Shootgood
Member
If you do your part yes. Police carried .38 revolvers for years,and the ammo selection now is a lot better than it was back then.
.38 special vs Coyote
- Thread starter Gman686
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SweetMK
Member
I only shot one in my life,, back in the early 1970's.
it kept getting into my sister's trash burn barrel,,
I happened to hear it one Saturday afternoon,,
The gun at the end of the gun rack was a 10 gauge double barrel.
I shot it at about 30 yards,, single "0" 3 1/2 inch buckshot,,
There was little remaining of the left side of the chest.
I think a 38 would be plenty,,
The worst part of shooting the coyote??
I had to clean up the spilled barrel AND the coyote.
it kept getting into my sister's trash burn barrel,,
I happened to hear it one Saturday afternoon,,
The gun at the end of the gun rack was a 10 gauge double barrel.
I shot it at about 30 yards,, single "0" 3 1/2 inch buckshot,,
There was little remaining of the left side of the chest.
I think a 38 would be plenty,,
The worst part of shooting the coyote??
I had to clean up the spilled barrel AND the coyote.
I think a good compromise would be a 3 inch 60-10 which would give you 38 Special and 357 Magnum and its not difficult to carry.
Jeff
SWCA #1457
https://flic.kr/p/2nAqNcV https://www.flickr.com/photos/194934231@N03/
YeshuaIsa53
Member
If you are in the woods in low light conditions, seeing the target and the sights might be of importance. What kind of dog do you have? How large is he?
Desmobob I believe hit it where
I was going, with the .22 Magnum. I believe with a revolver for that cartridge should be plenty of fire power for most deranged squirrels and hogs.
I was going, with the .22 Magnum. I believe with a revolver for that cartridge should be plenty of fire power for most deranged squirrels and hogs.
I shot this one with a .22 LR. He was approximately 75 yards out. Maybe a tad more. Like others have said, shot placement is paramount.
I have killed exactly one coyote with a .38 Special - a one-shot kill at about 10 yards with my model 60-4 and a 125 grain hp handload. So from my experience , the .38 is 100% effective on coyotes. ��
Swiftflyer
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Coyotes are not only relatively easy to kill, but they are also skittish. I suspect a gunshot from anything would send one scurrying, even if you miss it cleanly.
Don’t forget former Texas governor Perry killed a coyote that he thought was threatening his dog with a single .380 round from a Ruger LCP. (Oops. I see this incident was already mentioned; apologies.)
As an aside, I think most of us expend much too much energy on selecting guns for imaginary situations. (We all do it to some degree, myself included.) I think a better way is to just commit to something we’ll actually carry daily and practice enough to stay proficient with it. FWIW, when the doodoo hits the fan there is no such thing as “enough gun.” The last time I was in such a situation I was armed with a rifle, but I wished I had a minigun.
Don’t forget former Texas governor Perry killed a coyote that he thought was threatening his dog with a single .380 round from a Ruger LCP. (Oops. I see this incident was already mentioned; apologies.)
As an aside, I think most of us expend much too much energy on selecting guns for imaginary situations. (We all do it to some degree, myself included.) I think a better way is to just commit to something we’ll actually carry daily and practice enough to stay proficient with it. FWIW, when the doodoo hits the fan there is no such thing as “enough gun.” The last time I was in such a situation I was armed with a rifle, but I wished I had a minigun.
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bulletslap
Member
Your challenge will be good shot placement with a snub nose revolver, not the 38 special round, in my experience.
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
Here in southern Colorado the typical coyote will run about 30-35 lbs. These are thin-skinned animals without much bone or muscle mass and maybe 8-9" side-to-side through the chest cavity. Just about any self-defense handgun will shoot straight through, and even the best expanding hollow-point bullets are unlikely to expand very much (if at all).
I've shot a dozen or more over the years with .38 Special, 9X19mm, and .357 magnum without seeing any difference in effect. Coyotes will bolt and run unless a shoulder or hip joint is seriously damaged, and they will not go down until blood loss takes its toll. After that they will probably be food for the other critters (including other coyotes, foxes, badgers, crows, and buzzards).
That is why serious coyote hunters looking to harvest the pelts use high-velocity rifles with bullets designed to expand or fragment quickly after impact resulting in maximum internal damage in relatively small critters. Not the same type of ammo we rely on for personal defense.
I've shot a dozen or more over the years with .38 Special, 9X19mm, and .357 magnum without seeing any difference in effect. Coyotes will bolt and run unless a shoulder or hip joint is seriously damaged, and they will not go down until blood loss takes its toll. After that they will probably be food for the other critters (including other coyotes, foxes, badgers, crows, and buzzards).
That is why serious coyote hunters looking to harvest the pelts use high-velocity rifles with bullets designed to expand or fragment quickly after impact resulting in maximum internal damage in relatively small critters. Not the same type of ammo we rely on for personal defense.
Maybe, but the ones I shoot here in Texas seem to be the one thing that nothing will eat, don't even see buzzards on them.
Jeff
SWCA #1457
That's because you missed! Or mostly missed. Number 7 birdshot will make an almost perfectly clean L A R G E hole in a corrugated steel barn wall at ten or fifteen yards (guess how I know?
) and will devastate a man-sized goblin inside your house unless he's way far away. Even then he'll be hurting and you'll get a second shot easily.Okay, I don't get that. How were you planning to carry it? I'm so short that the word "tall" is not to be used when asking my height. I have carried a 4" M686+ all day while chasing feral hogs. OWB in an excellent holster is easy and a "western-type" rig is possibly easier. The post above recommending a 3" gun is eminently sensible. Still, if you can't carry a 4" I don't see how you'll be happy with a 3" revolver, the difference is hardly noticeable.
All wild animals can be tough to kill absent proper shot placement but a coyote is a thin-skinned doggie that will be easily killed by a .38 Special. Lots of us carry .38 Specials for defensive use against humans so why do you think it might be inadequate for coyotes?
Besides, they are naturally shy and will avoid you, barring rabies or he's angry, or she's hungry enough to come after your dog in your presence. I would think a gunshot aimed at the yote would scare it off, anyway. YMMV
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Coyotes are thin skinned animals and not tough. A well placed .38 will do the job. I shot this one bothering my two labs at 53 yards with a 230 grain .45 ACP JHP. Went through both shoulders. He dropped as if hit by lightning.
I chucked the coyote I eliminated into the arroyo. That night his buddies came in to eat him and they started making a terrible racket. It suddenly got dead silent as if a switch had been flipped. Next morning I went and looked at the tracks in the snow. It seems a mountain lion wanted the coyote carcass...the pack of coyotes that had initially found the carcass bee-lined it away from the lion. You could see where the lion dragged the coyote away. The cougar has very large footprints.
So there are still places in the USA where it is possible/permissible to shoot a predator w/o a tac team being summoned?
I shake my head reading the ads for new housing developments. One feature is their hiking trails being linked to existing trails. And then people wonder how the mountain lions show up in their yards...
Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
I shake my head reading the ads for new housing developments. One feature is their hiking trails being linked to existing trails. And then people wonder how the mountain lions show up in their yards...
Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
Swift, that is a great picture. I’d have that in 8x10 hanging in the house somewhere.
Tougher than a coyote
A .38 Special will do more than best a coyote. Good thing or bad thing we've a whole lot more feral hogs than coyotes. This hog, about a 120 pounder, took one shot from a S&W Model 64-7. Semi-wadcutter 158 grain H.P. handload going about 1050 fps.
A .38 Special will do more than best a coyote. Good thing or bad thing we've a whole lot more feral hogs than coyotes. This hog, about a 120 pounder, took one shot from a S&W Model 64-7. Semi-wadcutter 158 grain H.P. handload going about 1050 fps.
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Just dropped one 2 days ago using my S&W 49 with 148 WC at 35 yds. Went down for good with 1 shot.
A few days earlier brother dropped one close to 50 yds using a S&W .22 Mag, forget the model number. Dropped with 1 shot.
As someone else posted coyotes are not a tough animal. Thin skin, usually thin bodies with no fat. I've taken them with .17 HMR, .22 LR, to a .308 which was way more than enough but was what was in the truck.
A few days earlier brother dropped one close to 50 yds using a S&W .22 Mag, forget the model number. Dropped with 1 shot.
As someone else posted coyotes are not a tough animal. Thin skin, usually thin bodies with no fat. I've taken them with .17 HMR, .22 LR, to a .308 which was way more than enough but was what was in the truck.
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I carry a 4" barrel Model 67 in a Galco Vertical shoulder holster rig. works fine anytime I can wear a cover garment (tonight was a Carhartt hoodie)
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