.243 Winchester: What's your take?

The 243 is a Jack of all trade, popping woodchuks, sniping coyotes and shoot your biggest buck with a hot tailored reload... JP.
 
It's one of many cartridges that is extremely versatile. Good for varmints and deer/black bear sized game with a change of bullet. One caveat is that if you plan on using it for larger game make sure you're not using a varmint bullet. 85 grains and up are usually larger game bullets. That and most factory barrels are rifled for heavy bullets. Even heavy varmint barrels. That's not a big deal though. A deer load will do nicely for varmints.
The cartridge is a bit light for elk, but some people use it for them too. It's too light for moose.
Thanks to the bench rest guys, there are match grade bullets now too. As well as commercial FMJ's for hide hunting. The cartridge is available everywhere as well.
 
It's for kids and women, but I wouldn't complain if I won one in a raffle. Perfectly capable of dropping a deer or black bear, and can achieve good accuracy. Ammo availability is A+, you can buy it anywhere that sells ammo. It's a pretty awesome cartridge all around, good balance of speed and knockdown with a milder recoil. It's a proven hunting round, I don't think there's anything anyone can say that'll downgrade its status as one of the major players on the ammo shelf.

It's one of the better varmint rounds, but I don't think you can get as many of the tiny exploding bullets as you can in .224
 
I've killed more deer than I can remember out to 200yards with 100 grain bullets. I've shot more groundhogs than I can remember too with lighter bullets. I have 5 rifles in
.243. Good for coyote as well. If I had to pick one caliber for the area I am in, the .243 is it.
 
pharaoh2 said:
Or anybody who doesn't need a magnum to make up for poor shooting...
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Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're telling me, that after all these years, I didn't have to go to the range and practice? I could have just went out and bought some ridiculously large magnum and all would have been well?

Seriously, the .243 Win is nothing to shrug at. As it's been said, it's a good do-all cartridge for anything less than moose. And I'm sure a few of them have been taken with the 243. Just because you can though, doesn't mean you should.
 
Hey Geez, you can take anything that walks on four legs with this beauty of a cartridge. Yes there are lots of alternatives in short actions. But this one remains a standard like the 270, or 06' does in a long action. It is simply meat and potatoes game getting goodness.

The recoil is easy to handle, the cartridge is easy and less costly to handload for, easy to find factory ammo for, rifles are easy to down size for mountain rifle weight with less weight in ammo to carry.

Oh yes, I must accept that my associates huntress daughter has taken more large game with this "manly" cartridge than I did by her age:) Shot placement counts regardless of your cartridge choice. This cartridge helps you get on target without being punished in many ways.
Elky....
 
The girlfriend used a .243 for her first deer last year, and I couldn't tell the difference between how it reacted (lung shot) compared to deer I nailed with the 30-06 or 308. The deer lit the afterburners, made it probably 40 meters...and that's all she wrote.

As long as your bullet holds together while poking animal in the right spot, it should do the trick. The only reason I don't need to own one, is because I can use hers.
 
Not as versatile as 27 and 28 calibers but more practical

My favorite small and medium game cartridge:
  • ammo available almost anywhere,
  • very accurate,
  • little recoil,
  • extremely effective on small and medium game

Not as versatile as 27 and 28 calibers but more practical,

Alex
 
I've killed (harvested for the politically challenged) with the 243, 308, 257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 12 gauge slug. The deer dropped just as quickly with the 243. Feral cats, chucks out to 250yds and crows at 200 too. I liked the caliber and with the a lighter bullet and the right powder and a 150 yd, sight in the trajectory was easy to use in Ontario couhtry. Art
 
pharaoh2 said:
Or anybody who doesn't need a magnum to make up for poor shooting...
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So if I can't hit crap with my 243, I should trade it on a .300 and that will make things better.

I have nothing against guys who use the .243 for big game. It seems there are alot of guys who have something against me for using a magnum.
 
Haha i make fun of you both. 243's are for girls and children and magnums are the mid-life crisis car of the hunting world. Making the biggest bang doesn't make you young again, and using a 243 makes you a bit of a fairy. If you're 5 foot 3, get a 338 lapua, it's like a 33 foot boat for lake fishing.

I wish we could just all agree that .308/30-06 is the end all cartridge for N. America and that 243 is what you buy the wife or 12 year old kid
 
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