Hi guys, which bullets would you recommend for my 6mm AI that would not blow big holes in the hide?

My friend shoots the 52 grain Sierra BTHP out of his Swift and they make a small hole in and do not exit the coyotes. Even a 25 yd shot between the eyes failed to exit.

I would like to try the 70 grain Sierra HP and the Speer 70 grain TnT bullets. I also looked at some 58 grain Vmax bullets yesterday, but don't know how they would work on coyotes.

Anyone shoot the 55 grain bullets at 4000 fps out of the 6mm AI? How did they work?

Any help with bullets and loads would be helpful.

Snapper

Yeah, in fact i use to use the 55 gr. out of a 6AI for coyotes. i was using 4064 and was getting 4200 +/- out of it. It actually worked OK at that velocity, believe it or not, but I found the best bullet (for my gun) was the 85 gr. Sierra BTHP. I believe the 87 gr Horn. BTHP has a higher B.C. for any long-range you might be interested in, but I found it to be more explosive than Sierra's counterpart. My old 6mm Rem. used to do well with the Sierra 70 BTHP, but was again too explosive at 100+ f.p.s or so more velocity that the AI version pushed it.

sscoyote:

Thanks for the tip on the bullet. I was thinking smaller and faster, but will pick up some and see how they work.

Any other ideas? What did the 55 gr bullets do to the hides?

Snapper

I've tried most of the combo's you've listed, except the 58 Vmax. I prefer the 70 TNT for non exiting loads. I run them at 3500 out of a 243, and it's my favorite load. The other load for .224 witht the 52 TNT/HP is the second favorite. I don't save hides, but not leaking all over my camo is a bonus.

THe 6AI on coyotes,good choice. Ido alot of coyote shooting with the 6AI, infact I shoot a bunch with all calibers. The places Ishoot are private ranches ,cattle ranches. The name of the game on these ranches is to kill as many coyotes as possible, and while youre at it kill as many dogs as you can. I had Gordy Gritters put together a 243AI last year( shoots in the 3's) The load I shoot is Nosler BT 70gr Federal Gold Metal Match primers H414 49.5grs seated 3.215 to ojive three thousand less than touch point of lands. This load is abit on the warm side start with 45grs and build up from there. As for agood pelt load this is not my first choice,I shot about eighty coyotes with this load last year any where from ten feet to six hundred yards and in nintey percent of the cases I had exit wounds from three inches to missing legs. A lot of these dogs if hit in the shoulder on a broad side shot would be missing the shoulder on the other side. A better choice for a fur gun would be a 22-250AI shooting Nosler 40gr BT. I have shot about three hundred to four hundred coyotes in the last three years with these 40gr BT and almost never get an exit. Dont forget to have alook at the 17Rem, when the bobcats are in season this is the only gun i carry. My load is IMR 4895 24grs 4102fps 20 gr Vmax. I got this load out of 1999 Augest Shooting Times Augest written by Rick Jamision. This is one fast load that shoots into the 5's at 100yrds. The 17rem is not the killer the 22-250 is or the 243ak but with well placed shots out to 4ooyrds ( the ribbcage) it will get the job done. Infact one of my best days Ishot ten coyotes in three hours with a 17 rem. I Hope this helps The Dog Hunter

I second Dog Hunters comments. I used to use a .22-250AI with 40 gr. bullets, and in fact had an article on it a # of years ago in Trapper and Predator Caller mag. It was without question one of the best fur hunting combinatiions I 've ever used. Blaine Eddy out of Utah likes Todd Kindler's 30 gr. Gold out of his wilcatted PPC case necked to .17. At around 4000 f.p.s. he killed several dogs last season beyond 500 yds. with his rig, and a laser. I've come to believe over the years that the .22 centerfires especially with the 40's are about as good as it gets for fur-- but watch out for those 20's, they're right on their heels, and of course big-cased .17's.

I like the 65 grain Watson FBHP bullet from my 243. Coyotes are about to repalce the lowly ground hog as the varmint to hunt these days even in my part of the country Ohio. Accuracy and bullet performance are my main goal in any hunting venue I decide to persue. The only compromise I can see in accuracy in any hunting venue is bullet performance. Some hunting rifles just will not produce less than MOA groups. Bullet performance can make up for that lack of accuracy at practical hunting ranges.
If my varmint rifle will not give me 1/2" groups or less at 100 yards they are reworked until they do, or are replaced.

Thanks for the comments guys,

While I'm hunting coyotes, and waiting for my 6mmAI to be built, I'm using my 7x57 with 100 grain HP bullets and will use a 223 when the cats are in season. Looking into a 22-243 as well.

I hope to narrow down the number of different bullets I have to test to save hides. I can tell you the 130's out of a 7x57 will blow a big hole in the hide on the off side.

Snapper

Snapper--I've used the 55 Noz in the 6/06 quite a bit, at 4400 they work great and do much less damage on the yotes than the 70 Noz. Most of the dogs that we shoot with the 70's have a hole in the off side you could pull a cat thru.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Oh yeah Snapper one last thing about using the 7x57 go with a bit of a heavier bullet and I think you'll find a bit less damage. Perhaps something like the 154 Hornady or the 160 Nozler.

Just a thought.

Dog

Thanks for the reply! I have some 154 grain bullets I wanted to load up and try out. I'll let you know how they work.

When are we going bear hunting?

Snapper

try the plain jane sierra 75gr hollow point on top of a medium load of your rifles favorite powder,never exits.

My 6MM AI shoots 87 gr V-Max's amazingly well at long range however, they will turn a rockchuck or a coyote inside out. Best two bullets I have found are the 87 Hornady FB, which will make a hole about the size of a silver dollar.

The Best I have found is the 70 grain, Speer TNT, due to the velocity they go in and do not exit. On the other hand I do not skin my coyotes and thus do not have to due up with the inside mess. They are very accurate and I have make shots in the 450 yard range. I have to tell you that I have not shot a coyote with this bullet at or under 100 yards to that may be different.

Good Hunting, "Z"

sscoyote,

Mark was trying to talk me into a 6/06 for long range coyotes. They dropped one coyote that would not come in to the call and I remember him telling my they had lasered him over 500 yds.

He is really impressed with that caliber!

I'm going to have a 6mm AI built and will start with the 70 TnT bullets as well as the 65 grain Vmax. It looks like H414 and RL15 may be good powders to try with this gun.

Snapper,

Don't overlook bullets up to the 87 grain V-Max etc. as the 6MM AI will have the power to push them fast! The question will be does your barrel like to shoot them.

Good Hunting, "Z"

SScoyote- yeah we've used the 6/06 for coyotes at short and long range. It works like a charm for all of the above. It is also wonderful for long range chuck shooting!

The two bullets I like the best are both Nozlers and one is the 70 and the other is the 95. Both are Bt's.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

i just purchased a 6-284 from a friend and i've been looking into this very long-range bullet performance stuff for a while. It looks like the 87 gr. Hornady is the highest B.C. "varmint-type" bullet there is. But i'm thinking 90 or 95 Nosler, or maybe even the 100 gr. Speer and Sierra BTSP's (B.C.'s of .430) as well. i want to research which bullet will give me expansion at the longest range. i don't care about hides. This will be a damage control rifle intended to shoot coyotes from point blank to as far out as possible. Any other comments here besides the fact that i'm evil for stealing Snapper's topic.

[ 03-20-2003, 16:07: Message edited by: sscoyote ]

Momma always said evil is as evil does

Personally I'd try to make either the 95 Noz Bt work or the Hornady SST in the 95.

To me they are about as good as you can get,and yes they will open up at long range.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Goody, thanks Mark!

ss coyote, what twist rate is the 6-284 you just bought from your friend? The SMK 107 grain is one of the better long range coyote bullet going, but you need a 1-8 twist to stabilize them.
I just put together a 6-284 myself. Built on a rem 700 action and a 1 1/4 x 30" Lilja stainless barrel with a 1-8 twist, I'll be damn surprised if I don't get 1 1/2" groups at 500 yards. So far I've got a 3/8" group at 100 yards with much testing( first group after printing gun on paper.

For shooting past 500 yards, I believe the long vld bullets will be your best bet.

Carverelli, I know the VLD's will get there better than anything else, but what about terminal ballistics. Will they open up at 500-1000 yds.? I've got a friend who knows a guy that is shooting some kind of 22-6mm. He's getting 3600 from the 75 A-Max. But terminal performance results were variable, with some bullets just pencilling the dogs. That's undesirable of course. I'm just a little leery of those match style bullets not opening up on game!!??

i guess the big question here is have you ever lost any dogs that you knew was due to poor bullet performance beyond 500 or so??