.243 vs .270

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onedown

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Greetings, I am generally a bow hunter, but wanting to purchase a rifle. I am flip flopping between the 2 calibres. The gun will be for primarily coyotes, but I will possibly use it for deer if I get an opportunity.
Looking for a gun that wont break the bank either.

What would you guys suggest?

Thx

Jay
 
For coyotes and deer, the 243 is plenty. Lighter recoil, great variety of bullets.

A Vanguard in 243 and some decent glass will set you back about 1100 bucks or so. The combo should out last you.
 
If the "dont break the bank" then for me that would be a Weatherby Vanguard, or perhaps a Husky from the EE or Tradex. If the rifle is to be used for coyotes with a side of deer then 243, if used for deer with a side of coyotes then 270. Lots of others will suggest other cals, not me. Beyond what you are asking.
 
Either or..... .243 is a great coyote round, and a decent deer round..... .270 is a great deer round and a bit heavy for yotes.....

Based on your criteria, I would chose .243
 
nowarningshot said:
If the "dont break the bank" then for me that would be a Weatherby Vanguard, or perhaps a Husky from the EE or Tradex. If the rifle is to be used for coyotes with a side of deer then 243, if used for deer with a side of coyotes then 270. Lots of others will suggest other cals, not me. Beyond what you are asking.
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Good timing, and yes, you ask black or white on here and eventually someone is going to come along and say "purple"
 
Are you in southern Ontario with a .270 restriction for small game? If you are im in the same boat...but I've got both :) I would suggest the .270, not because it really does a better job on deer or coyote vs the 243, but because it's still very light recoiling, if you hand load it can be even more versatile. And even though you aren't planning on it now, if a moose, sheep, mule deer, black bear ...etc hunt comes up in the future you're still set without NEEDING to buy a new gun. Wanting to is a whole other story
 
If your location is correct (Lanark) you are out my end of things and there is no caliber restriction except during the rifle hunt for deer.

The 243 is excellent for both Coyote and Deer.

You can load up with Varmint rounds (off the shelf from Hornady/Winchester etc) for yotes and then go with Deer rounds for Bambi - even if you want to go with a mono bullet I found the Hornady GMX (243/80 grains) shoot very well and are stout enough for shoulder shots on Eastern Ontario Whitetails, at typical Eastern Ontario deer ranges (only tried them to settle an argument with my Hornady rep). I personally shoot a 87 grain SST for Bambi with my 243 and it works well - again, lots of deer loads out there in factory rounds.

The 270 is quite restrictive in what is available in "off the shelf" ammo as far as bullet weight goes - none of the majors make a varmint round for it. Even if you load yourself your selection in 6mm/243 is many dozens of times larger than for the 270.

And as far as "what" - breaking the bank means different things to different folks.

For under 500 bucks you can get a scoped Savage Axis, a scoped Rem 783, or a scoped Mossberg Patriot. The glass is good enough to get you started but if you are shooting yotes at a distance you WILL want better glass before too long.

My dog rig is an Axis (223 Rem) that I paid about 250 bucks for (bare rifle - after rebates). The 2-10X42 Burris Veracity glass I have on it lists at a little over 700 bucks - so the scope was three times the cost of the rifle. But the Axis is uber-accurate and the scope lets me really reach out with it. I could have put a 150 buck Nikon or Bushnell scope on it and got a very "usable" rifle - put a 250-300 dollar scope on it and you have a "decent shooter", but most guys/gals can't see spending as much on glass as they do on a rifle - my 3X the rifle cost in glass is pretty much unheard of.

In the 500-800 range you will get into both scoped and unscoped Savage model 10's or 11's. Also unscoped Weatherby Vanguards and Ruger Americans with decent Redfield scopes mounted. Browning AB3's and Winchester XPR's would also fall in that price range "without glass".

If you suggest "how big your bank is" someone can give you better suggestions.
 
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Primary use coyote with a possibility of deer = 243 Win hands down, I have used them for more than 40 years and you won't find a better dog cartridge. I highly recommend 80 gn bullets as they produce excellent accuracy in every 243 I have loaded for (about a dozen) and it also gives the highest velocity per grn weight in the 243. The 80 grnrs are also usually a hunting bullet as opposed to a varmint bullet and are suitable for deer. My son took a huge bull moose a couple years ago with his 243 and 80 grn bullets, but then he did shoot it in the bean from behind........I have also had good success with 85 and 90 grnrs but any more and your pressures come up and velocity drops significantly, and believe me I have tried every suitable powder and some that ain't. If there is one cartridge I have done exhaustive load development for and worked the most with in my whole shooting life it is the 243 Win..........after my first rifle (at 14) my 303 Brit, the 243 was my next purchase and I have never been with out at least one in the 45 years since, I think I have 6 right now...........
 
I'm of the opinion that there's very little that won't die easily from a shot with a 270 win with either a 130 or 150 gr bullet. The 270 would be a single do all tool if you only wanted to buy one gun. For yotes, just use a heavy jacketed 150 meant for elk. small hole in, and small hole out...

Lots of variety of bullets is great, until you have to resight your gun every time you change bullet types...
 
Resighting is not difficult. I have two loads for my 300Wby. A 168gr for hunting and a 210gr for long distance. I have made tables for each and know how many MOA to adjust my scope when switching bullets. Takes a bit of shooting time to set up. But, shooting is fun. Or at least should be.
 
6mm Remington.....

Someone had to suggest a different chambering right?

In all seriousness, I would pick the 243 over the 270 for yodel dogs with a side of bush goats.
 
Yes, I am in Lanark county. Just looked at my regs, no restrictions unlike southern ontario.

I was hoping to stay within $600. I was actually already checking out both the Savage Axis and Remington 783, both top runners for me so far. Both scoped at Crappy Tire for around the $500 mark.
 
onedown said:
Yes, I am in Lanark county. Just looked at my regs, no restrictions unlike southern ontario.

I was hoping to stay within $600. I was actually already checking out both the Savage Axis and Remington 783, both top runners for me so far. Both scoped at Crappy Tire for around the $500 mark.
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The axis will get you out and hunting, but for a bit more I would suggest the Ruger American with Redfield combo..... Either way, happy hunting
 
.257 Roberts, .25/06, .260 Rem, 6.5X55... as a single rifle for coyotes & deer, I would recommend these over either the .243 or .270.

JMO...
 
243 is a great calibre for varmints and with heavier bullets a good deer cartridge if shot properly. I have a 270 which is excellent for varmints if you use lighter bullets. In either case a handloader can get the most out of both calibres very effectively. I think the best 'yote calibre that has yet to be mentioned is the 22-250.
For a decent rifle "rig" I'm partial to the Vanguard S2 series (much nicer trigger than the original Vanguard series). Howa makes an excellent barrelled action for Weatherby and accuracy is outstanding. You can use a Vortex, Redfield Rifleman, Bushnell 3500/4500/Legend Ultra HD, or Scorpion scope if trying to be frugal. One thing about optics. You can get away with a "cheaper gun" but I think one should spend money on decent optics. I think you will be happier. Go to and look through various scopes and see what you prefer. Just personal experience.
A fellow Lanark hunter....that's great. Doe in the avatar was taken in this year in Lanark
 
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