.25-06 vs the .243

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Or you might want to compare apples to apples, like sticking to the 100gr bullet.

Fired out of a 24in barrel, Hornady shows a 300fps advantage to the .25-06 over the .243 Win.

Now, you may not consider a 20% difference in bullet weight to be "significant" (I do), but how can you not consider a 300fps (10%) difference in velocity (same weight bullet) NOT significant?

I have both, and for me, the .25-06 picks up where the .243 leaves off...

Also have a 6mm Remington. Want to get into THAT vs. .243 argument? :rolleyes:
 
Also have a 6mm Remington. Want to get into THAT vs. .243 argument?

oh, oh!!! i do! i do!!!:D:D:D
just kidding!!

i owned both the 243 and the 25-06. i have never been hoggin. i have shot a couple of deer tho. the 243 was nice, but i wanted something a little better. i now own a 7mm-08 in rem m7. the 25-06 was a real great gun. some even said it was better than a 270, which i also have. flat shootin and drt!!! the 115gr ballistic tip with a charge of imr4350 dealt death to them deer. even tho i got rid of it(22-250 ai in MGM Barrel for my encore) i would still use it.:D

p.s. 6mm remmy is better!!!;)
 
The ballistic coefficient means nothing to Bambi or Wiley. Neither does velocity of like bullet weights. What is important is finding ammo/brass where you are and maybe where you hunt. The .243 is everywhere. .25-06(nothing wrong with it unless you don't like long actions) not so much. Get off to Frozen Butte, ND hunting only to find your ammo is still on the kitchen table, you may and likely will not find suitable .25-06 in the local hardware.
Chances of finding 6mm Remington in Frozen Butte, ND are slim too. .243 will be next to the .308/.30-06.
"...kill faster than..." Nothing kills or dies faster than something else. Dead is dead.
688 yards with a .243 is a miracle. Insufficient energy past 300ish and nearly 3 feet drop at 500.
 
Ballistic coefficient does indeed have meaning. What it means is more energy delivered on target and that's meaningful, even at 200 yards.

Bullet weight is also quite important. It can mean the difference between failure and success. Choosing the appropriate bullet weight (and construction) for your game is Hunting 101.

I never worry about ammo availability. The Internet is full of it at low prices. I stay stocked up.

If you're in Frozen Butt, North Dakota they ship it next day delivery to your motel.

Finally (last correction) there IS INDEED such a thing as "kills faster."

There are several variations.......like "Instantly." Then there's "Runs 10 Yards and Dies." Then there's "Runs a Mile (or ten) and Dies."

I think that covers it.

Some folks here definitely need to take Ammo and Hunting 101.
 
Finally (last correction) there IS INDEED such a thing as "kills faster."
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No, there's not.
There are just different results depending on the variables, with shot placement being foremost

Some folks here definitely need to take Ammo and Hunting 101.
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On that we agree, and on this also:

Don't be fooled by internet fables.
 
Ballistic coefficient does indeed have meaning. What it means is more energy delivered on target and that's meaningful, even at 200 yards.

Bullet weight is also quite important. It can mean the difference between failure and success. Choosing the appropriate bullet weight (and construction) for your game is Hunting 101.
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actually, it is more fair to say that increased weight means more energy and more ballistic coefficient means less bullet drop over range. you're also ignoring velocity.

you can have a 500gr muzzle loader projectile but without velocity and a decent ballistic coefficient it's not going to do well. inversely, if you have a 25gr projectile with an amazing coefficient and high velocity, it is not going to have the greatest effect. there is also sectional density but with the introduction of bonded lead cores and total copper projectiles this loses a great deal of its importance.


Finally (last correction) there IS INDEED such a thing as "kills faster."
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this may be so but there is no quantifiable method of measuring this phenomenon, nor is there any way of making a concrete claim that caliber A is more lethal than caliber B. case in point: I once shot a deer at close range with a 180gr bullet travelling 3100 FPS, naturally the laws of logic would suggest that deer would be instantly dead. the laws of logic failed me that day. I never recovered that animal, and not for a lack of trying. on a separate occasion, I shot a different deer with a 147gr projectile travelling about 1000 FPS, that deer dropped made it about 10 feet before it dropped.
everything the internet, old man Cephas behind the gun counter, and ballistics charts knows about "kills faster" is pure and utter bucksnot.

anyone who's ever truly hunted knows that things that should never work sometimes do and things that should always work sometimes don't.
 
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How can one say that a 25-06 is that much more gun than a 243,

when some of the same ones say that a 270 is that much less than a 30-06?

:D :D :D
 
Nothing like a good caliber debate to warm things up. We have them every time we are at camp, we have never "settled" one well at least they haven't acknowledged I am right. In the end there are differences but at 200 yards and under there is a plethora of chamberings that will do the job on deer/hogs with proper bulet's and proper shot placement.
 
If your familiar with the 30-06 verses the 308s discussion on which cartridge offers the better performance. This 243 verses the 25-06 discussion is basically a review of that same argument.
 
If your familiar with the 30-06 verses the 308s discussion on which cartridge offers the better performance. This 243 verses the 25-06 discussion is basically a review of that same argument.
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Which one of those kills deer or pigs "better" at 200 yds? :D
 
30-06 but if you know anything about long range shooting you know more people choose 308 for 1000 yard shooting than any other so it's the better cartridge. :rolleyes:
 
did we just derail this thread?
stepbrothers-did-we-just-become-best-friends.gif
 
..discussion on which cartridge offers the better performance.
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every "this vs. that" cartridge discussion revolves around this, and if you don't have anything else significant to offer, this thread will be done, soon.
 
Every performance discussion seems to revolve around velocity, sd, bullet weight, etc. But there are always trade offs on one end or the other, otherwise the .30-378 would eclipse the .308 completely at long range shooting. Recoil, muzzle blast, weight, cost, barrel life all come into play. It comes down to which cartridge(s) offer sufficient performance for the given parameters. Throw in shoot ability of a cartridge, the shoother etc. And of course personal choice, we have all taken a rife chambered for something we knew was not optimal for the hunt and simply lived with its restrictions.
 
Buy the .243 Win. If it works for your needs, you're done buying.

If some day you hit a critter in a not-so-good place, you may question the power of the .243 and that's the time you'll want to buy a bigger, more powerful gun/cartridge. However, keep the .243, because you'll have found lots of uses for it and you won't want to part with it.
 
This difference between the .243 vs. 25-06 discussion and the .308 vs. 30-06 discussion is that the latter are both 30 caliber and can be used with the same bullet weights.

The only difference is case capacity.

That, of course, is not similar with the .243 and the 25-06 which are actually DIFFERENT calibers.
 
IMO, the question is not which is more powerful but how much of that "better killin'" ability is actually needed, especially at 200 yds. I guess, as some have mentioned, if you are not confident in making a good shot, more power might make up for it. I say pic a rifle/caliber you will practice with often ...and not just off a bench either. Any popular deer caliber should easily get the job done at that distance...providing the shooter does his part.
 
"IMO, the question is not which is more powerful but how much of that "better killin'" ability is actually needed,".

There are 2 things you can rarely have to much of. The first is "Killin" ability and ammo. The only time you can ever have to much ammo is when your house is on fire.
 
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