You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Effective range for .243Win for coyote hunting?
- Thread starter jrothWA
- Start date
This wears me out. A 243 is the real deal. It keeps enough energy to kill cleanly way out there. That elk video shows that. If you have the ability, the 243 will kill it as far as you can hit it. Be it 30 yards or 900 yards.
I am curious how many elk you have shot, and at what distances.
I have shot over 35 elk, one a 900 pound bull. They are big, and tough, much more so than Pronghorn and deer. I have shot deer out to 1000 and Pronghorn out to 800, and I still would not shoot an elk past 300 with a .243. Not because I can not hit it, but because the chances of a wounded animal are much higher and experience tells me the risk is not worth it. I have tracked elk, center chest shot, with 7mm Mags and .270s (people I was hunting with), up to 5 miles in brutal conditions. Never had to track one more than finding the bush it was behind when I hit it with my .338-06.
Most game bullets have a threshold, somewhere above transonic, usually in the 1600 to 1800 fps range where they will no longer expand, and become essentially FMJs. Some small diameter magnums have the same issue if going too fast at very close ranges. Lighter bullets, and especially varmint bullets typically have a lower velocity at which they reliably expand. That matters!
I have to agree with MarkCO, but I'll go a step further and I wouldn't personally use any .243/6mm caliber on Elk at any range. It isn't because I don't believe it won't work, just that I believe there are many better choices than a .243/6mm diameter bullets for elk hunting. I believe if you want an elk rifle you should start looking at 6.5mm caliber bullets and up.
One thing many who watch the video of the elk being killed with the .243 Win, fail to realize, is that rifle is a custom built rifle with a non standard twist rate. There isn't a factory rifle made that will reliably stabilize the 105 VLD bullets except the Ruger Precision Rifle with its 1:7.7 twist rate. Unless your .243 Win has at least a 1:9.25 twist like Savage or Remington you can't even take advantage of many bullets over 100 grains in the .243 Win. Most factory .243 Win rifles haven't caught up to the bullet technology available in 6mm calibers.
One thing many who watch the video of the elk being killed with the .243 Win, fail to realize, is that rifle is a custom built rifle with a non standard twist rate. There isn't a factory rifle made that will reliably stabilize the 105 VLD bullets except the Ruger Precision Rifle with its 1:7.7 twist rate. Unless your .243 Win has at least a 1:9.25 twist like Savage or Remington you can't even take advantage of many bullets over 100 grains in the .243 Win. Most factory .243 Win rifles haven't caught up to the bullet technology available in 6mm calibers.
at 500 with about 711 ft-lbs. of energy left. Not enough energy(that's what's important. Not the velocity.)
Don't get hung up on energy. Bullet type is more important.
For example, if you have 700 ft lbs of energy with a full metal jacket, in the heart-lung area, you're not going to do much damage.
Where as if the same weight bullet, with 700 fl lbs energy, that disintegrates, comes apart is several small pieces its going to be devastating.
That is how the Berger and similar bullets are designed to work.
I contacted Berger about the min. velocity their bullets need to work as designed. I was informed, the remaining velocity needs to be 1800 fps.
Using my example (from the earlier post) I shoot 87 gr Bergers with a MV of 3000 fps. Using those numbers I have a remaining velocity of a hair over 1800 fps at 800 yards.
Now I haven't shot a deer at that distance, but my longest antelope shot was 637 yards, another at 580. In both cases the Berger bullet totally destroyed the vital area (heart-lung) area. The damage I detected at this range convinces me that Berger is right, at 1800 yards the same bullet hitting the vital are would definitely work on deer size animals.
Don't get hung up on Kinetic Energy. Many years ago, I attended the Northwestern Traffic Institute, "Accident Reconstruction" course. In the class we used math to shot that the KE of a bumble bee, if travelling fast enough, could exceed that of a train, and stop train. Math said it would, reality is a different matter, we know the bee would disintegrate, even if you could get it going fast enough, and would have no effect on the train.
On the other hand, during WWI, when tanks first hit the battle field, GIs discovered that if you inverted the 30 Cal '06 bullet you could penetrate the armor and stop the tank. ("Weeks" Man Against Tanks, 1975). These bullets didn't do this with KE, what would happen, the lead core was so hot it burned through the armor, setting ammo and fuel on fire.
Take an arrow, it doesn't have much in the energy department, but the head enters the body, cutting blood vanes, nerves, etc.
So really, it isn't energy, its how the bullet reacts inside the target.
The O.P. was about taking out Yotes.
Even a FMJ at 800 yards when hit solid would do the job. We are not talking about Mulies or Elk...Blackies or Brownies. The question remains: Is 300 yards max for Yodel dogs over bait? Me, Myself, and I with a rifle that I know.....that is Medium range.
Even a FMJ at 800 yards when hit solid would do the job. We are not talking about Mulies or Elk...Blackies or Brownies. The question remains: Is 300 yards max for Yodel dogs over bait? Me, Myself, and I with a rifle that I know.....that is Medium range.