.243 VMax 58gr vs 55gr BT

Tac.20

New member
Hi...I'm new to the boards.

Going coyote hunting in NE colorado soon and was wondering which of these bullets(factory loaded) would be less prone to exiting or leaving huge holes in the coyote. Hornady's 58gr Vmax's or Winchester's 55gr BT's?

Oh yeah, also out of curiousity are either of these factory loaded bullets known to be barrel burners in the .243? I would think the 55gr BT's would burn a barrel out pretty fast, right?
 
So far I've only shot one coyote with the 58 grain hornadys and it blew a huge hole. I hit him high on the shoulder and it open him up like a bomb.
 
Shot placement is critical when trying to minimize fur damage no matter what caliber one uses.
The 243 normally is not fur friendly.

John
 
The 55 Gr BT if ya make a bad shot blows up BAD !!! I shot one today in the hip after tracking him a better part of a mile I finally got him to find a hole about 10". It was just a bad shot but after having a few to many get up and run after bein hit with the 55 gr I am gonna be lookin for somethin with a little more authority than them. Just my 2 cents take it for what it's worth!!
 
While I do most of my calling with a .223 at my side,only because it's smaller , lighter,quicker to the shoulder for those "oh Sh%t, there he is "shots,I love the 243 with the 60 gr BTHP Sierra's.The 58 gr Hor.exit to often, and the kills are not as clean. While I haven't shot the 55 gr ( my rifle refuses to group with them) my wife's rifle loves them ( Weatherby SPM )But still, the 60 gr BTHP, kills and does it with little mess. The 55 gr Nosler( Win ? )still out performs the 58 gr Hor.
 
Just like most bullets, placement counts for a lot. But, no doubt about it, just about any .243 load has the potential to make a nasty mess, sometimes even with decent placement.

Here's two my partner killed a couple weeks ago with the Win. Supreme 55 gr. load. Almost no pelt damage to either. First one was hit just in front of the shoulder - that's the exit visible in the pic. Second one was hit square in the poop chute going away - literally not even an entrance hole on that one (the insides were a huge mess though...).

Tim1K-15.jpg

Tim-OldYote.jpg


For every one like these two though, there's one that is uglied up something fierce with the same load.

- DAA
 
I had a similar experience last year with one disentagrating a shoulder blade on a female juvenile but did not kill it. Looked for this songdog for about an hour and finally got it This was the 58 grain. Seems like occasionally if you hit this shoulder blade just "wrong" you get a mess like this.

I am shooting a 223 this year and have shot 7 dogs with no exit wound with the Hornady V Max. The only other dog I have taken I blew it's jaw off at about 70 yards on a dead run through a bush. Pure luck. I was amazed how this down went done and died so quickly. :eek:
 
I personally have had no luck with 55 grain bullets in my 243, they just blow up on the outside!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Good calling /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Like to welcome you new guys to the board.

Both of these bullets seem to have the same properties we discuss all the time with other bullets. Never really know how they are gonna act.
See them work perfect and then tear the next ones half in two! Just have to take your chances T20. I would go with which ever one shot the best in my rifle. V-Max's tend to have a slightly thinner jacket than the others.
 
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