Big Game 243 Win. Hunters...chime in here.
- Thread starter canadaman30
- Start date
- Location
- Prince Albert, Sk
A gut shot with a .243 is the same as a gut shot with anything else.
A boiler room shot with a .243 is the same as a boiler room shot with anything else.
Have confidence in your rifle and yourself and go hunting.
A boiler room shot with a .243 is the same as a boiler room shot with anything else.
Have confidence in your rifle and yourself and go hunting.
madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
I have shot 7 whitetails (ontario) in the last 7 years with a .243 Remington 700 using 100 gr Winchester power points. Not one took a step. All I saw in the scope was hoof bottoms. I would not hesitate to shoot a broad side moose. These guns are killers. I even convinced my nephew to buy one. (former .375 Ruger shooter) Aim for lungs or high shoulder shots ( deer only) and heat up the grill.
Darryl
Darryl
Hunter1970
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- in the shadows behind you
My model 70 .243 was my first centerfire rifle I ever purchased. I haven't used it on anything but mulies and whitetail, but It has been more than capable in both of those departments. Like the above statements, shot placement is vital to a clean kill, as with all others.
Love the .243, it doesn't get much hype anymore though. Some people were just really sh!tty shots I guess and decided they needed something with more POP, but the .243 does a great job with 100 grain bullets into the lungs/heart area of whitetails (and one caribou). BOOF! Thud.
First high power I got was a 700 in .243, killed everything with that handy rig. I mean everything, from gophers on through to moose. Years of killing stuff later, on a fence line I knocked a beauty tall tined 5x5 down. Walked up the line, leaned that .243 against the fence so as to get through and didn't that buck get back up and gone. I could'nt believe it, searched for hours......Nothing! Figure off hand I had hit high in the wither. Yeah a big magnum might have made a bigger mess and got me that buck but a poorly placed shot is just that, poorly placed and the result is seldom good. I'm older now and got lots of guns, big and small. I still find the handy ones are the ones I got with me when it's time to pull the trigger.....Gotta go the light is fading and the beavers will be out soon, going to grab a handy .243 and get it done.
I have shot over 30 deer with the 243 (a-bolt) and have found that the it's perrformance has outmatched the few I have shot with a 7mm and 303. Winchester Supreme ammo (95 grain) and I have had exit wounds that were truly catastrophic. Haven't shot anything other than deer and varmint with it but that is due to lack of hunting much else. I would be cautious with a moose etc. but that's me not the guns inability.
It will kill deer no problem. But I emphisize what the others say, bullet weight, type and placement is very important.
And it is surprising the damage a 95gr nosler partion will do. To the point my butcher friend asked "what and hell I shot it with, a small canon". It actually caused more internal damage than my 30-06 with 165gr nosler partions.
I lost one deer with the .243 with the above load. But the bullet tangled with a few gads before it hit the deer. Deer was definitely hit but I never found it. I make sure my shots are clear and free since and have had no issue. Doesn't take much to distract the smaller bullets.
Never had opportunity to shoot anything larger than deer so I can not comment further.
And it is surprising the damage a 95gr nosler partion will do. To the point my butcher friend asked "what and hell I shot it with, a small canon". It actually caused more internal damage than my 30-06 with 165gr nosler partions.
I lost one deer with the .243 with the above load. But the bullet tangled with a few gads before it hit the deer. Deer was definitely hit but I never found it. I make sure my shots are clear and free since and have had no issue. Doesn't take much to distract the smaller bullets.
Never had opportunity to shoot anything larger than deer so I can not comment further.
I bought a Rem. 788 in .243 a few years back for my daughter and son to start hunting with. It is a joy to shoot and groups very well. We have all used it for a few years. (I have a number of other rifles though)
Perhaps the 100 grain bullets I have used in our .243 have not been the best.
Most have not exited on deer and left little or no blood trail. All the deer and pronghorn that I have seen shot with this .243 did die but a few were very hard to find and one was not found till two days later. It was for a combination of strange circumstances but a blood trail would have solved the problem.
I would hunt deer sized game again with our .243 but I would not go out and buy one for deer hunting.
Perhaps the 100 grain bullets I have used in our .243 have not been the best.
Most have not exited on deer and left little or no blood trail. All the deer and pronghorn that I have seen shot with this .243 did die but a few were very hard to find and one was not found till two days later. It was for a combination of strange circumstances but a blood trail would have solved the problem.
I would hunt deer sized game again with our .243 but I would not go out and buy one for deer hunting.
I used a 243 lots on deer on Vancouver Island and black bears too, mostly shooting them in the neck at close range though.
The first time I tried a chest shot on a bear, I knocked the bear down but it ran away never to be seen again so I switched to a 30 calibre rifle.
That said, I have had two bears hit solidly and run never to be recovered hit with a 7.62 Russian, and one also with a 300 Winchester Magnum.
The first time I tried a chest shot on a bear, I knocked the bear down but it ran away never to be seen again so I switched to a 30 calibre rifle.
That said, I have had two bears hit solidly and run never to be recovered hit with a 7.62 Russian, and one also with a 300 Winchester Magnum.
Not quite but close
A 243 in the lungs will work, but one always should think about the bones, hide, and the effect these can have on a light fast moving bullet.
I have seen moose taken with a 243 many times, i have also seen the same 243 fail when the angle was slightly changed, the light bullet just couldn't cut the mustard.
For deer and yotes the 243 is a fine rifle, for bigger game do yourself and the animal a favour, use a calibre that will get the job done everytime no questions asked.
My 2 cents fwiw
I have taken 6 deer with .243, 5 of them died right there on spot. I had to track the other one because I shot a little low.
My friend killed his first moose with .243 when he was 15.
exit wounds are nasty with 95grain hornadys.. wouldnt want to hit a shoulder or guts with that haha.
My friend killed his first moose with .243 when he was 15.
exit wounds are nasty with 95grain hornadys.. wouldnt want to hit a shoulder or guts with that haha.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
The .243 has much going for it. Tolerable recoil in a light rifle, combined with a flat trajectory and fine accuracy can't be overlooked. But as is often the case, folks sometimes get a might carried away with only part of the package that we call terminal performance and overlook the big picture.
To my way of thinking, the proper cartridge shouldn't be chosen by what it can do when everything goes right; its what it can do when everything goes wrong that counts. The best of us can muff a shot, the animals steps forward as the shot breaks, a gust of wind comes up, or we just plain miss because we aren't in a proper state of mind. We know how to shoot, we know where to shoot, but we misjudge the range, yank on the trigger or fail to follow through, whatever the reason is, the bullet hits too high, too low, or too far back.
Now we're faced with a crummy shot angle on a wounded animal that desperately wants to get away. The easy shot is gone, this one will be tough and the angle requires much more penetration than the broadside, so our bullet needs to perform better than it needs to on that classic broadside shot. Instead of a foot of penetration providing a killing shot, now that bullet has to penetrate a couple of feet, and in the case of a very large animal, it might have to penetrate even more and cope with heavier denser bone along its tract. The wounded game scenario differs greatly from the one where the game is rugged with a single shot that hits like a lightning bolt out of the blue.
Everyone likes to recall their successes but not so much their failures, even though we tend to learn more from our failures. A bad shot is not the fault of the cartridge or the rifle, but there seems to be little benefit in compounding a bad shot with a cartridge that can't settle matters under difficult circumstances in a reasonable fashion.
Of course the .243 could be made into a better big game cartridge, but as yet no one makes the bullet that will allow that to happen. If there was a 6mm bullet that weighed between 130-135 grs, it would have a muzzle velocity of about 2600 fps, and the combination of a moderate impact velocity with a heavy for caliber bullet that expands to about 45 caliber would put the .243 into the general purpose big game category. Despite that, there seems to be little appetite for such a bullet, or it would already be available.
Perhaps a round nose bullet with a bonded pure lead core that measures 5 calibers in length and requires a fast 1:7 twist is too far outside the normal parameters to be feasible in the eyes of the current bullet makers. Bullets that stabilize in 1:10 twists are the most popular, and after all, bullet makers have to sell their products in the real world. Certainly until recently that was the case with .22 slugs tht were made exclusively for 1:12 and 1:14 twist barrels, but it was target shooters and the military, rather than hunters, who drove the heavy .224" bullet interest.
Previously, our most popular game cartridges were available with heavy for caliber round nose bullets; the 160 gr 6.5, 175 gr 7mmm, 220 gr .308, 300 gr .375 and 500 gr .458 are such examples, and all have a reputation for being excellent performers on big game. If the 6mm bullet is to become viable in the big game arena, this is the direction it needs to take as well. It strikes me as strange that the 6mm Lee Navy of a century ago was a better big game cartridge with its 112 gr round nose bullet than the .243 is today.
To my way of thinking, the proper cartridge shouldn't be chosen by what it can do when everything goes right; its what it can do when everything goes wrong that counts. The best of us can muff a shot, the animals steps forward as the shot breaks, a gust of wind comes up, or we just plain miss because we aren't in a proper state of mind. We know how to shoot, we know where to shoot, but we misjudge the range, yank on the trigger or fail to follow through, whatever the reason is, the bullet hits too high, too low, or too far back.
Now we're faced with a crummy shot angle on a wounded animal that desperately wants to get away. The easy shot is gone, this one will be tough and the angle requires much more penetration than the broadside, so our bullet needs to perform better than it needs to on that classic broadside shot. Instead of a foot of penetration providing a killing shot, now that bullet has to penetrate a couple of feet, and in the case of a very large animal, it might have to penetrate even more and cope with heavier denser bone along its tract. The wounded game scenario differs greatly from the one where the game is rugged with a single shot that hits like a lightning bolt out of the blue.
Everyone likes to recall their successes but not so much their failures, even though we tend to learn more from our failures. A bad shot is not the fault of the cartridge or the rifle, but there seems to be little benefit in compounding a bad shot with a cartridge that can't settle matters under difficult circumstances in a reasonable fashion.
Of course the .243 could be made into a better big game cartridge, but as yet no one makes the bullet that will allow that to happen. If there was a 6mm bullet that weighed between 130-135 grs, it would have a muzzle velocity of about 2600 fps, and the combination of a moderate impact velocity with a heavy for caliber bullet that expands to about 45 caliber would put the .243 into the general purpose big game category. Despite that, there seems to be little appetite for such a bullet, or it would already be available.
Perhaps a round nose bullet with a bonded pure lead core that measures 5 calibers in length and requires a fast 1:7 twist is too far outside the normal parameters to be feasible in the eyes of the current bullet makers. Bullets that stabilize in 1:10 twists are the most popular, and after all, bullet makers have to sell their products in the real world. Certainly until recently that was the case with .22 slugs tht were made exclusively for 1:12 and 1:14 twist barrels, but it was target shooters and the military, rather than hunters, who drove the heavy .224" bullet interest.
Previously, our most popular game cartridges were available with heavy for caliber round nose bullets; the 160 gr 6.5, 175 gr 7mmm, 220 gr .308, 300 gr .375 and 500 gr .458 are such examples, and all have a reputation for being excellent performers on big game. If the 6mm bullet is to become viable in the big game arena, this is the direction it needs to take as well. It strikes me as strange that the 6mm Lee Navy of a century ago was a better big game cartridge with its 112 gr round nose bullet than the .243 is today.
xcaribooer
Regular
- Location
- The fishing highway
if you are a fan of hunting with 243 then you will enjoy reading two books by author Pat Ferguson called "gone huntin" and "gone huntin again", he is a guide in BC who has put his stories on paper .His pet rifle is a custom built 243 he called "little thunder.EXCELLENT reading
Ah, but they have. You shorten the case to 1.912", increase the taper slightly and open the neck to accept .257" bullets. Then you could launch a 120gr Partition at +2750 fps with a small charge (less than 40gr). It would have similar or less recoil, but increased capability.
It's called the .250 Savage!
