223 loads

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peterk1234

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I've recently gotten into coyote hunting. My loving wife got me a tikka 223 t3x lite with a 20 inch barrel for Christmas. I'm a huge fan of the tikka. My primary rifle is a t3x lite in 308. My gopher gun is a t1x.

I know the 223 will be lights out with a 68 grain bullet. I load a 68 gr bthp with varget for my AR and it's quite accurate. Anything lighter though and it's all over the place.

I've started load development for the bolt, trying to get a 53 gr vmax to play nice. My thinking is that the vmax, and a lighter bullet will limit pelt damage. I started with BLC2. It did okay but wasn't where I wanted to be. Best I got was 7/8 moa. Tried varget today and found a load that gave my 3/8 moa. Average speed was 2905 fps.

A few questions. I've seen a number of posts where folks are well over 3,000 fps. I'm not getting there, at least not without accuracy going to hell. My good varget load was 26.5 gr, not sure I want to push much past that. Plus accuracy started to drop. I'm probably only shooting 300 yards max, so does it really matter?

Am I on the right track with trying to preserve pelt damage or am I over thinking it? And how would that bthp (hornady) do on a pelt? Thanks Pete
 
Congratulations on your Christmas gift.

A short story long:
I have a 20" AR 1/8 in 223 Wylde. On a whim I loaded up some 40 grain Vmax, I didn't think it would do well since I have a 1/8 twist barrel. I used H332, according to the book I'm pushing near 3600 FPS. I was surprised to find that it shoots a hole in a hole @100 yards. I have not put it through the crono yet nor shot a coyote, but I had to take out 2 roosters that attacked my wife, it was devastating to put it mildly. On the ballistic calculator with a 100 yard zero I'm good out to 300+ without much drop. Speed kills.

Edit to add:
I would go lighter, faster and flatter shooting bullet if it was me. I suspect the above load/bullet would be small entrance, no exit and turn everything inside to jello. Maybe try a 50-55 Vmax pushed hard. My $0.02 worth.
Good luck to you.
 
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I'd stick with the 68 grain bullets if they're the most accurate. I've never shot a coyote with one of those but I know a heavier bullet would get through a shoulder and still reach vitals where a thin jacketed bullet may or may not. Which would result in a blown up coyote and possibly a wounded coyote. Same goes for less than perfect shots, which you will have. Which will end up blowing them up bad sometimes regardless of what you use. So by using the heavier bullets you're not losing anything. In my opinion you're just increasing your chances of a quick kill and a recovered animal which is the most important thing.

I wouldn't worry too much about speed of the bullet. I've never chronographed a bullet speed in my life. I just go by the end result. If it'll kill or severely disable a coyote 9 times out of 10, I want to use it. Speed is good but there's more that goes into it than that. Hitting them out past a certain distance without having to hold over them is one thing. Watching them hit the ground and not get up after that bullet hits is another.

I'll take a a heavy softpoint or hollowpoint over a lightweight V-Max any day of the week for huntin coyotes. Prairie dogs and other varmints I'm the opposite way. But they're easy to kill. Coyotes are tough.
 
EVERY barrel is different. Accuracy and safe operating pressures will vary as will velocity even with the same components/powder charge weights. Yours being "slower" could be physical difference in the barrel (test barrel 1-12 twist, 24" long) bore diameter or simply powder lot variations (you have a slow lot of powder). With proper placement any vmax from a 223 at typical hunting distance will kill coyote. Reducing fur damage is staying off edges(accuracy of the shot) of the body and eliminating exits. You probably will need to kill coyote with your setup to determine fur damages.
I have had very good results(minimum fur damage, drt coyote) using the Hornady 50 gr SX out of several 223. I load in the 3200-3300 fps range. 1-9 to 1-12 twist barrels.
 
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I've shot many with the hornady 68gr match hp from ARs with barrels from 10.5"-16" and in 7,8,and 9 twist. I like the way they kill. If i was really into saving hides I'd trap ......or find another bullet. They can be messy.
 
Over the years Herter's 101, 3031, 748, Benchmark and 2230 have been go-to powders for me in the 223.

I used the 223 for fox, coyote, control work, varmints and target shooting fromm 1966 to 1996. I got into light 6's for awhile and finally put a couple 223' s back in the stable in the early 2020s.

Early on Herter's 50&55gr SP's were top on my list, after they dried up the 50gr NBT's covered everything until I retired the 223. Now I run 62gr Horn SP's in the AR and 50gr NBT and 52gr Speer in the BA.

Pick your poison, there are so many combination that work and everyone has their favorite bullet/powder combo. I'd pick a mid-weight bullet designed for hunting and a powder that gives near top velocity and build an accurate load. You should have a good coyote hunting rig that will kill coyotes without blowing them up.
 
You can't usually short cut load development, even in a Tikka rifle :) Varget is not going to produce the most velocity in a 223 with mid to ligher bullets. If you want more velocity, try StaBALL Match or IMR 8208xbr. Does it matter? A 53gr Vmax @ 2900 will work very well out to 300 yards, but I don't like to give up too much

I run 53gr Nosler Varmageddon Tipped over StaBALL Match (27.1grs) that does 3200 from my 20" Tikka, accurate and fast
 
"Does it really matter?" The short answer is NO. Chasing another 100 fps isn't going to make any difference from 0 to 300 yards. I would happily take the consistent, tiny groups at a respectable speed, knowing that if I should miss, it isn't a load or gun issue. As usual, the loose nut behind the trigger would be the cause of the miss.
 
I've killed hundreds of coyotes with 55gr vmax out of a 223. Never had a problem with bullets killing them, and I sold hides. Coyotes weigh about 32 to 35 pounds in the west, a bullet bigger than 55gr is not necessary. I have tried many other bullets, nosler ballistic tips blew up on the surface, 60gr sierra's didn't exit if you put it into the shoulder but made big exit wounds, 55gr Hornady spire points often left big exit holes. Boat tail hollow point target bullets may work on ocassion, but why?

Keep in mind that internet accuracy claims and velocity claims are often bullshit. The coyotes never knew that my 55gr vmax were going 200fps slower than many on the internet. You don't need bench rest accuracy to kill coyotes, nor the hottest load you can produce.
 
I'm settling in on the my varget load. I just worked up some more with the same grains and a few bumping in 1/10 grain increments. I just want to be sure it is reliable if my drops vary a bit (I manual trickle using a beam scale so it shouldn't really be an issue). If the positive results continue then it's time to hunt. Unfortunately, it's blowing 45mph today so I won't be testing.
 
I agree totally with GC and todb's post.
However I do not believe in leaving any speed on the table if I don't have to. I used to do a lot of work up before component prices went out of the frame. What I found was not 1 time was the fastest load the most accurate. I also found the most accurate loads where/are at the upper end for any given powder.
Nowadays I back of the max a grain or a grain and a half, work up at .3 intervals only loading 3-5 each and shoot for groups, best group wins. that's my charge weight. Next I tinker with O.A.L, same process best group wins. I also agree that this ain't bench rest if they are tight at 100 yards your good to go.
I didn't mention this discovery earlier on purpose because I didn't want to muddy up the water. I'll probably get blasted for this but here it goes. I started shooting 22-250 over 35 years ago and tried just about every light weight 224 bullet made. In my Savages 1/12 twist the flat based bullets shoot lights out compared to any Boat Tail design. In addition Hornady wins every time VS all others. Powder choice Hodgen wins Every time. Now you have a totally different brand rifle so YMMV, but give the flat based bullets a try while your trying to find your guns happy spot.
Again Good Luck to you. thumbnail.jpg
Recent 5 shot group with 22-250 50 Grain VMAX using H380 @100 yards, Load development complete.
 
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The Hornady 35 gr NTX lead free bullets work way better than I thought they would on coyotes. It is pretty easy to get them up to 3,800 fps or faster out of a 223 Rem.
 
Here's some comparisons on a +/- 2" max point blank range for different velocities

53 Vmax @ 2900 fps
+/- 2" MPBR = 234 yards
retains 2000 fps impact to 270Y

53 Vmax @ 3100 fps
+/- 2" MPBR = 249 yards
retains 2000 fps impact to 320Y

53 Vmax @ 33000 fps
+/- 2" MPBR = 263 yards
retains 2000 fps impact to 370Y

and for good measure, 55gr Vmax :

55 Vmax @ 2900 fps
+/- 2" MPBR = 231 yards
retains 2000 fps impact to 250Y

55 Vmax @ 3100 fps
+/- 2" MPBR = 246 yards
retains 2000 fps impact to 300Y

55 Vmax @ 3300 fps
+/- 2" MPBR = 260 yards
retains 2000 fps impact to 340Y
 
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