I like the round for all the reasons the gun rags tout...., There are still any number of people that speak poorly of the .243 for deer. In my opinion a good bit of the criticism that is leveled at the round as a deer cartridge is likely due to those people that have attempted to take deer with varmint bullets......, it is bullet construction IMO...., My choice for deer with this round are bullets of 100 grains at velocities around 3000 fps. There is quite a bit written about the maximum effective range of the .243 with some experts claiming that the round is at best, a 200 yard proposition. I disagree. I think 300 yards, maybe a tad further, is a realistic expectation......, My issue with the .243 the other side of 300 yards, is the residual energy of the bullet at that distance and what is considered adequate energy needed to reliably harvest a deer.
I think that the .243 Winchester suffers a lot from tradition and rumor, based on anecdotal evidence, plus lack of understanding of modernization.
"That's a kid's cartridge"
"That's a cartridge for women"
"That's a varmint round, not a deer round"
These are the three basic mantras that one hears, I think the most...perhaps with slight variations.
The cartridge was introduced in 1955 with less than 100 grain bullets. It was very good at taking varmints, but as pointed out, sometimes had real problems with taking deer. Most likely from the behavior upon impact of varmint bullets or..., poor marksmanship at a distance (past 200 yards). Because it had low recoil compared to its parent the .308, women and young hunters often used the .243 with pretty good success. BUT the sometimes poor results on deer meant that young hunters after a time would "up gun" to something like a 7mm Mauser, .308 Winchester, .270 Winchester or .30-06 because any of those had a reputation of being more "reliable" when launched from a bolt action. (In fact it is likely those cartridges were more "forgiving" of a average marksman
) So the reputation was born, and it stuck. The .243 was loaded, soon after it was introduced, with a heavier bullet to mitigate any problems on deer, but the rep was already established in some parts of the country.
I get similar opinions about my .530 patched round ball from a muzzleloader vs. deer. I'm often told by those who "know" that it isn't accurate past 50 yards and IF I did manage to hit a deer at around 100 yards, it wouldn't humanely harvest the animal (one clown told me the ball would
bounce off a deer, broadside at 150 yards.) So once a rep is established, it gets repeated generation to generation, and it can be tough to change. The .243 was soon loaded with a heavier bullet to mitigate any problems on deer, but the rep was already established in some parts of the country.
Bullets for
all modern cartridges haven't remained static for the past half century; neither have optic sights. Varmint bullets are better, and large game bullets are much better (imho). In fact one can find bullets tailored to the game and the circumstances. IF the hunter is using a cartridge of moderate speed, say something like the old .30 Remington, or a .30-30 Winchester, or even hand-loading a .308 toward the minimum level to mitigate recoil a bit..., there are bullets designed to perform at those lesser impact speeds at a moderate range. If there is a need for a bullet to be light and reach out far, and still deliver very quick results on a varmint, those bullets are there. If the hunter needs a round that will deform but reliably remain intact at high speeds there are those too, as well as if the hunter needs that heavy bullet that will penetrate at long range on dangerous game. Couple with that the improvement in scopes, pretty much all of the cartridge stereotypes from the 1950's and 1960's really no longer apply.
But for some reason..., the improvements in bullets and optics have only slowly started to change the rep of the .243.
NOW though, it's being "rediscovered". Many of us are aging to a point where that veteran rifle that we've been using for decades with a shoulder jarring .300 WinMag, or even a .30-06 isn't fun to shoot especially in a light rifle, and we find an all day schlep in the woods with an average weight rifle a bit much. Some of these folks have opted to go to a lighter rifle with the .243 and have found it works just fine on whitetail and mule deer. They find that the cartridge is accurate, and with handloads can be remarkably accurate, and the rifle is easy to carry all day and kicks very little. They are often heard (in my area at least) saying, "Gee I wonder why I stopped using the .243 all those years ago?"
ADD to that this COVID stuff, where the "popular" calibers were quickly sold out both in rifles and ammunition, and you have folks often defaulting into the purchase of a .243 rifle... and you hear a lot of them say, "I don't know why folks told me this was a kid's rifle..., works great for me on deer. I think this is now my go-to rifle."
LD
