.243 ballistic advantages vs .223 cost?

[Redlg155]

The .243 is a great caliber that will do everything you want provided that you do your part and use a platform that will get the most accuracy out of the caliber that you choose.

I would definitely look at the Savage guns. I used to own a Savage 10 FP, short acton .308/16 inch barrel with Accutrigger that was a great shooter.

A lot depends on if you reload or not. If you don't, then a .308 will get you the most bang for your buck. I've been ordering a lot of Privi 168gr Match at $13.50 a box lately from Palmetto State Armory.

 

[stubbicatt]

223 is a fine varmint rifle, I've used one extensively to shoot prairie dogs to distances of up to 600 yards. Holdover becomes a serious issue as those distances increase. To my way of seeing it, I can shoot 2 or 3 of the little 223 cartridges and generate about the same heat in the barrel as 1 of the 243 cartridges. So for the application of prairie dog shooting, I would give the nod to the 223.

For coyotes or anything else up to and including elk, I would choose the 243. In fact, when shooting for recreation, I nearly always prefer the 243.

I have shot 243 at prairie dogs, and with lighter bullets the downrange performance is spectacular. It does shoot a bit flatter as well. The cost of bullets is a bit more for the 243 than the 223 for some reason, even in the same weight, $18.29 for 55 vmax in 223, versus $20.49 for 58 grain Vmax in 6mm at MidwayUSA this morning.

Good luck in your choice!

 

[Ar180shooter]

the 243 will smoke a 308 at any distance in wind drift and drop. Drop has little to nothing to do with it but the ability to have some leadway in a wind call is worth its weight in gold. There is a reason why the 308 isnt seen much in precision field matches. I shoot a 260 for matches but take a look at the PRS series final shooter list. There is more 6mm shooters than all the rest, and they can shoot whatever they want. My 260 barrel is about shot out for the year and im seriously concidering going to .243

Take a look at some of the .30 cal VLD's. They're very close in performance to the 6mm's. But this isn't really the point I raised. .308 win is cheaper and has a more plentiful variety of factory ammo available. OP also said that he wanted it to be a backup hunting rifle/cheap longer range plinker. He didn't say he'd be shooting matches, so I don't see why you're raising that point. Also, the rate of twist on some factory rifles may be too slow to properly stabilize the long, heavy .243 VLD's, which you usually have to hand load anyways.

 

[chaser_2332]

30cal doesn't come close until u get in to magnum's which is a whole different game. The 308 case is unable to push the heavy .30 fast enough to be in the same ballpark as the 6mm.

 

[mljdeckard]

I agree about looking for something other than the handi-rifle. I would cruise the pawn shops for a used bolt rifle in whatever cartridge.

 

[Sav .250]

Going "cheap" is fine if your cheap. There are times you have to buy quality to get a positive return for your money. Cheap has a different meaning then lets say....inexpensive. J s/n.

 

[mnhntr]

cheap rifle that shoots = Stevens 200
243 will do anything the 223 will do but the opposite is not true

 

[tactikel]

IMHO if you are really serious about 500 yard shots look at the .260. It is a great round for long range targets. This summer at the range a guy was tuning his .260 ( Krieger barrel) for a 300 yard match. At 100 yards his 5 shot groups were 0.1-0.2" Recoil was light. You really need a bolt action with a good scope and lots of practice. Good luck!

 

[helotaxi]

There is no appreciable difference between the .260 and the .243 (except that the .243 drops a bit less) at 500yds. It's not until you get out into the 1k plus range that the long, heavy 6.5mm pills start to demonstrate a real advantage. At any range, the .243 has less recoil.

People that actually go through and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the various cartridges when deciding on a competition rifle cartridge fled the .30 cals long ago for the 6.5mms. In the last few years, they've moved from the 6.5's to the 6's. The difference in BC between the best bullets in both isn't insurmountable as soon as you consider that the .243 shoots its high BC bullet 300fps faster than the .260. It takes a goodly amount of range to make up that velocity difference.

Comparing the .243 to the .308...no comparison. The .308 is a joke at long range. Using published loads and factory barrels (most .243s come with 1:9.25 twist barrels these days which will stabilize the 105 Hornadys except on a really cold day at sea level) the .243 shooting a 105 Amax holds a wind drift advantage all the way to 800yds compared to a .308 shooting a 208 Amax (which is the best balance of BC and velocity going in the .30 bullets). At 1000yds the .308 holds a 0.1MOA advantage. The .243 has a 10MOA advantage in drop at 1k. Not a big deal if you're shooting known distance, but at unknown distance, flat is good as it reduces the effects of range estimation error. It also reduces the effects of variations in muzzle velocity. If you move to a faster twist barrel it opens the door to better bullets in the .243. That's pretty much as good as it gets for the .308.

 

[heavydluxe]

I'd be interested to hear the OP chime in again. Maybe with little more rigid set of parameters for evaluation?

I always chuckle when someone asks "Thing One or Thing Two" questions and the thread turns into a "Thing 3!" or "Thing Eleventy" deal.

 

[taliv]

i agree with chaser. i like 260, but for most applications, 243 is better. yes you need a faster twist barrel (7.7 or 8) that you won't find off the shelf at walmart.

many of the numbers above are misleading because in the 6XC, 6Creedmoor, 6SLR etc you can easily push 105 bergers over 3200 fps. and that's out of 26" bbl.

i'm shooting about 7 mil to 1000 against people with 6mm that are shooting about 6 mil to 1000. the downside is you have less energy on target, and worse barrel life


re: 223 vs 243, if informal targets only, 223 is very cheap to shoot and plenty accurate. don't shoot animals with it at distance though

 

[helotaxi]

Punching paper and ringing steel, energy on target means squat. A hit's a hit. The barrel life is worse but you're still talking about spending more on ammo (even reloads) than the cost of a new barrel. You pay to play, no way around it. A new barrel every competition season or so is simply one of the prices of being competitive. If you want to compete with a barrel that will last for years, shoot F/TR but understand that you're shooting in a handicap match at that point.

For the OP, decide exactly what you want to gain. Do you want cheap shooting with bulk ammo, happy if you get one hit in 5? Do you want to shoot high quality ammo expecting to see good results? Are you trying to improve your overall shooting ability, including wind reading? A "yes" with each of those points to a different cartridge. The first is pure .223. The second is a tossup, since match quality factory ammo for either runs over $1 per round on average with the .243 being slightly more expensive and slightly harder to come by. The latter actually points to the .223 as well since its inferior ballistic performance amplifies all your mistakes with regard to loading the ammo, estimating range and adjusting for wind. I have a pretty good .223 bolt rifle and a tack driving .243. The .243 gets shot a lot more simply because I like shooting "reactive" targets like gourds and soda bottles full of water and it doesn't get interesting trying to get a hit on a 2-3" target until you're out past 300yds. At that range the .223 simply doesn't provide the crowd pleasing *smack* and explosive effects like the .243.