Difference between 243 and 6.5

[viking499]

Is there a big difference between a 243 and 6.5x55 when looking at ballistics? If I had a 6.5, would be repetetive to have a 243? The 243 would shoot 100 grain and the 6.5 140 grain.

I also have a 204 and 223. Would the 243 be filling a void in calibers or would it be an overlap of calibers?

Just trying to decide if I need a 243. I want a 243, but like most of us, I want one of every caliber.

 

[taliv]

about half a millimeter

 

[esheato]

I think everyone needs a 243.

They're the perfect mid size caliber for varmint or larger.

Ed

 

[Shawnee]

God uses a .243.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

God uses a .243.

I beg your pardon!!

God uses a .30-06 -- in a pre-'64 Model 70 Winchester.

 

[Shawnee]

He uses that 30-06 for a tomato stake.

He uses a Ruger #1 in .243 to shoot with.

 

[one eye joe]

Handloaded, a modern 6.5x55 will move a 100 grain bullet 3300 fps or so. The .243 pushes a 100 grainer at around 3000. The 6.5 will push a 120 at that speed, and a 140 at around 2800+. I find the 6.5 will do anything the .243 will and will get close to what my .25-06 does with similar weight bullets. I find no need for the .243 in my stable although I have had one in the past. You can get bullets lighter than 100 grain in 6.5, and they should really humm along, if that is what you are interested in.

 

[viking499]

I am just trying to figure out if I need a 243. If it will be repetative of my 6.5x55.

 

[EHCRain10]

The 243 is a great round,
if you dont handload, the factory rounds offer a better selection that those for the 6.5x55, from 58grains up to 100grains
the factory 6.5 that ive seen has only gone from 120-150grains

 

[springer7676]

The .243 will shoot flatter than the 6.5 over short range shooting and long range shooting.

 

[skinewmexico]

Use your 6.5 to shoot at 1000 yards, and your 243 to shoot at 500

 

[Colt46]

The 6.5 is far more versatile

Many, many persons use the 6.5 swede on everything up to moose in europe. The .243 is a great dual purpose round with deer being the upper limit of what most people will use it for.

 

[Sunray]

"...Is there a big difference between..." Yep. The 6.5 x 55, like Colt46 says, is moose/elk sized game cartridge. The .243 is a varmint/deer/antelope/black bear cartridge. Far too light for anything bigger.
The usable bullet weights alone is vastly different. The heaviest 6mm hunting bullet, commonly seen, is a 105 grain SP. There are 107 grain match bullets and a 115 grain bullet, but not in factory ammo.
The 6.5 can go from 85 to 160 grains. Mind you, the rifling may not stabilise all those weights.
"...I want..." That's reason enough. Have a look at a Savage and think in terms of 80 grain bullets or heavier.
"...I want one of every caliber..." No you don't. You want one of every rifle. The cartridge or calibre doesn't matter. A Savage and a Remington .30-06 hunting rifle are pretty much the same. An M1 rifle isn't. Mind you, there's no rifle that's quite like an M1.
"...your 243 to shoot at 500..." Nope. 300 max. A 100 grain bullet drops 14.6" between 300 and 400 yards. The energy drops 200 ft-lbs too. 400 yards is too far for deer sized game for a .243.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Generally, the 6.5 will stablize heavy bullets -- it was orginally designed to shoot a 160-grain roundnose bullet and rifling that meets original specs, it will do that -- although longer, more streamlined bullets, and non-lead bullets (like the Barns X-series) may not be stabilized.

On the other hand, if you have a military barrel, you will have to seat light bullets waaaaay out for best accuracy. So very light, short bullets may suffer.

 

[627PCFan]

"The .243 is a varmint/deer/antelope/black bear cartridge."

Black bear? isn't that a little questionable?

 

[berettashotgun]

" IF I HAD A ......................."
So what; they are NOT redundant, most cartridges have overlap somewhere in their respective performance envelopes.
Lighten up fellas, I'm not comparing a 22lr to a 375 RUM.
My kids shot 243 rifles with 75gr Hornady H.P. for a few years - they killed deer like Thor's Hammer.
Non reloading people might just as well stay away from any caliber that the local wally world doesn't stock; My brother is rapidly finding this out ( 6mm, 220 swift, 6.5x284 )

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I know a fellow who shot a black bear twice with 165-grain Sierra boat tail softpoints from a .308. The first shot broke up on a shoulder -- it did break the bone, but didn't penetrate to the vitals. The bear swapped ends, and he shot again -- and again the bullet broke up on the shoulder, but didn't penetrate.

The bear pushed itself with its hind quarters into a "laurel hell" and my friend crawled in after it and finished it with a .357.

Since I had almost the same experience with the same bullet (in .30-06) with a white tail, I have tended to avoid that bullet.

 

[bogie]

I don't have a .243 anymore... I made it into a 6mmBR...

(heh, heh... Short and fat is where it's at.)

As for hunting game, it's all about bullet construction. I wouldn't go after bear using a deer bullet - But I'd be real happy with a .308 with a Nosler Partition...

 

[rangerruck]

if you can find, or build a rifle, in 243, that can accurately shoot the 70 to 85 grainers, you have a serious varmint getter out to 500 yds, with very little drop.
And of course, you can load a 6.5 with 160 grainers, and shoot way out there, with some of the highest b.c. ratings you will ever see with any bullet, which means it would take hurricane force winds to blow it off course.
I just got an old sporterized Carcano, for just such purposes. So no, I don't see them really overlapping at all.

 

[akodo]

the 6.5x55 in general loads heavier bullets and is more akin to full sized rifle catridges. It belongs in the same grouping as .270, 7mm-08, 7mm mauser, 30-06, and the like. Sure, it is probably at the bottom of that line, but that is the family it belongs in.

When looking at what it does on that end, it will outperform the .243 on deer and elk and black bear.

But that isn't the beauty of the .243, the 243 is supposed to overlap, it is supposed to give mostly the same performance as the 6.5x55 against deer sized animals, and it does. (but not when you step up to elk)

where the .243 shines is that it is also a great flat shooter for antelope, coyote, prairedog, and the like. The 6.5x55 with a 120-140 grain will be in the same ballpark as the .243 with a 100 grainer, BUT the 6.5x55 has got NOTHING that competes with the .243 using 55 grainers.

Yes there is overlap. But in truth the 6.5x55 is overlapping the .270 and the 7mm-08, etc. Or it is redundant to them.

The .243 doesn't overlap, it BRIDGES. The 243 isn't supposed to be for elk, it is supposed to be for deer...AND it is supposed to be for long range varmint. That one chambering covers a huge swath of game. When it all boils down to it the 6.5x55 is left with one trick. It is the softest recoiling cartridge that can handle elk. Everything else is overlap.

 

[Jason_G]

God uses a .243.

If God wanted a caliber of that size, I'm pretty sure he would go for the 6mm Remington...



Jason