady spsx’s nicely with 19.5 grains of Imr 4198. It shoots 55 gr fmjbt rounds surprisingly well but doesn’t shoot 40 grain pills all that well. I think it may be a throat erosion issue from grandpa shooting it heavily for years at woodchucks. To seat a 40 grain bullet anywhere near the lands it doesn’t have much bullet left in the case.
My complaint about the gun is the lousy trigger and moronic design of the bolt release. Added to that, the plastic around the trigger guard assembly is distorted by the magazine follower spring pressure. There is a replacement bottom metal kit actually made of metal and a stock timmney trigger that I’ve been tempted to buy, but the gun shoots well as is. Not ragged hole accurate, but minute of coyote at 200.

A little history,so the hunting caliber of choice for coyotes was the 222 in the early 60s the only reason it was baiscally disappeared from exsistance was because the introduction of the m-16 which fired the 5.56 (223)

I tried 40grain v max boattail in my 722 horrible groups like 4-5 inch at 100yards. The only 40 grain I could get to shoot well was a sierra flatbase hp pushed with Rel 7 powder. No clover leaf groups but about nickle size still a huntable round. I would have to find my notes but I believe they were running right around 3400fps.
Another bullet that shoots really well but my rifle wont feed them is the old speer 52grain hollow point
J

You did well !

Just bought a little Remington 600 18" barrel. It should be a great rifle for hunting coyotes. Suggestion on a good illuminated scope for 150 yard max shots. Thanks for the advice and help.

T/C 3-9 with Electra Dot
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Thompson-Center-Arms-TC3-9V-ELECTRA-DOT-Rifle-Scope-Japan-by-HAKKO-BOX-RARE/223567640594?hash=item340dab7812:g:0w4AAOSwfSJdFCN0
T/C Luminated reticles are getting harder to find but Kahles are also good IME with GREEN reticles

have 3 .222's. A 700 BDL Rem. a 700 ADL rem and a 788 Remington that I glass bedded. They all shoot really well. I would like to find a spare magazine for my 788 if anybody has one

found one here https://www.ebay.com/itm/Remington-Factory-Magazine-788-222-Rem-4-Round/324337453845?hash=item4b8404cb15:g:hWsAAOSwbFdfij8s

they don't give them away but not that much more than new magazines for current guns

Thank you greencountypete

Those 52 grain big mouth Speers shoot really well in my 700 BDL. I like 4198 and have been using H335 lately. The only thing mine didn’t like was reduced loads and I don’t thing 55 grains are as accurate. Haven’t tried 60’s as I don’t think they’d work well at all. I’ve had mine since the late eighties and it’ll be the last gun I’d ever see leave the place.

I have a Rem M700 Classic w/24" barrel
just bought it so I have only been able to try 50 gr Hornady SX's but they shoot real good with A-2015
going to take her out tomorrow and see what kind of coyote medicine it is bet it's a dandy

I bought my Rem 700 in the 70's, used put a redfield 3x9, shoot 50 grain sierra blitz. Shot lots of woodchucks,deer, praire dogs and a few coyotes it is easy to shoot and kills em.

Used a couple sporter weight 700 BDL’s back in the early 90’s. One I sold because I was offered way too much for it after a Kansas prairie dog hunt. The other because as a young father, bills had to get paid and I kept the 22-250.

Then there was a couple 788’s, bought for around $200 OTD. One didn’t shoot worth a darn, my older brother still owns the other.

I now carry a 700 ADL no Prefix action for the past 8-9 years. It has several coyotes under its belt. Speer 52 gr HP was my bullet of choice. I-4320 was my favorite powder in the 90’s. I now use XBR8208

I know I commented on this when it first started. Since then I picked up my 4 triple deuce. It’s a Rem 722 never had a scope on it. Got it from the original owner. I scoped it and it loves the 50gr VMax kills em dead. I know VMax gets a bad rap from some but I love them in the 222 and 22 Hornet. No fur damage at all.

I shoot a Sako in .222 using 50 grain V Max. I have killed over 200 coyotes since moving down to Arizona, a large portion of them with the .222 at ranges out to 200 yds. Typical range for called coyotes is about 75 yds. Fur damage is minimal with good shot placemirsent, usually no exit. It is too much for Fox if hide hunting, OK for bobcat just stay off shoulders. There is probably a lot of good bullets available that would work other than the V Max just shooting up my inventory for now. With the uncertainty of reloading components I like to gather up a good supply when available.

My .222 Savage 110 is my most accurate rifle I have and does very well with any ammo I feed it.

I have a 788 that I got from Kmart 145 bucks nib. Came with a 4 power tasco scope. 50 grain hornady SX. 3 shot group looks like a 30 caliber bullet hole. I got a 3x9 vortex diamond back on it.

I have seen them on Ebay, but they ain't cheap.

I found a nice magazine on ebay for my 788. It was a little pricey but now i have a spare magazine for it

Any have the 222 mag.

I also have had really good luck with Accurate 2015 powder in my .222's

No, but I’d take one if I stumbled on it.
In all too many years of shooting over spreads in the west, I think the property holders folks or hired helped that asked to come out with me most commonly had .222 rifles. I saw a bunch of coyotes we called in drop dead on the receiving end of those. I had often thought of buying one and surely would have if I happened on one at the “right” moment. I have forever shot something a bit heavier because many situations I was in required a little more lethality and I like the familiarity of one caliber at a time so to speak.

.223 someone here has me shooting some now, it’s a fine round off the wall as well. As far as most people use them in the real world it does fine. People seem to think they can outshoot their weapons. No, they can’t.

One day I’ll poke thru a shop and find a .222, hopefully in a magnum, another fun addition to the herd when actually I should be sending some to the sale ring.

Osky

Sako don’t know what you paid but they are all over the internet for around 45 bucks. I bought an extra for mine in the 80’s I think I paid 25 for it back then

I think mine was around $60 shipped. Only ones i could find at the time were on ebay

Who cares the price if its what you need and gets the job done?

Osky

I should but don’t. I found a 722 in 222 Mag in a gunshop in Rapid City the price was good, rifle was even better. Got some regret for not buying it.

I remember reading , once, that a lot of the Inuit loved the .222 Rem. and used it for about everything.