The 243 Win might be the best Coyote/Deer One Rifle Compromise Ever.

I agree that the 243 is a very good cartridge but if you want 270 killing power with near 243 recoil consider the 260 rem.
Drags
 
243 is a great round, I wouldn't say best all around. It will definitely kill elk though, no problem...especially inside of 400 yards (which I would bet that >95% of animals taken are within that range). Just put them in the boiler room and trust me they'll go down. While dead is dead, other cartridges are a little better at making that happen faster in a more predictable way on tough critters. Don't get me wrong, the ol' 243 will put the hammer on them, but if you want a little more leeway then you'd be better served by say 6.5 Creed, 260 rem, 7mm-08. All are very low recoil, very handy, have multiple bullet designs which are well constructed with high BCs, and resultant high sectional density=consistent killing capability. You can shoot them well and the bullets perform. Pretty easy to go from 0-1000 with any of those. If you're going to step it up a notch, then I still prefer something with a .264/6.5mm or 7mm/.284 bullet. 7mm Rem Mag will do anything you could ever want it to do. As we age though sometimes recoil becomes bothersome (not that the 7mm RM has much) and would still be served extremely well by the 6.5 Creed, 260 rem, 7mm-08.
 
Although not in this picture, my little guy got his first doe (Deer) this year with his .243 Rem ADL I got him. You can feed that thing anything and it shoots it well.
81ACE41A-57D0-40B0-A592-E3F9ECB6510D.jpeg
 
My apologies. Didn't see where in the title it said best coyote/deer rifle. Yeah. I think in common calibers 243 nails it!
 
Please add "/6mm Remington" to ".243 Win." in the title of this thread.
There; fixed it for you. ;)
HA ha you beat me to it!
I'm loving my 7 twist 6mm rem, shooting 115 bergers at 3150 sub 1/2 MOA.
My buddy shot a cow elk at 400 yards a few years ago with his 243, they kill just fine but shot placement has to be absolutely perfect on big game.
 
6MM REM . 87 Grain Hornady HP's 4350 powder . Deer , pigs , coyotes .and squirrels . Nothing but respect for this awesome cartridge. Nothing wrong with the .243 Win. both are great .
 
morning, I have 2 custom rifles. 243AI and 6mmAI. 95gr. berger,
Winchester brass, 210m primer 4831SC. very small groups with these cartridges.
I have owned 6 243's. I had very good shooting sessions with the 244cal.
at 500yrds. the 244cal.will with the right bullet kill 85% of all north American game.
yes this cartridge is considered over bore. perfect varmint and deer
caliber. justme gbot tum
 
I've hunted with a 6mm Remington (the 243 bigger brother) for a long time shall we say. I am comfortable to shoot anything up to elk with it. Great round, excellent ballistics and solid round when used correctly. I am building an AR10 in 243 as we speak
 
243?

Oh yeah! That is what I began my coyote hunting with in earnest. But I already had an 06 for elk and am not a deer hunter per say so I was just predator hunting with the 6mm bore size from the get go.

I had a Rem 760 in 6mm Rem until theives wanted it more, miss that one. The insurance bought a Remington 788 in 22-250 used and I made that into my "tractor gun".

My mainstay 243 is a still pristine Ruger 77V Liberty model. A real shooter with a gunsmith sweetened factory trigger that breaks at 32 oz. I bought that Ruger brand new when I was 20 years old.

I have other 243 rifles added in the interviening years such as the Savage 99 lever, also a shooter and barrels I can swap in on my Savage bolt guns in the cartridge as well.

My choice for a universal coyote/deer rifle would likely lean to the 1/4 bores with the 257 Roberts heading the list, one of my Savages is wearing one of those right now but I have enough rifles and barrels to shoot just about whatever I want.

I would just as soon split my thoughts into more than one cartridge. For coyotes I probably favor the 22-250 over the 243 because I find a sporter in that 22 cal recoils about like my Varmint barreled 243 Liberty Ruger does and I get longer arms carrying the heavier rifle around.

At first when I got my first 22-250 I was suffering a lot of run off. I was cheap and loading the Remington 55 gr HP and it was not opening enough. I found the Nosler 55 Ballistic tip to solve that problem decisively.

I never had that problem with the 243 ..... no, I I can say with deadly assurance that I have NEVER met a coyote that could argue with a 243!

Best regards

Three44s
 
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