Rifle number two.

[The smiling swordsman]

I am now up to four guns. A pistol, two shotguns and a small rifle. (See below) I know that I want a larger bolt action rifle to "finish out" my collection. What I don't know is what caliber I want.

I have my grandfathers old Winchester 9422m that was given to me after he died but I also want something that would be large enough to hunt deer or wild hogs. I do not foresee myself ever hunting anything larger than that. I am also not the type of guy who feels that bigger is always better when it comes to caliber.

I am looking at getting a 243 in the next couple of months but would like to know if the benefits of a 243 would be redundant given the fact that I already have a 22 WMR. Should I kick it up a notch and look at 308s or 270s instead?

 

[Red Tornado]

A .243 is a pretty large jump from 22WMR. It's fine for deer, but I don't know about hogs. I think it may depend on what size hogs you have, but someone who's hunted them will have to fill you in on that.

That said, a little larger would definitely work for either, a .270, 7x57, .308, or the American classic, 30-06 will all work fine. As will dozens of others. People tend to have their pet calibers that they swear by, and I usually accept that they're all correct. It mostly just depends on what you feel the cutoff in power is. Check some ballistic charts and you'll have fun for hours comparing bullet weight, muzzle velocity, and muzzle energy.

Good luck and enjoy the search process.
RT

 

[H2oPumper]

The 30-06 has become a good baseline to compare other calibers to. The 30-06 has enough energy left in a standard 150 grain bullet to take a deer out to about 700 yards, the 243 hits its practical limit at about 450 yards. Neither are, for the average hunter, and ethical shot. The 243 may tend to make you a more accurate shooter because of the anticipated recoil is less of a factor. The 243/308/270/30-06 will be easier on the wallet to shoot and any will be fine for deer and probably hogs. If I had the chance to hunt hogs, and I had all those calibers in my safe, I'd probably grab the 308 or 30-06.

 

[snakeman]

243 is fine on deer and hogs. That said a 308 is better. I like both.

 

[jim243]

Far be it from me to tell anyone not to get a 243. I love it.
Jim

 

[The smiling swordsman]

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[A.Rifleman]

While other cartridges can also be used for varmints the versatile 243 is superb for that and summer pest shooting is just about here now. A great time to get out and practice as well.

 

[280shooter]

7-08 or a 260..maybe both..

 

[LoonWulf]

The .243 has a versatility advantage on pretty much anything else if your planing on shooting lighter bullets for varmints/coyotes etc. It also offers bullets of very good BC pretty high velocity for mid to long range targets or light medium game hunting. Where it looses out is when shooting bigger game. It would be (and IS) my 70-200lb game caliber, Ive killed goats farther then i should be shooting at them, and punched 105grn amax clean thru a good size axis doe at 30yds. If you hunt larger deer, or game larger THAN deer, youll want to move up in caliber unless your very very confident.

 

[ms6852]

The .243 is a great caliber, but in all honesty I would not recommend it until you had purchased a 30-06 caliber. This caliber will cost less than the 243 in ammo. And if you do not know this you can purchase a wide variety of factory ammo that would even be ideal for varmint by buying bullets in 110 gr,125gr,150,165,180,220 and if you reload any caliber inbetween the 308 could not deliver enough energy at longer distances. If you plan to hunt and or shoot long distances the 30-06 is the only caliber you need to bring down any animal in America.

 

[LoonWulf]

By in between do you mean smaller then the .308, or between the .308 and the 06?

 

[Maverick223]

7-08 or a 260..maybe both.

^That. Good compromise...actually, they aren't much of a compromise, just better.

 

[valnar]

Welcome to the forum.

.270, 7x57, 7mm-08 and 6.5x55 are all great middle cartridges. If you aren't going to reload though, I highly recommend the .270. If you can take the slight increase in recoil, you can find plenty of relatively cheap .308 too.

Remember...many of the recommendations on THR are based on ballistics, not economics. Not everyone reloads, so I thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[berettaprofessor]

to "finish out" my collection

Bahwaahhh! Now that's the funniest thing I've heard all day....

 

[fallout mike]

.243 is fine for hogs. An uncle of mine killed 7 hogs with a .17hmr this year, during squirrel season this year. I've shot one once at a deer and killed it. I prefer a .270 for deer but the .243 is fine for that too

 

[Maverick223]

Remember...many of the recommendations on THR are based on ballistics, not economics. Not everyone reloads, so I thought I'd throw that out there.

Very true. Despite the 7mm-08Rem. becoming much easier to procure and less costly in the past few years (it's pretty much on par with .243Win. prices), there are better values for someone that doesn't handload and has no plans to start. The venerable '06 would top my list if that's a priority.

 

[shaggy430]

30-06.

 

[Furncliff]

"I am also not the type of guy who feels that bigger is always better when it comes to caliber. "



If that's the case .243 will work fine. The next question to ask is what kind of rifle and sights, because those will be determined by the kind of terrain your hunting in.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I think the 30-06 is as close to perfection as you can have in a rifle cartridge. You can never go wrong with it. With modern powders that have been developed in the last 100 years, the current 308s are equivalent to the original 30-06. Either 308 or 30-06 would be my choice. I personally hunt with 30-30 or 30-06.

By the way, down the road i suggest adding a 22 rifle to your collection. They are fun and inexpwnsive to shoot and can provide a way to practice more.

 

[CraigC]

IMHO, the .243 is just too in-between. There are far better big game cartridges and far better varmint cartridges. You can always hunt varmints and predators with your deer rifle but the reverse is not necessarily true. The .250's are great for deer but if hogs are on the menu, I'd opt for something that likes heavier bullets beginning with the 6.5's. The .260 and 7mm08 would be prime choices.

 

[SlowFuse]

The 7mm-08 seems like the happy medium you're looking for based on what you've mentioned. If you're willing to go to a long action cartridge, as others have said, I'd go with a 30-06 hands down.

 

[Maverick223]

IMHO, the .243 is just too in-between.

I used to feel the same way...till I purchased a 6mmRem. I still don't use it for hunting large game (I'm certain it would do fine, but I have other chamberings that I prefer), but it has become my go-to varmint rifle. It bucks the wind nicely, whilst maintaining low recoil and fairly flat trajectory. It burns quite a bit of powder to achieve the task, though it isn't too terribly hard on barrels (certainly an improvement over a 220Swift, .22-250Rem., or .223WSSM).

 

[valnar]

To the OP: As someone who didn't intend to own many calibers either, I ended up buying far more than I originally expected.

My original intention, which I mostly stuck to, was to buy guns that ballistically fit the small-medium-large paradigm, with "large" meaning a .308 since I don't intend on hunting Grizzlies. I have no need for anything much larger than a .308 or .30-06

For me it's (.22LR), .223, 6.5x55 and .308. 6.5x55 is the oddball for us North Americans, but I love the Swedish Mauser so much that I'm saving up for a modern rifle chambered in it too.

As to my intend statement, I also have 7.62x39 and .30-30 even though they are redundant, simply because I like the rifles I own that use them. Both of those are my 'fun' guns.

 

[The smiling swordsman]

I know that I probably will not actually "finish out" my collection. I am just looking for a starting point since I don't really know what I want yet. I have shot a number of guns in different calibers but only at targets.

I will probably start off cheap with a common caliber on this first rifle (Savage, Marlin, Ruger American) until I can get a feel for what it is I am looking for.

Again thank you all for the replies you have been very helpful.

 

[CraigC]

I had a .243 for a while. It was a wonderfully accurate 700ADL that only cost me $250 but the first time a 100gr Federal blew up on a doe's ribcage I traded it.