Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Just married to a .243

I just bought a .243 Ruger Target Mark II from a friend and really itching to take her out looking for coyotes. I shot some 95 gr Winchester factory loads from this rifle in the past and it was not very impressive, maybe 1.25" at 100. So I got some Hornady 58 and 75 gr V-maxes and will hopefully work out a favorite load.
Coyotes, beware!
I need to get a call, I am thinking electronic. Those times I stalked the dogs it was very difficult to see them and then I couldn't get closer than about 150 yards. Getting old and lazy now and turning to calling I guess.
What do you guys do with your coyote pelts?
Cheers,
-P

P.S. I am planning to start my loads with H-4895. Does anyone have an accurate load with this powder?

Check this site for some really good loading data reported by shooters...always consult a reloading manual for safety and typo's.

http://www.centerfirecentral.com/viewer.html

Good luck

Don't think you'll have to worry a whole lot about what to do with the coyote pelts if you are shooting a .243.

I bought one in 243 to but i cut barrel down 22in and added Houge rubber stock . With 95 gr NBT coyotes dont stand a chance. Good luck

Sadly I never have good consistent accuracy with H 4895.. IMRs is much more consistent..

In my experience... my 243s haven't been overly finicky.

for the 75 grainers if you want MV... look to H 414..

I use 47.5 grains of it and the MV is a hair over 3500 fps..

With a 50-60 thin skinned bullet you MIGHT get to keep a bullet inside of a coyote, and thus have a pelt but for me, I leave the pelt and rest of the coyote out where I shot it. Not worth the trouble to mess with them in my busy world.

Try the Barnes Varmint Grenade. If any bullet is going to explode on impact and stay in the yodeldog, it would be that one. VERY frangible. Usually terrific accuracy as well.

Gee, I hope not! I prefer to keep at least something from what I hunt. I read that 58 gr V-maxes don't go all the way through and even 75ers sometimes don't. I guess I will find out. If they do I will get some FMJs.
I don't have a hope to sustain myself from the pelts, actually probably have to pay quite a bit to get them done but my wife likes furs, so why not. I will ask a taxidermist friend where he got his pelts done for mounts, I suppose.
Bummer on 4895, I had hopes for it. I also have some 4831sc but it is marginal even with 75ers I think. Well, I will try them since I have the Hodgdons. Might try Varget, all manuals claim its great accuracy powder, and I read a lot of people have luck with 4064. I have neither, so probably will end up getting some.

You'll most likely be unhappy with FMJ's on a number of fronts... Do the work with a good expanding bullet of some type and accept the fact that you are using a hammer to swat a fly. Otherwise you simply need a more fur friendly cartridge.

I've seen the 58 gr. V-max stay inside on a frontal shot. I don't know about broadside.

For the 58's I tried Varget and went no further.

You're actually closer to being on track than some might think. That 58 grain V-max will "stay inside a coyote" pretty well. We haven't shot a lot of coyotes with it but it hasn't exited on a coyote from a .243AI. I'm actually a little more concerned with it splashing on quartering-on shoulder shots based on the terminal performance on varmints. This bullet really comes apart! It should do a little better from a standard .243 (slightly lower velocity). Go for the H4895. If it doesn't work, try something else. It doesn't have to be ideal--it just has to work in your rifle and meet your expectations. Oh, and congratulations. Hope the honeymoon goes well.

The honeymoon did go well, she had me
Took 4 different loads to the range today. H4895 with 58 gr V-max and 58 and 75 gr V-max with Varget.
I can not tell the big difference. 58 clocked near 3800 and 75 about 3200. 75 gr with Varget gave the tightest group, and extreme spread was 90-120 fps with H4895, and 26-58 for Varget. However, the brass was not mine and was a mix of FC and Winchester and I did not notice, so so much for that.
All groups were 5 shot and one (75 gr) was under 1". The rest were 1.5" with 3 holes touching and two others off. More testing is needed. Will get a couple more bullet types and maybe some Reloader or W760... the quest continues.
BTW, I discovered that with the setting of 100 yard on the objective, my Leupold Vari-X III (6.5-20) has noticeable parallax, like 1/2" on the target. I had to turn it to 75 yards and tweak the ocular before it quieted down. At 200 yard mark it is parallax free as it should. I found it strange for a Leupold to be that much off on parallax adjustment.

ewwwwwwww 95gr pills are so sweet fly flat and buck the wind well.
105s would be cool to

PaulDaisy: In the past when the parallax "mis-distance" condition was found the folks at Leupold would "correct" it.
I have several Leupolds (out of 50 or so that I own) that have this parallax "mis-distance" condition and I simply and quickly dial it away by turning the parallax adjustment until there is no parallax at what ever distance I am shooting.
I simply ALWAYS dial away the parallax on all my scopes, of all brands, when shooting for group at the range.
It takes about 10 seconds and I would not send a scope back just for adjustment of parallax myself.
Now for the powder to go to in your 243.
All my 243's use either H 414, IMR 4350 or IMR 4320.
And this - YOU must use ONE brand of brass IF you want to ascertain or increase a Rifles accuracy/grouping ability!
My good friend Louie has a 220 Swift Varminter and he was using Winchester brass in it - but the brass was of two different headstamps (IIRC one as W-W and the other was WIN - signifying different eras of manufacture!) and his Swift was "double grouping" like your 243.
He fussed with it for over a year until he thought to segregate the two types of brass - instantly his "double grouping" problem was solved.
Lesson there.
Best of luck with your 243.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I hang the yote from the fence, right along the roadside - that way the farmer who owns the land I'm hunting on knows that I'm doing my job. I'd start with a mouth call - much cheaper than an electric and just as effective. I like the Sceery AP-6, but that is most likely because it was the first call I pulled a yote in with. If you are dead set on an electronic, see if you can find a used FoxPro - even the early models work well.

Kaiser Norton

Punch it 243AI and gun 105 A-Max expressly.

Thank me later.............

Ok, more load development for the 243.
I tried:
58 vmax with Varget, H4895, RL15 and W760.
75 vmax with the same powders.
68 gr Berger match target with the same powders.
I found that the 58 gr Hornady does not like to go fast. It groups best with a moderate load of Varget.
The 75 gr V-max groups best with RL-15. I had only a moderate load; will need to experiment increasing velocity, all I had was 3,200 and I was laughed at for that. But not for the group size - 0.75" five shots.
Bergers were the best. Varget and W-760 both gave dime size groups, with W-760 being better. Also, I noticed that when seating bullets, the V-max COL differs about 0.001-0.002" with the same seating die position. Bergers are dead on one after another. This indicated to me that the ogive curvature is less consistent on Hornadies than on Bergers.
And after all this, a friend gave me about 500 bullets in 243: 70 gr Sierra, 85 gr Sierra, 70 gr Bergers and 80 gr Hornady. With the powder choices I now have, looks like I will be at the range for a while now.
I am thinking of scanning the targets and chronograph printouts and documenting the loads, then putting it all up on the web for others to ponder, maybe it will help people with their load development, and I will have a reference to go to later...

Sorry all, I will take this to the Reloading forum. Good luck hunting!
-P