So the local gun shop has a Ruger Hawkeye compact in 243 for $560, would this be a practical hunting rifle? I like the idea of a light and small rifle, it's nice to use in my tent or tree stand, I do have a 308 with a 24" barrel that I won't cut down, used to be my granddad's rifle, what would be the max range for deer?
16 inch barrel?
- Thread starter 6.5x55swm
- Start date
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
243 with a 16" would be a nice little dear gun.
range well I would say as far as you are able to shoot accurately.
guys use 50 fps reduction per inch of barrel so 4" shorter 200fps less, still 243 is a nice little zippy round, you should have no problems workgin up a handload with a little faster powder that will work fine.
range well I would say as far as you are able to shoot accurately.
guys use 50 fps reduction per inch of barrel so 4" shorter 200fps less, still 243 is a nice little zippy round, you should have no problems workgin up a handload with a little faster powder that will work fine.
tylerjwitty
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northern Ontario
contaucreek
CGN Regular
- Location
- Methropolitan Haliburton Ont
I think its illegal to shoot your dear
...and I wouldn't use it in a tent either...
My Ruger Frontier 358 is far more accurate than I ever imagined a 16.5 " rifle would be .
And as for reach it has no problem bouncing 200 gr. Hornadys off the 300 yd. gong.
It filled a deer tag first time out...
And as for reach it has no problem bouncing 200 gr. Hornadys off the 300 yd. gong.
It filled a deer tag first time out...
I don't think it is any noisy than a magnum or the lady's quacking some days. She still hasn't learnt to right it down on paper so I can read it later
My 358 is no louder than some of my other rifles...
I like this post !!
pisces-guy
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- West Kelowna, B.C.
I think Husqvarna got it right with their roughly 20" long barrels for non magnum calibers...handy, manageable, and gets most of the power out.
243 has more powder to burn than 358. In a short barrel,it will be much louder in 243 than 358. I have noticed that my 243 is very loud with 22 inch barrel. So to cut it to 16 inches, it will be very unpleasant.
BTW, I have a 308 with 18 inches barrel (spanish mauser), it is as loud as a magnum. I hate it.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Short barrels tend to be stiffer and thus more accurate. I'm surprised those Frontier models didn't sell better. I always thought they were a great platform.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
I don't blame you for not wanting to cut down grampa's .308. That .243 carbine would be dandy for your purposes, although it might bark a mite. That said, if shooting from a tree stand, you should have plenty of opportunity to get your muffs on. From a tree stand, I would expect your typical shot would be within 50 yards, but you know your part of the country better than I do.
I don't think that the American is as good a rifle as the Hawkeye, but then I usually prefer CRF over push feed, and have a pretty low opinion of accu-type triggers. That doesn't make the American a bad rifle, it just makes me bigoted towards them. The American is light weight, and the 22" barrel should not be troublesome, if it is you can shorten it. Unfortunately the compact versions of both the American and the Hawkeye are available in right hand only. The standard Hawkeye is available in left hand, my son has one in .270, so if you like them, I'd hold out for the right, in your case left, Hawkeye, but if the American floats your boat, there's no apparent reason not to buy one.
