New predator gun

[brocksw]

There's quite a few guys in ND that are pretty serious about their predator hunting. Some that I know of kill an ungodly amount of coyotes on an annual basis. Not trapping either, shooting, by the hundreds every year.


They seem to lean on the .204/20 practical/20 tactical or 6mm wildcats when they're not as concerned about fur.

 

[Paul from Colorado]

For straight up varmint blasting you can’t beat the .223, 22-250, or the 204 Ruger. With soft point bullets you will put them down for sure. My kids swear by the 204’s as that is their go to guns. I got into the Barnes varmint grenades years ago for the .223 and 22-250, the 35 grain kills nicely but saves the pelts, great accuracy out to 200 as well. Not sure if Barnes still makes them but if you handload they are the ticket for pelting critters all the way down to foxes.

 

[elevatorman]

I've shot roughly 5 foxes with a glock 19 and another 5 or 6 with a .223 ar. I must say the .223 shooting 50 grain varmint tip rounds is impressive on a fox. They are done.

I vote 223. Definitely enough round to get you to 300 yards, even for coyotes. I'm a huge fan of having cartridges that are highly available and will be if things ever went south (military uses 223 and 9mm). And usually due to the commonality and availability those calibers are cheaper too.

I have a .17 hmr and it's probably my most accurate gun and really fun to shoot. But after having to clean the darn thing I knew I'll never get such a small bore again. But I love that savage rifle so much I bought another one in .22lr

 

[elevatorman]

Depending on your volume of shooting, I've also split a red fox into two halves at 20 yards with my 7mm rem mag, if your not trying to save fur. The ballistics of a rifle like that are quite good and the margin for error goes up a bit.

 

[deerhunter24]

hands down 223 or 243

 

[ccbutler3]

223 x2

 

[Vanishe187]

Yeah for pelt saving even the 204 left big holes in my bobcats and fox. That 17 hornet really shines with the smaller predator pelt hunters. If I don't care about pelts I definitely prefer my 22-250 over my 223. I own lots of different predator calibers they all have their own pros and cons. Really a 22-250 is hard to beat as an all around predator caliber. Hey if you can afford it why not have a hmr, hornet,204,223,and 22-250. My real problem is choosing what gun I wanna take out that day.

 

[406bert]

I’ve been using a Ruger m77 22-250 and a Ruger m77 6mm rem my grandpa gave me they are not very fur friendly for fur friendly I use a howa mini 223