Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Rookie questions on 243 cartridge

Hey guys, new guy here. I finally bought my .243 Remington ADL rifle online and will pick it up possibly on Thursday next week. My question is, since Im not a handloader, what would be the best cartidge to buy for target practice, and coyote hunting, I'm thinking hunting coyote and target practice can use same cartridge? Also I know that deer hunting has to be 95 grain to 100 grain. I have a 1:10 twist on the barrel. Then someone told me I needed to break in the barrel ? I mean, I'm a total rookie when it comes to hunting rifles. Also I read that I need to Oil up the rifle as soon as I get it ? Any input will be appreciated. Thanks.

Wow, a clean slate.... Welcome. A 700 243 can be a great rifle. What's your plan for a scope and mounts?

Here's some ammo that'd work for everything, after rebate it's dirt cheap. Buy two boxes and the shipping is free.
https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/fe...l-rifle-ammunition#repChildCatid=4600096

Remington Corelok is plenty good for deer hunting. I’ve used both the 80 & 100 grain here at the Ranch for both deer and hogs, but prefer the 100 grain.
Pretty accurate for Factory ammo too.
The 80 grain works well on coyotes.

Lots of good 243 ammo out there. For deer, if using factory ammo, the Barnes Vortex 80gr TTSX and the Federal Fusion 95gr are excellent.

The Federal non typical posted above works great too and has been accurate across the board.

First off, not that it really matters, but every Remington 243 that I've seen, and I've had several of them, all had the 1-9.25 twist barrel. Anyway, the great thing about the 243 is that it will shoot a wide variety of ammo accurately. I like bullets in the 55-70 grain weight for coyotes, using the 58 grain VMax most of all. For deer, 90-100 grain bullets are usually the choice, and I like the Nosler BT's.

As a compromise, and I go this route a lot, every 243 I've every owned shot the Sierra 85 grain bullet extremely well. It's a good coyote bullet, and it will do a good job on deer. You'll have to reload for this one, so it's something you can keep in mind.

Hmmm.....sounds like Stick bait.

^^^This^^^

I don't "break in" any barrel,AFAIC it's a waste of time and ammo.

Never heard of "Oil up the rifle as soon as I get it" I think someone is pulling your leg.

Main thing is to change the oil after 40 rds. Filter after maybe 100rds

More like Schtick bait. Sock puppetry abounds...

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https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1016139628?pid=417060

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2900285200?pid=285200

I tried looking for stuff below 25 bucks, the 87 and 75grn Vmax from Hornady will flatten coyotes. Congrats on your new rifle, I am sure it is going to shoot great. I don't do the barrel break in thing, I clean them when I get them out of the box and then go shoot. Just don't heat up your barrel bad, shoot 3-5 rounds and let it cool, the rifle will serve you well. Also if you have any desire at all to reload, then do it. You can get an entire set up in the Lee Challenger kit and handloading opens a whole other door to shooting......rifle is not hard to reload.

I would also shoot a 95 or 100grn bullet for deer, Nosler ballistic tip and Nosler partitions have a good record of being deadly. There is one exception, the 80grn Barnes TTSX at 3,350fps would be a fine choice as well. My buddy's son shot a 300lb cow elk in AZ last fall and it had super good internal performance on the animal and did a complete pass through.

Newsflash, free rent for Stick, in yo heads. LOL

Get your self a rifle cleaning kit for .243 calliber and clean the bore before you shoot it.
Don't forget hearing and eye protection.
Try some different ammo brands and bullet weights to see what your rifle groups best with.

Clean your barrel aftey your done shooting it and wipe the metal down with a light coat of oil to keep it from rusting when you put it away.

If you’re gonna use one rifle for all of your expected hunting (which I highly approve of), use the same bullet and zero for everything. Assuming that the majority of your hunting will take place in Florida, and again assuming that most shots will be relatively close (under 300 yards)....the heavier bullets would be good on deer and have plenty of velocity for quick, humane kills on varmints (adequate expansion). Again, assuming that many shots may be taken fairly “quickly”.....learning one zero and one trajectory, will minimize any confusion “in the heat of battle”! “Not” having to quickly to remember different aim-points” for different “points of impact”, may prevent some misses or wounded animals! JMO. memtb

Thank for all the good tips guys

Pymi, By the bore, do you mean the inside of the barrel?

Damn good info I guess, I'm new at this, but I will analyzed every word. Thanks.

This ^^^^^^ ... Every rifle is different. Try several different brands and bullet weights to find a load that your rifle shoots accurately.


And This ^^^^^^ ... If you are just starting out, Keep It Simple. A 90gr to 100gr deer bullet will kill coyotes and paper targets just fine.

Once you find a factory loading that works well for your situation, buy a case of it to have all one lot. Then commence to killing stuff. I have a life time supply of .270 Win reloading components. However, my primary deer rifle (.270 Win) stays dialed in for Nosler factory cartridges loaded with 130gr AccuBonds. Of which I just opened a fresh case yesterday.

Yes that's called the bore, run a patch or two through it before shooting it the first time.

Take the bolt out and clean it from the breach end. Get a coated cleaning rod and a bore guide. Watch some videos on how to properly clean first, doing it wrong can damage the bore but don't worry to much just use a bit of caution. Sticking the rod in the muzzle end can damage the crown if not done carefully.

I like bore tech eliminator. One bottle will last for ever. A brass jag and proper sized patches. Clean it once before you first shoot it. I'd not worry much about break in. Take it to the range, sight it in, clean it again when you get home. Clean it again after the first few outings and then only clean it if accuracy drops off or if you live in a high humidity area clean it then run a light oil patch before storage.

Pretty much any factory 100g ammo will do everything from varmints to deer to keep it simple. Stick with 1 load and you won't have to adjust the scope switching to different loads. If you want to mess with some fast varmint stuff try some 55g nosler ballistic tips. A little light for deer generally but dynamite on varmints.

Bb