.243,6mm,or .257 Roberts?

D

Deerhunt

New member
Hi all! I'm 13 and looking for a varmint and partial deer rifle,I currently have a remington 7600 chambered in .243 and shot my first buck with it and love it. But I'm looking to broaden my variety of calibers or at least my collection I am considering a .243 6mm or 257 roberts all would be a remington 760 and like I said above it would be for varmint hunting and most likely deer hunting as well. I do not reload. Thanks
 
Greetings, and welcome to The Firing Line.
So you have a pump action 243. Are you wanting to change over to a bolt or lever-action hunting rifle? Maybe a 243 is just right for you. How big are you? When I was your age I was a scrawny 90 pounds. I would recommend a 270 Winchester in a bolt-action, or a 30-30 in a lever action, but either one of them would have been much for me at that age. But you are probably bigger than I was, as I was a rather late-bloomer. Also the region and terrain and environment you hunt in can affect the best choice of rifles.
Regards,
Pathfinder45
 
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I am 5'6" 130 pounds so I am a little bigger. I am very pleased with my pumps accuracy and no matter what caliber I get I would get another pump. A few years back i bought a browning blr in 243 and hit some bullseyes at 200yds but never shot a deer. I was also kinda looking for it to be able to handle a little bit bigger animals than deer possibly if I ever get a chance to hunt bear or mule deer. I do have an uncle who reloads though.
 
If you're stuck on a pump action, you don't have many options. I have and have hunted with 243, 6mm, and 257 R and can honestly say there's just not that much difference. The 243 has a MUCH wider variety of factory ammo which should make your choice for you.
 
I live in michigan so the farthest shot anybody in our family has had was about 500yds
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Must be lower Michigan. I've shot plenty of deer in Michigan and never shot one over 50 yards.

You might want to step up your gun to 30 caliber if you plan on shooting bear.
 
Does anybody have any experience with a 243 for bear? I doubt it would fair well. I was considering a .270 but was wondering about recoil,it's not to much of a problem as I started out with a lever action 44 mag it's just more fun to shoot when it has barely any like a 243
 
My dad used a 32 special and 30-06 when bear hunting.

I'm sure a 243 can do it just like people who say 22lr kills deer but it would only be my choice if I didn't have something better. 270, 25-06, 30-06, 444 marlin, 20 gauge, ... lots of other choices.

30-06 and 270 aren't that pleasant when target shooting but do the job putting meat in the freezer.

I have a 6.5 arisaka I like to shoot at the range and it's probably similar to 243 in recoil so shooting doesn't hurt but after 20 rounds of 30-06 you don't want to shoot much more.
 
Well, then, I'll just recommend a 270 Winchester, as you will quickly grow into it. Make it a model 70 Winchester and you will never grow out of it.
 
I am a reloader and would look hard at a .257 Roberts or 6mm Remington.
But I would not dream of trying to shoot one on factory ammo, too scarce and the Roberts is loaded rather lightly.

You have a .243, try something a little bigger.
I don't know what they offer in pumps now, but a 7mm 08 or .280 would be good.
 
Since you don't reload, do yourself a favor and limit yourself to 243 Winchester; 270 Winchester; 30-30 Winchester; 308 Winchester; and finally, 30-'06 Springfield. Out of these, when you are ready for more rifle than what you now have, the 270 is probably your best choice.
 
Deerhunt, welcome to the TFL. You're 13 you have plenty of time to figure out what you like. However, if I could have learned one thing at your age about cartridges it would have been this. Bullets matter more than anything else, use good bullets and put them where they belong and you'll be very successful.

As many others have said the .243 is more practical for you than any of the others you mentioned. Pretty much you have picked three identical cartridges, in the real world they all work best on the same types of game. You'll also never see any difference in performance between the three on game animals, only on paper.

I have no experience with the .243 on bear, nor any of the other cartridges mentioned. However, I do have a little bear hunting experience. I can tell you black bears aren't any harder to kill than your average deer. Killing anything has more to do with bullet placement than changing diameter and case size.

Is the .243 you currently have the only rifle you have access to? I'd try shooting other rifles if you can, to see what you might possibly like. The two cartridges you mentioned other than .243 will be tough to find in a pump action Remington as well with probably the 6mm being more common than the .257 Roberts.

Good luck!
 
When I was 12 my Dad gave me a Remington Model 700 in 7mm Rem Mag and I have killed two dozen deer with it over the years. Don't be too nervous about recoil. When your game comes into range and your blood starts pumping, you won't mind a little recoil.

I'll second the recommendation for the Winchester Model 70 in any medium caliber like: 260 Rem, 7mm08 Rem, 270 Win, 280 Rem, 308 Win.

Of those I'd favor the 308 Win if you'll be hunting large deer and black bear. FWIW: My uncle shot a 325 lb. black bear last fall in Canada with a 270 Win and a 130g bullet.

Good luck, sounds like your off to a good start.
 
None of those are bear calibers.

If this is more for varmints, I would lean 243.

More for deer, 257 Roberts. Out to 500 yds, I would step up to 280 Ackley, 3006, or 300 Mag(WSM or reg)

If you want a black bear gun, those look like 338 federal or 45-70 usually.
 
I shot a 7mm-08 and it was identical recoil to the 243 if I remember correctly but does anybody have any experience with a 257 roberts or 280? I'm sure a 6mm is just like the 7mm-08 and 243
 
I have eliminated the 243 from my options cause I already have one and am considering the 6mm and 257 roberts because I realized that there's no reason to get the same caliber that I already have. I also realized that I just wanted to add an odd caliber gun to my collection (I have five) and that's why I'm only considering the 257 and 6mm because I do have access to a 760 .270. But am still wondering which caliber would work better if I ever go out west and want to take my "new" gun
 
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If you want to go out "West" you need a .270, .280, .308 or .30-06. There is nothing a 6mm or .257 Roberts will do out West that your .243 Win can't do.
 
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