Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best coyote/fox bullet in .243 Win ???

What would you consider to be the best all around bullet for coyote/fox in the .243? Fur friendly if possible?

I'd like to hear about that as well, thanks.

For fox and fur, you're only going to get there with really reduced loads or a very tough bullet that doesn't expand much at all. You'd probably have your best result with a TSX and NO BONES HIT.

For coyote, especially heavy late-winter ones, you can often get away with the 55 BTip driven fast. It either stays inside completely, or blows into a couple small fragment exit wounds, or occasionally blows half the side of the yote off. A TSX with no bones can also work, but they will run until bleeding out. Any heavy deer bullet, such as a Partition, does about the same thing.

For putting them down at any range, any angle, any wind, you cannot beat the Hornady 87 VMax, though it makes a good-sized exit hole.

I got good accuracy with a 100gr Sierra blem over 16gr. Of Trail Boss, but it shoots several inches low at 100, so I'd have to re-sight. Not much expansion on the one I pulled from the berm, so might have to shoot for bone. I don't need long-range capability where I hunt so this might do it.

I've had pretty good luck on coyotes with the 85TSX, exception being wound channels which cause the bullet to exit the "paunch", then it's ugly, but so is pretty much everything else in that circumstance. I've never shot a fox with a 243/85TSX.

I wouldn't consider anything in the .243 to be "fur friendly" on fox.

having shot nearly 250 coyotes (az); anything reliable on coyote ,is hard on fox.

sierra 60 grain hollow points loaded hot will work well. They enter and usually leave no exit hole. There are always exceptions for this, but my dad hunted fur for a living in the winters in the 80's and this was all he used. Didn't have much sewing. Not sure on fox, they are pretty small, and you may still get an exit. these bullets were very accurate as well.

Not a big 6mm fan myself but most of the Match Grade bullets from Berger would be a good starting point. 66 and 80gr and hell on coyotes from what I have read. I use a 35gr Berger in my .204.

Mark

Unless you use an extremely downloaded and FMJ or something the words fur friendly, fox, and 243 don't go together. They are very fragile and thin skinned, I have seen them get their belly blown open from pressure on frontal hits with deer rifles and big game bullets. Have a buddy who went on an expensive quest for the perfect fur friendly rifle for fox on kodiak island. He tried CF cartridges from normal hunting rifles loaded down to the 22cfs with fmjs, sp, Btips, varmint grenades and other. Cartridges were 222mag, 223, 221fb, and the hornet. He had some success with the hornet as well as the 17s but anything bigger would wreck them. In the end he went to carrying a 10/22 loaded with Stingers on his boat.

As for coyotes I shot quite a few with the 95 btip and always had good luck with one shot kills. Occasionally it would put a big hole in one if you hit a shoulder but normally the exits were quarter sized.

MTAC_F15
.243 Cal. /6mm - 90 gr - 50 ct MTAC-Single Feed, Match/Tactical
$37.44

This would leave a fur better that all the other options I can think of . great bullets by a good company ran by great guys.

They have others that will fit mag length that you could consider. But this gets you on a good path not sure if any one else makes a solid .243

m mark -
I can't speak for fox pelts but I can tell you that the Speer 243 75 gr H P is EXCELLENT on coyotes. It has a large hollow point for its size and a thin jacket.

A buddy of mine and myself have shot several coyotes and all you get is a 6mm entry hole and NO exit. At speed of 3000+ the bullet disintegrates once inside.

IMO, which might be wrong, it might work on fox as well. One box and 1-2 fox will tell you what you want to know.

Good Luck

ps - I have a stock and haven't bought any in a while, I suppose they are still available.

My FIL was using 100gr Hornady deer loads and wanted to try something faster. He bought a box of 55gr BTs and I loaded them over Varget for him. He shot one yote with the 55gr and blew him in half. So much for that idea.

Like the others above, I'm thinking some sort of FMJ loaded under max might be the best yote bbullet in 243. Maybe a hard cast bullet with pointed profile? Or maybe just stick with the ol' 22 WMR?

He wouldn't try my AR. Looks too "military" for him.

Good luck.

X2. From my experience many of the 22 center fire cartridges are too much if you're looking to save fur on a fox.

There are a lot of people here who have obviously never shot coyotes with much of anything from a 243. 70 gr Speer TNT's, and 60 gr sierra's (as mentioned), have been good on pelts.

Only one example, but the last yote I shot with a 50gr TNT (225win) had a grapefruit sized exit wound.

these are what I will be using for Alaskan red fox and lynx in my 223
http://www.brownells.com/reloading/...-80-gr-fmj-sku749003567-33890-67274.aspx

for wolves and coyotes the 150 gr fmj bullets and my Win 70 300 Win Mag worked great, longest shot on two wolves just over 300 yards, DRT ....
didn't expect to dump two wild mutts in 2 min, had to quickly rough skin both on the spot and hike out of the mts before dark,

I used to use a 90 or 95 grain FMJ (I don't remember which right off hand) on coyotes and small fox. at mid-low published data loads it worked perfectly. thumped them all right there and left small holes, just be aware of the little more risk for ricochet.

now I just use a .22 wmr or .223 since I rarely encounter fox anymore.

Back when I had only one rifle--a 270--I tried Sierra 90 hp's on a coyote. It did the same thing--blew that coyote in half. The worst part is the front half was still alive for a few moments......geez that was ugly.......

Casey