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Picking the best coyote calibers, or more properly stated, cartridges, really depends on what you want and need out of a coyote rifle. Most people shouldn’t overthink it. We’ve had great coyote-killing cartridges for more than a century but, if you’re buying or putting together a new gun now, there are fresh options that offer even better performance.
What does better performance look like? After all, virtually any cartridge will kill coyotes just as dead as another. Many folks focus on velocity as the chief metric to consider — but that’s only part of the equation. Better performance can mean better velocity, but to be useful to us, we have to consider multiple factors like trajectory, wind drift, impact velocity, and terminal performance.
Top Performers
Many coyote hunters want a cartridge that has excellent external ballistics, and drops coyotes on the spot reliably. Whether competition hunting, managing predators, or simply enjoying recreational hunting, these cartridges are some of the best factory-offered performers out there.
22 Creedmoor
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Pros
- Excellent velocity and trajectory
- Versatile
- Great terminal performance
- Compatible with standard bolt faces and short actions
Cons
- Barrel life is more limited than many cartridges
The 22 Creedmoor has been around for many years as a wildcat, but has recently been SAAMI standardized and offered in factory rifles. It’s capable of launching light varmint bullets at speeds matching or beating the legendary .220 Swift, but also has a standard barrel twist of 1:8 and capable of managing heavy, wind-bucking 80-grain bullets. The entire family of Creed cartridges, including the 6.5, 25, and 6mm, are excellent coyote killers, but the 22 is most ideal. It’s become incredibly popular with coyote tournament hunters using thermal optics.
22 ARC
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Pros
- Great gas gun performance
- Flat trajectory
- Great terminal performance
- Also works well in bolt rifles
The 22 ARC was born of a desire to improve both velocity over the .223 and fit longer, more efficient bullets in the standard-length AR-15 magazine. Originally necked down from the 6.5 Grendel, the 22 ARC was recently standardized with a 1:7 twist barrel and an operating pressure of 52,000 psi. It’s ideal for coyote hunters who want to use an AR-15, especially with thermal optics. Bolt-action shooters can load the 22 ARC to 62,000 PSI, increasing velocity drastically.
22 ARC vs 22 Creed Shootout: We Took Both to 1,000 Yards
.204 Ruger
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Pros
- Blistering velocity
- Flat trajectory
- More limited pelt damage
Despite the great terminal benefits of many .22 and 6mm hot rod cartridges, not all hunters will find them ideal. Coyote pelts might not be bringing top dollar, but you might still want to skin them out. In that case, a fur-friendly cartridge is beneficial. Shooting a 32-grain bullet at near 4,000 fps delivers plenty of impact velocity to kill coyotes quickly but according to buddies who have filled fur sheds using it, it’s pretty forgiving on pelts. The tiny slug’s kryptonite, however, is the wind.
.223 Remington
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Pros
- Extremely common
- Reliable
- Many rifle platforms
Despite its age, the .223 still hangs in there as one of the best options for a hunter getting set up for coyotes. Rifles and ammunition are plentiful and, though overall length restricts the cartridge to less efficient bullets in an AR-15, many bolt actions can accommodate longer slugs and are extremely versatile. Lower muzzle velocities generally restrict the effective range of the .223 compared to some other cartridges, but it’s not to be underestimated as a coyote cartridge.
Homage to the Classics
The principles of Modern Cartridge Design and efficient heavy-for-caliber bullets don’t mean that the classics don’t work anymore, and we’re not saying you need to switch. Though their performance is no longer at the top, these are some of the best classic coyote cartridges.
.22/250 Remington
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Pros
- Great velocity
- Flat trajectory
- Deadly terminal performance
Cons
- Limited to lighter bullets
- Not the best in the wind
The .22/250 started out as a wildcat of the .250 Savage and, once standardized, became one of the most prolific coyote and varmint cartridges in history. Factory rifles are still offered, and the cartridge can be leveraged by using tighter-twist barrels to perform close to many more modern options with heavier bullets. In SAAMI standard form, the cartridge is limited to lighter bullets and performance falls off after a few hundred yards.
.243 Winchester
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Pros
- Good velocity
- Works well with heavier and lighter bullets
- Great all-around cartridge
Cons
- Limited to traditional weight 6mm bullets
Another of the most successful cartridges of the 20th Century is the .243 Winchester. Often thought of as a varmint/big-game crossover, the .243 works well with bullets from the 55- to 100-grain range. Loaded with light varmint bullets, the .243 performs similarly to the .22/250, but it bucks the wind better with heavier projectiles.
.25/06 Remington
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Pros
- Great velocity
- Works with a range of bullet weights
- Great big-game/coyote crossover cartridge
Cons
- Not as efficient as modern cartridges
- Standard barrels are limited to 120-grain bullets and under
The .25/06 was an early wildcat of the .30/06 and is still chambered in quite a few factory rifles today. It was long a favorite of ranchers and pronghorn hunters, but makes for a hell of a coyote round as well. Like the .243, it’s capable of handling lighter bullets in the 75-grain range, up to 110- to 120-grain bullets. Tighter twist barrels even allow it to handle the highly efficient bullets in the 130-grain range and heavier.
Final Thoughts
The finer points of some of these newer cartridges give modern coyote hunters who are leveraging technology like thermal optics an even greater edge, and also translate to the hunter who simply wants the most ideal cartridge possible. One certainty is that there has never been a better time to be in the market for a new coyote rig.
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