243?

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TheCarpenter

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Hey folks.

Curious about the 243 winchester. I like a light recoiling cartridge and hear 243 is light, as well as fast moving and flat shooting.

I chase white tail and maybe coyotes. I go after bear as well but i'm guessing this is too small for bear?

I probably won't shoot over 200 yards in NS, likely not more than 75. I read that many whitetail are harvested with it, but I hate reading online reports which are possibly falsified or simply for clicks etc.

is 243 leaving me undergunned for deer? Should I just stick to 3030, 308 etc? I'm also looking to cut down on powder usage of 40-45 rains from 308 and im seeing 243 is around 30-35 which is a nice thought.

3030 is my brush gun but hif i'm hunting fields or choppings I'd like to be able to reach out comfortably.

Thanks folks,

Carpenter
 
243 is in no way under gunned for deer at those ranges. With the appropriate bullet, basically any hunting bullet, you will be able to take deer no problem with it, if you do your part.

If reduced recoil is something you are looking for, take a look at the 6mm ARC, and it's big brother, the 6.5mm Grendel. Quite a bit less recoil than the 243. And the Grendel is a proven deer killer, with heavier bullets. Both are available in factory rifles, with factory ammo.

Whichever you choose let us know. If you pick the 243, you will not be disappointed. If you are interested in less recoil, take a look at those other calibers as well.
 
Shot me a few bear with my 243.
As with all game, its about the bullet, not the headstamp.
If i could only have one rifle for every NA game species, it wouldn’t be my 243 but it’s an awesome calibre.

This year, all my deer will fall either to the 243 or to the Howa mini in 6.5 Grendel.

My wife got her first with the 243 last fall but she is likely to bogart the grendel this fall.

105gr Cutting Edge Maximus bullets.
 
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a 243 with a 100gr bullet placed in the wheelhouse, will kill a whitetail everytime. At 100yrds you are good to go, remember shot placement.
 
Under 200m. Yeah the 243 will do what you need. 4000 fps for varmints and 2800fps for deer

There was a huge thread on recoils vs bullet weight vs fps on cgn a few years ago. 243 won it. I can't find it but I'm sure someone will remember it and post a link. If you want reduced recoil without reduced killing you want a 243
 
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As long as the ammunition you choose is correct for the game you are intending to hunt, the .243 will do you just fine for anything up to moose. Be smart about it and don't buy the cheapest #### you can to feed it with. Pick the right bullet for the task at hand.

As another poster said, bullets matter more than head stamps. Pick the bullet that will do the job that you'd like it to do. Figure out how fast you'd like it to go. And then pick the cartridge that will give you what you want.
 
the 243 will easily take deer out to 300-350 yds will easily take bears out to 260 yds
and i know it will take moose out to 260 yds
bullet choice is critical 90- 100 gr i use accubonds best lead core bullet on the market game king and pro hunter excellent as well
not sure why people think they need big recoiling calibres any animal shot in the heart the lungs will die within min of not instantly
liver spline spine are all kill shots
just 60 years of hunting experience speaking
never lost a moose or a kill had to follow a few fear because of bad shot placement
 
My dads hunting rifle was a 243. That is all he shot for deer hunting.

When my wife calls me to grab the rifle on the farm (and I have no idea what I'm looking at before hand) I grab the 243.
 
Just be aware that a 243 will wear out a barrel quicker than some other calibers.
A heavy bullet & slow burning powder will extend the life of the barrel significantly. A 55 grain projectile and fast burning powder has the ability to torch a throat relatively quickly.

Barrel life is why you dont see the 243 in competitive shooting.

Rapid shooting for groups, even with cooling between groups, represents a big hit on barrel life.

1500 rounds is around where you'll notice its losing accuracy and time to sell the gun in the EE with the ever popular "range use only" description.

Sarcasm aside 3 bad EE deals as a buyer thus year have left me bitter.

All that being said, I hope my 243 barrel outlives me.

I've picked up a 223 for anything smaller than Coyotes to take the load off .
 
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TheCarpenter said:
Hey folks.

Curious about the 243 winchester. I like a light recoiling cartridge and hear 243 is light, as well as fast moving and flat shooting.

I chase white tail and maybe coyotes. I go after bear as well but i'm guessing this is too small for bear?

I probably won't shoot over 200 yards in NS, likely not more than 75. I read that many whitetail are harvested with it, but I hate reading online reports which are possibly falsified or simply for clicks etc.

is 243 leaving me undergunned for deer? Should I just stick to 3030, 308 etc? I'm also looking to cut down on powder usage of 40-45 rains from 308 and im seeing 243 is around 30-35 which is a nice thought.

3030 is my brush gun but hif i'm hunting fields or choppings I'd like to be able to reach out comfortably.

Thanks folks,

Carpenter
Click to expand...
I've never found powder charge to vary that much between 308 vs 243 they have the same case and I was usually burning 44 or so grains of powder in either one without looking at my data. If you want to conserve powder and still be sort of flat shooting as another member said ARC or Grendel. The 6 or 6.5 creedmoor also burn less powder than the .308 based cartridges but you're only looking at 2-4 grains less not the 10 you seem hopeful for. A howa mini or Ruger ranch in 7.62x39 would certainly be 200 yard deer and black bear killer with less recoil and economical powder use.
 
243 is a good cartridge for hunting not so much for target shooting where you shooting continous strings down range (barrel burner).
 
A .243 Win. is nothing more than a .308 Win. necked down to shoot a 6mm bullet, it holds the same amount of powder so there is no savings there. The thing is barrel life will be will approx. 5 times or more with a .308. You will probably never shoot enough to burn the barrel off of a .308. The .243 is fun to shoot, fast, flat and accurrate but really really hard on barrels. I found a .270 Win. loaded with a 130 or 140 gr. bullet to be the ultimate deer cartridge. Two cartridges that I used to love were the .243 Win. and the .22-250 Rem. but got tired of screwing barrels on to them.
 
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