My wonderful wife gave me a new winchester model 70 .243 for Christmas!! Now what I am needing to know is:

1) what scope do you guys suggest?

2)what ammo do you suggest (manufacturer, grain, etc.)?

I will mostly be varmint hunting (coyotes). Thanks for any advice you can give, and Merry Christmas!

nice gun... Should be good for 'yotes...

I am not too good with grain bullets, but my guess is that they should have a varmint round in .243 and that should work for coyotes.

As for the scope, it depends on how much you want to spend and what distance you will be hunting. Probably a 3-9 or 4-12 would be good.

In the "cheap" realm (<$125) I would look at the Simmons Aetec

In the "moderate" realm ($150-300) I would look at a Burris FF2 (offered with a free spotting scope), A Sightron SII, or a Bushnell Elite 3200.

In the "expensive" realm (>$300) I would look at a Nikon Monarch UCC, Bushnell Elite 4200, or a Zeiss Conquest.

Good luck!

I like the Tasco Varmint/Mil dot scope.Cheap but very effective.It is 6-24x.I hunt with 10x or less,but at the range you gotta have magnification....12x isn`t enough power for me at 100 yds shooting targets.These scopes are less than $100.Love the mil-dot system.

This is my 243

I haven`t shot factory ammo in centerfire for a few years now.Wasn`t impressed with it.But if I were to shoot factory....the Remington Premiere Varmint would be a good choice probably.Whatever you get,buy at least 5 boxes with the same lot number on the box.I would stay in the 70-75grain bullet range for varmints....I dont care for the 55-58gr bullets.

After swabbing out the bore and then DRY patching the rifle to get out all the grease/oil/solvents and you make it to the range,it is my advice(take it for what it`s worth) to take only the cleaning rod with a wire brush on it.Putting anything in the bore between shots changes point of impact.In fact....it might take ten shots just to burn out the solvents/oil etc you may put in the bore at home.Just my observations on my rifles.Other peoples rifles may be able to shoot well with stuff in the bore,but not any I have shot of my own.

Save your brass....you may take up reloading.And since your brass is all the same manufacturer and lot number you won`t have to buy a new bunch of brass to get started.

thanks!! any body else??? i need all the help i can get. and what grain bullet would you use for coyotes??

On scopes I would go w/ a Zeiss Conquest. I bought one for my new gun and the scope is very clear. I also looked at some Leupold's and Burris and they were also very nice scopes. You should go w/ the best scope you can afford. You will be glad you did later on.

I would go with a 3x9 or 4x12 scope as you don't need any more magnification for coyotes or big game.As for brand,I would consider the bushnell elite 3200 or perhaps a nikon.As for bullet weight ,I would go with a 70gr to 85gr bullet.You will need to test a few different loads in your rifle and then use the most accurate one.

http://www.winchester.com/products/c...zIFdpbmNoZXN0Z

Thoes are the bullets i would use for coyotes.
55 grain