308 Win and 30-06 Coyote Loads

Sawtooth

Sawtooth

New member
Although I've been reloading for big game hunting with both of these cartridges for a long time, I've never built loads specifically for predator hunting. Care to share your recipes? Thanks in advance!
 
Shoot them with the same loads you use for big game. Will help learn the trajectory of your load. Or load up some 110gr hornady vmax and watch the fur fly! WILL NOT be fur friendly. Likely neither will your big game load if it matters
 
Last night I was reading in my Speer reloading manual and was looking at the Speer TNT. Does anybody load this bullet?
 
Originally Posted By: SawtoothLast night I was reading in my Speer reloading manual and was looking at the Speer TNT. Does anybody load this bullet?

Yeah, used the TNT 125 or 130 - don't remember which, but it was one of the lighter weights, in my 30-06 - turns groundhogs into rugs. Will blow a coyote apart.
 
Your best bet to minimize fur damage would be to use a non fragmenting bullet and hope for a small hole in and small hole out. Honestly your BEST bet is to get a varmint caliber rifle.
 
In the 1980's, we had a "big gun" hunt for predators. People that had long quit deer and elk hunting, in order to hunt just predators would bring out their old deer and elk rifles. The 308 was great for varmints in that the 110g HP with H322 would just about cut a coyote in half, 125's(deer bullet) at 3200 with Win 748 was super accurate(check the nosler manual), and the speer TNT with 748 shot bug hole groups.

Now, these "big gun" hunts were for humane kills, they were not for collecting fur hunts, well, the fur did fly.

308 TnT means that a coyote gets shot about in half, terribly accurate enough for head shots at 200 yards with a Rem 700 Varmint.

Let's see, minimizing fur damage with a 308, hummmmmm........ maybe shoot the end of his nose off and break his neck....or maybe shoot the very top of his head off...these TNT bullets with 748 are accurate enough to do just that!

Good luck!
 
You could try a 130gr Barnes with a case full of W-748 they shoot right with the 125gr bullets for me and might not blow up as bad.
 
The least fur damage, if that's what you're looking for, in those calibers would be to download the velocities under max by a fair deal, or go with a big game bullet that offers more controlled expansion.
 
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Shot one yote last year with a Sierra 125 gr flat base from my R-25. Very decisive. I have some 125 gr TNTs to try this year.
 
My 30-06 deer & such load is a 180 gr Nosler BT. I've shot quite a few yotes with it & the exit holes aren't that bad. I think due to it being heavy for caliber it doesn't open up so fast.

A faster, flatter shooting load that my rifle also likes is the 125 gr BT. That's also a game bullet, not a varmint bullet and it works quite well on yotes.
 
Originally Posted By: SawtoothHow much did the TNT damage the fur on coyotes? Exit wound? Would like to minimize fur damage if possible.

If you want to minimize the damage, you need to step down to a smaller caliber. The 308 and 30-06 are not going to be fur friendly.
 
come on now... anyone who is fur friendly minded wouldn't even ask the question about using a Big Gun Caliber... and if you don't really keep the fur... WHICH MOST DON'T.... then why even care about the hole size.

Heck... treat them like a prairie dog... blow them up in the air...LOL.
 
If I were going to save fur with a 308 I would be looking at the Barnes TTSX in either the 110g or the 130g. That would be your best bet.


As a side note, I chuckle at us predator hunters. We all want a bullet that will kill it DRT (dead right there) but with minimized fur damage. I look for the same thing in my 243 and 22-250 but the sad truth is that to kill DRT massive damage needs to be done or the coyote will runaway wounded (because they can be tough). Limiting that "massive damage" to only the internal organs and not the exterior fur is more of an art than it is a science for me. Something I have not been able to master (but I will keep trying).

Next year I might build a 222 and try running a 55g SGK at minimum pressures. I don't know if it will work or not but it would be a fun experiment.
 
Your other option is cast. I did shoot one with a 303 a few years ago think it was 80yds or so broadside. No exit and no big holes. Or use a low velocity load with less expanding bullets. You'll have a crappy trajectory though.
 


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