I picked up a Ruger American 22-250 the other day to use as a coyote gun. I have no experience with this caliber, nor these guns. Anyone else have any experience with them? Any idea of a favorite ammo or how far out to zero it?
I figure most shots I'll get will be at or less than 100 yards, but my reading tells me to zero it for 200 and hold dead on to 300 (or as far as I'll ever be able to see them around here)

Don't have an American centerfire.

Do have and use the 22-250. I like 50 grain ballistic tips.

You need to shoot actual range to be confident but 1.25 or 1.5 high at 100yds should be pretty much dead on at 200 and 3" give or take low at 300.

Don't know about the Ruger but the 22-250 has been my go to gun for prairie dogs for over 10 years. It's a great cartridge. I zero according to which scope I have on the gun. If your major range of shots is around 100 yards then zero at that point. The drop at 300 is around 3 inches so for something as big coyotes you are going to get a hit holding center of chest. I use a 55 grain bullet loaded to about 95% max and have taken prairie dogs out to 800 yards but that required a little luck and it best performs out to the 500 yard range. I've only taken one coyote here on my farm and he was at about 275yards and he dropped like a rock when I hit him. All in all the 22-250 is a great round. If you reload then you can work out your best load, if you don't there are a lot of commercial loads available.

The scope is a Nikon 3-9x40 BDC, it's a decent scope for a $350-400 gun. Considering the area I live in, I figure 100-125 yards will be about tops for coyotes.
I had nothing else besides my AR15's or my 30/06 so I figured this would be a good entry coyote gun.
Milspec AR triggers suck for hunting, or I'd have just used one of them. Besides, any excuse to buy another gun is a good one

I have a TC Venture Predator in 22-250 a Leupold 6.5-20x40 VX-3i scope on it. My girlfriend placed 20 bullets in less than 3/4" group at a 100 yards with it. This was with 50 gr V-Max reloads that I put together without a lot of attention to detail. We have very good luck with American Eagle 50gr JHP's as well - part # AE22250G. I haven't done any velocity measurements yet with it, but the American Eagle ammo box states 3850fps muzzle velocity.

I can tell you that a 22-250 is faster than a phone call.

I used a Browning 78 in 22-250 with a 6X18 scope and prairie dogs were not safe at 300 yards Really fun round and lots of loading data available. Just need a decent rifle.

You are right to zero the gun at 200 yards, as most factory loads will shoot just over an inch high at 100 yards and that is an easy adjustment. A 40gr V-Max will not even be an inch high, and has only 4 inches of drop at 300 yards! Obviously, you will enjoy shooting the rifle.

In a pinch, a soft point to the neck will drop a whitetail like a bolt of lightning, too.