Tikka lite in 243 or 22-250 for coyotes?

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WEATHERBY460

New member
I am getting ready to buy a tikke, what caliber should I get. I plan on shooting only factory loaded ammo. Either the 55 grain winchester, or 58 grain hornady for the 243.

What would make a better yote gun, the 243 or the 22-250? I haven't had the best luck for accuracy out of my ruger 243 with the lighter bullets, so I am leaning towards the 22-250 beacuase of that.

Please help me decide.
 
For better than 30 years my go to the woods coyote rifle was a 22-250. About five years ago I bought a Ruger #1 in 243 and retired the 22-250. I'm shooting Nosler 55 grainers in the 243 and it sure whacks the coyotes, but so did the 22-250.

One thing you will run into with the light bullets in the 243 is they can be vary finicky. Some guns will shoot them some won't. If you go up in weight to 80 or 85 grain bullets in the 243 performance usually goes up.

Which to by, both are good. The 243 offers more versatility, but both do really well on coyotes. I've two 243's the Ruger #1 and a Rem 700 VLS which is to heavy for a calling gun.

I'm now using a 204 Ruger for my main coyote gun so there you go. Either will do an excellent job, but If you like that light gun for deer duties the 243 offers more bang for your buck. One thing I've notices is with the 243 there's usually no spinning and biting like the 204 or 22-250 does sometimes, just drop. The 243 is harder on hides.
 
I love my tikka lite in .243. It is great in the field and very accurate. It has one of the best triggers and it shoots well under moa(I reload). For an all out coyote gun there is nothing better than the .242 ballisticaly. I'm shooting 70 Hpbt at about 3400. I was going to try a lighter bullet but after the way the 70's shoot I'm not changing nothing. If you are going to shooting under 300 yrds go with the .243 with a little heavier bullet, like a 60 or higher. If U think some of your shots will be beyond that it might be a good idea to go with the 22-250.
 
here are some of my Tikka groups 100 yrds.
DSC00806.jpg
 
I know 223 was not one of your choices but you mentioned shooting factory loaded ammo. I have a t-3 lite in 223 and I shoot the red box black hills ammo in 50 grain v-max, and it shoots unbelievable out of my tikka. Has worked very well for me on coyotes.
 
I love my Tikka lite .243. It is very accurate. It shot just about everything well. I reload but it shoots the factory 70grain NBT and the 85grn BTHP very well. I just like the 70 grain better than the 55 grn. The .243 is a little more versatile if you ever want to hunt bigger game. I also love it for rock chucks past 300yds.
 
That is a tough choice, both would work well. I think you would be happy with either. The 243's may tend to shoot factory ammo a bit more accurately, but even that is not etched in stone.

Ive called with some guys who use 22-250's and factory 50-55 graines, and man does it KILL out to 300 yds.

I like ID Bobs answer. Sorry , not much help here. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I have a .243 for my primary coyote rifle and love it. I use Hornady factory 58 gr. V-max bullets. It isn't too bad on the hides, as long as I don't hit a shoulder blade or hit them to far back. The reason I went with a 243 over a 22-250 is it really anchors them in their tracks. I get great accuracy in my 243 Remington 700 BDL with this ammo. Either of these calibers will serve you well, but if I had to pick just one it would have to be the 243.
 
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