wanting to hear from hunters that have shot elk and moose with a 243 win

Yes but......perfect shot, perfect conditions....270 308 class are minimum to me....big mules are even too much for a 243 for most people.....chasing after wounded game is never fun....243 is a varmint cartridge suitable for up to deer sized game...

Yes I know countless old guys killed everything with a 30-30 or he'll even a .22 magnum but likely because they HAD to.....
 
I don't have a 243, but a local farmer here uses his for everything. He's bagged countless deer, and I have no clue how many elk as well. He absolutely swears by it... Basically an extension of himself. Pretty sure he just buys basic cup and core stuff, but I could be wrong.

Another elderly gent from my church used to hunt everything from coyotes to moose with his, and he never felt undergunned. Pretty sure he told me there was a guy who reloaded for him, but he didn't know what they were. Pity, I would have liked to get more info from him on that stuff, but he is into his 80's, so I can't blame him for not remembering
 
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I used to use Winchester Supreme 243 with a 95 grain XP3 bullet. It was like a cross between a Fail-Safe and Accubond bullet.

Winchester no longer makes these factory loads and I sold my 243 Win and my 6mm Remington, but both calibers would kill moose and elk with the XP3 95 grain bullet. I should mention it had a black lubalox or moly-type coating on it.....:)
 
struff55 said:
not interested in hearing about shot placement and how to stock animals
looking to hear from people that use this calibre for these animals
if you reload your go to bullet
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105 Amax at 3120 fps mv was always my goto from my 243AI.
I’m rarely angry enough at a moose or elk to need to step up to 108/109 ELD m level of performance these days.
 
I have shot 2 moose with 100 grain soft points.---The minimum caliber and bullet weight for big game in Newfoundland and Labrador. The last one was on Dec. 29/24. ( A 2-3 year old cow @ 300 yards). Found her 20 yards from where she was shot.
 
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Kenny_G2 said:
I have shot a few deer with my 243 using 90 gr accubonds, they were very explosive, acting more like a ballistic tip. Lots of bloodshot and a few required follow up finishing shots. I have since gone to ttsx which are great.
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interesting i have used accubondes for decades never a issue worked as they should i have never shot anything in side of 100 yds
 
While I haven't done it myself, I have been with someone who shot a young moose at about 100 yards with a 100gr soft point from a 243. The bullet entered between the ribs and took out both lungs. Did not recover the bullet in the mess, but it did not make it out the other side of the ribs. The moose ran a short distance before expiring. 60-80 yards??? did not measure or look at it back then (almost 40 years ago now). But moose are much less tenacious of life than are elk. And have less dense bone.

I know that there was an old gun writer that used the 243 for elk for years. If I recall correctly, he never shot over 100 yards, with 100 gr soft points, and only at broadside or slightly quartering away, unwary animals. He stayed away from the heavy shoulder bones. And he was noted as an extremely good shot.

If I were so tempted, I would look at the bonded bullets, such as the AccuBond. And only with such shot presentations as that of that experienced elk hunter/gunwriter.
I have other cartridges I feel are better suited for elk, so do not feel tempted to try this myself. But this is just my opinion and practice. Then again, I do not own a 243 today, and have only ever owned one back in '89. Have been a fan of quarter bores and 6.5's instead.
 
My first moose was with a 243, it's what I had, 17yrs old. Basic 600-650lb on the meat hooks BC interior Moose. Close range 《 80yds, behind the shoulder, but high. Needed a finishing shot. Crap imperial 100gr soft point.

It's a centerfire, at close range it's got the energy. Somewhere i have the bullet energy calculation formula. IIRC, it's bullet weight x velocity squared/ ????. Point is the velocity contributes, squared; whereas, bullet weight is linear. So keep the velocity high, premium bullet ( or shet house luck in my case) and keep the range short. Most of the moose I've shot have been close, bayonet distance to 100yds. I've just always hunted tight and swampy areas for swamp donkeys. Would it be my first choice, hell no, will it do it, yes in the right situation.
 
A friend of mine has shot a dozen or or so moose with either a 6mm Remington or .243 usually a partition but the last 3 were 95 grain ballistic tips. He's also got one with a 6x45 slinging the 85 gamekings, but that one shot placement took care of any cartridge or bullet performance concerns. He doesn't have any complaints and most tipped over after a short stagger. A couple recieved a second shot to hasten the process. He has stated that he prefers his 300 WSM and 444 Marlin when setting out intending to target a moose. He just really likes his 6mm deer rifles and when opportunity presents itself takes it.
 
im so far from a moose its not funny but my thinking of the .243 stemmed way back with the big sambar deer being notorious for 338s an such...

yet i kilt heaps of em with a little 270 winchester an 130gr SP with the 24 or often 26 inch barrel -(now a 708) - i began to wonder about such an ultralight rifle (like a kimber/howa UL) an packing it around mountains all day- daily- an that i was sure a 100gr SP but better yet a premium Bonded number, would be all that would be needed for the biggest of Sambar deeer-- this all fell back onto placing that projectile where it needed to be......... nothing more , nothing less.
 
6mm Remington, same size bullets as the 243. I use nothing but Federal 100 grain Powershocks for big game. Never needed to create a load due to the accuracy and stopping power of the inexpensive factory ammo. The 6mm is not my main rig but I used it as a kid to rack up a pile of of deer, moose, elk, and coyotes. Only ever took one cow moose with a clean shot to the back of the head. On a cow elk, I was amazed at the wound channel, even after hitting a rib on the way in, that little bullet held together and exited the opposite side. On a big bull, the bullet piled up in the opposite shoulder but dropped him after a 50 metre dash.

My buddy's son took his first elk with the same Federal 100 grain Powershocks in his 6mm. Huge 6X6 bull at a little over 100 metres. The bull took one step and dropped. The kid had to put another shot in the bull from point blank as he was still kicking but he was done.
 
I do not hunt with this calibre, i think it is inadequate even for large buck deer under bush hunting conditions. However, i have a story about a neighbor who hunted elk with one, at least once. I heard his shots - a barrage - before it was fully light, just south of our farm. He had shot a younger bull on the adjacent field with his .243 Winchester. Myself and another neighbor assisted him hauling it out of the willows it had fled a quarter mile or so to. He'd shot the thing five times with the .243, running shots after the first round. I had ample chance to examine the shot placement. It was really good, nothing wrong with his skills - I don't think there was a single shot of the five that wouldn't have killed the thing, one shot, with a generous calibre relative to the game. One was even to the head. I'm a big believer in the ol' adage that it's far harder to be overgunned than to be undergunned. This experience served to reinforce my belief.
 
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