This maybe my last batches of shotgun coyote loads.

derbyacresbob

derbyacresbob

Well-known member
Yesterday I reloaded 30 ea, 2-3/4" 12 ga 1-1/8 oz loads of Federal Heavyweight 15g/cc #2 shot loads for kids or ladies to shoot at coyotes. These loads have 70 FHW 15g/cc #2 shot pellets per shell. They should work great at 50 yards and less on coyotes.
IMG_2884 by Robert Morris, on Flickr
I bought some Cheddite and Fiocchi primed hulls from BPI to load them. I have some small amounts of Rem HD 12g/cc #2 and BB shot, 15g/cc FHW #2 shot and TSS 18g/cc #3 and #5 shot to load low recoil 2-3/4" coyote loads with.

I am glad I bought and reloaded plenty of good lead free shot and Steel powder in 3" hulls in the past because the price of TSS shot has doubled and I have not seen any Steel powder available anywhere.

BPI is still selling the lead Super Buckshot in sizes BBB and T shot for #43.99 for 8 lbs. These two sizes work great on coyotes and have a much higher pellet count per shell than lead Number 4 buckshot has. It is a shame no ammo manufacturers ever sold lead BBB or lead T shot factory loads.

I killed lots of coyotes when I could use lead shot with lead BB shot. 45 yards was about as far as I could reliable break down or kill coyotes with lead BB shot. When I got the KPY Shotshell Ballistics I decided I wanted 3.70" of 20% gel penetration for 20 to 35 pound coyotes because KPY showed that 3.70" of penetration was at 46.1 yards with 1300 fps lead BB shot.

When I started using Rem HD 12g/cc BB shot on coyotes I was amazed at how many more clean kills and broken bones I was getting with 1300 fps 12g/cc HD shot compared to 1300 fps lead BB shot.

Below is from KPY Shotshell Ballistics. All of the loads bellow are 1300 fps muzzle velocity, with a pellet type, size and count and the distance that shot type and size gets 3.70" of 20% gel penetration.

1-1/2 oz lead BB shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 46.1 yards with about 77 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
1-1/2 oz lead BBB shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 55.8 yards with about 65 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
1-1/2 oz lead T shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 66 yards with about 56 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.

1-1/2 oz Rem HD 12g/cc #2 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 31.3 yards with about 121 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
1-1/2 oz Rem HD 12g/cc BB shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 62.4 yards with about 70 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.

1-1/2 oz 15g/cc #2 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 70.5 yards with about 97 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.

1-1/2 oz TSS 18g/cc #5 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 62.4 yards with about 158 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
1-1/2 oz TSS 18g/cc #4 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 78.9 yards with about 124 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
1-1/2 oz TSS 18g/cc #3 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 96.8 yards with about 99 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
1-1/2 oz TSS 18g/cc #2 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 128.1 yards with about 81 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
 
I had more shot than I thought I did.

Yesterday I ended up reloading a total of 93, 1-1/4 oz 2-3/4" duplex loads.

27 shells were 3/4 oz of 12g/cc HD BB shot "29 pellets" and 3/4 oz of FHW 15g/cc #2 shot "40 pellets" for a total of 69 pellets per shell.

69 shells were 3/4 oz of 12g/cc HD BB shot "29 pellets" and 3/4 oz of TSS #5 shot "66 pellets" for a total of 95 pellets per shell. I didn't even notice that the 12g/cc HD BB shot and the TSS 18g/cc #5 shot get the same 3.70" of gel penetration at the same 62.4 yards away.

Rem HD 12g/cc BB shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 62.4 yards.
TSS 18g/cc #5 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 62.4 yards.
Out of all the different shot types and sizes I have put through KPY Shotshell Ballistics, this is only the second time I have had two shot types and sizes give the same penetration at the same distance.



I have about 2 pounds of TSS #3 shot and maybe 3 pounds of Rem HD 12g/cc #2 shot left to load up. I will probable just load up 1-1/4 oz of TSS #3 shot loads and then some 1-1/4 oz of the Rem HD 12g/cc #2 shot loads.

The Rem HD 12g/cc #2 shot loads will be for goose hunting, if I ever go goose hunting again.
 
That 12gr per cc Hevishot is good stuff.

Back in the late 90's, I bought some #4 12gr Hevishot for a waterfowl load for my son to use out of an 870. I was using Bismuth out of a couple of sxs's.

So, we are out for a morning duck hunt when a coyote pops out of the sagebrush, about 50-55yds away, standing broadside. I had seen this Hevishot crush Canada Geese at very long ranges, and I thought it would work on the coyote.

He shoots and the coyote dropped, slowly getting up and he shoots again, dropping it a 2nd time. The coyote gets up and staggers away from us. By now, my buddy, using 3" BBB steel, shoots 3 shots at this coyote, with little visible reaction, other than dust and some hair coming off the animal. The coyote then drops.

When I did the autopsy, I found some of the Hevishot had exited the far side of the coyote, and some of it was on the off-side hide. The BBB steel was penetrated maybe 2-3" into the hindquarters.

We are still using Hevishot (6), TSS (5 &7) and Bismuth for our waterfowl hunting.

Are you sure on the penetration of 1-1/2 oz Rem HD 12g/cc #2 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 31.3 yards with about 121 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot?

I would think HD #2 would penetrate quite deeper than that.
 
From my experience with Rem HD 12g/cc #2 shot, they work great on geese but not very good on coyotes. If you head shoot coyotes or shoot then in the ribs 12g/cc #2 shot will work on coyotes at about 40 yards and less. For me a good coyote load has to penetrate very deep and break leg bones or break down the coyote so it can't run off. even when it is a bad shot angle.


The gel KPY uses for penetration is 20% gel, I think law enforcement and the FBI uses 10% gel for penetration tests. I want 3.70" of gel penetration for shooting 20 to 35 pound coyotes. I came up with the 3.70" of penetration from seeing at least 200 coyotes get shot with copper coated lead BB shot. With lead BB shot 45 yards was about the distance limit for reliably breaking down or killing coyotes that are running away.

Coyotes are 3 times harder to kill or break down than big Canada Geese are.

1300 fps 12g/cc #2 shot gets 2.50" of gel penetration at 67.6 yards, 2.50" of penetration is for big honkers
1300 fps 12g/cc #2 shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 31.3 yards, 3.70" of penetration is for coyotes
1300 fps lead BB shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 46.1 yards, 3.70" of penetration is for coyotes
1300 fps 12g/cc BB shot gets 3.70" of gel penetration at 62.4 yards, 3.70" of penetration is for coyotes

The lead BB load gets 47.28 % more penetration yardage than the 12g/cc #2 shot.
Each 12g/cc HD #2 pellet weighs about 5.42 gr.
Each lead BB pellet weighs about 8.51 gr.
So each lead BB pellet weighs about 57% more than the 12g/cc #2 HD pellet.
 
"When I started using Rem HD 12g/cc BB shot on coyotes I was amazed at how many more clean kills and broken bones I was getting with 1300 fps 12g/cc HD shot compared to 1300 fps lead BB shot."

That's been our experience as well, the comparably sized Hevishot really outperforms lead.

But, our experience has been with birds. We have shot exactly one coyote with a shotgun.
 
Also the much harder Tungsten alloy 12g/cc, 15g/cc and 18g/cc TSS shot breaks bones way more often than lead shot and lead buck shot dose.
 
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