243?

The .243 is fine for deer, I used to use a 6mm Rem, almost identical ballistics. But honestly if I was to recommend an all around deer/varmint cartridge with occasional bigger game it would be one from the 6.5 family, Swede, Crede etc. As far as recoil, not an huge difference, if you can shoot a .243 comfortably you can shoot a 6.5. After using a 6.5 Swede for deer I would never go back to my 6mm, the 6.5 rounds punch way above their weight class IMO.
 
Hunter7 said:
The .243 is fine for deer, I used to use a 6mm Rem, almost identical ballistics. But honestly if I was to recommend an all around deer/varmint cartridge with occasional bigger game it would be one from the 6.5 family, Swede, Crede etc. As far as recoil, not an huge difference, if you can shoot a .243 comfortably you can shoot a 6.5. After using a 6.5 Swede for deer I would never go back to my 6mm, the 6.5 rounds punch way above their weight class IMO.
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Totallly agree here.

I have both a 243 and a 6.5 swede. It may be the rifles themselves - Savage 110 vs. Husqvarna 1900 - but I find the recoil on the Swede much more pleasant than on the 243. It's a gentle shove vs. a rapid snap. It' much easier to get back on target with it, and a 130 or 140 grain bullet vs 100 grainsmakes a difference downrange in some scenarios.

That said, the 243 is also fun to shoot and a proven deercatcher.
 
I have taken deer and elk with the 243 while on my Can Am spyder....pigtails are ##### though when getting tangled in the bolt.....other than that, great setups ......LOL
 
My first rifle when I was a kid was a Remington 700 in .243 with a Leupold 3-9 compact scope...It was all I had so I killed everything with it...From gophers, rabbits and coyotes to caribou, elk, moose, some dandy black bears and everything in between.

The load that shot best was an 85 grain Speer boat tail over 45 grains of WW760/H414 so that is what I used for everything...I killed stuff from a few feet away to over 500 yards...I don't ever remember feeling under gunned cause that .243 was all I had and all I knew...HA.
 
Bad Bob said:
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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Well, just because it Can hold the powder, doesnt mean it has to.
My go-to 243 load is an 85gr Barnes TSX over 36.5gr VARGET. Similar charge with H4895.
Out of an 18” barrel, i get 2812 fps which means that bullet will still be going a little North of 2050 at 300 yards. More than enough to do its job at my limit for the cartridge.
I anticipate significantly increased barrel life but I dont care much either. I can shoot my limit every year for 5 lifetimes without approaching burnout.
 
I also know a fellow in Alberta who shot a large grizzly with one shot from a .243. He was on a walk for a deer with his very young daughter riding on his shoulders. The bear was not aware he was there. Shot him in the spine of his neck.

Not really recommended...
 
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Nobody enjoys recoil. Nothing wrong with a .243 - especially with a 100 grain Nosler Partition or 100 grain Speer Grand Slam. I have shot two of my biggest deer with .243's and both have both have been DRT. I lean towards heavier recoiling rifles for moose and elk (.338 RUM and 9.3x62), but nothing wrong with touting a .243 for deer sized critters.
 
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