I am expanding my hunting season this year by attempting to become a successful varmint hunter.
With some desire- (and less cash due to the holidays) I would like to get a new varmint caliber rifle, but don't plan to right now. Therefore- I plan to load for my Ruger #1 in 280 to hunt coyotes and bobcats. I have some concern for for baseball size holes, as I hope to tan the hides to hang in my reloading room- and maybe have a cat mounted. I am currently looking at Speers 110 tnt-hp, Nosler 120 BT, or Hornady 120 V-Max, or Hornady 100 HP. I currently use Nosler 140 BT for deer hunting- and have found it to be my most accurate and consistent bullet for my rifle, but again, I am afraid of large exit holes.
What bullet do you "varmint experts" suggest- and how fast?

i have had good luck with 120gr. v-max in my rem mag. i used imr 4831, 4350 on reloader 19. the 4831 and reloader 19 were the best. i shot .65 with most of the loads. and some at .5 and all under an inch.

any of the light bullets with the polycarbonite tip are going to give you your baseball holes. Try a soft point instead. I would use a heavier bullet to pass through without opening as violently. JMHO

I varmint with my 7mm Rem Mag. If you want to keep your pelts with little damage, I'd go with the 168 Sierra MK. They are accurate and will pass through without hardly opening up. It'll just leave a nice .284 exit hole. Good luck.

Hey bigdogfan2003, haven't you heard, the Matchking is an expanding hunting bullet! They do approximately 50% of the damage of an exploding tip cannon shell. Duh!
Yardbird
Sorry, I couldn't resist, use em if you like em, but I'll stick to my Nosler BT's