After shooting 4 coyotes this year I have noticed that if I hit the shoulder or back that it makes a real nasty hole. I have my eye on a (64/40) black and white coyote and I don't want to mess him up. I want to get a full mount if I am lucky enough to get him. So I am looking for a fur friendly load for a .243. I am presently using a 100 gr. in a Model 70. Anybody have any experience with the lighter bullets? :confused:
My .243 loads were always designed to blow up what they hit so that nothing walked away and I know that is not what you are looking for. I did usually shoot 75 grain hollow point bullets and they worked very well. I a currently using some 55 grain bullets in my 6 BR, but again they are designed to expand/explode. I have had some of them that did not have an exit hole on a groundhog, but the entrance was about the size of a baseball. If you don't get some expansion you may end up with a pass through, which while it could end up with a kill, the animal could be a very long ways off with no blood trail. It is somewhat of a trade off. I think you might need to go with a solid bullet (not a ballistic tip or hollow point) and a milder load to keep the damage down.
Jerry