Triple duty round?

.243 would be my first choice. Probably second and third choice as well, cheap to shoot, lots of factory choices fro ammo, super low recoil, generally fairly accurate. Yotes and deer no problem.
 
Some years back the people at Winchester were sitting around thinking what new cartridges they could come up with. (or what wildcats they could put into production)

"Hmmmm, there are a lot of deer hunters out there that would like to do some varmint hunting for ground hogs and foxes and coyotes. Many of them can not afford or justify buying a second rifle. Lets take a .308 and neck it down to .243 and call it the .243 Winchester and see if that sells."


And they did. And it became a very popular cartridge.


(Though I do not really like it as a deer antelope round)
 
The gentleman is not reloading, not sure that in the middle of nowhere little store you will find a box of 257 Roberts or 257 Weatherby... JP.
 
The legendary three-oh-eight will fill all your roles. I kinda liken it to using a mason's hammer for every banging job : A little bit of overkill, but it'll get'er done.
 
243 would be the best bet for shooting over the counter ammo, lots of rifle and ammo choices. If you handloaded I would go 25-06 or 260 Rem
 
.243 fills precisely the niche you describe and factory ammo is easy to find and less expensive than other cartridges of similar performance. 6mm Remington, .25-06, .257 Roberts, .260 Remington, etc. are all fine cartridges if you reload, but be prepared to do some searching and pay a premium for factory ammo.
 
I got a 25-06 for that role. Finding ammo isn't to bad. Barnes ttsx's are hard to find but rem corloct winchester cxp1 and 2 90-120gr aren't bad. Federal has the 117gr vital shock and the 120gr fusion are all pretty common around here. I love this round it is kinda hard on pelts if you want to tan your coyotes. Groundhogs seem to just vanish into a reddish mist and I haven't shot any deer with it but it has a lot more punch then a 243.
 
Thanks for the information guys, I think its gonna be the .243 Win for me. Sorry for the boring pick but I am a traditionalist and like a good well proven round that has been around and will stick around. Lots of selection and cheaper on the wallet are good in my book. Thanks again!
 
mikeystew said:
Whhaaaaaattttt? what the heck is that about? and why limit it to .270? As though it's less dangerous than a 308? really?

What a strange place... Am i missing something totally logical that im just not thinking of or is it just really that stupid?
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yaaa its kinda that stupid. i guess the idea is that 270 and under don't go that far or something.
 
You can't go wrong with the 243, but you might find a 270 better for deer hunting. Some of the calibers that I mentioned as well as others have mentioned would work if you are a reloader but if you are using factory ammo the 243 is a very good choice.
Good luck with your choice and let us know how you make out.
257 Roberts
 
mikeystew said:
How about the .243's parent, the .308? It will kill all 3 no problem and its not as limiting to hunt with. I know if i was whitetail hunting i'd feel a little more confident with a 308. A .243 has quite a bit less energy which means you better have pretty darn good shot placement at longer ranges.

Why limit yourself if you just want to blow up gophers and hunt deer and yotes? .308 will do that well, and cheap.
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I know of several big bodied Alberta mulies that would disagree with your thoughts on the 243 as a deer round. A few whitetails as well. It is the only round I hunted with for my first 5 years, and it accounted for roughly 15 deer at ranges from 50 - 260 yards, no tracking required.

I now run a 75 gr v-max in it and give the coyotes hell.
 
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