Anyone know a .243 Pelt Friendly Load?

[broadhead]

I've seen more than a few posts about pelt-friendly cartridges but not much on the .243 specifically. This Christmas was a good one for my shooting interests and as of this evening I find myself only a new scope (and me actually getting my suppressor in hand - thanks ATF) away from revamping my old Winchester Model 70 into a coyote killer. If possible I'd like to start saving pelts but I know a .243 might be a little hot for that. Saving the hide is secondary concern for me but I'd still like to. Seems the only answers I've seen are FMJ or BTHP rounds that pass through cleaner but can let them run awhile, which I don't really want. The V-Max are the other popular option I see a lot but it seems like they bust out the exit hole pretty bad. If saving pelts with a .243 isn't really feasible that's okay but if anyone has had success doing so I'd love to hear about it. I'll also start hand loading for it now which may lead to more options. Thanks in advance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 

 

[Delw]

Nosler partitions in the light grain with a med powder load.

I cant remember mine exactly but its opens fine most of the time doesnt exit blows the inside to crap. gotta place your shot about middle ribcage and just below the half way mark(just infront of the guts. if you use the heavy weights they almost always pass through.

the old barnes x bullets worked good however they fouled the barrel. the bulk winchesters work ok but they vary from batch to batch on how they open. They arent nearly as consitant as nosler partitions.

you can try the heavier ballistic tips they generally wont open if you load them light on a yote. but they make a huge mess inside  and if you hit a shoulder you wiped out a ton of fur on the entry.

Remember on  Nosler ballistic tips lighter bullets are made for varmits and more explosive. Heavy bullets are made for hunting and generally not as explosive(believe they have thicker jackets. also speed will help in determine the rate of exapansion.

Yotes are natures Ballistic jelly, they were created just for the soul purpose of testing loads

[jdown]

+1 on paritions as long as you don't hit the shoulder.  

[452b264]

If you are going to save pelts and dont want to do a lot of stitching I would look for a 22 K hornet or 17 hornet, 221 fireball or at the biggest a 223 which works well especially if you are a hand loader. I used to use a 100 gr Hornady interlok flat base loaded slow or Barnes. If you hit the shoulder/spine with a 243 most likely you will want to leave that pelt in the field.  

[ThomC]

If you dont kill the coyote then the pelt will run off.  The 6mm's are fine in the heavier weights.  Your gun sounds good to me.  Enjoy.😃

[CatfishKev]

I've never personally Reddit in the rags but I've heard that it is illegal to hunt with full metal jacket

[broadhead]

5 hours ago, 452b264 said:

If you are going to save pelts and dont want to do a lot of stitching I would look for a 22 K hornet or 17 hornet, 221 fireball or at the biggest a 223 which works well especially if you are a hand loader. I used to use a 100 gr Hornady interlok flat base loaded slow or Barnes. If you hit the shoulder/spine with a 243 most likely you will want to leave that pelt in the field.  

I may very well pick up one of those calibers - .223 for sure and I'd love a 17 hornet eventually - but for now I am using the .243 partially because it is my first rifle and I want to get it back into use regularly. 

Thanks for the input on the partitions. Seeing as I have shiny new .243 dies under the tree I think I'll start working up some 85 grain partitions with a modest charge since that was the recommendation to start with. Thanks guys.

[trphyhntr]

55gr ballistic silvertip

[broadhead]

5 hours ago, trphyhntr said:

55gr ballistic silvertip

I'll give them a try. Do you recommend higher velocity for the smaller bullets or stick to the mid ranges? Thanks.

[AZLance]

Any round Firstcoueswas80 is shooting is safe and wont make any holes in the pelt!

[Delw]

Higher velocities make things blow up as well as lighter bullets.

[broadhead]

Thanks for getting me started guys. I'll run a few loads and see what happens. 

[trphyhntr]

28 minutes ago, broadhead said:

I'll give them a try. Do you recommend higher velocity for the smaller bullets or stick to the mid ranges? Thanks.

idk i just buy the factory loads. always worked for me 

[nateNAU]

This is one of those subjects that I think will continue till the end of times. The perfect fur friendly round. My best advice is get and and shoot some critters and see for yourself. If you are thinking about harvesting and preparing pelts then you will quickly learn what is fur friendly. My definition of fur friendly is something that doesn't leave an exit hole. No matter what shot angle, your 243 will exit. And that's ok. If you are serious about putting up fur, learning how to sew up and fix holes is an important part. Once you get tired of fixing big exit holes you can experiment with different calibers. The perfect fur friendly round is a kind of mythical unicorn that people chase but I truley think doesn't exist. What if fur friendly for coyote is not so great on fox and bobcat. Is the same kind of mythical beast that African hunters search for. They want a plains game rifle for anything from a 10 lb. Duiker to a 2000 lb eland. Yes one rifle can kill both but none is the perfect fit for both. In my experience, as a general rule any 22 cal that is sub factory 223 velocity is a good start. I have blow up more coyotes and ruined the pelts with an ar shooting factory ammo. My father in law constantly shoots coyotes with a 222 and gives them to me and I have yet to see an exit hole after 20+ coyotes.  I use a 204 ruger and again have never had an exit hole to sew up. I have however put pretty good exit holes in fox and bobcat with the 204. If I knew I was going to only shoot a fox or bobcat I would probably choose a 17 cal. To me personally, when I think of fur friendly I like 218 bee, 22 hornet, 204 ruger, 222 Remington, or the 17 Remington.

 

[Delw]

I like the 17 rem and 222 as well. still wanna get a hornet and a bee in ruger #1.

I think The best fur gun is still a 22 mag but 50 yards max then I would say the 17 rem and 222 shot lots of foxs with 17's and they never exited just destroyed the insides. I never shot yotes/foxs for fur just for Ballistic jelly and to see what different bullets would do at different velocities. One bullet I forgot to mention is the old target VLD's from berger and there other target bullets. Shot lots of lopes with them in both .243 22-250 .223 and 220swift. they leave a small exit hole in both foxs and yotes but you have a chance of some tracking cause they just dont open. so ya gotta shoot them where it counts.

the .223 puts the same size hole on the way in as the way out with berger target bullets, they just dont expand very much if at all. The .243 puts a dia size hole in in and about  a .308 size hole out.

The 204 I have heard some good things about it, never owned one yet.