Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Most destructive 243 bullet?

Looking do to a lil spring/summer calling this year and I want to drop the coyotes where they stand. My go to in the 243 has always been the 75gr sierra hollow point but I'm currently out of em. I do have on hand a box each of 55gr varmegeddon's and 70gr nosler ballistic tips. Which ones gonna make a bigger mess? I'm thinking the 70gr would be a lil more accurate out of my rifle.

you didn't say if you want to waste them by making a mess or not..

I can tell you if you don't want to make a mess, and save the hide...either one of them will work fine,
if they are slowed down to under 2700 fps MV.... they will more act like a soft point at the lower velocities..

other wise, it would be just easier to buy another box of bullets, like an 80 or 85 grainer...
Speer makes a nice 75 grain HP also... and I have a lifetime stash of the good old Hornady 75 gr HP...

By far the most destructive bullet I have used is the Speer TNT. Accuracy was very acceptable. Do not plan on selling many hides.

I wanna see a red mist through the scope.

If you want to see a mist on a coyote I would say an 85 grain Speer BTSP might be your best bet. Won't happen every shot though.

Otherwise that 70 grain Ballistic Tip is a hell of a coyote bullet.

I've shot 70 gr nosler ballistic tips for the last two years, and they hammer coyotes. You don't have to worry about runners or spinners, because they put them down fast.

100grNP: Go with that 70 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip for the results you desire - I use them with graphic results on Rock Chucks.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Off the top of my head I think the 75 gr. V-Max on shoulder shots would be the absolutely biggest mess I've made of coyotes.

Look no further than the 70 grain ballistic tips if you have them on hand. The 70 grain speer TNT works great also and used to be very economical in bulk. Those are the two bullets I have shot the most in the 243.

The old 58gr v-max at 4150 fps was the worst I ever studied, what a ribcage BOMB!

Try an 87 VMAX and hook some bone going in.

I killed a lot of coyotes with 70 gr nosler bt. As stated above, they work very well. Killed a big mule deer, and 3 or 4 black bears with em too. Everything died quick.

For me it is the Sierra 70gr Blitzking, one of the most accurate 243 Bullets ever and really come undone on varmints and predators

I have not messed with the .243 nor std 6mm Rem, but I have shot a 6mm Rem Improved a bit, a .240 a bit, and spent several years with a slow twist varminter in 6x.284. The 70 grain ballistic tip was my go-to bullet in the 1-14" twist. At 3850 fps it was pretty explosive. I played with the 55 grain ballistic tip, 58 grain VMAX, 65 grain VMAX, and 75 grain VMAX. The 65 and lighter were more explosive. The 58 was an absolute bomb at about 4200 fps. None were particularly accurate other than the 70s so I had to get within 100 yards or so to use them. The shorter distance meant even higher impact velocity which no doubt contributed to the splatter.

If it were me, I'd try the 70 grain ballistic tip, 70 grain blitzking, and 65 grain vmax for balance of BC, velocity, and serious splatter.

Tom

For maximum expansion, my vote is either Blitz King or VMAX. For a critter the size of a coyote, I would use either the 70 grain Blitz King or the 75 grain VMAX. I have killed a bunch of woodchucks with the 75 grain VMAX and they sure expanded. I found Blitz Kings to be as explosive or perhaps a bit more explosive than the Hornady VMAXs. Ballistic Tips were less explosive than either of those.

I used the 85 grain Sierra HPBT on quite a few woodchucks in the 243 and used the 25 caliber 90 grain Sierra HPBT in my 25-06 quite a bit. Most times both bullets blew on through a big chuck and left a fist-size hole. That was before the plastic point bullets were around.

The old Sierra 60 grain HP, running in the 4000 to 4150 fps range MV, would impress ya then Jerry.

10-4 Buddy, I remember both coyotes I hit with that load, the one mentioned was a hard quartering away shot amongst some cattle, the bullet hit the guts in front of the ham and exited offside ribs, everything was simply gone, you could have laid a football in that hole.

The other, I guess I shot him in the balls walking away, again, in and shooting around cattle, completely unzipped his innards, made two and a half counter clockwise circles biting at his guts, I remember seeing the flash of his teeth in the morning light on each revolution, he looked like he was trying to drill himself into the ground.

Fragile bullets at high speed on light built vermin are always spectacular.

The only bullet I can comment on is the 70 Nosler. They work.

I think the most destructive 6mm bullet I ever used was the 60gr Sierra HP. They will blow a large groundhog in two, and leave a 5yd trail of innards through the grass. Foxes pretty much meat and hair.

I will second the Sierra 60 gr HP, they were very destructive. I would also look at the 55 Blitzking, they look nasty!

80 Barnes TTSX

My .243 Win. prefers the flat based bullets, either the 70 gr Speer TNT or the Nosler 70 gr Tipped Varmageddon. Either of these would be my first choice for coyote disruption backed by Ramshot Big Game powder.

I have killed a few with that 70 grain Varmageddon, hell of a bullet!!

A friend just sent me a picture of a coyote shot in half with a 700 in 243 Win, max load of H414 with 70g Sierra Blitz kings. I have killed a lot of coyotes, never seen anything like what was in that picture.

70g Noslers are pretty tough bullets in my experience, 69g Bergers do not always go though a coyote, and 80g Bergers shoot half dollar size holes though coyotes. 60g Sierra's are not destructive, but kill effectively when shot through shoulders, ribs, and hip joints. 75g Sierra hp mangle coyotes up pretty good.

80g sierra blitz btsp give the loudest plop sound of any bullet I have used.

We killed a lot of coyotes with 60g Sierra and then the 80g Sierra in Old Mexico with 243 Win and 6 Remington years ago....both of these bullets are hands down winners killing effectively when shots are behind the diaphragm.

My cousin shoots a 58vmax out of his 6mm and it blows big big holes in yoties. My buddy shoots 55BT out of a 243.... also pretty messy. Although I’ve never used or seen it used on coyotes I would be very willing to bet that the 75vmax would really make a mess out of a yotie.

For DRT (dead right there) I like the Sierra BlitzKings and Hornady V-Max...
Gonna give Barnes' Varmint Grenade a try this fall & winter.

As others have said the 60 Sierra HP is like setting off a bomb no matter where you hit a coyote

How do 55gr bts do? 4,000 FPS!

As far as varmint bullets go, the accurate ones I've tried started in weight at 70 grains, and the Speer turned out to be not only pretty accurate, but by far the most destructive. I could never get anything lighter to shoot worth a schit in a couple 243's.

60 grain Sierra has been a buzz saw

62 gr Varmint Grenade will also impress ya then....especially when pushed hard...

LOL.....I like your style. Keep us posted on your results. I'm looking for similar results with a 6mm CM.

Back before coyote hair became valuable I shot countless dogs with 60 grain hollow points in .243. No matter where you hit them that round would open them right up.

Osky

Can’t speak as to what it will do to a coyote, but that load on prairie dogs or ground squirrels is devastating! Lots of airborne pieces and red mist!

Instant death.

I know of a guy that shoots them oven a tank full of RL-15. He and another bud say it is instant lights out.

The Ballistic Tip is not your ordinary plastic tipped bullet.

Another vote for the 58gr. V-Max.

Full throttle.

The old Hornady 70gr. SPSX bullet was my favorite, even out of a mild 6mmBR it will shred prairie dogs into goo. I was so mad at Hornady for discontinuing that bullet, that I sold the BR because of it. It shot fine with lighter bullets, too, but that bullet was like nitroglycerin on little bitty prairie dogs. It was just like putting them in a blender.

Most destructive I've used, has been the 70gr Btip, but have only shot maybe a dozen with them, so far.

Least destructive has been the 75gr Vmax. I went about 33-34 coyotes straight without an exit, from 20yds to 400+.

I've had more runners and floppers with the 55gr Btip, at full throttle 4,000fps, than any other bullet I've tried in the 243.

I saw this thread and was going to post about the 60 grain Sierra HP. I shoot a lot of hogs (as in groundhogs) and when I was using the 243 the 60 grain Sierra was devastating. It was also very accurate in the 243s I was shooting at the time.