Originally Posted by
Bernie P.
Granted the 12 or even a 10g is useless at 75+yds but with 4 buck or Heavy shot T they will get you around 55-60yds.Coyotes are tough critters.Beyond shotgun range you want a good CF like a .223 vs any RF.
In general, I definitely agree, it's dam hard to beat a .223rem for coyotes. The OP has a good reason for wanting to use the rimfires.
One thing I have to throw in the ring, as you might have read in one of my threads posted today, is that while "in general" rimfires aren't ideal, they certainly do work.
Recap of my other thread: I was visiting my dad last weekend, and we were planning to run hounds that night for coons. My dad suggested we go coyote calling that afternoon, even though all we had with us were our coon rifles (3 Marlin 60 .22lr's). My bro-in-law felt the way you do, that rimfires just aren't enough for coyotes, so he didn't want to take a rifle, so my sis came along and used his instead.
All 3 of us shooters got a coyote, and my sis got a double (her first). All of our shots were head shots under 100yrds, with the closest shot around 40yrds, using CCI Mini-Mag 40grn solids.
Of course, I'm not saying a .22lr is the ideal coyote rifle, but I think it really puts some perspective on how much gun you really "need" for coyotes.