223 or 243 for Varmints

what sort of varmints? what range?

For strictly varmits, 223, no doubt in my mind. The 243 will do it, but it was designed as a dual purpose varmit/deer round. If deer are a possibility too, I'd use the 243.

jmr40 said it, solely for varmint hunting, the .223 is easily the best choice.

in that case, i'd suggest the .223

The guys my best friend coyote hunts with all use 204 Ruger, 223, or 22-250; and they kill A LOT of them every year. They say the 243 does to much damage to the hyde. So I'd agree with what other posters have said. If you were really reaching out there, 6mm has some really good heavy match bullets available, but it sounds like they aren't to far out.

I have the Savage 243 Predator rifle, love it. Bought it because I can't get 223 ammo right now. Have a very nice DPMS AR, but what good is it as a ammo-less paper weight?

It sounds like for your hunting the .223 will do well, it's what I use for under 300 yards on coyotes etc. When you really need to reach out there though the .243 Winchester is an excellent round, with the 107 SMK it will shoot them a lot farther than I am capable of.

I concur with post 3. However, for a bolt rifle I would use 22-250, not .223. I would use .223 from an AR.

The 223 should do you just fine. My first rifle was a .243 and it was used for both whitetail deer and varmint hunting. Technically, the 223 with proper bullets will do okay with deer it you make the proper hits. But I don't advocate a 223 for deer hunting. An AR makes a fine varmint rig.

I'll take the .243...

58grn VMAX loads are absolutely incredible...

Kind of low as far as sectional density goes, but it's still very flat-shooting, and carries 3900 FPS at the muzzle... perfect for Varmint, IMO. Also, .243 bullets and loaded ammo are available right now! Good luck finding .223!

Inebriated said:

I'll take the .243...

58grn VMAX loads are absolutely incredible...

Kind of low as far as sectional density goes, but it's still very flat-shooting, and carries 3900 FPS at the muzzle... perfect for Varmint, IMO. Also, .243 bullets and loaded ammo are available right now! Good luck finding .223!

Click to expand...

Don't mean to hijack this thread by any means, but what rifle and what rate of twist are you using? I'm not getting a very good grouping with this round at 1:9.25 twist. Seems to do better with the slower / heavier FPS ammo.

I would get..

.....anything but .223. Every time Obama nods his head .223 is scarce. I have a Remington pump 7615 in .223. It doesn't get used much lately. Just might take it to my gunsmith to see if he can do something to change it over to .222.

Depends.... as a fur trapper I prefer .223 with Barnes Varmint grenades as it preserves the fur.....

While hunting deer, or any other game I will take a shot with whatever I have on me.

Don't mean to hijack this thread by any means, but what rifle and what rate of twist are you using? I'm not getting a very good grouping with this round at 1:9.25 twist. Seems to do better with the slower / heavier FPS ammo.

Click to expand...

I honestly couldn't tell you... I shot 20 rounds of it out of a Savage Axis (1:9.25"). I took a quick 3-shot group, adjusted zero, took another 3-shot group, and then used the rest on some cans of soda. The target I used to zero was a 3" circle, and the groups were both right around 1.5" - 2" at 120 yards, shooting off a front rest. I have read mixed reports on the shorter bullets in 1:9.25" barrels, so it could easily just be that your rifle doesn't like it. I've been trying to find some Superformance VMAX again, and properly group them, but I haven't seen them anywhere in some quite a while.

KevininPa said:

.....anything but .223. Every time Obama nods his head .223 is scarce. I have a Remington pump 7615 in .223. It doesn't get used much lately. Just might take it to my gunsmith to see if he can do something to change it over to .222.

Click to expand...

I dont want to get off topic, but throwing in the towel is not in anyones best interest.

Fight for your right to KEEP your .223.....

22-250 will get you farther flatter faster!!

mcdonl said:

I dont want to get off topic, but throwing in the towel is not in anyones best interest.

Fight for your right to KEEP your .223.....

Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not worried about .223 becoming illegal, banned, whatever. Definitely not getting rid of my pump. It's too much fun to shoot! Renewed my NRA membership, contacted reps, etc.

I just want to see if my 'smith can reline the barrel or something for a caliber that's on the shelves during every scare. The AR guys clean out the shelves every crisis, thus rendering my pump almost useless. I'm not a hoarder in that caliber, it's the only rifle I have that shoots it. Fun camp gun.

What JMR40 said!

I went through the centerfire varmint rifle decision a couple years ago and went with a bolt action .223 over my other short list cartridges, .243, 6mm, .204 Ruger and 22-250.

Reasons: ammo availability and price (now not such a clear win for .223), reloading economy, barrel life, eventual ammo compatibility with AR, no need to use it for deer-sized game.

Get the .243 Winchester..............

If you aren't fur harvesting?

.243 or 22-250.

Decisively better coyote killers then the .223, as far as you can see them.

BTDT too many times to count.

rc

Everybody's got an opinion, here is mine and why.

You are set up to load both - even.

You have voiced the weapon (both bolts) you want - even.

Coy-dogs at 200 yards - 243 carries farther/flatter, .223 less recoil (quicker follow up shots) - edge to the .243.

Cost for consumables - bullets a little less for the .224s, powder a little less used in .223, brass was more available and cheaper for the .223, primers are the same - edge to the .223.

Counting the number of rounds to be fired, I'd go with the .243.

Your dime, your time and your enjoyment.

GOBYSKY said:

Don't mean to hijack this thread by any means, but what rifle and what rate of twist are you using? I'm not getting a very good grouping with this round at 1:9.25 twist. Seems to do better with the slower / heavier FPS ammo.

Click to expand...

I've got a Savage with a fast twist Shilen 26" barrel, 1:8 twist. It will shoot the 55-58gn varmint bullets into nice tight little knots and will do the same with every bullet that I've tried feeding it up to the 105gn Berger VLDs, 105gn Amax and the 107gn Nosler Custom comps. Don't get wrapped up in barrel rate of twist for the light bullets at all. It simply isn't a factor.

On the whole, if you plan on shooting any time in the next six months or so, the .243 is the better choice. .224 cal bullets are very hard to come by right now which affects both the .223 and the .22-250. .223 brass is rare and very expensive when you can find it right now. As far as effect on coyotes, either will drop them. The .243 will do a slightly more spectacular and much more decisive job of it.