243 or 6mm

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IMO the 6MM should have won out, just like the .280 Remington should beat out the .270 Winchester...but due to being beat to market neither one of them did. Now it is harder to find guns chambered in those cartridges than it is factory ammo for them. 6mm is almost imposible to find a gun chambered for it, unless you go the custom rout or rechamber an existing gun.

If you kind of like the idea of an obsolete cartridge that is a little better than its competitors then the 6mm is the way to go. The .225 Win has been obsolete for years, but they still make brass for it. Or you could step up to the non-obsolete, but not as wildly popular as the .243, 6.5x55. Not much affordable varmint factory rounds for it, but again you can reload.
 
grubbylabs said:
I am getting the Idea that if you hand load the 6mm is the way to go, but if you ever think you may need to use factory ammo then you are going to be happier with the 243.

Is that as close to a correct assumption as one could get from a thread like this?
Click to expand...

Maybe. The 6mm can be handloaded up to ~3100fps maybe just a bit more with a 100gr bullet. The .243 can get up to ~3,000fps. With a 60gr varmint bullet the difference is perhaps only 50fps.

Also I take it that I will be hard pressed to find a new 6mm but can find a new 243 pretty much any wear they sell rifles?
Click to expand...

Pretty much.
 
The 6mm has a slightly longer neck, and it is not difficult to handload (but neither is a 243). However, the difference in performance between it and a 243 is not important.

In factory ammo, I can usually find Remington 100 gr., but that is about it.

In 243, you can get a much wider variety of factory ammo.

And the variety of current production 243s is huge.
 
I checked with a local gun shop and they seemed to think I might be able to get a remy with a heavy barrel on it new and that would be about it, so I guess I will either have to wait to find a good used one or just buy a new 243.
 
grubbylands,as much as I and couple of old hunters/hunting rifle buffs I know from the 60's and 70's love the hotter 6mm at the end of the day I myself would pick the .243 because in the end I can't ever see having an issue of having to scour the country side in search of decent 6mm ammo or ammo availabilty compared to the .243.
And they both are absolutely death on varmints and deer if the rifleman can shoot.
I own one 6mm,which is an old Remington 600 vent rib and two .243's which one is a Remington Mohawk 600 and the other is a righteously beautiful Finnish made and imported by Ithaca in the early 1970's called the LSA-55 Deluxe.
Either way both calibers will get it done.
 
Like others have said, 6mm if you are a handloader. It's very easy to reload and case life is pretty good. Plenty of case neck and my Remington 700 is a LA and longer bullets seat fine without ending up with a compressed load.
 
I'm going to throw gasoline on this fire:

Having loaded or owned or shot all (and shot deer with them), but the 6.5's, I'm going to recommend the .25/06 over the .243 and 6mm.

Recoil is less than the 7mm08, availability of ammo and rifles is near that of the .243,(much better than the 7mm08 or any 6.5 and any who have used both the .243 and .25/06 will readily acknowledge that the .25/06 is superior to the .243.

Couple that with the availability of the new Marlin XL7, it's a no-brainer. And, if elk are thrown into the mix, then the .25/06 is undoubtably better. (not saying that the .25/06 isn't a bit light for elk, but with the 120gr bullets, it's acceptable; can't say that for the .243 given the number of deer I've lost, or seen lost, or had shot by night-hunters/poachers and couldn't find the deer later.....).

The difference in recoil of a 100gr bullet from the .25/06 and .243 isn't much. Weight of rifle makes more difference...... But the .25 kills sooo much better in my experience.
 
I've seen or made shots on deer with a 100 grain psp from a .243 at ranges from 20-250 yards. Every deer either dropped right there or well within sight except for one I gut shot (he ran maybe 100 yards). I don't understand how guys can say they've seen so many deer get wounded by a .243. The only possibility is piss poor shot placement which is not the caliber's fault. If you can't place a bullet properly with a .243, you don't belong in the deer woods.
 
grtwhthntr,I think the reason a lot of the statements of people that claim they have seen so many deer shot with the .243/6mm that "got away" is because too many with marginal shooting ability have used the chambering as a beginners rifle and have blotched the shot.
Then the myths get started over a period of years.
Back when I was younger the older hunters swore them off as game cripplers and being young and inexperienced I took it as the gospel according to the knowledgeable.
Fast forward years later and have come to the conclusion they knew not what they spoke off.
 
My mother in law has a set of elk antlers hanging on the wall complements of her 6mm.

I will have to look into the 25:06 I have a friend who shoots one and he likes it a lot, I have yet to see him kill an animal with it but I think that is mostly because he does not really hunt.
 
x2 Art, Heeler and Gertrude. :)

Believing in common-knowledge or group-think isn't for individuals
(that can do their own thinking) it's only for followers and leaders.

Being an individual I want to know what that thinking is but after
that I'll take it from there, thank you. ;) And in the meantime the
leaders can stuff it. LOL :)

Shoot a little ol' deer in the neck with a .223 and it'll knock it flat
as a pancake.

-----------------------

Heeler, what's the group size on your ribbed 6mm 600 Remington? :)
And your two 243's too, while we're at it?

------------------------

Back in the 80's a friend from work asked me about buying a rifle
for his son and since he was already into 130gr bullets in his .270
and later his son when he got older would step up to .270 too, so
I told 'im to get a .243 and shoot 100gr bullets since they pretty
much have the same trajectory. :)

Alvin in AZ
 
Personally, I would liken shooting a deer with a .223 (or .222 or .222 Mag) to shooting dove with a .410. It is a game for experts demanding precise shot placement. The only deer that I have ever lost was one I shot with a .223. I still regret dropping the hammer on that one. The 6's are my personal minimum.

While I like the 25-06, for our questioner I would suggest .257 Roberts over it. A 25-06 with a long, heavy barrel tends to be hard to tote and pretty heavy for a youngster. A 257 Roberts with a 100 gr kicks less than a 243 all else being equal. But, either a .257 Roberts (Ruger Hawkeye Ultralight and standard are in current production) or a nice little 243 (Remington model 7, Ruger 77 in standard, compact, or ultralight, T/C Icon, etc) would be a great gun for the boy. And the Dad may never be able to reclaim it.
 
Alvin,my little vent rib does pretty well with 100 gr. Winchester Power Points and when I am right can get an inch to inch and a quarter three shot hundred yard group.
My Mohawk .243 is phenomenal using of all things Federal Blue Box 100 grain ammo.
When I take my time I can put three rounds that you can cover with a dime.
It's the most accurate rifle I have ever owned.
Now this will probably come as a shock but I came across the beautiful Ithaca at a gun show two or three years ago and bought a Nikon 3x9x40 Buck Master scope for it.
Well,the factory included type of rings set too low to accept a 40 mm type of scope.
Understand most scopes at the time that rifle was produced (early 1970's)had much smaller eye pieces and as time went by scopes started growing until you have the boat anchors of today.
So, I sold the Buck Master and bought a Bushnell Legend 2x7x32 and it has set in the box since I received it at least two years ago.
Pretty lame I know but I own a lot of hunting rifles and finally since next week I am leaving for a week of hunting I was actually going to mount it and sight it in this Sunday....So we will see later how well it shoots.
If it's any example of older made Finnish rifles of the past I imagine it will be pretty good.
But it will be hard to best my little Mohawk because that little carbine is a true drill!!
 
Art Eatman said:
From what i understand, most .243s come with a 1:10 or 1:9 twist, so they stabilize bullets between 55 and 105 grains. The 6mms, at least the earlier versions, had a slower twist and didn't group all that tightly with "deer sized" bullets. More of a varmint gun...
Click to expand...
I thought this as well, but I just checked the twist (cleaning rod test) on my Parker Hale and found that it is a 1:10in. twist. I bought it solely because I got a good deal and had an action which would accommodate the .280Rem. but now I am having second thoughts. Despite the heavy barrel, it is capable of deer hunting with the heavier projectiles (great for taking along someone recoil sensitive) and would make a good groundhog buster to boot.

Don't get me wrong the 6mmRem. (or .243Win.) isn't my favorite cartridge (doesn't perform as well as i'd like on quartering shots), but i'd end up spending more than I paid for the rifle (which wasn't much) to have it re-barreled. OTOH, if I were buying new i'd go with a .260Rem. or larger...even for young folks. If you are set on one or the other the .243Win. gets my vote solely due to greater ammunition and components availability.

:)
 
I was in the aussie outback a couple of years ago and they had a hailed out 243 that we used on roo's and pigs. The rifle was so poorly maintained I dumped some diesel fuel through the action to loosen it up. The critters did not seem to notice the poor condition of the rifle or the crude handloads. My point is the .243 is everywhere.
 
Just picked up a new Rem-700 VTR in .243 a couple weeks ago, i use mine exclusively for coyote's,, was using a bushmaster xm-15 .223 ar-style previously ,, the .223 just was so un-predictable after 150 yds (only 16" barrel) after dialing-in my 243 on in-expensive federal 100-gr core-lokt i swithced to 65-gr hornady varmint loads and then back to hornady 95-gr SST as i found the lighter varmint loads to still drift with the wind more than i cared for ,, some may say the 95-gr is heavy for yote's,, however i just took a yote last wknd at approx 240 yds thru thick brush and she didnt even flinch upon impact,just dropped straight to the ground,, i would not have any hesitation to take a deer with this gun,, i have about 6-different sporting-stores to buy ammo from in my area,, and i have yet to see a box of 6mm on the shelf or even a rifle in 6 mm for sale in my area,,, last time i handled/looked over a 6mm was 10 years ago,, do they still make'em ??
 
They are very close to the same ballistics. The 6 is about 100 fps faster than the 243. No big deal.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised Krochus hasn't chimed in yet...

Anyway, he did a study a while back that concluded something very different. While the 243Win and 6mmRem may have similar ballistics on paper, Krochus was not able to achieve anywhere near the published velocities of ANY factory ammunition, OR of published hand loading data, even when fired from a barrel of the same length as the listed test barrels.

If I remember correctly, this was not the case for the 6mm Rem, which was able to achieve velocities very close to those published.

The 243 Win is an effective double use cartridge... but its paper stats are pretty much a lie. In real world shooting, the 6mm Rem has proven superior.
 
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