.243 for casual competition?

Seven65

Seven65

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I'm looking at getting a Tikka in .243 win to use for both local "hunting class" shooting tournaments as well as hunting small black tail.

Do you guys think that .243 would be suitable for that?

Would I be better off with a 223? I know some people have success hunting deer with 223 at 150yards or less, I think I'd be more comfortable with a 243 though.

Rules of the competition is it has to be something you'd take hunting with you, sporter barrel and 3-9 max scope everything is 200yrds or less.

And the deer where I intend on hunting are about he size of a german shepherd and are within 100 yards haha.

Thanks
 
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For targets, I suspect .243 bullets have better ballistic coefficients and more weight options. But they're definitely pricier than .223.

All my buddies love the .243 as a "precise" deer round; I'm sure it'd be perfect for blacktail, assuming you pick a reasonable hunting round. I've always heard that .223 is marginal, at best, for deer hunting...

Not sure if there are any reloading concerns between the two, if that's an issue for you... I don't reload yet :)
 
Not to mention hunting deer is illegal with a 22 cal. round and so is anything below (if I remember well) .23. Effectively making the .243 the smallest non-wildcat cartridge for deer in Canada.
 
tikka is great but 243 is hard on barrels. Keep it for a hunting gun only. Hunting contours heat up fast when used as a target gun. 243 factory guns use twists that don't favour using the high bc bullets anyway. it is always a big compromise when trying to hunt and shoot targets with one gun.
 
paperslayer said:
tikka is great but 243 is hard on barrels. Keep it for a hunting gun only. Hunting contours heat up fast when used as a target gun. 243 factory guns use twists that don't favour using the high bc bullets anyway. it is always a big compromise when trying to hunt and shoot targets with one gun.
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I understand it's a compromise that's why I'm looking for something for the hunting rifle category, the rules restrict you from using heavy barreled guns.

Could you suggest a caliber more appropriate?

I guess an alternative could be 308 but I was hoping for something with less recoil.
 
My bad...but still. Anybody have experience with 223 on deer? Seems pretty lightweight for a quick kill with less than half the energy of a 308. Exept for neck shots of course...
 
Steelplink said:
My bad...but still. Anybody have experience with 223 on deer? Seems pretty lightweight for a quick kill with less than half the energy of a 308. Exept for neck shots of course...
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1) Let's not start that debate again :p Many deer have been killed dead with a .223 as many deer have been killed by a .22LR. There isn't a huge different between .223 and .243 in my opinion on deer.

2) Why would you shoot a deer in the neck anyways?

3) Using my .243, I can currently group 2.5" at just under 400 yards with the cheapest Federal Blue Box ammo I can find (100gr) so accuracy is there for the caliber.
 
Tikka makes a symthetic varmint model, chambered in 260, with a twist fast enough for 140s, don't they? That would probably be the best compromise.
 
drache said:
3) Using my .243, I can currently group 2.5" at just under 400 yards with the cheapest Federal Blue Box ammo I can find (100gr) so accuracy is there for the caliber.
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I'd only be shooting at half that range too.

What bullet launcher are you using for your .243?

kombayotch said:
Tikka makes a symthetic varmint model, chambered in 260, with a twist fast enough for 140s, don't they? That would probably be the best compromise.
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Does that have a heavy barrel? If so it's a no go for the class of competition.
 
Have you thought about the 6.5x55 Tikka makes guns in this caliber. Lots of choice in bullets comes in a hunting profile or heavy barrel. Low recoil good BC good for deer good compromise.
 
I ended up grabbing the used Tikka .243 from Prophet River. Excited to see how it shoots, I've heard good things.

I think the 243 will work well for what Im doing, at the very least it will be a good small deer caliber. I also like the selection of inexpensive factory ammo for it. My other rifle is a 300wsm and oh my is it expensive to feed and picky, learning to reload now.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
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