What's your opinion on the 243?

[Uncle Mike]

243...
Good varmint round....mediocre deer round. Place your bullet in the right spot!

Why burn a pound of powder, schmelt barrels and fuss over pushing the 243 projectiles to speed that will better kill deer...why not shoot a cartridge that will do it without all the fuss?

 

[Maverick223]

I don't consider burning 50grs of slow powder to get a 100grn bullet to 3k to be particularly efficient. Not to mention how being so overbore relates to bbl life.

Me either, the .243 is pretty severely overbore. I wouldn't classify it as ideal for any type of game, but it will take down whitetail about as big as they come if you do your part. I would highly recommend something with a small case and a 6.5mm bullet. Good examples are the .260Rem., 6.5x55mmSwede, and 6.5mm Creedmoor. These will do everything that the .243Win will and carry more weight to the target for more effective terminal ballistics. Trajectory is near identical. Assuming recoil is not a hurdle the .280Rem (recoil similar to the .30-06) is another good performer with great trajectory, good efficiency, and even more terminal power (but this is probably not needed).

Either way you know as well as i do that the chambering has practically NOTHING to do with how accurate a rifle is or isn't

Exactly...finally someone else realizes this. Trajectory may suffer but you can make a .45ACP just as accurate as a .338LM out of the same rifle. The only factor that the chambering/cartridge has WRT accuracy is the distance at which it goes subsonic, and the .45ACP would actually be more accurate in this respect as it starts subsonic.

 

[tehweej]

I used a .243 for my first 5 deer and 5 antelope. I think there was one Whitetail and the others were muley's. The chest cavity was just hamburger meat. I shot a muley through the front of the chest and he picked up his legs and fell straight down in an almost cartoon-ish style. I wouldn't say the internal ballistics are efficient, but the terminal ballistics are devastating.

I kinda wish I still had mine for deer hunting...

Just my $.02.

 

[interlock]

243 with 100 gr bullets produces a very cloase ballistics match to .30-06 with 150 gr. yjays worth considering. I use .243 i have shot plenty of deer with it.

 

[harmonic]

why not shoot a cartridge that will do it without all the fuss

For the sake of argument, let's throw the 308 into the mix. Factory ammo is sold with up to 200 grain bullets. But with heavier bullets you need a slower twist. 1 in 10 has been recommended. The rifler I'm considering has a 1 in 11 twist. What limitations would the 1 in 11 twist have?

 

[Dirtpile]

What limitations would the 1 in 11 twist have?

That would probably max out at 165 grains. Likely still good with 168 gr match bullets.

As far as my opinion on the 243, While it is adequate up to mule deer, I would hesitate to recommend it to a new hunter. It works great if you get a good shot, but it's that if that make me recommend something a little bigger.
Generally I recommend 7-08 to new hunters due to its moderate recoil and more forgiving terminal ballistics.
That and I like .257 Roberts better, too bad it's dying.

 

[interlock]

165 gr is a big old lump of death on high velocity legs (even from .308)

 

[R.W.Dale]

243 with 100 gr bullets produces a very close EXTERNAL ballistics match to .30-06 with 150 gr. yjays worth considering. I use .243 i have shot plenty of deer with it.

as do just about any other 3000fps capable hunting cartridge you can think of. This is a huge misconception that one cartridge shoots enough flatter than another to matter on whitetail. All of the below cartridges properly ZERO'd will not fall outside an 8" kill zone point blanking it for a 300yd shot. Beyond 300 it doesn't mater what cartridge you use you HAVE to know the ballistics and range at which point energy starts to become a primary factor

243 win/ 100grn Hornady BTSP- ------4.90" (deer load)
25-06/ 100grn Federal Nosler B-tip ----5.0" (deer load)
260 rem/ 100grn Federal B-tip-------- -6.18" (deer load)
270win/ 100grn Federal Barnes TSX----5.28" (deer load)
7mm08/ 120grn Nosler B-tip-----------6.52" (deer load)
308win/ 125grn Nosler B-tip-----------6.27" (deer load)
30-06/ 150grn Federal Nosler B-tip-----6.36" (deer load)

There's a whopping 1.6" difference across the widest points above in terms of trajectory for the list above. You might miss bambi for a lot of reasons but I'll darn near guarantee you it won't be cause of the difference in trajectory

 

[mickeydim468]

To answer the OP's original question.

I think the .243 Win is a fine caliber. It was designed to kill game up to and including deer. Even large deer. out to a range of 300 or so yards. I wouldn't shoot mine any farther than that, but that is because I know my limitations with my .243 Win rifle. If you are looking to shoot at ranges further, maybe you should consider another caliber.

I wish you the best of luck!

Mikey!

 

[interlock]

or limit your shooting to what you are confident and competant at

 

[R.W.Dale]

Not available in the rifle I'm looking at. (Tikka left hand stainless lite)

But thanx for all the responses. I'm attracted to the 243 Tikka lite due to low recoil and light weight.

according to tikka the rifle in question is indeed available in 7mm08 and 260

http://www.tikka.fi/pdf/specs/LiteStainlessLH.pdf

but best of all they show a 6.5x55swede.......so why are we still even discussing 243win

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

6mm BR which shoots the same bullets at the same speeds

Umm... NO, it doesn't. Where in the world did you come up with that? You're right that the BR is a much more efficient overall cartridge than the .243 Win, and the .243 Win is not a particularly efficient cartridge; that much is true. But your blatently false statement cannot stand. The .243 Win gets 300-350 fps more than the 6mm BR at any given bullet weight.

To answer the original question, I'd say, with a vitals shot, up to around 300 lbs safely, without any performance / penetration concerns, provided you use the correct bullet for the job. With a neck shot or brain shot, probably around twice that, or 600+ lb ungulates, again, provided correct bullet choice (and as always, correct shot placement).

Oh, and I like the .243 Win, because it's the perfect LIGHT-recoiling neck-shot whitetail rifle round, which also serves very well as a target rifle round out to 300 yards. If I wasn't sure that I was limiting myself to neck shots on deer (but I do when I carry the .243), then I'd choose a .260 rem or bigger - that much is true. But the .243 with 80, 85, or 90 gr hunting bullets (not varmint bullets) is the perfect laser-like, hammer-of-thor-DRT for neck shots on whitetails, and it's fun to practice with to boot.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've tagged twenty-some bucks with my .243 Sako carbine. 85-grain Sierra HPBT, 37.5 grains of 3031. Typically, 5/8 to 3/4 MOA.

Mostly neck shots, a few cross-body heart/lung shots. No tracking needed, ever. The deer field-dressed 120 pounds and less; central Texas hunting.

I wouldn't use that load on an angling shot, particularly quartering away from me. If I were figuring on that, I'd go with a heavier bullet.

I did a culling program on my old family ranch, for a few years. Too many deer on the place. I never kept track of how many, but it was a bunch. All of them were bang/whop/plop DRT.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Umm... NO, it doesn't. Where in the world did you come up with that? You're right that the BR is a much more efficient overall cartridge than the .243 Win, and the .243 Win is not a particularly efficient cartridge; that much is true. But your blatently false statement cannot stand. The .243 Win gets 300-350 fps more than the 6mm BR at any given bullet weight.

Are you calling me a LIAR? This is what I mean about you 243guy's attitude

Go over to 6mmbr.com and look at the 6mmBR loads that push 95 to 105g bullets in the 2900fps range. Now we've already discussed how the throttle on 243win has to be pushed hard to the floor to get 100g bullets up to 3000fps. Granted 6mmBR operating at much higher pressure being compared to 243loaded within saami

If this were true NOBODY would shoot 6mm BR in competition , are you sure you're not thinking of 6mmBR-Rem


apples to apples comparison of FACTORY LOADS
Lapua Match 90gr Scenar moly 3050 fps 6MM BR
Remington 90gr Scirocco Premier 3120 fps 243win

that's well well within 100fps

 

[Art Eatman]

Folks can fall all over themselves apologizing to each other by PM or email, and that'll keep me off the Delete key. You don't want me to go back through the thread and play cleanup. You really, really don't want that.

Mr Hodgdon's #26 lists a good many 100-grain loads for the .243 at 3,000 ft/sec with around 45 grains of one powder or another.

Same book, 6mm Rem, same velocities, same amount of powder.

Live with it. I venture that the Hodgdon folks have a wee tad more experience with a chronograph than most folks here do.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Live with it. I venture that the Hodgdon folks have a wee tad more experience with a chronograph than most folks here do.

Yeah because we all know the velocities stated in manuals are always right (see post12) If you base ballistic decisions based on the velocity given in a reloading manual....well be prepared to miss a lot

I note thus far I'm the only person to post real world chrony data in this thread

 

[Art Eatman]

I mostly have based my ballistic decisions on dead critters.

 

[mickeydim468]

Last time I checked, my local Wal Mart, Bi-Mart, and Big 5 sporting goods all stocks the .243 Win, so does the Mom-n-pop gun store in town. I can't recall ever seeing 6mmBR in a factory deer load in any of the above mentioned stores.

Here is why that is important! Lets say you get out to your hunting camp that is 300 miles from home and realize, you forgot to bring your ammo. Thais has happened many times, not to me yet, but that's another issue. Where are you going to find any ammo for your hunt? Are you going to drive to the local yokel gun store or drive home? This is after all a deer rifle he was asking about right?

 

[shootr]

Reasonably-priced, readily available ammo is a big consideration of mine when I'm going far away.

OP (I believe it was) mentioned throwing .308 into the mix. I'd say that's a better choice than the .243 for deer. More bullet. More power. More "wallop."

Old MI whitetail hunter experience and JMHO. YMMV.

 

[Maverick223]

What limitations would the 1 in 11 twist have?

I think you can use up to a 200gr. RN (and perhaps 220gr. RN) without any trouble, but spitzers would be limited to about 168gr. I would take a close look at the Tikka in .260Rem, 6.5x55mm, or perhaps 7mm-08 (and it appears that they are available in the SS Lite)...they are the best of both worlds IMO.

 

[Joe Demko]

I hunted with a .243 for 25 years. My dad even longer. We killed a mountain of deer with them. I switched to another cartridge for reasons completely unrelated to performance. .243 is a fine cartridge.

 

[Art Eatman]

"We killed a mountain of deer with them."

Yup. All in all, I can't complain about my foothill, these last forty years.

 

[skiking]

The .243 is a great deer cartridge, and I would use it on any deer that I came across and I would use it on elk if the shot was right and that was the rifle I was packin. I load mine up with 44.4 gr IMR 4350 behind 100 gr Hornady BTSP and am getting 3056 fps out of a Rem 700 with a 22" tube.

 

[qman2]

Here in CO it fulfills the minimum requirements for elk hunting, and it knocks elk down too.

That oughta be enough.

 

[ThomasT]

I note thus far I'm the only person to post real world chrony data in this thread

I use 43grs of IMR 4350 with a 100gr Sierra or 100gr remington and get 2925fps average velocity from my model 700 with a 22" barrel. I use the same powder reduced to 41grs with a Nosler 100gr partition for 2850fps average velocity. Those are chonographed loads.

I like my 243 and have no plans to sell it. For the deer we hunt here in Texas its just fine. When I go to Colorado I usually take a 7x57, 7-08 or a 30-06. Just my druthers when spending so much to go on a hunt.