12 ga. Coyote loads

MARKZERO said:
I am not a shotgunner yet on these fur dogs…so, does copper plated bb’ s make a difference… Thanks…
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Not really. That copper plating is nothing more than a copper wash just like on a .22 rimfire bullet. It is very thin and very soft. Nickel plating is much much better. Nickel plated shot is harder and the plating is thicker. The only factory-produced nickel-plated BB shell I know is the Hornady load. That is unfortunate because Hornady cannot seem to produce a shotshell that patterns worth a damn. And that is across the board, turkey or predator loads produced by Hornady don't measure up to comparable loads from the other major ammo manufacturers.
 
GC said:
The only factory-produced nickel-plated BB shell I know is the Hornady load. That is unfortunate because Hornady cannot seem to produce a shotshell that patterns worth a damn. And that is across the board, turkey or predator loads produced by Hornady don't measure up to comparable loads from the other major ammo manufacturers.
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I couldn’t agree more with GC’s opinion of Hornady shotgun loads. I’ve tried (patterned) them all and nothing was close to suitable for my needs.

I do run Winchester Varmint-X BB loads through a .670” Pure Gold Choke with great patterns out to 50 yards. I try to keep shots under 45 yards though as I agree that the smaller lead BB shot just doesn’t retain the energy.
 
hunt0168 said:
I couldn’t agree more with GC’s opinion of Hornady shotgun loads. I’ve tried (patterned) them all and nothing was close to suitable for my needs.

I do run Winchester Varmint-X BB loads through a .670” Pure Gold Choke with great patterns out to 50 yards. I try to keep shots under 45 yards though as I agree that the smaller lead BB shot just doesn’t retain the energy.
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I’m with you. Tried Hornady BB and buckshot and wasn’t impressed with either. Best of the 2 were the BB with a factory full choke, but not great by any means.
 
I've had the best luck with Winchester Varmint X 3" BB as well. I didn't pattern past 45 yards but it'll kill coyote well over that. My furthest kill on a coyote was 63 yards using that load.

Admittedly it did take two shots. My first shot hit it in the legs and lower chest. Obviously it struggled getting back up but managed to get back on its feet. The next one I adjusted my aim and long bombed it. Hit the head, neck and chest and pretty much everywhere else at that range. That coyote was covered in holes.

I normally wouldn't take that shot but it was a mangy coyote and it was about to wind me. I had to do somethin. It bugs me worse than anything when a coyote with mange gets away.

I never have had good luck with Hornady coyote loads patterning worth a dang out of my guns. My buddy shoots them and has had good luck using them.
 
GC said:
Not really. That copper plating is nothing more than a copper wash just like on a .22 rimfire bullet. It is very thin and very soft. Nickel plating is much much better. Nickel plated shot is harder and the plating is thicker. The only factory-produced nickel-plated BB shell I know is the Hornady load. That is unfortunate because Hornady cannot seem to produce a shotshell that patterns worth a damn. And that is across the board, turkey or predator loads produced by Hornady don't measure up to comparable loads from the other major ammo manufacturers.
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I have some Federal copper plated bbs left over from awhile back when you could use them Turkey hunting….not allowed now… but worked good killing Tom’s.. Thanks again for your reply’s!!
 
Nothing will compare to #2 #3 or #4 shot TSS. Foxtrot ammo loads some really good shells, I’ve shot Apex and a couple other brands and I believe foxtrot is the best. They are pricey but there’s nothing that compares to TSS.
I’ve got a 10% code for foxtrot if anyone wants to try a couple boxes. Code is GN10, enter it at checkout
 
IMG_6240.jpeg
 
GC said:
Not really. That copper plating is nothing more than a copper wash just like on a .22 rimfire bullet. It is very thin and very soft.
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I'm pretty sure COPPER PLATING is thicker/better than COPPER WASH.

They are not the same.

Now... the real question I have is "ARE COPPER PALTED PELLETS" really plated or are they washed?
 
You really don't need more than 1-1/2 oz of TSS shot to make great coyote loads. Even 1-1/4 oz of TSS #3 or #4 shot have good pellet counts. If you reload your own TSS loads you can save a bunch of money. With 5 kilos of TSS shot you can make right at 94 loads with 1-7/8 oz of TSS shot or 117 loads with 1-1/2 oz of TSS shot. I-1/2 oz of TSS #3 shot has right at 100 pellets and 1-1/2 oz of TSS #4 shot has right at 124 pellets per shell.
IMG_2415 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156463377@N08/, on Flickr
The very big male coyote in the above picture was killed on Friday with a 1-1/4 oz load of TSS #3 shot.
 
Bowhntr6pt said:
I'm pretty sure COPPER PLATING is thicker/better than COPPER WASH.

They are not the same.

Now... the real question I have is "ARE COPPER PALTED PELLETS" really plated or are they washed?
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Actually, the hardness of the lead is at least as important as the plating. Good high antimony hard shot is sometimes referred to as a "magnum" or "chilled" shot. I shot an empty typical convenience store 16-ounce water bottle with copper plated Federal Premium #4 Buckshot from 60 yards. Three pellets struck the bottle, two passed through. One pellet struck where the bottle had a hard molded ridge. That pellet didn't exit the bottle and was lying in the bottom flattened out as large as a nickel. Half of the copper plating had peeled off and what was left was thin enough that I could easily scrape it off with my thumb.
 
I bought some Winchester Varmint X BB the other day for $27 a box. I thought that was kinda high but that TSS stuff is crazy expensive. One thing I'll say about the Winchester Varmint X is that's the only shotgun round I've ever shot that I noticed the thud of the pellets impacting on the coyotes body. I thought that was kinda cool. So far I haven't lost any coyotes using that round. Shot at one too far with it once and didn't accomplish anything other than scaring it. It ran to the road a 1/2 mile away and got ran over by a truck when it tried to cross. So..........I dunno.....can I count that one?

I believe if I were to start using TSS shot I'd start reloading shotgun shells. I'd be picking shot out of dead critters to save money too, I guarantee ya. That ain't no bull. That's like shooting gold at 'em. I'd have to invest in a metal detector to find pass throughs. I've never spent 3 hours in one spot after killing one but I bet that'd change real quick after I let a few of those bad boys rip.
 
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Ah it’s all relative. I don’t even think about it when I buy them. Is $50+ a lot to pay for 5 Shotgun shells? Yes, but when you see a Coyote fold at 90 yards you justify it. No different than a guy pissing away $6000 on thermal, $600+ dollars on an Ecaller, $5000 on a custom rifle etc. etc. etc. Justification is just what we do when we become hunters.😂
 
TSS must have went down. We were loading turkey loads before it ever became mainstream and it was cheap. Once everyone else caught on it was cheaper to buy than roll our own.
 
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