Look at Macavity arms .30 cal. Within your budget & getting good reviews. Check youtube vids.
Upvote 0
Other budget friendly coyote whacker
- Thread starter Jigheadworm
- Start date
I am thinking a 35 caliber airgun is more appropriate for a coyote unless you know they are small. I started a thread back in hunting where I compared a 22lr to several assumed airguns in 25, 30 and 35 caliber using fpe but also a couple other effectiveness factors that are designed to take more seriously larger slower moving projectiles. A 25 caliber airgun would have to be extra powerful, inconsistent with a $1000 budget, to beat a 22 lr by any measure. Doesn't mean it couldn't work but I think it means you are likely to wound as much as you get DRT results (I think a 22 lr is too small for a coyote). 30 caliber gets to about 22 lr killing power but not much above it regardless of measure. Interestingly a fairly low powered 357 (I assumed 700 fps on 81 grain pellet) was lower on fpe but significantly higher on the other two measures than a 22 lr. I think that is significant. It will poke a big hole without any expansion and penetration should be enough. I think a Benjamin Bulldog would shoot that pellet faster than this and a SPA M60b might be a bit slower. But both would be in budget and I think either would be a good choice for a short range coyote air rifle. AEA makes some guns that should be fine too.
Upvote 0
10 post and 10 days rule to go to the Classifieds here , think you have 6 posts now . but your getting great advice which is one of the best things about this forum.
Stan in KY .
Stan in KY .
Upvote 0
I don't have one, I have three other SPA guns (all P35s) but I've seen youtubes of people talking about modifications for more power. One guy claimed to be getting 70+ fpe on a 25 caliber shooting slugs. Stock I think it is more like 50 fpe. It seemed like he was opening up the air flow paths. Another youtuber had modified his to add plenum space.
SPA rates their guns very conservatively so if you are concerned based upon their published numbers I would take them with a grain of salt. I watched one today where the guy had fpe in a 25 up in the 60+fpe with slugs doing nothing but raising regulator pressure. He went almost to about 180 bar, however.
But I am pretty sure a bulldog can make more power than the SPA M60.
SPA rates their guns very conservatively so if you are concerned based upon their published numbers I would take them with a grain of salt. I watched one today where the guy had fpe in a 25 up in the 60+fpe with slugs doing nothing but raising regulator pressure. He went almost to about 180 bar, however.
But I am pretty sure a bulldog can make more power than the SPA M60.
Upvote 0
Yeah, I think .25 might be marginal for mice. If you keep your range within the capability of your ability, .22 on up are totally capable of taking coyotes, even with a body shot.
Upvote 0
Learn the anatomy of the Target. The Coyote is merely the Target. The Bullseye is where you need to place the shot. Most shoot the Coyote too far back.
Upvote 0
Just listed my Vulcan 3 700 that's basically Brand new in the classifieds. shoot me a PM. I bought it for Coyotes and such. Just never got around to using it.
Upvote 0
I messed around with my "how much of a hole does it make" calculations. I compare the area of a projectile to the area of various animals to get a feel for whether it makes a big enough hole. I used it to equate a .177 pellet hole through a squirrel to a .75 inch diameter hole in a deer. That convinced me to decide a 177 is OK for squirrels and experience suggests that is true. Not overwhelming but adequate. I calculated the 177 would damage about .08% of the cross sectional area of a squirrel.
If we look at a coyote with a considerably bigger body a 25 caliber would damage .03%, a 30 would damage .05% and a 35 would damage about .07%. A 45 would damage .09%. A 22 caliber hole in a squirrel damages about .12%. To me that says a 35 caliber would be the minimum I would want to use on a coyote.
None of this considers expansion. That could widen the diameter of the hole significantly and as long as the hole is still deep enough it would make smaller calibers more suitable. I developed my depth of penetration in wet paper standard for squirrels by shooting dead ones pinned to a tree. I haven't had the chance to do that for a coyote. My guess is penetration in a coyote needs to be on the order of 3-4 times that of a squirrel. Lungs don't resist penetration like muscles and bone do but a coyote is much bigger so it has bigger muscles and bones. My 25 caliber bullpup penetrates about twice as far in wet paper as my minimum squirrel standard. About 20 magazines. I think it would be light for a coyote based both on hole size and depth of penetration (it is 45-50 fpe). A 70 fpe 25 caliber could probably give enough penetration but if you put an expanding projectile in it then I doubt it would. I have not tested a 35 caliber airgun but I've seen videos of antelope shot with the Benjamin bulldog in 35 where the projectile made it through the lungs but did not exit. It killed the animal but I would consider that light for what they are doing with it. But the antelope was bigger than a coyote so I'm thinking it would probably be OK (at short range) for coyotes.
If we look at a coyote with a considerably bigger body a 25 caliber would damage .03%, a 30 would damage .05% and a 35 would damage about .07%. A 45 would damage .09%. A 22 caliber hole in a squirrel damages about .12%. To me that says a 35 caliber would be the minimum I would want to use on a coyote.
None of this considers expansion. That could widen the diameter of the hole significantly and as long as the hole is still deep enough it would make smaller calibers more suitable. I developed my depth of penetration in wet paper standard for squirrels by shooting dead ones pinned to a tree. I haven't had the chance to do that for a coyote. My guess is penetration in a coyote needs to be on the order of 3-4 times that of a squirrel. Lungs don't resist penetration like muscles and bone do but a coyote is much bigger so it has bigger muscles and bones. My 25 caliber bullpup penetrates about twice as far in wet paper as my minimum squirrel standard. About 20 magazines. I think it would be light for a coyote based both on hole size and depth of penetration (it is 45-50 fpe). A 70 fpe 25 caliber could probably give enough penetration but if you put an expanding projectile in it then I doubt it would. I have not tested a 35 caliber airgun but I've seen videos of antelope shot with the Benjamin bulldog in 35 where the projectile made it through the lungs but did not exit. It killed the animal but I would consider that light for what they are doing with it. But the antelope was bigger than a coyote so I'm thinking it would probably be OK (at short range) for coyotes.
Upvote 0
The hardest penetration you’ll have to do on a coyote is only about a half an inch. After that it’s all soft enough to push a finger through. So, once you get through that half inch of hide and rib cage, it’s nothing but bleeding out. Pretty humane considering what they do to kill prey. Oh wait, they don’t kill it, they just eat it alive.
Upvote 0
If you shoot it in the brain even a 177 should do the job. If you shoot it in the body and can slip the pellet between ribs then less powerful guns would work too. But if you using something like my 45 fpe 25 caliber and accidently hit the shoulder what happens? I want enough power to plow through the larger bones and muscles and tendons of the shoulder and still get the lungs. And I want a big enough hole that the bleeding in the lungs occurs fast enough that the animal does not run far. If a coyote was killing my little doggie it would get a pellet from my 25 caliber and I would hope for the best. But if I was to pick an air gun to go coyote hunting with I would choose a 35 caliber.
Upvote 0
You want to stop a coyote with a shot. A killing shot won't stop them unless it hits the nervous system or the heart. Lungs won't do it. Canines have a loose area under the skin that closes a chest shot efficiently. Their lungs won't collapse like (for instance) a deer. They are slow to kill. A lung shot won't do it unless you have some room to chase them.
An animal like that you need to take out some bone. High in the shoulders. Way up forward. Canines have a huge ligament from there up their neck. Anywhere high in the shoulders will stop them in their tracks. A low shot produces a lung shot. A high shot misses. The chance of breaking their spine is way up there. The bones become projectiles and do extra damage. The heart is right in between the shoulder bones next to the spine.
Across the chest at the ribs is a certain run off unless you get the heart or the cluster of big veins above it. It's a killing shot for sure. But it will take a while. The membranes under the skin are like sheets of plastic. They slide around and seal the wound.
At the limits of your weapon you don't shoot to kill. You shoot to anchor the animal. A humane kill is one that is done as quickly as possible. A double lung punctured coyote may live hours and go miles. You can walk over and kill an animal thats anchored. He does not run off. That's humane.
A high forward shoulder shot on a coyote will kill him more reliably than a "head shot" or a "chest shot". And even if you don't kill him the first shot he isn't getting away wounded.
An animal like that you need to take out some bone. High in the shoulders. Way up forward. Canines have a huge ligament from there up their neck. Anywhere high in the shoulders will stop them in their tracks. A low shot produces a lung shot. A high shot misses. The chance of breaking their spine is way up there. The bones become projectiles and do extra damage. The heart is right in between the shoulder bones next to the spine.
Across the chest at the ribs is a certain run off unless you get the heart or the cluster of big veins above it. It's a killing shot for sure. But it will take a while. The membranes under the skin are like sheets of plastic. They slide around and seal the wound.
At the limits of your weapon you don't shoot to kill. You shoot to anchor the animal. A humane kill is one that is done as quickly as possible. A double lung punctured coyote may live hours and go miles. You can walk over and kill an animal thats anchored. He does not run off. That's humane.
A high forward shoulder shot on a coyote will kill him more reliably than a "head shot" or a "chest shot". And even if you don't kill him the first shot he isn't getting away wounded.
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Interesting information Bedrock Bob. By chest shot are you talking about a shot to the front of the chest traveling the length of the animal? If so, I have experienced running from squirrels and a bunny shot there. The only two squirrels of the 18 I shot with my P35-25 when it was tuned to 32 fpe that ran at all were shot in the front of the chest. I found the pellet under the skin in the rear. But they ran 10 yards or less. Other 16 just dropped on the spot. Some of the 16 were not all that well placed but still worked out great. I agree front of chest shots are not great in producing DRT results.
You may be totally right about double lung shots on coyotes but I wonder if the size of the hole through the lungs could play a role in the results. It seems it would be easier for a 22 caliber hole to seal up than a 35 caliber hole. But maybe it takes a hole that would be even bigger. Needing to break shoulders is another reason to use a bigger caliber from my point of view. Another one of my P35-25 kills and the only other one that was not a pass through was a shoulder to shoulder shot. Dropped the squirrel on the spot but I was a little surprised two little dinky squirrel shoulders stopped the pellet.
You may be totally right about double lung shots on coyotes but I wonder if the size of the hole through the lungs could play a role in the results. It seems it would be easier for a 22 caliber hole to seal up than a 35 caliber hole. But maybe it takes a hole that would be even bigger. Needing to break shoulders is another reason to use a bigger caliber from my point of view. Another one of my P35-25 kills and the only other one that was not a pass through was a shoulder to shoulder shot. Dropped the squirrel on the spot but I was a little surprised two little dinky squirrel shoulders stopped the pellet.
Upvote 0