shotgun question
 

Whats the best type of load to use for coyotes? I have a Winchester 1300 12 gauge and was wondering what I should use for killing coyotes.

I've been using Winchester Super-X 00 buckshot, from 2 3/4" up to 3 1/2", for over 20yrs. Absolute standby for me. Stuff hits the fan, that's the load I go to.

Other than that, I've been incredibly impressed by the Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote rounds, fantastic round, but they're pretty proud of them. I ran through a couple hundred rounds of them patterning and hunting before I found out how much my wife was paying for them when she was picking them up for me!! No longer goin to this round until the prices become reasonable. I wouldn't pay $4-5 a shot for premium rifle ammo, let alone a 50yrd coyote killer. It's good, but it ain't that good...

Stick with lead or heavier than lead loads between #4buck up to 00 Buckshot, copper plated shot is ok, but I'm not a huge fan. The Federal Flight Control #1 buckshot has done really well for me, but I've never been a huge fan of federal. That load ALMOST had me buying theirs exclusively. Just really hard to find.

...........and why not !!!

00 buck will kill almost anything.

What choke should I be using with buckshot?

All shotguns are different, so you have to put in the time (and ammo $) to pattern different chokes and loads to see which your shotgun likes best, BUT....

In my experience...

00buck needs a light modified or improved choke. Buffered buckshot seems to do better with the tighter side, even reaching down to a modified choke, standard buckshot seems to do better with improved.

#1-#3 buck I generally stick with a modified, maybe an improved modified or light full if I have it, something in the 0.700-0.710" ballpark.

#4 buck you can get about as tight as 0.680" in most 12ga's. Some guys might get lucky and get down to a .660" or .655" turkey choke, but I have had better luck with #4 buck in .680's.

T and BB can get down to the 0.660/.655's usually, but again, you'll have to pattern your shotgun to tell for certain. With the Dead Coyote load, I had holes in my patterns with a Carlson's Dead Coyote choke, measured it out at 0.660", sent it back to Carlson's, they sent me a new one that measured out at 0.680", reduced my flyers, and eliminated the holes in my patterns.

Thank you for the advice! It's much appreciated!

Are you running a 1300 Defender, or a field model? Sure nice having a short barrel when you're running and gunning for songdogs.

its a 1300 speed pump field model