I’ve ordered one of the few remaining Tikka T3 Lites in 243 Winchester to be a dedicated coyote rifle ONLY. Have a nice collection of rifles for the other tasks all the way from Deer & hogs to DG. Twist of the Tikka is 1:10.

Have ordered 3 bullets and will consider others. In my order of preference:

1. Sierra 70 gr Blitzking
2. Sierra 80 gr Blitzking
3. Nosler 80 gr BT Varmint

Before I begin loading, I would greatly appreciate any comments on your coyote choices for a 1:10, both bullets and powders.

Many thanks.

Cheers

Do you plan on trying to keep the skins? That's one of the criteria for bullet choice.

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2. Sierra 80 gr Blitzking

I use these in my 243 not very fur friendly but kills them well

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Originally posted by Fjold:
Do you plan on trying to keep the skins? That's one of the criteria for bullet choice.

No. Should have mentioned that,....memory's not what it used to be.

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Originally posted by p dog shooter:

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2. Sierra 80 gr Blitzking

I use these in my 243 not very fur friendly but kills them well

When I called and spoke to the Sierra Rep, he suggested this 80 gr as well. Thanks for another vote on this bullet. The only reason I ordered the 70 gr is because I'm hoping it will shoot well out of my 1:10 - and work well on coyotes with no worries??? Fur not important to me.

Two of my favorite coyote loads:

In the wind or medium long range- 75 grain HP Hornady and 41 grains of IMR4064

Pure fun at 300 yards or less - 58 grain Hornady V-Max with 44 grains of IMR4064. This is definitely NOT fur friendly.

That your new Tikka has a 1-10" twist is pretty irrelevant to bullet selection. Almost any bullet under 100 grains will stabilize, and the 1-10" twist isn't nearly tight enough to "overstabilize" a very light bullet. That doesn't mean than some bullets won't do better than others, just that the rate of twist will have nothing to do with how a particular bullet between 55 and 100 grains performs.

Why did you not mention the 70 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip? I have used this bullet almost exclusively in one of my .243's (which is dedicated to long range shooting -- and has a 1-10" twist, incidentally). It performs admirably, both in terms of accuracy and terminal performance (rapidly expansive, yet penetrates surprisingly well on larger animals due to its solid base).

The 70 grainer's ballistic coefficient is surprisingly close to that of the 80 grain in the same bullet, so its long range characteristics are better due to higher velocity than the 80.

But there are no fleas on the Sierra Blitzkings. I came across a bargain on 200 of the Blitzking 70's and found that using the same load they produced the same velocity, shot to the same point of impact, and yielded the same accuracy as the Noslers. Lacking the solid base, the Sierras might not penetrate as deeply, but they're guaranteed to make it through both sides of any coyote.

Recently, though, I've begun using the relatively new Nosler Varmageddon 70's, which also behave virtually the same as the BTips and the Blitzkings, requiring no adjustment in load.

Bottom line: I see no advantage in the 80's over the 70's. But the real bottom line is that you should use whichever bullet your rifle shoots best with. Any of them will do fine for coyotes. Even the 55's, available in several different styles from both Sierra and Nosler, will take coyotes out nearly instantaneously.

The 10" twist 243Win will stabilize bullets from 58 grains through 100 grains. I tried to shoot 55 grain Noslers and they just wouldn't stabilize in 243Win. I shoot 70 grain Nosler BT in my 6mmRem and although I call it my coyote rifle the only thing I have shot with it is two whitetail does at about 100 yds. and it dropped them in their tracks.

Taken with an 87 grain Hornady V-Max over Varget.

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Originally posted by Fjold:
Two of my favorite coyote loads:

In the wind or medium long range- 75 grain HP Hornady and 41 grains of IMR4064

Pure fun at 300 yards or less - 58 grain Hornady V-Max with 44 grains of IMR4064. This is definitely NOT fur friendly.

I shoot that bullet in my .243 as well; love it.

Thank you all for the replies. Have decided to go with Win 760 & the 70 gr Sierra to start. Good reports on both.

Stonecreek: re the 70 gr Nos BT, please see my opening comment: "Have ordered 3 bullets and will consider others." I thought it would be better to consult here before buying too many boxes of bullets I couldn't (or shouldn't) use. I will definitely try the 70 gr BT. Thanks.

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Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

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Originally posted by Fjold:
Two of my favorite coyote loads:

In the wind or medium long range- 75 grain HP Hornady and 41 grains of IMR4064

Pure fun at 300 yards or less - 58 grain Hornady V-Max with 44 grains of IMR4064. This is definitely NOT fur friendly.

I shoot that bullet in my .243 as well; love it.

AZ,......"that bullet." Which one? the 75 or 58?

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Originally posted by TASK1:
Stonecreek: re the 70 gr Nos BT, please see my opening comment: "Have ordered 3 bullets and will consider others." I thought it would be better to consult here before buying too many boxes of bullets I couldn't (or shouldn't) use. I will definitely try the 70 gr BT. Thanks.

No need for more bullets: As I said, the 70 Blitzking will most likely duplicate the 70 BTip performance. But if you want to try a 70 grain Nosler I'd suggest the less expensive Varmageddon. It shoots right along with the BTip for me.

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Originally posted by Luckyducker:
The 10" twist 243Win will stabilize bullets from 58 grains through 100 grains. I tried to shoot 55 grain Noslers and they just wouldn't stabilize in 243Win. I shoot 70 grain Nosler BT in my 6mmRem and although I call it my coyote rifle the only thing I have shot with it is two whitetail does at about 100 yds. and it dropped them in their tracks.

The 55 grain Nosler BT may not shoot accurately in your rifle, but it is not because it is inadequately "stabilized".

Regarding the BTip on deer: I once guided a friend's wife doe hunting. She was using a .243 that he had loaded with 70 grain Ballistic Tips. She shot a doe at about 40 yards from the blind we were in. It whirled and trotted about 50 steps across a small wheat field to join some other deer, where it stopped and stood among them. It stood there for 58 seconds before finally simply falling to the ground (this time interval was later measured on the video I was taking of her shot).

When I gutted the deer I found that the shot was squarely in the chest cavity, with a small exit on the offside where the solid base and whatever was left of the BTip penetrated. All of the chest organs, including the heart and lungs, were hardly recognizable as they had been turned to jelly; totally destroyed. How that doe kept on its feet for a full minute after being shot is beyond my understanding.

But the bottom line is that the 70 grain BTip provides both rapid expansion and significant penetration. It would have been hard to do more damage to an animal's vitals.

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Originally posted by TASK1:

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Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

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Originally posted by Fjold:
Two of my favorite coyote loads:

In the wind or medium long range- 75 grain HP Hornady and 41 grains of IMR4064

Pure fun at 300 yards or less - 58 grain Hornady V-Max with 44 grains of IMR4064. This is definitely NOT fur friendly.

I shoot that bullet in my .243 as well; love it.

AZ,......"that bullet." Which one? the 75 or 58?

Sorry, the 58 grain. My .243 is a full stock M77; even though I shoot at long range in AZ, the coyotes are almost always under 100 yards. In fact, you would be surprised how often a shotgun makes more sense.

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Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

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Originally posted by TASK1:

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Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

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Originally posted by Fjold:
Two of my favorite coyote loads:

In the wind or medium long range- 75 grain HP Hornady and 41 grains of IMR4064

Pure fun at 300 yards or less - 58 grain Hornady V-Max with 44 grains of IMR4064. This is definitely NOT fur friendly.

I shoot that bullet in my .243 as well; love it.

AZ,......"that bullet." Which one? the 75 or 58?

Sorry, the 58 grain. My .243 is a full stock M77; even though I shoot at long range in AZ, the coyotes are almost always under 100 yards. In fact, you would be surprised how often a shotgun makes more sense.

Or a 22 mag , having lived and hunted in AZ for a long time I couldn't agree more. Also, it was fairly easy to set up shot.

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Sorry, the 58 grain. My .243 is a full stock M77; even though I shoot at long range in AZ, the coyotes are almost always under 100 yards. In fact, you would be surprised how often a shotgun makes more sense.

I also hunt coyotes in AZ and it is always at close range, under 100 yards and many times under 50. With anything high velocity the results are quick and messy. When I carried a 243 I used the 70 grain Blitzkings.

I am also a 70 grain fan. In reality your shots will be 400 and in and the velocity of the 70 provides a big advantage over the BC of the 80. 760/H414 is a great choice for powder and I use the WLR primer, though I do have a load with Fed 215M primers if I know I will be hunting in below zero temps. Enjoy your dead coyote machine!

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Originally posted by Quintus:
I am also a 70 grain fan. In reality your shots will be 400 and in and the velocity of the 70 provides a big advantage over the BC of the 80. 760/H414 is a great choice for powder and I use the WLR primer, though I do have a load with Fed 215M primers if I know I will be hunting in below zero temps. Enjoy your dead coyote machine!

Thanks again all for the replies.

Quintus: the 70 gr loads with Win 760 are on the bench ready for the range and the rifle is now clean - waiting for cooler temps - we're over 100 degrees here every day. Hope the 70's shoot well as I want a somewhat lighter coyote bullet for this rifle - not really 80's and up. If I want a heavier bullet, that's what my 25-06 is for. :-) And, had I wanted even lighter bullets, I would have chosen a 22-250, which I almost did! All to say, I chose the 243 for the 65 to 75 gr pills and the 1:10, which, from all I've read, should be fine in the accuracy dept. We'll see.

Thanks again.

Cheers.