Don't get me wrong, 243 is a great caliber. I have 2 of them and that's what I choose to deer hunt with. If u are not trying to save the hides, its a great all around gun to buy. Me and a handful of my buddies hunt deer with them (savage, Remington,browning) and the federal powershok 100gr seem to fly great regardless of the brand.
I agree, there are better calibers for yotes. But if I can get a better price on a 243, I'll get it due to having a pile of ammo just collecting dust.
that little .243 has a fffflllllaaaaaatttt trajectory !! 200yrds no drop 300yrds 90gr bullet drop 1/2" !! not sure what it has left for energy at that range ... but it also has little recoil
This It always amazes me how little people understand trajectory, be it bows or rifles. Normal Remington core lok 100 gr Lighter 58 gr hornady vmax Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
The drift was figured with a 10 mph wind Here's the trajectory with no wind for the vmax Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
I made an error by posting the incorrect info, while looking up multiple ballistic charts for multiple calibers... with varying zeros... 100yrds, 200yrds, 250yrds, 300yrds 400yrd etc.. I shudda paided closer attention to what I was looking at ...
I bought the Savage 111 2 years ago with the accu-trigger and a Nikon scope for $499 at Bass Pro. I got a 30-06 but there was other calipers to choose from. Simple gun with bolt action and synthetic stock. Shoots great. Tho I haven't shot a ton of rifles to compare it to.
Just curious, why can't you rifle hunt in IL? I have an old Winchester 30-30 that I love to shoot. I know that a .17HMR is on my gun list, however.
Savage 111, Ruger American...both good rifle for the money. One that I say clear of would be the TC Venture....seen a couple that needed why to much work to make shoot. Don't discount a used rifle as you can get a higher quality gun on the cheap in the right situation.
Vote for savage here. I've heard people talk bad about savage, but I own 3 of them and the all shoot very well. Especially for the price. I just picked up a savage 30-06 with scope for $330. Didn't need it. But for that price nice gun to have. I also have an older .243 savage that I grew up shooting. I have no problems shooting that gun far distances. I have taken numerous whitetail bucks at 275 yards and further. And that was when I was living in North Dakota along the canadian border. The .243 is a flat shooting gun. I used it for coyotes as well.
If you want something that is not expensive and not to fancy but will get the job done get a stevens its made by savage just dosn't have the "accu trigger" and "accu stock" i have the Stevens model 200 and it is really accurate even with a 70 dollar scope i was going to put a better scope on it and test its limits but then i found bows ( stevens is an "off brand of savage" , Kinda like Bowtech and Diamond made by the same people just one is cheaper.
I have a lot so Savage rifles. All different models. My favorite is my Model 111 25-06, very good gun.
There is alotta ways to Look at it. U want a good all around caliber for bigger animals and yotes to go get a .243 or 25-06 or 260 rem. that will kill most of your animals you will hunt around Illinois. Far as the gun it's a broad spectrum. You can get used Brownings in abolt or xbolt for 500$ hardly used. Savage makes a good gun and the acu trigger is nice too. Some these boys talkin bout them cheap savage axis guns. They are Small and light and a good bang around gun but I'd like to watch 1 these cats shoot a 30-06 in that axis. Probably waters there eyes it kicks so flippin hard but they ain't mentioning that. 30-06 is a all American caliber as is 270 but frankly it's over kill and all in what u want. You can look at te cheaper line of savage called Stevens. They are shooters of a gun too. And as others have mentioned howa makes a solid lil gun too but for my liking its more of a 22 250 gun for me