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Old September 16, 2016, 08:55 PM   #1
jrothWA
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Effective range for .243Win for coyote hunting?

Friend has farmland that to a rise, where he can set roadkilll for baiting coyotes?

I think 300 yds is max for the 243, for one shot.

Thanks.
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Old September 17, 2016, 08:31 AM   #2
Art Eatman
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Aw, farther than that, if you have the skill, know the range and trajectory and can dope the wind. Wind is the big problem, after 300 yards.

Hitting is the problem, not energy. Charles Whitman had a one-shot kill at 420 yards with a 6mm Remington, on a 220-pound man.
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Old September 17, 2016, 09:59 AM   #3
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The skill of the shooter is the limiting factor. I'd say a 243 is capable to at least 1000 yards if the shooter is. There are shooters that have taken elk at 700 yards with a 243.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY0w1c-gf18
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Old September 17, 2016, 10:02 AM   #4
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being a 243 shooter myself I would not have a problem shooting coyotes out to 300 yds, all day long.
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Old September 17, 2016, 11:17 AM   #5
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I once made witnessed back to back head shots on two woodchucks at a lasered 440 yards with my Savage .243. It's the Indian, not the bow that makes the difference here. Coyotes aren't that hard to kill.
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Old September 17, 2016, 02:55 PM   #6
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I watched a gurl kill a cow elk with a 243 Win. Lasered 647 yds IIRC.

She used a Berger VLD Hunting 105 gr bullet.

Went down with one shot.

I don't believe I would have tried it, but who am I to say???
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Old September 17, 2016, 09:57 PM   #7
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"I watched a gurl kill a cow elk with a 243 Win. Lasered 647 yds IIRC."

I'll come right out and say that shot(regardless of whether it worked or not)was darned poor judgement.
I've made one shot kills on coyotes at a measured 410 yards and a couple of pronghorns right at 400 yards using a 243 Win. There's nothing magic about a 243 but it is quite effective on coyotes at 300 yards.
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Old September 17, 2016, 10:35 PM   #8
Sure Shot Mc Gee
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Before my buying of a Model 7 in 223. My preferred varmint rifle was a Model 77 flat bolt Ruger in 243.
75 gr Hornady HPs or 80 gr spitzer is all I ever shot thru my 243.

243 is very flat shooting so there is little elevating on purpose required from muzzle to 150 yards. One suggestion: The better the scope mounted. The easier it is to be a successful shooter.
As far as my making distant shots. 243 is quite capable of 300 plus.. But I hold my shooting to 200 max. I don't like long walks to retrieve those seriously wounded or dispatched laying animals.
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Old September 18, 2016, 11:51 AM   #9
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The limiting factor of effective range of the 243 is the shooter.

I load 87 gr bergers at 3000 fps. It stays super sonic to 1450. That would be this guns limit.

The shooter would be limited by his ability to judge wind and other environmental concerns.
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Old September 19, 2016, 01:31 PM   #10
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300 yards is max for the .243 for deer sized game. Not so much for Wiley. You probably want heavy bullets for longer ranges. And it's essential you know the ballistics at long range.
For example, a factory 90(MV 3,100 fps. ME 1,920 ft-lbs.) sighted in .5" high, at 100, will drop 45.5" at 500 with about 711 ft-lbs. of energy left. Not enough energy(that's what's important. Not the velocity.) for Bambi, but sufficient for Wiley. 95's and up are better energy wise.
All that assuming you can hit the proverbial 9" pie plate at 500 plus.
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Old September 19, 2016, 06:37 PM   #11
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a coyote would probably die from a hit with a .243 clear out to 500 or more.

The only problem is whether a person can be so skillful that you could dope the wind, get the trajectory right, have the fool thing sit still long enough for the bullet to get there.

That's a powerful cartridge and coyotes are not invulnerable. The question is going to be can you get a round into that scrawny little thing that will kill it cleanly and not leave it limping off with a broken leg.
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Old September 19, 2016, 07:15 PM   #12
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Shot a Coyote at 780 yards with one of my .243s a little over 2 weeks ago. A 45 pound male, he rolled up dead in a ball right where he was shot.
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Old September 19, 2016, 09:01 PM   #13
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that's amazing making a game shot at that distance.
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Old September 19, 2016, 10:23 PM   #14
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MarkCO - Please tell us about the rifle, the scope and the load. My son-in-law's father has rifles that could probably make that shot, but my rifles (and I)would need at least 50+% pure luck. Edit: Oops, I didn't mean to imply I could make that shot nearly 50% of the time (or even 5%).
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Old September 19, 2016, 10:51 PM   #15
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Probably had to be almost 1/2 moa capable to get a round into a coyote's gizzard.
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Old September 20, 2016, 07:13 AM   #16
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1000 Yard coyote with .243 Win. However, the guy who is taking the shot is one of the founding members of Best of the West. He's also the one who took the girl hunting elk that made the 600+ Yard shot.
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Old September 20, 2016, 07:32 PM   #17
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First, NO way I would shoot an elk past 300 with a .243.

The Rifle was the Ruger American Predator with a Burris XTRII 2-10 in Warne Rings. Load was factory Hornady Superformance 75g VMax. Ranged with a SIG Kilo2000 at 780, dialed in 4.4 mils for elevation and 2.4 mils of drift.

I had shot it to 645 yards on paper the day before and was getting about 4" groups in some variable winds and trued my ballistics data. Vertical was just under 3" and horizontal was just over 4" at 645.

Same rig, at 1045, I could not consistently hold a 3 shot group on a 12" plate. On the 18" plate I could. Even though it was still supersonic, I think it had destabilized somewhere past 800 yards.
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Old September 20, 2016, 08:55 PM   #18
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That's very good performance for a firearm, and you obviously have your ballistics correction skills up to excellence.

The idea that the thing couldn't stop a coyote reliably is kind of a moot point, IMO, the round is able to strike with adequate remaining velocity way out there, and unless you're using the wrong ammo, even slowed down to a crawl it's going to be able to kill. 300 yards you could even kill a deer with the 100 grain bullet.
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Old September 20, 2016, 09:19 PM   #19
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This wears me out. A 243 is the real deal. It keeps enough energy to kill cleanly way out there. That elk video shows that. If you have the ability, the 243 will kill it as far as you can hit it. Be it 30 yards or 900 yards. God Bless
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Old September 20, 2016, 10:32 PM   #20
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My first center-fire rifle was a Rem. 788 .243. It was very accurate. Current asking prices for a 788 .243 go above $600. I sold it to a friend, bought a Ruger 77 .243, glass bedded the action, recoil lug and chamber, and free-floated the rest of the barrel. It was (is) a wonderful, very accurate rifle. I've taken a coyote, pronghorn and small mule deer buck at 400+ yards. I subsequently got two Rem. 700 BDL LH rifles in .270 Win.; and mistakenly sold one but glass bedded the more accurate one in a Brown Precision stock. It was/is a terrific hunting rifle and, if I get another chance to hunt elk, I'll will carry my .270.
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Old September 20, 2016, 11:08 PM   #21
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Quote:
300 yards is max for the .243 for deer sized game.
Free standing maybe. With a good rifle, a proper bullet, a decent rest, and someone who knows the ballistics.......that is medium range at best.

Yodel dogs? 300 yards for a half competent shooter. I've done them out past 220 with a 22 Hornet.
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Old September 21, 2016, 06:51 AM   #22
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This wears me out. A 243 is the real deal. It keeps enough energy to kill cleanly way out there. That elk video shows that. If you have the ability, the 243 will kill it as far as you can hit it. Be it 30 yards or 900 yards.
I am curious how many elk you have shot, and at what distances.

I have shot over 35 elk, one a 900 pound bull. They are big, and tough, much more so than Pronghorn and deer. I have shot deer out to 1000 and Pronghorn out to 800, and I still would not shoot an elk past 300 with a .243. Not because I can not hit it, but because the chances of a wounded animal are much higher and experience tells me the risk is not worth it. I have tracked elk, center chest shot, with 7mm Mags and .270s (people I was hunting with), up to 5 miles in brutal conditions. Never had to track one more than finding the bush it was behind when I hit it with my .338-06.

Most game bullets have a threshold, somewhere above transonic, usually in the 1600 to 1800 fps range where they will no longer expand, and become essentially FMJs. Some small diameter magnums have the same issue if going too fast at very close ranges. Lighter bullets, and especially varmint bullets typically have a lower velocity at which they reliably expand. That matters!
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Old September 21, 2016, 09:49 AM   #23
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I have to agree with MarkCO, but I'll go a step further and I wouldn't personally use any .243/6mm caliber on Elk at any range. It isn't because I don't believe it won't work, just that I believe there are many better choices than a .243/6mm diameter bullets for elk hunting. I believe if you want an elk rifle you should start looking at 6.5mm caliber bullets and up.

One thing many who watch the video of the elk being killed with the .243 Win, fail to realize, is that rifle is a custom built rifle with a non standard twist rate. There isn't a factory rifle made that will reliably stabilize the 105 VLD bullets except the Ruger Precision Rifle with its 1:7.7 twist rate. Unless your .243 Win has at least a 1:9.25 twist like Savage or Remington you can't even take advantage of many bullets over 100 grains in the .243 Win. Most factory .243 Win rifles haven't caught up to the bullet technology available in 6mm calibers.
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Old September 21, 2016, 10:23 AM   #24
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at 500 with about 711 ft-lbs. of energy left. Not enough energy(that's what's important. Not the velocity.)
Don't get hung up on energy. Bullet type is more important.

For example, if you have 700 ft lbs of energy with a full metal jacket, in the heart-lung area, you're not going to do much damage.

Where as if the same weight bullet, with 700 fl lbs energy, that disintegrates, comes apart is several small pieces its going to be devastating.

That is how the Berger and similar bullets are designed to work.

I contacted Berger about the min. velocity their bullets need to work as designed. I was informed, the remaining velocity needs to be 1800 fps.

Using my example (from the earlier post) I shoot 87 gr Bergers with a MV of 3000 fps. Using those numbers I have a remaining velocity of a hair over 1800 fps at 800 yards.

Now I haven't shot a deer at that distance, but my longest antelope shot was 637 yards, another at 580. In both cases the Berger bullet totally destroyed the vital area (heart-lung) area. The damage I detected at this range convinces me that Berger is right, at 1800 yards the same bullet hitting the vital are would definitely work on deer size animals.

Don't get hung up on Kinetic Energy. Many years ago, I attended the Northwestern Traffic Institute, "Accident Reconstruction" course. In the class we used math to shot that the KE of a bumble bee, if travelling fast enough, could exceed that of a train, and stop train. Math said it would, reality is a different matter, we know the bee would disintegrate, even if you could get it going fast enough, and would have no effect on the train.

On the other hand, during WWI, when tanks first hit the battle field, GIs discovered that if you inverted the 30 Cal '06 bullet you could penetrate the armor and stop the tank. ("Weeks" Man Against Tanks, 1975). These bullets didn't do this with KE, what would happen, the lead core was so hot it burned through the armor, setting ammo and fuel on fire.

Take an arrow, it doesn't have much in the energy department, but the head enters the body, cutting blood vanes, nerves, etc.

So really, it isn't energy, its how the bullet reacts inside the target.
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Old September 21, 2016, 11:16 PM   #25
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The O.P. was about taking out Yotes.

Even a FMJ at 800 yards when hit solid would do the job. We are not talking about Mulies or Elk...Blackies or Brownies. The question remains: Is 300 yards max for Yodel dogs over bait? Me, Myself, and I with a rifle that I know.....that is Medium range.
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