The .243 is a real coyote cartridge and it is the one to reach for when the wind is the problem. A 55 to 75 grain bullet out of a .243 shoots flatter and drifts less than anything a .22 centerfire will do, and it will still be going when a .223 has given up.
It is also, overwhelmingly, a deer cartridge — and that is what the rifles are. Ninety-six carry it in the current catalog, and six of them are built for varmint or predator work. Those six are below, and the other ninety are not useless, they are just deer rifles.
The varmint and predator models
| Rifle | Barrel | Twist | Weight | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tikka T3x Super Varmint Tungsten Cerakote Bolt Action Rifle | 23.7in | 1:8 | 8.4 lb | 5+1 |
| Mossberg Patriot Predator Brown/Strata Camo Bolt Action Rifle | 22in | 1:10 | 6.5 lb | 5+1 |
| Mossberg Patriot Predator Matte Blued/Flat Dark Earth Bolt Action Rif | 22in | 1:10 | 6.5 lb | 5+1 |
| Ruger American Gen II Predator Burnt Bronze Cerakote Bolt Action Rifl | 22in | 1:9 | 6.7 lb | 3+1 |
| CVA Cascade Varmint Hunter Flat Dark Earth Cerakote Bolt Action Rifle | 20in | 1:10 | 8.7 lb | 10+1 |
| Savage Impulse Predator Black/Camo Bolt Action Rifle | 20in | 1:9.25 | 8.7 lb | 10+1 |
Six rifles from six makers, which tells you the category is maintained rather than crowded — Ruger’s Generation II Predator and Savage’s Impulse among them. The Tikka is the only one with a barrel past 23 inches; the Mossbergs are the light ones at six and a half pounds; the CVA and the Savage are heavy at 8.7, built to sit still rather than to be carried.
The long barrels
If you are buying a .243 for reach, barrel length does more for you than a badge does. These are the rifles at 23 inches or more that are not in the table above:
| Rifle | Barrel | Twist | Weight | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weatherby Mark V Backcountry Ti 2.0 Graphite Black Cerakote Bolt Acti | 24in | 1:10 | 4.7 lb | 5+1 |
| Weatherby Mark V Camilla Deluxe High Gloss/Brown Bolt Action Rifle - | 24in | 1:7.5 | 6.5 lb | 4+1 |
| Weatherby Mark V High Country Graphite Black Cerakote Bolt Action Rif | 24in | 1:7.5 | 5.7 lb | — |
The other ninety
87 of the ninety-six wear a 20 or 22 inch barrel. That is the modern deer rifle, and it is what the .243 is mostly sold as. There is nothing wrong with one for coyotes — it will shoot the same ammunition and kill the same animals — but you are buying a rifle configured for a different job, and the published velocities on the load data come from longer tubes than that.
If the coyote is the point rather than a bonus on a deer rifle, start with the six above.
Twist, and what it costs in fur
Twist is not the argument here that it is on the .22-250. The spread is 1:10 on thirty-nine rifles and 1:9.25 on thirty-six, and the .243 varmint loads run 55 to 95 grain — every one of which those twists will hold. Buy on barrel and weight; the twist will be fine.
The real cost of a .243 on coyotes is not ballistic, it is the hide. A 55 grain bullet leaving at nearly 3,900 feet per second — Winchester’s Varmint X and Nosler’s Varmageddon both load for it — does emphatic work on a coyote and does not always leave much to sell. If fur is the point, the .204 or a fast-twist .22 is the more careful answer, and the .243 is what you bring when the wind is worse than the fur price.
How this was checked
Ninety-six rifles listed in a major US retailer’s catalog on 4 September 2026, with barrel, twist, weight and capacity from that retailer’s published specification for each model. “Varmint” and “predator” here means the maker calls it that — a label rather than a specification, which is why the long-barrel table sits beside it.
A catalog listing is not a stock check, and this is one retailer.
No paid links. The rifle tables here are editorial.