Coyote sniping rifle questions

moonshine44

moonshine44

Well-known member
This one kind of requires some background information, so here goes: I live on a cattle ranch, but my mom in law, my wife and my granddaughters have some sheep as well. The sheep pasture is relatively close to my son and daughter in law's front porch/deck, but the far corner is somewhere in the vicinity of 500 yards away. The pasture is fenced with woven wire but the fence is old enough that it has holes and gaps in it. I have snares set everywhere that I can find to set them, but we still get lambs chewed up by coyotes too often. I spend a fair amount of time on overwatch to keep coyotes out of the sheep.

I have a 16" 6.5 Grendel AR with a suppressor and thermal scope on it that is hyper-accurate (Black Hole Weaponry heavy barrel from the Moses Lake days), but I'm not confident that the shorter barrel will reach quite far enough to take care of a coyote in the far corner of the pasture. And if the weather is hot the thermal doesn't quite give me the sight picture that I want. So I'm thinking I would like to build a dedicated sniping upper with a good non-thermal scope using the same caliber and load but with a longer barrel for more reach.

Am I fooling myself and just looking for an excuse to build another upper? Possibly.

I won't be carrying it, it'll be set on a tripod on the deck any time I'm on overwatch, so I'm kind of thinking 22 to 24 inches. Too much? Barrel manufacturer suggestions?

I plan on laser ranging a bunch of points in the pasture so I have reference points to make it easier to get the right hold. I'm looking at the Vortex Viper HS-T 6-24x50 for a scope. I love Vortex Viper scopes.

Thoughts, folks?

Thanks in advance!
 
Ar10 you can build all the 243s you want.

22creed or 22arc would be the flat shooting or big bullet sniper ar15 round.
 
I don't shoot coyotes past 300 and am not a big fan of the AR but have killed coyotes with them. That said I'd look at the biggest 6mm you can fit in an AR, 24" HB and the best trigger you can afford. My first bullet to try would be the 87gr Vmax.

I shoot an 6mm ARC in a bolt action, I like it but don't know how it would do at 500 on coyotes, it will make steel ring.
 
Donkeys, & mules hates yotes, dogs and will kill them as a rule, or at least run them off a bit. (someone might let you stick a couple in the pasture with the sheep, free grazing is free grazing). Won't be a total solution, just might keep the numbers down, while you snipe at the yotes. If you have cattle dogs this might not be a choice for you. And they may keep the yotes a good bit beyond your expected 500 yards.
Don't know how deep your pockets are, and what you might consider "reasonable" cost.

The 6mm arc is based off the .220 Russian/6.5mm Grendel case so a upper with a 22 to 24" (no less than 20") barrel would work with your existing lower. You "might" have to get a different buffer "maybe'". Will it (6mm ARC) work well ? That depends on your skills at that distance. 500 yards head on shot of a yote is a small vital area, not saying it can't be done just easier / more effective at couple hundred yards less.
The .243 Win / 6mm Creed /7mm-08 / 6.5 creed /.260 Remington /or even the .308 Win in a AR-10 platform or Bolt gun would be a easy solution as already pointed out. Which would work with your existing suppressor which I'll assume is a 30 caliber can. Also assuming your not worried about hides. (the 6mm do shoot flat, don't undersell them )
Don't know if you reload or not, if so your existing 6.5mm bullets (120 to 130ish gr) from the Grendel in a 6.5 Creed or even a .260 Rem would work well. Just food for thought.
I don't yote hunt prefer Varmint hunting, but I would consider those cartridges' as they are capable at the listed range you stated.
 
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I'd get two Donkeys. As stated above, they hate and will kill coyotes like they owe them money.

I also agree that for what you described I'd go with a bolt rifle in something like a 243 or 6CM.

Good luck and post us some pictures.


Oh yeah.... Have you tried calling them in at night?
 
AWS said:
I don't shoot coyotes past 300 and am not a big fan of the AR but have killed coyotes with them. That said I'd look at the biggest 6mm you can fit in an AR, 24" HB and the best trigger you can afford. My first bullet to try would be the 87gr Vmax.

I shoot an 6mm ARC in a bolt action, I like it but don't know how it would do at 500 on coyotes, it will make steel ring.
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I'm with you. I draw the line at 250 yards no use in educating them, but all of my yote hunting is at night.
 
moonshine44 said:
Am I fooling myself and just looking for an excuse to build another upper? Possibly.

I won't be carrying it, it'll be set on a tripod on the deck any time I'm on overwatch, so I'm kind of thinking 22 to 24 inches. Too much? Barrel manufacturer suggestions?

I plan on laser ranging a bunch of points in the pasture so I have reference points to make it easier to get the right hold. I'm looking at the Vortex Viper HS-T 6-24x50 for a scope. I love Vortex Viper scopes.

Thoughts, folks?

Thanks in advance!
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The most popular flat shooting cartridges on here are the 22-250 & .243 however, you need an AR10.
I shoot a .204 with 40gr. NBT or Speer TNT and it's very effective on coyotes out to 300 and shoots like a laser. An .204 upper with at least a 20" barrel would be a sound choice.
Or just buy another rifle chambered in a "flat shooting" cartridge and a good optic, I've got a couple Vortex and they'll get the job done no problem.
A 24" barrel on an AR will get heavy, but shoot well.
I limit my shots to about 300yds I don't want to educate the coyotes.
 
+1 on the donkeys, but I won't discourage getting a new rifle.
I don't think an AR does much for you in this scenario. You're unlikely to get multiple shots.
I don't know what your budget is, but I would get a nice bolt gun in either 22 or 6 Creed. More "traditional" options are 22-250 and 243 Win.
Tikkas are probably your highest quality option toward the budget side. If you don't mind spending a bit more, I'd look at Seekins.
 
Dtech .243 WSSM would have done the job, but, as others have said, you risk educating a few at 500.
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Not an AR guy but I’m looking real hard at a Seekins SP10 in a 6 creedmoor. Would be shooting the 108 eldms, which have proven to be a bit of a cheat code in the wind. At least they are with my bolt gun.

500 yards and in should be very doable if your spending a bit of time with your set up. I didn’t see it posted earlier but I’d assume you’d be dialing at that range. Investing in a quality optic might better suit your current setup.
 
I have been shooting a 6.5 cm for a while and learning to read the wind. With 143 eldx @ 2700 fps I have about 16" drift @ 500 yds with a 10 mph cross wind. With no wind I can pretty much hit an 8" gong on my 1st shot but as the wind picks up my average goes down. You would have a lot more drift with a 6.5 Grendel like about 24". It would be tough to range and dial in for a shot on a coyote that was on the move in my opinion. A faster and flatter shooting cartridge like a 243 would be the ticket
 
Thanks for all of the info, folks. The more I read the more I'm leaning toward a bolt gun in 6.5 Creedmore as opposed to putting together another Grendel upper. Besides which, I don't have a Creedmore of any flavor yet.
 
@Bowhntr6pt
haha Love the butt number on your rifle (Post#10), makes it easy for caliber identification. Wish I had thought of that. Great idea.

When the 6.5 Grendel first came out with all the hype, I jumped on it in a AR platform. The results wasn't what I wanted. Which at that time was High Power shooting. Doesn't mean the cartridge was bad, just didn't perform to my expectations. Which based on the hype at the time set that bar very high.
Thus after a bit of hair pulling, and releasing that it was actually geared toward hunting. I abandoned it completely.

On paper it should be a capable round to say 600 yard and a bit more easily. The start slow end fast concept is pretty solid. In my case my expectations exceeded the cartridges ability. Could the OP just get a longer barrel say 20 to 24" and live happily ever after? Probably. It does have the ability to make a clean 500 yard shot, if applied correctly.
The 6.5 cm (or 2.60 Rem) would be a step up in capability, with shared components for reloading is one thought. For those whom don't reload it's a wash.
If the op checks around he might find a old Savage 110/10/12/16 or even the lowly Axis that has been well not taken care of for cheap, If it is on the .473" bolt face, a pre fit barrel in the caliber of your choosing is within reach. Armed with a Barrel wrench (for the barrel nut) a vise with wooden blocks, headspace gauge, and a prefit barrel and your in business. Or you can go the AR-10 platform route. (here the best part is funding, the upper and lower can be bought separately although you will spend more in the long run usually but less at a time)
Understand I'm NOT saying the OP's Grendel is incapable, Just advocating a bit bigger "hammer" in the toolbox so that he has a option when the ranges extend out.
(personally I'd get a life sized yote steel target with the vital area cutout and attempt to "ring steel" to either evaluate my Grendel or hone my skills at any given range).

Resorting to my military thinking, as it is still hunting, just a different target, two legged Yote vs four legged Yote. Main difference is the two legged Yote shoot back. If you want to snipe, then the tactics of a sniper should be employed, as the concept /training methods of the sniper comes from the gamesman that culled and harvested game. Research how the British gamesman (stalkers) used tactics as they will be invaluable in your quest. (majority of the posters here use those same tactics to a T).

Getting the target to get inside your desired "kill area" distance is a definite plus. Regardless of the hammer (caliber).
Lift and shift shooting positions on different days or weeks. Like has been said the Yotes or what ever the target is will become educated. (the suppressor will help with this as the "zone of detection " / direction is confused to the target).
Personally I'd lean toward the 6mm or even 7mm bullet offerings, say the 6mm cm/.243Win is great choice (the .243 Win will be found easily in the used bolt gun market)
There are MANY options Tika Savage old Remington 700's, your limited to your desires and budget.
Regards,
Mike
P.S. the old adage of beware of the man whom only owns one gun is still valid. Hence my statement of the steel life size target of a yote if you desire to stay with the one caliber and it is a valid good choice within it's limits (actually YOUR Limits)
 
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moonshine44 said:
...I'm leaning toward a bolt gun in 6.5 Creedmore as opposed to putting together another Grendel upper. Besides which, I don't have a Creedmore of any flavor yet.
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For a varmint rifle especially, I would go with a 6, or even a 22 Creed. Factory rifle and ammo options are more limited as you neck down, but flat shooting and general awesomeness increase.
 
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