Best rifle for coyote and hogs

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Bishop123

New member
I am new to centerfire rifles and am planning on buying one this weekend. My question is: Is there a caliber that would be good for hogs as well as coyote. I may even end up chasing deer. I was thinking a 30-06, but am afraid it would destroy a coyote.
 
Well what is legal to hunt all three animals in your State? If you live in TX then a .223 or .22-250 might be the ticket. Since .22 caliber rifles are legal for deer in that State. Run as heavy of a bullet as you can get to shoot accuratly out of your rifle and choose your shots carefully.

Personally I'd get any caliber from .243 Win on up to the .30-06 you mentioned and not worry about ruining hides on coyotes. Plus truthfully what are coyotes worth for the pelts? Around here most guys are only getting $25-35 a pelt not like the good old days when I could take a whole coyote in and get $50+ for the animal without skinning it.
 
Look towards the 243 Winchester and 25-06 Remington. These have a wide range of both varmint and medium game bullets. There are smaller and larger calibers that have both styles of bullets as well, but not quite the variety. The .224 caliber bullets are mostly designed for varmints, and their medium game bullets are questionable or minimal. The larger calibers are more geared for medium or even large game, such as the 30-06 Springfield. The 243 Win and 25-06 Rem are probably the better options for you. Especially since there are tons of commercial ammo. Handloading is a different story.
 
Sorry I should have been more specific. I live in Illinois so i guess primarilly it will be used on coyotes, but my in-laws live in FL. We make several trips down each year, and I will be hunting a 2500 acre ranch with my father in law. So I guess I am looking for an all around rifle.
 
IIRC you can't use a bottle neck cartridges to hunt deer in IL shotgun, ML, and straight wall cartridge for rifle pistol only? That said it will only be a varmint gun in your State where you spend most of your time. I'm not up on FL hunting regs but to play it safe I'd recommend a .243 as well for an all around rifle. No need for a larger caliber rifle if it isn't legal on the deer in your State, those FL deer are not know to be as big as where you are from. The .243 Win should work nicely on everything in the areas you will be hunting.
 
Bullets traveling over 2900 feet per second going thru a barrel ,tend to burn the barrel up fast .

.308 , 30-06 would be my pick.
 
I am no expert, but isn't this a false statement? Isn't it the high pressures that burn up barrels? If not that would mean most rifle cartridges under 30 cal, including the 223 Rem, would "burn out" their barrels quickly.
 
Best rifle for everything:

No doubt, it would be the 6.5x55 Swede. Mine is Extremely accurate, low recoil, excellent B.C., good penetration (hogs) and a great deer rifle too!
What else could you ask for? Maybe a little availabiliy of ammo in the stores, but stock up on it when you can and no problem.
 
Bullets traveling over 2900 feet per second going thru a barrel ,tend to burn the barrel up fast .

.308 , 30-06 would be my pick.
Click to expand...

Then that would make the .308 and .30-06 barrel burners as well since both are capable of driving some bullets in excess of 2900 fps.
 
I'm quite partial to the very versatile .257 Roberts (aka the "Bob") and would recommend it for your purposes.

My second choice would probably be the .270 Winchester but that's a pretty big jump... The .260 Remington someone suggested above would be a good suggestion in my book as well.
 
I would get something in a 270, you could always use it for deer as well. IMHO the best all around cal. for mid sized game. I have a friend in colorado who uses it for elk also.
 
Hogs in FL generally aren't that big. One guy out here uses a .223 for hogs. May want to check with your in-laws. I try to shoot the smaller ones since I eat them. So a .243 is a good choice maybe .270. How big are the IL dear? I would get what works for your IL deer hunts and it'll be more then enough for FL hogs or coyotes.

Yeah I know, your sister's boyfriend's Uncle's girlfriend works with a guy at 7-11 that knows someone with a friend that shot a 600 hundred pound hog. Skip it OK.
 
For hunting use on varmints and deer-type critters, "barrel burner" is pretty much irrelevant. You just don't shoot all that often. Few of the standard cartridges do any significant burning below some 1,500 rounds or thereabouts. Many do fine to over 3,000 to 5,000.

Two or three deer, an elk, a few coyotes and a dozen hogs, plus maybe a dozen rounds for sight-in? Most any hunting rifle is good for forty years or more. My pet '06 was new back around 1970-ish, and has around 4,000 rounds through it. Still shooting sub-MOA.

So: Coyotes and hogs? I'd prefer a .243 over a .223 for hogs, personally. For coyotes, then, 55-, 70- or 85-grain bullets; 95- or 100-grain for the hogs.

Not saying the .243 is any kind of super-duper critter; I just know that it works. So does other stuff, but I haven't tried a lot of other stuff in my hunting.
 
I'm with Art. Also, that article is circa 2004 and it clearly states what anyone who has loaded for more than a couple of decades already knows. The calibers that are over-bore and push bullets over 3500fps will erode the fastest.
 
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