Anybody have any good loads for coyotes with the 125 or 158gr .357 bullets. Was thinking I could have some fun with my Whelen on some smaller animals like coyotes and such.

All info appreciated.

Thanks
Brian

I don't think you are going to get that good accuracy at long range with pistol bullets should a long shot present itself. Such a load or a cast bullet might be fun for plinking however.

When I see a coyote I want to shoot at it. Around here, and I am not that far from you, we are blamming the coyote for everything.

So I suggest that you carry a few rounds of your regular full power load and keep the rifle sighted in with that load and just hold over for the plinker load. Just carry the rifle loaded with the plinker load (cast bullet in my case). Two or three shots in the rifle are plenty. When a long shot presents itself open the bolt and slip in the full charge load. You can use the bottom post on the "plex" scope reticule as an aiming point for the plinker holdover.

If you want just one load for coyotes then look at the 180 or 200 gr bullets with high ballistic coefficients. If you want the pelt without a 2" hole in it that's a job for a .22 centerfire. You can shoot a jacketed bullet backwards into a coyote to minimize dammage but even that can't be going that fast. Thats a big bullet.

Waters states he got 1 1/2-2 3/8" groups with pistol bullets @ 100yds. His favorite was 140gr Speer JHP with 45gr of H322 at 2434fps.

bjk: I use pistol bullets to fireform brass for my 35 whelen improved, have a great time shooting prairie dogs, almost no recoil, accuracy was good enough for 200-250 yard shots.

A plinking load that works real well in my Whelen is a cast 250g GC. You can buy a hundred of them for $6.50 plus shipping from Western Bullet Company in Missoula,Mt. I treat my cast Whelen bullets with Lee Alox(purple bottle). The load i've settled on is 59g of H4831SC. My velocity is @2186 fps. from a 24" barrel. The recoil is very mild. The cast bullets are very accurate too throwing 1" groups in my rifle. I shoot a lot of gophers with this load and have killed several deer. It's a good penetrator and blood shot is very minimal on deer sized game.

I don't have a Whelen, but I turned a skunk inside out with a 158 gr. Remington SJHP loaded in my .35 Remington ahead of a full load of 3031.

Bye
Jack