An 85g .243 slug is HALF the weight of a 170 30-30 bullet.
And YET which gun is a better 400 yard deer/antelope rifle cartridge?
Hint- it's damn sure not the 30-30.
Actual Terminal ballistics of a rifle round do NOT stop at some arbitrary bullet weight You "think" is too small. Lot's of other factors such as bullet shape and construction muzzle velocity come into play.
If your bullet weight theory were actually true, the dead 'yote lung shot with a 20g 17HMR game point at 120 yards(Shown half way down the Rimfire central thread below) would still be alive. And the 30-30 would be a more popular long range deer and antelope gun that the "puny" .243.
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370398&page=2 Now you're just argueing for the sake of argueing. Let's compare apples to apples here........ your comparison pretty well sucks a$$. Which is the better 400 yard deer gun a 85gr .243 or a 150gr .308? Same case but a smaller, lighter bullet. Sure as hell isn't the .243.
- 150gr .308 Winchester @ 300 yards: 9" drop, 1500lbs of energy, 8" drift.
- 85gr .243 @ 300 yards: 7" of drop, 1000lbs energy, 9" wind drift.
Even with slightly more drop the .308 is packing 50% more punch at 300 and at YOUR 400 yards it packs almost 100% more. It's a personal desision weather or not either is a 400 yard deer gun but the .243 is clearly the weaker of the 2.
Then you have to throw in bullet construction. What happens to your 400 yard deer slaying .243 when you insert a varmint bullet instead of a game bullet?
Now let's look what happens when you move up to elk? At any range the .243 is clearly inferior.
As for weather or not the .17mhr will kill a coyote....... yes, it will kill a coyote. It will also kill deer but that doesn't make it a deer round or better than a .22M or a centerfire. A .22LR will kill a coyote too but it doesn't make it a coyote round or better than a .22M either.
When you take THE SAME CASE, LIGHTEN THE CONSTRUCTION of the bullet TO THE POINT OF MAKING IT EXPLOSIVE ON A 3LBS RODENT, reduce its diameter and weight you DO NOT end up with a cartridge capable of taking larger game than it's brother with a heavier constructed, larger diameter and heavier weight bullet.
CB
