243

[hoyt5199]

I am looking at getting a 243 because I wanna a gun I could could shoot a bear with but yet use it on a coyote without doing much damage. I can get a 55gr bullet up to about 130gr bullet. Would this be a good gun? If not I need suggestions please.

[carpsniperg2]

a 243 will take a bear with a good solid bullet. with the right loads it can be a great yote gun to not damage pelts.

[carpsniperg2]

another good caliber is the 25-06 i have both and both would work for what you are looking for. the lighter bullets for the 25-06 are a little harder to find, that won't hurt the pelt. but i am not a pelt hunter

[jdb]

I can get a 55gr bullet up to about 130gr bullet.

Ive never seen a 130 grain .243. 105 is I think the heaviest Ive seen. the thing about a compromise is that theyre always a compromise! a 243. will kill bears all day long but is it ideal? I think not. and if loaded for bear it becomes a little rough on coyote pelts. if you dont care about the pelts then a .270 w/ 130 grain bullets it will easliy kill bears and it will drop coyotes like the hammer of thor

[Bofire]

I use a 243 alot, I like it for the seasons when we "might" call a coyote, cougar or bear. If calling for bear "specifically" I'd use a bigger gun. I use 80 grain federals in my 243, I love this gun, deer killing machine and a lightening bolt on coyotes.  there are no 130 grain 243 bullets. With a well placed heart/lung shot it will kill bears well.
Carl

[hoyt5199]

Thanks for all the info, yeah it was my bad on the 130gr bullets, I was looking at the 270 right before Submitted the post.

[coachcw]

the 270 is a better choice if you got smokey in mind no doubt , the 223 with 55 grain vmax would be my yote pick

[FALFire]

Well, I have a couple of 243's, a few 25-06's and a 270.

If you are going for bear, given these caliber, I would say the 270 without a doubt. You can load the 270 with 90 grain HP's and 110 gr V-Max's for coyotes but you will likely make big holes in your pelt but the 140 and 150 grain Partitions and solids for bear will certainly work well.

The 25-06 is another good choice, as there an ample supply of good bullets for the 25 that will do well for bear in the 120 grain weights. The 87 and 100 grain Noslers will work great for coyotes and get you some long distance hits without destroying the pelt.

The 243 will kill bear but you are not going to see the performance with it due to bullet weights and frontal area, even though the 115 grain DTAC is the heaviest bullet you can shoot in a 243, it is a VLD bullet for long range target use only and requires a tight twist, simply not the best choice in any situation for bear.

So my thoughts would be get a 270 or better yet a 30-06 for the bear hunting and a nice 22-250 for the coyotes. Set them up with identical scopes so your eye relief will be the same and you will be good to go.

[CheyTac]

Consider the 7mm-08 too, same cartridge as the 308 and 243 but better ballistics than both.

[Cascade_Sherpa]

I personally think the .243 is one of "the greats", i killed my first deer with my dads .243 sako, i own 3 .243's and have used them on everything from praire dogs to elk (not recommended).
 
But as much as i love the .243 i don't think its enough for bear hunting. i agree with some of the previous post that said use it up to deer sized animals, beyond that get a .270 or 30'06.

[rbros]

+1 for a 7mm-08.  A guy can get bullets heavy enough for up to elk, yet lighter bullets for coyotes. 

A 243 would do the job, but its not ideal.  Good shot placement would be the key.  If you are set on a 243, then I would strongly suggest getting a custom barrel with a 1-7.5 twist to shoot the heavier 115gr bullets for larger critters.

[Gutpile]

I think you need more than one rifle.

[uplandhunter870]

i use a 243 and have killed a bear and coyotes with it and it did the trick nicely. shot placement is key on bigger animals like bears, i hit this years in the forehead (not intentionally i flinched) i feel that is plenty of gun but you have to  keep bullet selection in mind, i use 95gr nosler ballistic tips, but you have to remember youre not shooting a baby howitzer and know that a 243 has some range limitations

[elkslayer069]

Im with gutpile you need more than one gun. 

[Skillet]

Another vote for the 25-06.  It's on my short list for "next gun".  If you reload (sounds like you do), you can make it do either job very well.