Opinions on caliber for coyote?

tactical lever said:
I don't know what's happened to this site.

We need a mandatory picture Monday; where everyone has to prove the crap they've been talking about the week before!

These sites have really went to crap!
Click to expand...
Ask and ye shall receive. This pic is more than a few years old and the rifle is long gone. The target is a 55gal dum painted white. I put 4 out of 8 shots onto it.

The load was a 95gr Lapua Scenar, moly coated and ramped up to max velocity + by using Lapua brass. The ballistic calculator said it would be supersonic to 2000 yds.

Rifle is a custom built 243 on a Mauser action. Scope was a fixed 16x Tasco Super Sniper.

file
 
hunter-4-life said:
Anyone who says 243 is marginal for deer needs take their white oakleys off and put their 300 win mag away and learn to shoot. Ive seen more deer in my life fold up faster than a cheap lawn chair with a 243 then any other caliber. My brothers first whitetail was cranked with a 95gr Hornady Interlock and that buck was 275 yards away. He dropped so fast my brother thought he missed him but the rest of knew exactly what happened.

The 243 is probably the best coyote/deer rifle you can buy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You learn how to place your bullets where they need to be. Bigger calibers do not make up for poor shot placement. I'd take a 90gr Accubond from a 243 in the lungs of an elk over a 300gr Berger from 338 lapua in the guts.
Click to expand...
I agree fer the most part and can add that the .243 should have been made the NATO standard cartridge over the 7.62x51(308 Win) back in the day.
Not much recoil for most shooters so it's easier to learn on and outstanding performance on targets,critters or foes well out there distance wise.
A well sorted 6mm rifle be a wonderful thing in the right hands.

 
SHELL SHUCKER said:
I agree fer the most part and can add that the .243 should have been made the NATO standard cartridge over the 7.62x51(308 Win) back in the day.
Not much recoil for most shooters so it's easier to learn on and outstanding performance on targets,critters or foes well out there distance wise.
Click to expand...
243 has two downsides. It heats up the barrel fairly quickly and barrel life isn't spectacular.
 
tactical lever said:
Who zeros a .243 at 100?
Click to expand...

Zero to give you your best results for your intended application.

I believe a large percentage of shooters zero at 100 yards as that's all the distance they have available.

1" high was an acceptable way to zero fir many years and I'd bet $50 a lot of hunters still do that.

Oh Jeez, there I am talking in inches again.

LOL
 
tactical lever said:
I don't knohappened to this site. Recent threads I've dabbled in this past week; one fella thinks that elk are easy to kill with a .223 because someone on another site has done it. Another couple guys are going to load their rifles to 80 000 psi because they figure they have strong actions and they're going to "brass" that's partly made of steel. Now I find that .243 don't kill deer worth a hoot, but a .30 cal blows 'em up! Sounds like another one of those near miss by a .50 BMG fairy tales.

I think I'll invest heavily in some liquor; pull some 7.62x39 steel case bullets so I can load them up properly at 700 000 kpa, and dig up my site adjustment tool. Because those SKS irons have more adjustment in them for long range shooting than scopes; and go hunt some grizzly bears on the moon.

We need a mandatory picture Monday; where everyone has to prove the crap they've been talking about the week before!

These sites have really went to crap!
Click to expand...
It was and is filled with some of the most knowledgeable people in several genres of the shooting sports.
These fine people don't want to interact with these moronic rude jerks.
Unfortunately the loud mouths who mix up video games and real life are slowly taking over.

You'll see in almost every forum telling people how good they are, everyone else is wrong, they've killed more animals, scored more perfect rounds, how all you need is a 22 to kill anything because "natives" do it etc etc.
It's likely 0% true.
They post conflicting stories in different forums.
LOL, there's this one guy that says 800 yard shots on deer is easy in one forum then in another one the same guy posts about how 800 yards shots are improbable.
Comedy gold I tell ya.
 
tactical lever said:
That's not flip flopping. I didn't say I'd take a deer at close to 800 yards with a .243. Or anything for that matter.

I'm commenting on your grasp of ballistics. Your math is way off on the drop, and then you claim that a few MOA is somehow impossible to dial in for some reason. Under 8 MOA is nothing. For example, a Vortex Razor 3-9x40 has 90 MOA built into it. If everything is fairly straight and level, your zero should fall somewhere in the middlish, leaving you probably 40 MOA of elevation adjustment left. That converts to 320" at 800 yards.

You're kinda out of your element arguing with guys on what a rifle can or can't do, when there's definitely a disparity in knowledge. You have yet to state your arbitrary parameters but to say a .243 is too small, and a .300 Mag is too big. Completely ignoring that there's probably a dozen different .30 cal magnums, and a hundred different bullets to pick from! If you think the .243 is marginal at X range, just add 300 yards for a .300 WM and it'll be completely marginal too!:ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Keep writing your comedy, maybe try out for open mic night somewhere, you sure twist words around.
Classic narcissist.
 
FatCatsDad said:
Keep writing your comedy, maybe try out for open mic night somewhere, you sure twist words around.
Classic narcissist.
Click to expand...

I'm a narcissist because your trajectory is off by about 200 meters, and you don't think a scope can adjust 8 MOA?

Classic projection from a fella that's whining about the guys are being mean to you.

Why don't you read what I said again carefully and quote where I said I'd use a .243 for 800 yard shots?

To make it simple for everyone, so they don't have to guess what I'm saying: I think 800 yards is a LOOONG way to shoot anything with any cartridge. A rifle I bought for long range was considered for a theoretical maximum of mine for 700 yards. It's a 8mm RM. I also said, I'm done with ever taking a .243 for elk. An elk is about 3 times as big and has a reputation for being tough. That doesn't exclude the .243 for being fine for deer at normal ranges.

Hope that clears it up
 
Wow this thread is still going? Some morning entertainment..Hahaha

I’ll just add…I prefer these for Coyote Killing.

.22-250
.223
.243
 
Last edited:
FatCatsDad said:
Zero to give you your best results for your intended application.

I believe a large percentage of shooters zero at 100 yards as that's all the distance they have available.

1" high was an acceptable way to zero fir many years and I'd bet $50 a lot of hunters still do that.

Oh Jeez, there I am talking in inches again.

LOL
Click to expand...
You need to sit this one out.
 
What I have used to kill a coyote.

300 win mag,
308,
6.5 CM
243
223
22-250
17 hmr

Farthest shot on one, 450 yards (used the 6.5 CM)
Normally NEVER take a shot past 300. Usually under 200 Tbh...
If I had to make a dedicated Coyote gun, with 223 ammo about the same as 243 and 22-250... Id go 22-250... That's just my 10 cents though!
Right now im building a 16" 308... You can bet that it will be taken out to shoot coyotes lol
 
…and what I use on yotes & results…

17HM2 & 17HMR - run 75-200 yards
17 Remington 25g - run 100-300 yards
223 Rem 55g - run 0-100 yards
22/250 Rem 55g - run 10yds easy to track
243 Win 75gVMax - run 0 yards,crawl 5yds
25/06 Rem 87g Speer TNT - NEVER RUN
6.5 CM 123g AMax - still alive on recovery
270 Win 130g - God’s Lightning Rod
338 Lapua 250g - 12 spins left, no run…
12g slug 1 ounce - instant dirt nap, no run

Honourable mention…a buddy of mine shot 10 coyotes one season over a bait pile at 50-75 yards with a Theoben Rapid 7 air rifle in 25 cal shooting H&N barracuda pellets which I believe were 31g @ 1100 ft/sec. 7 of the coyotes were recovered within 80 yards in the adjacent corn field. Go figure.

Our group mostly ran 22/250 here in southern Ontario to minimize ricochets. Most (who can still walk) have switched to 243 Win in the past few years just because it hits with more authority in the 400-500 yard distance if an opportunity presents itself. It seems more forgiving in a stiff crosswind. Every inch and second counts in the real world because coyotes don’t offer the luxury of time to diddle with your ballistics app on you cell phone when they show up.
…my apologies to the young crowd for using inches and yards…for any confusion it may cause to those that have gone to the metric system… I’m old school….cheers
 
I've shoot a .22 250 more than any other rifle cartridge. 200 yard zero is pretty much dead on at 50 yards and 1" high at 100. 300 I'm 5" low.

With fence lines and property lines in these smaller 100-200 acre properties I can judge distance pretty good and I can still hold on fur out to 300 so it makes for some pretty good quick shots.

For factory ammo I don't not see a better varmint cartridge than the .22 250.
.243 is very close second but it's got too much recoil or muzzle jump to see shots in the scope. I usually have to look past the scope to see if I connected or not.

My .22 250 muzzle jumps a touch, but I'm able to usually see it fall or snow fly to know where I hit in that split millisecond.

.223 has zero muzzle jump, But the hold over with factory 50g at 300yard+ made me go .22 250 and not look.back.
 
Just took a little drive with a 223 along for the ride. 5 coyotes, 2 badgers and a gopher later I’m back. Longest shot was about 400 yards on a badger. Didn’t have to dial for it as the first mill dot is the dead on at that range. No runners, everything dropped in its tracks. Coyotes are extremely dumb this time of year.
The only Rifle I zero at 100yds is a 22 magnum.
 
I completely agree with the 6mm crowd. I shoot a browning Abolt varminter in factory chambering of 243 WSSM over hand rolled BLC2 and a nosler 70g ballistic tip stuffed in the top. When that load gets launched at 3840 fps animals die right now. I’m pushing pressure but the WSSM was designed to handle it. Ground hawgs out to 500 prone no problem. Coyotes easy. Little wind deflection and great bc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom