.308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
12-20-2002, 04:47 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dallas TX USA
Posts: 25
.308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
Okay, now that you've read the Subject line, y'all can laugh real good. "A .308 to hunt coyotes! What's he thinking?! These newbies get dumber every day!" I'm laughing too. :-)
Okay: a friend has some land in Ellis County, TX and coyotes are trespassing his land. The local livestock is suffering, too, from coyote predation.
My friend wants me to help him hunt the coyotes. His land has a lot of trees in the area, so the longest shot will probably be about 100 yards.
Oh, yes, the coyotes only come at night.
I need to find a source that will tell me the correct loading for caliber .308 ammunition that will be potent enough to drop the coyotes in the first shot (and yes, I know, shot placement is everything), but not too strong.
If that information does not exist, how about information for caliber .222?
Any help you can point me to will be deeply appreciated.
Leslie Nordman
Okay: a friend has some land in Ellis County, TX and coyotes are trespassing his land. The local livestock is suffering, too, from coyote predation.
My friend wants me to help him hunt the coyotes. His land has a lot of trees in the area, so the longest shot will probably be about 100 yards.
Oh, yes, the coyotes only come at night.
I need to find a source that will tell me the correct loading for caliber .308 ammunition that will be potent enough to drop the coyotes in the first shot (and yes, I know, shot placement is everything), but not too strong.
If that information does not exist, how about information for caliber .222?
Any help you can point me to will be deeply appreciated.
Leslie Nordman
12-23-2002, 01:18 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dallas TX USA
Posts: 25
RE: .308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
Dear "mike bell":
That sure is a relief to know! :-)
What kind of loading should I use on coyotes with a .308? Bullets: Brand, Type, Weight? Powder: Kind, Amount? Also, is there a factory load for this?
The distance is about 100 yards, maximum.
Thanks!
That sure is a relief to know! :-)
What kind of loading should I use on coyotes with a .308? Bullets: Brand, Type, Weight? Powder: Kind, Amount? Also, is there a factory load for this?
The distance is about 100 yards, maximum.
Thanks!
12-23-2002, 09:48 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Waynesboro Georgia USA
Posts: 1,113
RE: .308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
308 is a little big for coyotes.
I shot some Remington "Accelerators" a few years back. (sabots with .223 bullets) But if I recall they didnt shoot very good.
My Hornady book has loads for a 110gr. bullet. Max fps is about 3200.
Ive never seen factory loads for bullets that small. Next size up is 130gr. You might could work up a load for them there little ole Texas deer that might be good with that size bullet also.
I shot some Remington "Accelerators" a few years back. (sabots with .223 bullets) But if I recall they didnt shoot very good.
My Hornady book has loads for a 110gr. bullet. Max fps is about 3200.
Ive never seen factory loads for bullets that small. Next size up is 130gr. You might could work up a load for them there little ole Texas deer that might be good with that size bullet also.
12-23-2002, 11:35 PM
#5
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dallas TX USA
Posts: 25
RE: .308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
I am afraid the U.S. Marine Corps did not have any luck with Caliber .308 Sabot Rounds, either. Here is an excerpt from the USMC FactFile. The pertinent information is in the last paragraph.
"Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP) Ammunition
"Velocity: 3985 feet per second
"Maximum effective range: 4921.5 feet (1500 meters)
"against 3/4" High "Hard Armor (HHA)
"Unit Replacement Cost: $7.50 per round
"Features: .50 caliber SLAP ammunition was developed by the Marine Corps during the mid/late 1980s and was approved for service use in 1990 during Operation Desert Storm. It uses a reduced caliber, heavy metal (tungsten) .30 inch diameter penetrator wrapped in a "plastic" sabot or "shoe" of .50 inch diameter.
Since the mass of the saboted penetrator is much lighter in weight than normal ball .50 caliber ammunition, SLAP's velocity can be significantly and safely increased in an unmodified M2 Machine Gun. This produces a very fast round with a very flat trajectory which enhances hit probability. SLAP ammuntion is completely interoperable with M2 machine guns with stellite liner.
"Background: During the 1980s, the Marine Corps invested in both .50 caliber and 7.62 x 51 SLAP concepts. The .50 caliber effort was very successful and extends the light armor capability of the M2 Heavy Machine Gun significantly. The 7.62mm effort was not successful in the M60 (a caliber 7.62 weapon - Jacob) and caused catastrophic barrel failures due to in-bore break-up of the sabot and the penetrator puncturing the side of the barrel. Also, its increase in penetration was not on the same order of magnitude as the .50 caliber SLAP's."
"Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP) Ammunition
"Velocity: 3985 feet per second
"Maximum effective range: 4921.5 feet (1500 meters)
"against 3/4" High "Hard Armor (HHA)
"Unit Replacement Cost: $7.50 per round
"Features: .50 caliber SLAP ammunition was developed by the Marine Corps during the mid/late 1980s and was approved for service use in 1990 during Operation Desert Storm. It uses a reduced caliber, heavy metal (tungsten) .30 inch diameter penetrator wrapped in a "plastic" sabot or "shoe" of .50 inch diameter.
Since the mass of the saboted penetrator is much lighter in weight than normal ball .50 caliber ammunition, SLAP's velocity can be significantly and safely increased in an unmodified M2 Machine Gun. This produces a very fast round with a very flat trajectory which enhances hit probability. SLAP ammuntion is completely interoperable with M2 machine guns with stellite liner.
"Background: During the 1980s, the Marine Corps invested in both .50 caliber and 7.62 x 51 SLAP concepts. The .50 caliber effort was very successful and extends the light armor capability of the M2 Heavy Machine Gun significantly. The 7.62mm effort was not successful in the M60 (a caliber 7.62 weapon - Jacob) and caused catastrophic barrel failures due to in-bore break-up of the sabot and the penetrator puncturing the side of the barrel. Also, its increase in penetration was not on the same order of magnitude as the .50 caliber SLAP's."
12-24-2002, 12:49 PM
#7
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dallas TX USA
Posts: 25
RE: .308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
"Too big" does seem to be my problem.
When I lived in Nigeria, however, my wife's father had a .30-06 that we used to hunt everything from birds to elephant. It was just that we had to use the correct load for the game we were going after: light loads for birds and heavy loads for big game.
I want to have one gun here in the States to use for the entire spectrum of game: from birds to bear. I thought caliber .308 was a good choice and I thought I had good company: Col. Jeff Cooper made his Steyr Scout Rifle in .308.
Buying another rifle would be expensive: in caliber .223, a DPMS Panther Bull A-15 is $915.00, an Bushmaster Varminter Rifle is $1,025.00 on Auction Arms. In my current economic situation, that would not be possible.
So, I feel rather stuck and want to what I could with what I had.
How about loads for caliber .222?
Sigh,
Leslie Nordman
When I lived in Nigeria, however, my wife's father had a .30-06 that we used to hunt everything from birds to elephant. It was just that we had to use the correct load for the game we were going after: light loads for birds and heavy loads for big game.
I want to have one gun here in the States to use for the entire spectrum of game: from birds to bear. I thought caliber .308 was a good choice and I thought I had good company: Col. Jeff Cooper made his Steyr Scout Rifle in .308.
Buying another rifle would be expensive: in caliber .223, a DPMS Panther Bull A-15 is $915.00, an Bushmaster Varminter Rifle is $1,025.00 on Auction Arms. In my current economic situation, that would not be possible.
So, I feel rather stuck and want to what I could with what I had.
How about loads for caliber .222?
Sigh,
Leslie Nordman
12-24-2002, 10:03 PM
#9
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dallas TX USA
Posts: 25
RE: .308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
Dear dep214 and mike bell:
May I e-mail you for more specifics?
Also, we only used the .30-06 on guinea fowl and larger, or out on the Benue River, where a large group of waterfowl were sitting on a sandbar quite a ways away. We would shoot two or three rifles all at once ("three, two, one, fire"
and the bullets would go throught the flock. That way we could get several birds at once.
We didn't shoot them on the wing or anything fair; we were hungry!
Leslie Nordman
May I e-mail you for more specifics?
Also, we only used the .30-06 on guinea fowl and larger, or out on the Benue River, where a large group of waterfowl were sitting on a sandbar quite a ways away. We would shoot two or three rifles all at once ("three, two, one, fire"
and the bullets would go throught the flock. That way we could get several birds at once.We didn't shoot them on the wing or anything fair; we were hungry!
Leslie Nordman
12-24-2002, 10:03 PM
#10
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dallas TX USA
Posts: 25
RE: .308 Loads for Hunting TX Coyotes
Oh, yes: these coyotes only come around at night.
How can I hunt them then?
Edited by - Leslie Nordman on 12/24/2002 23:55:32
Edited by - Leslie Nordman on 12/24/2002 23:56:46
How can I hunt them then?
Edited by - Leslie Nordman on 12/24/2002 23:55:32
Edited by - Leslie Nordman on 12/24/2002 23:56:46