Newbee with a .243

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Shui5612

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Hello all,

I recently acquired a remington 700 in .243 Winchester, 4-12 bushnell scope for under 500 with two boxes of ammo.

I stumbled upon someone who has the same synthetic remington but in 6.5mm creedmore and i was wondering if it would be worth it to trade in mine and add a couple pennies for the 6.5CM? Or would you guys recommend another caliber?

Besides being a more expensive and powerful round (does not look to be "all" that different in performance) is there any benefit to the 6.5? I mainly shoot at a range thst is 100m and sometimes visit one that is 200m. I believe the longest distance i would ever be able to shoot is 300m in a quarry..

I rarely hunt so this would be primarily a hole puncher in paper 🤷#♀️🤷#♀️🤷#♀️
 
Well, the 243 is a fine round and the Remington will have a 9 1/8th twist to help you stabilize 100 and 105 grain bullet's if you handload. The 6.5 Creed will have superior target ammo on the shelves. The 243's I've owned in the past were a bit hard on barrels but they shot great. I had a 243 in a Remington varmint rifle for years that I shot mostly paper with.

Both are excellent cartridges but if you're buying ammo off the shelf you may have better luck with the 6.5. you got an excellent deal on the 243 and should be able to easily recover your money should you decide to go with a 6.5. but either is capable of punching holes in paper at 300M.
 
Thanks! I guess its what i wanted to hear.

Can you explain the 243 being rough on barrels? Should i clean it out more often or does this simply mean i have "x" number of shotd before it gets worn out?
 
You get a shorter barrel life with something like a .243/6 Creedmoor than a 6.5 Creedmoor simply because the 6mm offerings are more overbore (same case capacity/design, smaller bore size).

Like others have said, there is better availability of factory match ammo with the 6.5 Creed than with a .243 but provided the twist rate in your barrel is fast enough and you handload, you can run heavier bullets. That's also pretty much irrelevant within your max range (300m).
 
Shui5612 said:
Thanks! I guess its what i wanted to hear.

Can you explain the 243 being rough on barrels? Should i clean it out more often or does this simply mean i have "x" number of shotd before it gets worn out?
Click to expand...

You'll get 'x' number of rounds through before the bore is erroded.
 
.243 in that rifle will shoot great with the right loads. You won’t find factory match ammo for it, but endless options to reload it.
70 - 95 grainers will be the sweet spot for that twist.
 
What's it for? If you intend to hunt game larger than deer, then perhaps there is a reason to drop the .243. In truth, the .243 is an accurate, easy to load for, versatile cartridge, that is suitable for game weighing less than 500 pounds, compared to the 6.5 which is an accurate, easy to load for, versatile cartridge, that is suitable for game of 1000 pounds. I tend to think of medium capacity 6.5 cartridges as the first rung of the general purpose cartridge ladder.

If the purpose is solely as a target rifle, reloading components for the 6.5 will tend to be more expensive than for the .243, a fast twist .243 barrel will allow you to use bullets up to 115 grs, and these heavier bullets use lighter powder charges, thus in theory at least, provide greater barrel life, although barrel life is also dependent upon such things as rate of fire and cleaning regimens. Given equal pressure, a larger diameter bullet will produce higher velocity than a smaller diameter bullet of equal weight. Conversely a smaller diameter bullet has greater sectional density, and if its the same shape, a higher ballistic coefficient, than a larger diameter bullet of the same weight.

There is almost no end as to how bullets of different diameters can be compared. but in target shooting, particularly long range target shooting, you're concerned with extreme accuracy coupled with high ballistic coefficient, whereas when hunting you're more concerned with sufficient accuracy combined with bullet construction that is suitable for the intended impact velocity on a target of a specific density.

The availability of factory ammo is all but irrelevant, whereas the availability of reloading components is paramount. If you going to shoot enough to get good, you have to reload. Factory ammo is for the once a year deer hunter who gets 20 seasons out of a box of ammo.

Finally, the cartridge you choose should grab your imagination, if it doesn't, no matter how good it is, you will find it wanting.
 
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SuperCub said:
I wish you could buy a T3 with fast twist 243 bbl with the proper mag to seat out bullets.
Click to expand...

Yessir. Tikka could stand to update their RoT in some calibers. Their Varmint 223 1-8 is a great basis for a high volume target build. The 1-10 243, not so much.

As a southpaw, there aren't many choices in the LH HB 6mm end of the market. When I was deciding what direction to go for my current target/comp rifle, it came down to the Rem700 Varmint in 243 w/ 1-9 1/8 RoT, or the Tikka Varmint in 243 w/ 1-10 RoT. Because of the aftermarket for them, I was leaning M700 anyways, the 1-10 on the Tikka tipped the scales.
 
I bought my T3 lite 243 shortly before the 6.5 became readily available. Sometimes I still want a 6.5 but it wont do anything better for me than the 243 and shooting 243 is a little cheaper. My T3 shoots sub MOA with 5 rounds. Just yesterday I got a 5 round .5 moa group. I love my 243. If I were to re-barrel I might go with a fast twist 243.
I mainly punch paper and I love long range shooting but I just dont have any place to go for it. The local range only has 100 yards.
 
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