Pelt friendly calibers
 

Which caliber would be best for hunting fox and coyote with minimal pelt damage - 204 or 22-250 at 0-250 yards? I do not plan to reload my own ammo.
jr97

The .204 Caliber is going to be easier on the hides/pelts.I have a CZ-USA Model 527 "Varmint" with the heavy barrel that is 24 inches long,bolt-action with a Leupold 3X9X40mm scope and it does a fantastic job on Coyotes,it reaches far out and shoots nice and flat and accurate...I've shot 5 Coyotes already with it and it does very little damage to the hides and usually doesn't even pass-thru their bodies,it drops them right on the spot too!The CZ "American" model 527 .204 is basically the same Rifle with a shorter barrel and its lighter in weight and easier to carry and pack around.

I sighted the Rifle in with Hornady 40 grain V-max shells and switched over to try out the Winchester 32 grain ballistic tip bullets...these were the bulllets I have shot the 5 Coyotes with and it has some great knock-down power,I had 1 Coyote with minimal damage becasue I shot it a little far back and low...it literally gutted that Coyote and dropped it within a few feet of where it was shot.I'm going to switch over to the Sierra Blitz Kings 39 grain bullets (loaded by Federal V-Shok) because I heard they shot better in the .204 Rifles so I'm going that route when I use up my 32 grainers!

The .22-250 is a nice Gun but I think its going to do a little more damage to a Coyote and especially a Fox since they are usually a little smaller?

Common predator calibers include;

.204, .22-25, .223, .243

Normally, the larger calibers have a better BC - buck the wind better & deliver more energy down range.

Then it comes down to "proper" bullet construction.

You don't need either at those distances also they're harder on barrels than most others around that size.You would be better off with .222,222 Mag or .223.I shoot CZ's American in .223 with Leupolds VX I 2-7.The .223 is best since you aren't into rollin your own ammo.Easiest to find and cheaper as well.

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions on pelt friendly calibers. I have one more question it is how much bigger is a 223 to a 204? I am leaning towards a 223 now because the 204 ammo is expensive and the 22-250 will be to big for fox and as for the 222, I can not find a gun chambered in it

The one true "pelt saver" that hasn't been listed here is the .17 Fireball, Its the best as far as belt damage goes on foxes and coyotes, its more than enough for a fox, but still enough to do a Coyote in.

Friend of mine just got back from Texas and he emailed me a picture of the harvests, there was a Gray fox hit with a .204 it about cut it in half. way too much gun. Same with a .22-.250 I have a .22-.250 for predators but it only gets the nod when I'm targeting Coyotes, I'd sit down and take a long look into a .17 Fireball before you make any decisions, especially for foxes and coyotes.

Ryan.

I will repeat it again for your concerns JR;

"Then it comes down to "proper" bullet construction."


..............and of course shot placement.

Hahahahahahhahahahahahhahahaha what they said

The .204 is based on the .222 Mag case so there's little size difference here except the lighter faster bullets.It's not at all a bad round I just prefer the larger heavier bullet's of the others for coyotes and bobcats.CZ offers their 527 in .222 last I checked but not sure now.Probably the most accurate of the bunch.It's what I really wanted myself but I found a dealer that bought a bunch of the American's in .223 and was selling them at a price to good to pass up.

Personally, any common varmint cartridge is going to be "pelt friendly". The .223rem, .22-250, .220Swift, .204Ruger, .243win, .17Fireball, .22 Hornet, etc etc, as long as you choose a bullet construction appropriate for your game weight, you'll be fine with anything on the list. Arguably, a guy CAN use a .30-06 on 20lb foxes and with the proper bullet construction, still have nice, tiny holes. (been doing it for almost 20yrs).

When you're talking about pelt damage, a lot of things come into play. You can't just look at the powder volume or bullet weight (i.e. you can't just look at the CARTRIDGE) to really determine how much pelt damage you're going to do. Velocity at impact range, game weight, and bullet construction are really major players. A frangible varmint bullet at 800yrds on a 50lb coyote is going to act more like a soft-pointed deer bullet on a 200lb deer at 50yrds. There's a "critical mass" of energy transfer that determines your pelt damage. Essentially if your "temporary cavity" is considerably smaller than your animals body, you'll produce very nice clean entry and exit wounds. If the temporary cavity is considerably LARGER than your animals body, like a JHP on a prairie dog, you get "explosive" results. Here's an example: a friend and I were out shooting P-dogs, me with my AR-15 .223, him with his Winchester SX-AR .308win. My .223rem JHP's were popping them like balloons. His .308win with surplus ball ammo FMJ's was punching a clean hole straight through them. No, FMJ's aren't legal for coyote/fox, but my point is that if you minimize your expansion, you can use whatever cartridge you want and still be "pelt-friendly".

If you want to minimize pelt damage OUT OF THE PELT-FRIENDLY CARTRIDGES, then I'd say the .204, 22hornet, .17fireball, or .223rem would be MY choices if I were starting over. My personal choice, is/was .223rem. Enough bullet weight and range to get me as far as I need and still dump 50lb coyotes, but versatile enough to throttle back on 20lb foxes or bobcats. Then you have the choice, either go with a highly frangible bullet so it disintegrates upon impact (temp cavity is big diameter, but not deep penetration), OR, go with a fairly firm bullet construction so it doesn't expand much through the body (temp cav is small dia, and penetrates clear through). The risk with highly frangible bullets is that if your game is too light, they WILL pop like a balloon, and if they hit say the shoulder bone, they may not offer a clean kill. The risk with firm bullets is that they may not produce enough trauma or impact shock to drop the animal DRT, and if you miss by 2", it doesn't make up for shoddy marksmanship as well as a frangible bullet can.