01-26-2012, 02:01 PM
I've only shot one coyote with a fmj in my life, so don't have a wide experience with that type of bullet. This was with a 55 grain fmj .223 and was because it was the only ammo I had with me, not because it would be my choice. The shot was 224 yards so relatively close. At the shot the coyote spun around in a circle several times and went down. I watched him with my binoculars for a few minutes to make sure he was down for good and then started over to pick him up. The route I took to get to him prevented me from keeping eyes on him the whole way and I was quite surprised when I arrived only to find hair and blood, no coyote and no trail to tell me which direction he had taken. I searched a grid for a few hundred yards for several hours but never found him and don't know what happened.
I'm not insinuating this would be a consistent result if you were to use a 6.5 Grendel with fmj bullets but it is a possibility. I've shot a lot of coyotes with a wide variety of calibers, gauges, and types of bullets and shot and the one I described is the only one I ever lost.
So, if it were me, and with my limited experience with FMJ bullets on coyotes I would use a conventional hunting bullet.
The 123 SMK will sometimes rip the hide excessively, most often you will get a quarter sized exit hole. If your gun shoots the Hornady 95 V-Max well, I would consider it. Often it will fragment so violently that the exit will be small and the forces contained within the chest cavity, but again occasionally on the right kind of shot it will rip the hid a few inches, just sew it up.
That's what I do.
Bob
I'm not insinuating this would be a consistent result if you were to use a 6.5 Grendel with fmj bullets but it is a possibility. I've shot a lot of coyotes with a wide variety of calibers, gauges, and types of bullets and shot and the one I described is the only one I ever lost.
So, if it were me, and with my limited experience with FMJ bullets on coyotes I would use a conventional hunting bullet.
The 123 SMK will sometimes rip the hide excessively, most often you will get a quarter sized exit hole. If your gun shoots the Hornady 95 V-Max well, I would consider it. Often it will fragment so violently that the exit will be small and the forces contained within the chest cavity, but again occasionally on the right kind of shot it will rip the hid a few inches, just sew it up.
That's what I do.
Bob