243 win for Coyotes

R

reb

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Super GunNutz
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Hi
Wandering if anyone out there had a good Coyote load for the 243 win ?
Would like to keep pelt damage to a minimum.
Thanks Reb
 
Shot a tiny pup 2 weeks ago broad side 110 yards with a Sierra 85gr hpbt gameking. Just small exit hole. Rifle was new to me and that was the first one I had shot so no other experience
 
Of the coyotes I have seen shot with a .243, the least pelt damage was done with 100 grain Nosler Partitions. Occasionally I have seen a 55 grain Ballistic tip not exit, but when it does (and most of the time it exits somewhere) it produces more damage than the heavier "deer" bullet. I would not use a .243 for coyotes if preserving pelts was an important goal.
 
Not personal experience, but the local raw fur buyer uses 100 grain deer bullets in his .243, says they require less stitching than most varmint bullets. And he skins hundreds of coyotes each year.
 
Some guys at the range the other day were talking about how effective the Nosler Varmageddon were for them. No pass through, small entry hole, shredded insides. Nothing they'd put down went far.
 
Bullet - Hornady 58gr Vmax
Powder - IMR 4064 @ 43.8-44.0 grains
Brass - Hornady @ 2.035"
Primer - CCI #200 LR
COAL - 2.620" (0.030" off lands)
Velocity - 3850 to 3950 FPS (depending on temperature)
Comments - Savage w/1:9.25" twist, Vortex HS-T 6-24x, average 0.66" groups @ 100m

* I've taken coyotes out to 505m with this load, so far... I plan to go as far as I can, out to 900m hopefully.
 
I'm running 55gn Varmageddon's at a max load. No pass through if I hit a "soft" spot on the dogs, small entry. Very fast and good in the country I shoot where 300 yards shots at coyotes are not uncommon.

If I hit bigger bone, things get messy in a hurry.

Klemmy31 said:
Some guys at the range the other day were talking about how effective the Nosler Varmageddon were for them. No pass through, small entry hole, shredded insides. Nothing they'd put down went far.
Click to expand...
 
The controlled expanding bullets may be the way to go. In the past I have loaded 65 grain VMax over BLC-2 and they have been deadly accurate and will for the most part stay inside a coyote. The problem is that when they do in fact exit, the exit wounds are spectacular - to say the least.
 
I have been using Hornady 87gr BTHP for a long time with very little if any damage. Most of other guys in group shoot 87 Vmax same results.
 
I've used 100gr Hornady SP's with mixed result. First one I shot had a .243 diameter entry and exit, no expansion at all. This being down the long axis of the yote, entering the chest and out just being the rib cage and hitting nothing "solid". I've also shot one broadside that had a nice little hole going in, and a hole nearly the size of my fist on the way out, must have hit something more solid that time (rib? I don't quite remember). Next up I'm going to try 75gr VMAX, but I'm not expecting spectacular performance when it comes to the pelt condition afterwards.
 
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