I am looking for suggestions for a bullet for coyotes to use in my .243. Here's the info:

1) 1:9.25 twist
2) will probably be max load
3) thinking I'd keep the bullet fairly light
4) I won't keep the pelts, but may be giving them to a guy I know. Says he will take anything.
5) may also be used for fox

I thought about using a 65 gr Vmax, but a friend tells me when he used them out of a heavy barreled varmit gun they'd blowup on him if he pushed them too fast.

Any suggestions?

I'm pushing 55 grain Nosler ballistic tips out of mine @ 3,800 fps. Have gone as high as 3,980. That is what I use for coyotes...and any other vermin

I've gotten the Barnes 75 grain solids to shoot well in my 243. But since pelts are a big concern for you that might not be a good choice. Do you want the gun to be more versatile? I decided to try some 90 grain Scirroco IIs to have a more versatile weapon. I.e. one that I could use on deer and brainshooting hogds in addition to yotes and the like. Those are spendy bullets and big enough to give up a lot of velocity to the 75 grain and lighter bullets, so if you are shooting at a longer range for yotes only might not be a good choice.

Regards,

LWD

I agree with 300winnie. That 55 Nosler underneath a healthy charge of Varget in my CDL with a 24" tube is pushing those pills out at 4050 fps with real good accuracy. They are great for rockchuck soup.

quote:

Originally posted by halvey:
I am looking for suggestions for a bullet for coyotes to use in my .243. Here's the info:

1) 1:9.25 twist
2) will probably be max load
3) thinking I'd keep the bullet fairly light
4) I won't keep the pelts, but may be giving them to a guy I know. Says he will take anything.
5) may also be used for fox

I thought about using a 65 gr Vmax, but a friend tells me when he used them out of a heavy barreled varmit gun they'd blowup on him if he pushed them too fast.

Any suggestions?

I used to do the high speed, light bullet thing. When I first started coyote hunting I used a 243 with 70 gr. Speer HPs going as fast as I could push them. At the time hides were worth something and there wasn't a lot of mange. The first three I shot were perfect. The bullet went in and totally destroyed the "innerds" with no exit. On the fourth, the bullet hit the shoulder and splashed, destroying the hide with no hope of putting it back together. I switched to more well constructed bullets. A "game" type bullet will usually give you two holes, but they are often small and easily fixed. If you don't care about the pelts, it doesn't really matter.

I haven't tried the 65 gr. Vmax on fox, but after seeing what it does to pds, I would guess it will turn the fox to mush.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by halvey:
I am looking for suggestions for a bullet for coyotes to use in my .243. ...
4) I won't keep the pelts, but may be giving them to a guy I know. Says he will take anything. ...

Hey Halvey, If you plan to use this same rifle for Deer Hunting, I'd recommend you just use the same bullet you will be using on Deer.

Since pelt condition is of no importance, having a nice Exit will help by either dropping them in place, or making the Tracking a good bit easier.

And if using your Deer bullet, it will be great reenforcement of the actual Deer Bullet's Trajectory.
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If you will not be Deer Hunting with the rifle, then I can recommend the 75gr Flat Base Hollow Point Sierra(#1510) fueled by H380. They are extremely accurate in my 243Win, but you never know how they will do in yours until you try them.

I don't know what the Velocity is for them, nor do I care. I do know they won't "fry a barrel" in a few thousand rounds.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot kills.

Hornady 87gr Vmax claims a .400 BC and makes a real mess. I think you need a heavier bullet to buck wind and get out there with the .243
When you shoot at them running and don't know where your going to hit, it still brings them down.
I have taken a couple out to 600 yds with this bullet.

quote:

Originally posted by swiss:
Hornady 87gr Vmax claims a .400 BC and makes a real mess. I think you need a heavier bullet to buck wind and get out there with the .243
When you shoot at them running and don't know where your going to hit, it still brings them down.
I have taken a couple out to 600 yds with this bullet.

DITTO!
If you want to shoot 55s, use a 22-250.

I am also of the oppinion that a more heavy bullet is far better in a .243 Win., especially when it comes to longer distances and wind is always to be taken into consideration. I had very good results with the 100 grs. Nosler Partition for heavier game, and for the critters I use with great success the 80 grs. Remington Power Lokt. The crows do really something like exploding and the foxes are down immediately with not destroying the fur. The bullets expands (or explodes) immediately after the impact and delivers a tremendous terminal performance.