Originally Posted By: varminter .223Originally Posted By: Redneckbmxer24Originally Posted By: varminter .223Originally Posted By: Redneckbmxer24With the lighter bullets it doesn’t do anything that 223 doesn’t do. I only shot one yote with mine and it was with the 60gr NBT factory ammo and after that I wouldn’t use that load again. I was using my thermal clip on at the time so I watched the hit right at the back of the shoulder hit, splash, and the yote took off running and was never found. Almost zero blood trail, just lots of hair and some chunks of meat at the spot he was hit.
I think loaded with an 80gr bullet it would be a viable choice though. It could be light enough to get good velocity, but still take advantage of the higher BC bullet for flatter trajectory at distance.
I didint get mine to yote hunt though, it’s a long range gas gun.
My experience with the Nosler ballistic tip is the opposite. If anything they need a bit more expansion. I would question the shot placement being exactly where you thought it was. We have what appears to be some perfect shots in thermal that result in misses on occassion. I'm considering trying the 53 VMAX. I run both 3500.
If it was a miss there wouldn't have been fur and pieces of flesh at the impact site and I'm 100% confident that I saw it hit and splash at the rear of the shoulder. I'm running a LWTS clip on, not your typical thermal setup and it gives a lot of detail on front of a day optic.
Others have experienced this load to splash badly too, I'm not the only one, I've had the same result on the groundhogs I've shot with them. I have ran NBT's in other rifles and haven't experienced this explosiveness on impact despite being higher velocities in other rifles. Many believe it's the super fast twist rate and RPM's with the spec'd Valkyrie barrels that causes this. Regardless though, it's not a good choice for predators with the light fragmenting bullets. Sticking to something a little better constructed like a Berger target bullet is a better idea.
No I'm not saying you missed I'm just saying your shot may have been a few inches off from where you thought. For me and my 12 twist 22 Nosler I've been getting exit holes on rib cage shots with 55 ballistic tips. We are getting some Runners when we get out close to 300 and beyond. I've had some coyotes that I swear were dead and we went to get him and they were gone. This is why I want to try even more explosive bullet in the ballistic tip. I will agree though that the 6.5 or 7 twist is overspinnig them. It's why the nxs doesnt appeal to me.
I shot one two nights ago under 100 yards that went into the rib cage and came out in the front of the back leg and blue a pretty good-sized hole. The coyote was quartering to me hard. I walked up to get it and it was standing there looking at me and started to run off so I put another one in it. If you run the right bullet through a coyote from the shoulder to the rear leg it shouldn't spend fall down lay there get up and run off.
I think that these are all good observations. Splashes either indicate a less than ideal shot placement, or that the bullet was deflected back towards the surface.
I too have had many coyotes that I would have sworn on a stack of bibles had a perfect hit, only to see a less than ideal result.
Since starting to record our hunts with a camera mounted on top of my rifle, I have seen that even perfectly placed shots can result in some odd results. I shot a coyote on Thanksgiving day. It was a dead on chest shot, yet it came out the left side of the coyote just behind the shoulder. Looking at the footage in slow motion, the coyote was standing at a slight angle with it's right shoulder slightly forward.
As far as the .224 for coyotes, with the right bullet I have no doubt that it will work. But as the guys have said, will it do anything on a coyote that the .223 doesn't? With the exception of longer range, probably not. Velocity is velocity and energy is energy. Physics doesn't care what "caliber" it is.