243 renders 223 & 308 obsolete?

vpsalin

vpsalin

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I'm starting to get into centerfire rifles, and have always been intrigued by the 223 and 308. I don't mind owning both a 223 rifle and 308 rifle, but I do mind, if there's a rifle out there that can do what both of them can do in a single caliber. So can the 243 do both the job of the 223 and 308 (sometimes better, 223 cough)? From the start I find it interesting that the 243 can fire bullet weights ranging from 58 to 110gr. Is it possible for a single 243 rifle barrel to harness both the a 60gr - 95gr rounds?

Seems like it's a versatile caliber and that there's a lot of fun testing to be done just by that fact alone.

Keep in mind I'm approaching this question from the point of view of someone who considers Deer/Hogs size animals as big game. I don't see myself going any bigger in the near future.

Thanks for your input.
 
Not quite. The .223 is a varmint round. The .243 will do varmints and cross over to deer nicely, but the .308 is a big game round and will take black bear, moose, and elk at reasonable ranges with confidence. 180's are a sure bet on big game. 100's from a .243, not quite so much.

I would suggest that the .223 and .308 combination offers more versatility overall and the .243 would be a good candidate as a follow-up to the other two.
 
A 243 may replace a 223 but IMHO it won't replace a 308.

If you are going to be a one gun guy eliminate the 223 and go with one of the others, in many places hunting big game with a 22 is not legal.
 
7mm-08 , flatter shooting than the .308 , for punch than the .223. ;)


Load it with 100 grain for varmint and flat shooting or 140-150 gr for anything in N.America.

But then again, 6 of one half dozen of the other.

Look at .260 Remington also.
 
I personally prefer the 6mm Remington. A little hotter than the 243 and easily capable of shooting varmints and deer. I'd say it's still a little light for moose though and I'd lean towards the 308 for that. If I had to own only one gun for everything it would be a 270 though.
 
243 Win is my favorite lightweight cartridge but it can only replace 308 Win up to deer hunting.
260 Rem with modern bullets is almost a perfect replacement for 223 Rem and 308 Win but is a little light for large game hunting.
Only 7mm-08 Rem can do anything that 308 Win does but it's not as good a varmint cartridge as 223 Rem and 243 Win.

In my opinion, the outstanding all-rounder is 270 Win which is both one of the best large game cartridge (140gr at 2950fps) and an awesome long range varminting cartridge (110gr at 3400fps).

Alex
 
.223 is a great varmint round. .308 is a great deer round, and very capable of moose and elk. .243 is a good varmint round, and very capable of deer hunting; I would not use it for moose and elk.

Does that mean anything to your decision?
 
If I *had* to replace both, I'd go .260. No question....but the .260 would really only be a replacement for the .308.

The .223 is great because it's cheap to shoot, little recoil, has "big game cartridge" trajectory so that you can get lots of cheap painless practice in.

And if you use a TSX bullet, the .223 makes an acceptable deer and black bear cartridge, too.
 
243 renders 223 & 308 obsolete?

No.

Not. At. All.

However, since you are talking about deer/hogs as your biggest game, you might be well be perfectly fine with a .243. It is a versatile cartridge, but it's not both a .223 and a .308, not even close.
 
To help answer your question . . for deer size game the 243 will work for you. The 308 will also work with the advantage of handling a 180 gr. bullet . . If you can, buy both, 308 and 243, in that order.
 
.243 Has taken its fair share of moose. Limited range and expert shot placement being nessisary of course. Agree with .270 on best all round multi purpose cal
 
6.5x55 is proven and widely used moose 'medicine'. .260 Rem is everything that the 6.5x55 will do (in factory trim).
I think the 95 grain V-Max would do pretty well on most varmints, and the 140-160 grain pills are serious penetrators, and the VLDs really reach out there.

So the .260-class cartridges _could_ replace the .223 and the .308; but it'd be a bit costly in terms of the cartridges themselves and the reloading costs, and in barrel life.

(.260-class = .260Rem, 6.5 Creedmore, 6.5x47Lapua)
 
Gatehouse said:
If I *had* to replace both, I'd go .260. No question....but the .260 would really only be a replacement for the .308.

The .223 is great because it's cheap to shoot, little recoil, has "big game cartridge" trajectory so that you can get lots of cheap painless practice in.

And if you use a TSX bullet, the .223 makes an acceptable deer and black bear cartridge, too.
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Not an expert on bear but if a 350 pound walked out I would rather have a slug gun, 30-06, 300 win mag not a 223. I think it will probably be lite on the big bears (223).
 
243 is going to be my next caliber. 80% of my shooting will be on paper so I prefer low recoil and accuracy over downrange punch. If I so desired to go after moose or bb my 303 will suffice.
 
To render obsolete means to make something so out-of-date that it is no longer a useful option for anyone, or has become so little used that it is no longer available.

You might be able to use a .243 for everything you personally want to hunt. That does not make the .308 or the .223 obsolete, it makes the combination of the two cartridges superfluous to your needs, or redundant.
 
FORGET IT GUYS; the op asked a similar question last night which i replied to, and he apparently did't LIKE THE ANSWER i gave( 2 different calibers, 2 different jobs) so he JUST REWORDED it and will keep asking until SOMEONE agrees with him
 
pbonura said:
Not an expert on bear but if a 350 pound walked out I would rather have a slug gun, 30-06, 300 win mag not a 223. I think it will probably be lite on the big bears (223).
Click to expand...

A TSX bullet form a .223 will penetrate both lungs of a 350lb bear, which in turn will kill it.
 
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