I am about to buy one of the above in .243"
Can anyone advise on the pro's and con's of these two rifles?
It will be mainly a (UK) deer rifle but also for the occasional nights lamping for foxy.
I have narrowed down to these two but am open to any similar priced alternatives?
I am a leftie-shooter but I prefer a right hand action and neutral/ambi stock over a dedicated left-hand rifle.
Any advice welcome!

I Am Also L-handed. One Thing To Concider Is That If You Will Want A Aftermarket Stock Down The Road Only A Few Are Made For Only A Few Rifles. Browning Is Not One Of Them And Tikka Is Not Also. Remington Is And There Are A Few Out There. I Shoot A Browning Stainless Stalker 300 Win Mag In L-h And Love It. It Will Shoot Sub Moa All Day Long. I Also Have A Rem. Sendaro In 7mm Stw That Is Right Hand And Will Clover Leaf Also. Savage Makes A Very Nice Gun For A Great Price That Will Shoot With The Big Boys All Day Also.

I have a Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker in .270 WSM, and a Winchester M70 Coyote in .243 WSSM. Both rifles are very good, but are entirely different in character. The Stainless Stalker has a light contour barrel and weighs about 6 1/2 pounds without scope/mounts, sling, etc. The Coyote has a medium-heavy countour barrel and weighs more like 8 1/2 pounds.

I have the Stainless Stalker for a light, handy hunting rifle (primarily white tail deer). I have the Coyote set up as a long range heavy varmint rifle with 4.5-14x Leupold scope and Harris bipod. You could carry the Stainless Stalker all day without really noticing it. The Coyote you notice as soon as you pick it up.

Both rifles will probably require a little attention to their triggers. The Browning came from the factory with a pretty crisp trigger with about a 5 pound trigger pull. The Winchester came from the factory with a crisp, but heavy (approx. 5 - 6 pound) pull. I had my gunsmith adjust the Browning's trigger as low as he thought safe, which worked out to 2.75 pounds. The Winchester trigger could have been adjusted to about the same pull weight, but that didn't meet with my desires for this rifle, so I had the trigger replaced with a Kepplinger adjustable set trigger. The Kepplingler trigger was adjusted to 1.3 pounds unset, and 8 ounces set.

The Browning Stainless Stalker was one of the easiest rifles to get zeroed in that I have. With factory 150 grain Ballistic Silvertips, it will consistenly shoot three shot groups from a bench in the 1 1/2" to 2" range at 200 yards. The Coyote took a little more playing with, but with factory 55 grain Ballistic Silvertips it will shoot three shot groups around +/- 3/4" at 200 yards. I haven't had the chance to hand load for either of these rifles yet, but I think I will be able to improve on the performance of the factory loads when I do.

I like both of these rifles very much. I would think that the type of hunting you're planning on should be the determining factor in which of the two you should choose. If you're planning on hunting while on the move, go with the Browning. If you're thinking of hunting more from a fixed position, go with the Coyote. Either way, you won't go wrong.

I have the Coyote in 308 and love it. If weight is an issue with you then the Browning is probably the better choice. We stalk a lot for Blackbuck and Axis in the Texas hill country but weight for me is not an issue because I have more control over a heavy gun free-handed than a light sporter rifle. Now, I can't hold it all day, but the initial control is more stable for me. I bedded my stock, recrowned the barrel, and lowered the trigger to 2#. I ordered thru an FFL my rifle and was a little dissapointed with the Winchester quality control. It is an unbelievable shooter now and the folks at Win./Browning were great at making good on my work done even before the first shot. Good luck !

i also shoot a 243 in remington 700 action and its great. the browning a-bolt is also a awsome gun it is actually the tightest shooting factory rifle that i have seen. but either one of these guns is a great choice and also when you buy the gun i ha ve found remington 100 grain coreloct rounds to be the best not a missfire or a hang fire yet. but with any round if you sight in 1 1/2 inches high at 100 yards the gun will be dead on at 200 and still shoot accurately at any closer range