I’ve been hunting, shooting & reloading for a long time. I remember back as a teenager reading in Outdoor Life Magazine about African hunters taking the .243 Win to Africa as their “light” rifle & having great success. The cartridge along with its competitor the .244 (aka 6mm Rem) were just starting to get traction as good deer cartridges. Their claim to fame was light recoil & “surgical precision” via fine accuracy in placing the bullet. Back then, being a gun magazine reading, amateur teenage gun guru (LOL), I convinced my dad to get a 6mm Remington as his back-up deer rifle. Indeed this was an accurate rifle & other family members bought the more popular .243’s as deer rifles for themselves, sons & daughters. But things eventually went sour for all of us. Indeed these 6mm cartridges were more than adequate for deer but lack of blood trail eventually made us swear off the 6mm & .243 as poor choices. I could list a number of incidents, but although they usually put venison on the table, occasionally it was very difficult finding an animal if any tracking was involved.
Now fast forward to today. I’m convinced from everything I’ve read & heard the .243 Win may actually rival the .30-30 for the most “deer killed” cartridge! I’ve inherited my dad’s 6mm Rem & a BIL just inherited a family .243 Win. We both still have that that same stigma we felt & experienced more than once 35+ years back – OK deer rifles, but poor if you happen to need a blood trail. Sometimes, "surgical precision" will only get you so far & may not always happen...
Are we alone or do others feel the same way about the .243 calibers rifles? Have some of the new so called premium bullets improved this aspect, making the .243 Win a better than average deer cartridge that makes a small entry/exit hole, if even both? Please, I mean no offense to .243 shooters, as I mentioned, this cartridge is responsible for a mountain of WT deer & to infer otherwise would make me the fool! What am I missing?
Thanks in advance for your opinions & bullet suggestions, if any.
Now fast forward to today. I’m convinced from everything I’ve read & heard the .243 Win may actually rival the .30-30 for the most “deer killed” cartridge! I’ve inherited my dad’s 6mm Rem & a BIL just inherited a family .243 Win. We both still have that that same stigma we felt & experienced more than once 35+ years back – OK deer rifles, but poor if you happen to need a blood trail. Sometimes, "surgical precision" will only get you so far & may not always happen...
Are we alone or do others feel the same way about the .243 calibers rifles? Have some of the new so called premium bullets improved this aspect, making the .243 Win a better than average deer cartridge that makes a small entry/exit hole, if even both? Please, I mean no offense to .243 shooters, as I mentioned, this cartridge is responsible for a mountain of WT deer & to infer otherwise would make me the fool! What am I missing?
Thanks in advance for your opinions & bullet suggestions, if any.