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243 the ultimate long range varmint/ predator gun?

At what ranges have some of you made kills on varmints and predators with this round? What is your favorite long range varmint/predator load? Would you feel comfortable shooting coyotes beyond 400 yards? An intresting cartridge, but barrel life doesnt look so great.
 
400+ is not a problem - Keep it cool and it'll last like any other
high intensity round.
I run a 1-12 with Lt. wts. - Hind sight would be 1-8 short throat.
 
I was thinking of doing a build on either a Rem 700 SPS stainless or a Weatherby Vanguard. I know the Remington has a 1 in 9 1/8 twist, what weight of bullets will this stabiliz? and what is the twist rate in the Vanguard. I have heard some say that the Vanguard is a smoother action and that the barrels are a bit better quality than the Remingtons. They sure are less expensive.
 
One thing to keep in mind about the Vanguard, not too many gunsmiths are equiped with the tooling to rebarrel that particular action. Reason being they are Howa 1500 actions. I ran into the same problem when I was going to have a Smith and Wesson 1500 action rebarrels, also a Howa 1500 action, and not one Smith around here was equiped properly to do the job. Just some food for thought. Other than that, they are a good action and they shoot well.

Mike
 
Rick Jamison wrote an article in 1999 comparing the 6mm, 25/06, and .220 Swift using reloads. All things considered with reloads, they were about the same in performance.

I think there is only one .220 swift being made, and the 25/06 has too much recoil to suit me.

I keep coming back to a .243.
 
While I am not a 6mm for deer fan by any means, I do feel the .243 is one of the better rounds going for smaller game, especially as the ranges stretch. I just acquired my second ever .243 (first one was sold after it failed miserably on a New England whitetail) and it is just fun to shoot, and will throw bullets at some serious speed for quite a long way. Plenty of power for anything under deer, and it doesn't beat you up like a larger round will. The larger 6's are just too hard on barrels, such as the 6-284.
 
1 in 9.25 should be good up to 100 grains or so, depending on the bullet type. I would suggest a Savage, as it is relatively easy to replace the barrel yourself.
 
Bought a Stevens 200 (Savage) about a year ago. With the stock 22" sporter barrel 1:9.25 it would shoot 58grn V-Max up to 100grn Sierra Game Kings very well. Liked it so much we put a Shilen 26" barrel and a better stock on it. Great gun, great round, great price.
 
My main Coyote rifle is a 243 AI. I lost a coyote one day after making a solid hit on him with my 223 Truck Gun that had a nice short 18" barrel. After that the 243 was the go to rifle. Im running 95gr Berger VLD's @ 3300fps. Run that through your balistic program and see the magic. 400 yards is just the begining, now those dern over hunted areas where the ole boys hang up at 600 yards looking over the horizon to see what new call the stupid human is using now are in trouble, if they sit still that is. Powder of Choice is R19 for this particular barrel. If I would have ordered a 1:9 twist or a faster I might be shooting the 105's but I went with a 1:10 Kreiger Stainless and am stuck with the lighter weight bullets. Still happy with the performance weather close or far. Im prepared for both.
RussT
 
I also use a 243 AI with 90g Swift Sirroccos pushed by 44.5g H414 through a Hart 10 twist. 3250ish, less than 2" goups @ 400. I'm got some variations working, but if the groups don't get better I'll stick with a slower accurate bullet. Kills NC whitetail out to 400, coyotes aren't safe out to 600. It also shoots 87's and 85's very well, but it doesn't like 95's and really hates the 105's. Hindsight, I shouda got an 8 to shoot the 105's and 115's.
 
I absolutely love the .243 in it's original form,I am gonna do a build for the .243AI in the future.I have had the best results with the 75 grain hollow points and 4831 powder. I once shot a woodchuck at about .225 and went for a finisher so I thought and all I could see through the grass was a stripe of brown.I shot it and it went dowm.Walked up and shot the twitching tail in half.That says enough.Have shot 3 round groups in the 2's with a stock remington.Love it !!!!
 
I have a old win # 670 in .243 and have made lots of longrange varmit shots with it,I don't recall the longest varmit shot but I shot a woopecker off the side of my well house @ 347yds and lots and lots of groung hogs and coyotes out past 400 yds but my longest shot to date with it was 657 yds on a mule deer. One shot through both lungs,missed the heart. The neat thing about the rifle is it would shoot 65 gr v-max bullets in the .250 range and it would shoot the 100 gr nosler partition in the .625 range, now to the neat part I could shoot a 65 gr then a 100 gr then a 65 gr ect ect into a .750 group so I could shoot ground hogs to elk with the same gun and never have to resight it in :) Sad to report I have shot the barrel out if it and I doubt I could ever get so lucky to find another barrel that could do that. It was my daily packer for about five years and I really miss it.
Wayne.
 
Buddy of mine is shooting an AR-10 243 and is using the 87 V-Max. Had 3 -1st-shots on coyotes last season at 785, 650, and 535. He has JBM on an IPOD and calls into the local airport for air density changes several times a day. His system is about as deadly a combination as i've ever seen from 0-~800. All 3 of those dogs were nice coyotes, and they reside on his wall now.
 
Steve,
Your friend has a heck of a system going for him, thats good shooting.

GlennGTR1,
I have reread your op and wanted to comment on barrel life. I used to worry about barrel life, not anymore. I don't know if you have ever drove a geo-metro or a datsun b-210, there very boring to drive but if money is tight they get about 50 mpg, now a
corvette won't make it 100 miles if your driving it hard, but what a 100 miles its anything but boring! when it runs out of gas fill it up and drive it another exciting 100 miles.Now you could shoot a 30-30 win thousands and thousands of rounds and still have good accuracy for a 30-30, heck you can't hardly wear one out, but there pretty boring to shoot. Now a .243 shooting a 58 gr v-max @ 4000fps is like driving a vette, very exciting. Every shot is spectacular,bug hole groups on paper and a red mist when shooting varmints for all 1000 rounds or so, very exciting!!! Now when you shoot that barrel out, rebarrel it and get another 1000 rounds or so of very exciting shooting.Most exciting hobbies cost money,spend the money,build the gun,and have
FUN!!! ;)
Wayne.
 
I have to agree with that. Life is all about the enjoyment you can derive from it. Besides,there is something exciting about a new barrel too 8). Now,I don't claim to be a 243 fan. I've owned and opperated several of them. I can however appreciate it for what it is. A super little varmint rifle. Basically one of the first short magnums. I bought a pencil barreled M700 a couple years ago. It is one of the stainless/mountain type that Gander Mtn sold as a store special. Well, my daughter has kind of fallen into my little predator rifle. I guess she needs it more than I do,lol. You know, that darn thing just plain shoots great. A clearance rack box store pencil barrel 243, that is a pure joy to shoot. My daughter was working on a steel swinger @ 150yds. The rifle was getting warm,and hadn't seen a patch in 20 or 30 rounds. I asked her if I could pop one out of it on the target to see how it was doing. I had a 1" paster up @ 100yds. One shot,one hole just right of center of the sticker. You gotta love a rifle that just keeps doing what it is supposed to.
 
Use a 243AI in an 8 twist for long range bench shooting with a 107 SMK at over 2800 fps. For PD shooting I have anothe 243AI with a twelve twist using 70 gr Nosler BT's at over 3250 fps. Oh and by the way these are both 15" barreled handguns.
IMG_6338.jpg
 
gibar,
What a beutifull piece of custom art. WOW! that is one awesome shoot stick.
Thanks for sharing.
Wayne.
 
I prefer the 6mm Remington for long-range. It will work fine in a short action with lighter bullets. For 95 up, a long action and throat give better results. The 6mm will do everything the .243 will a little better.
 

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