Deer hunting and the .243 Winchester

togliat,

The .243 is a fine Whitetail caliber out to 200 yds. I have a Mossberg 1500 and my daughter and son use a H&R Handie-Rifle youth model in .243. It does require more effort in shot placement. Your not going to break down a deer by shooting in it the shoulder like some hunter tend to do.

An other caliber you might consider is the 7mm-08, this like the .243 is a necked down .308 case. It uses a little larger and heavier bullet, the recoil will be a little heaver but not much. I do not own one but the ballistic look interesting.
 
Low Recoil Deer Rifle

I've taken two Wyoming Muley's with a 243. One field dressed at 175# which probably means 240# live weight shot at about 175 yards,and the other field dressed at 142 # which should be about 200# live weight shot at 40 FEET. Couldn't see anything but hair in the scope. Worked great. Granted neither of these were the fabled BIG MULEY'S.
Having said that, at the ranges you are stating (to 150 yards), I think today I'd choose a 257 Roberts, perhaps a 260 Remington if I wanted to stay with a bolt action. Just a little more insurance with bullet weight but still low recoil. At those ranges you could even throw in the 30/30 and 35 Remington as low recoil cartridges. A 30/30 with a 150 grain bullet has low recoil and good hunting qualities at the range you are expecting in a lever action rifle which would with practice give you a quicker second shot.
 
Ozzie 244 was the wrong twist for heavy bullets 6mm

Has a better (faster) twist for the heavier bullet. The reason the Remington Co. went to the 6mm to compete better with the 243.

243 is nothing but a necked down 308 so they had the cartridge already.
Even though I think the 6mm is a better cartridge I will keep with the 243. Just because so much brass is avaliable. The ackley improved is a great cartridge but it is not that great in comparing the two. I think the 243 is the way to go or the 6mm. Your choice and what turns you on.

I have a 243 Ruger 77 with a bull barrel and a 22-250 Howa synthetic stock with a weaver 10 power, I am going to sell the 22-250. This year around the middle of Nov it goes on the block. I will probably keep the scope.

Harley
 
150 yards is just dandy for a .243. While the .243 is used regularly for antelope at 300 yards, but it's not something a new shooter wants to do. Practice, off hand at 100 yards, shooting at a 9" pie plate. When you can hit it every time, your ready to hunt.
For deer, the right bullet is essential. However, you don't need premium bullets or ammo. Not that there's anything wrong with them, other than the price. You just don't need it.
Any 90 grain or heavier soft point from any maker will do nicely. Most lighter bullets are made for varmints and are unsuitable for deer.
You do need to consider what rate of rifling twist you buy too. 1 in 9 works well. Most regular weight hunting rifle barrels will do just fine for deer. A heavy varmint barrel may not.
 
Thanks for all your replies, guys.

I appreciate all the information you have shared with me, fellas.
I looked at both .25-06 Rem and .243 Win and I'm pretty confident I'll start out with the .243, although both calibers are certainly excellent beginner choices (as are many others). I guess I looked at these two calibers as they represented viable choices in the "low felt recoil" genre and are easily found on store shelves.

My next agonizing decision...which rifle?

Tony :)
 
Togliat,

Any of the major manufactures ( Ruger, Remington, Winchester, Savage, Mossberg etc.) make excellent bolt action rifles. Today's production rifles meet or exceed in accuracy that we worked for 30 years ago.

One thing you might want to think about, as I mention earlier my kids use a single shot Handi-Rifle ( in the youth model) from England Firearms. This is a sweet little rifle, the total length is 38" long ( 22" barrel) and about 7 pounds, it handles very nice. I bought this gun for $189.00 ( includes scope mounting bracket) new and had a gunsmith do a trigger job ( $35.00), the trigger pull now has a very nice crisp break and a consistence 4 lb. pull. With the off the shelve Winchester 100 gr. Power Points, my 12 year old daughter can consistency shoot 1" - 1 1/4" group at 100 yards. :) The other neat thing is you can buy different barrels ( range from $89 - $110) and switch as your hunting needs change. If your interested check out www.HR1871.com

It makes a Dad proud when my 12 year old, has the confidence to deer hunt with a single shot rifle. :D

Also Ruger makes a very fine single shot rifle the Ruger # 1 - excellent rifle but in the $ 500 - $600 range
 
I love Ruger#1 s what a nice rifle. I know it is very nice to have your Son and or Daughter shoot well makes you proud and feel that you have taught the well. Both mine shoot and take a delight in wupping the old man, but not always. ;)
 
Foxman,

Here is picture to make a Dad proud , her first buck. I do not know who was smiling more. :D :D :D

 

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My wife uses a Remmy 788 in .243. She kills whitetails every year. Most shots are 70-100yds. The deer don't always drop and pile up, but they don't go very far. She uses 100gr Nosler Partions loaded by a local gunshop.

I can hear her voice on the radio now, "Honey, I got one!"

Good Luck, Happy Hunting!!
 
Listen to Wildalaska. My 6.5x55 swedish mauser is light to carry and has little recoil. Have taken mutiple deer and hogs as have my sons. Mostly it rides in jeep until we hit the edge of swamp. My 6.5x55 project was fun and not expensive, thanks to parts from Midway. daleltaylor@att.net
 
my fav. is the .243 win I own a number of small calber guns but when the deer hunting gets sticky guess what I pick up they are good in the thick timber to the flat plains and the cool thing about them is you can hunt everything from a Mulie Or white tail down to a parie dog I belive that a .243 win is all around a good gun and have shot anmnials up as close as 30 yrds and put them down I belive that any body can screw up and have a anmnial run-off with any calber gun everybody has had it happen before but I trust myself and my handy .243 win but the key is awalys the shooter the bullet will go where that bore points and if useing a scope if not experinced in sighting in have somebody that is help you this will help a lot. I have awalys used a 100 grn. Remmington Core Lokt Bullet for the larger game that is under 250 yrds and the larger over that the same bullet only in an 85 grn. for varments I have started useing the Winchester Silver Ballistic Tip in a 55 grn Have fount that this is the fastest bullet for the .243 win and is very effictive on the smaller game
 
I hunt down here in middle Georgia, and I use a NEF Handi Rifle Ultra light .243. Last year, killed 5 deer (5 point buck and 4 does) all shot under 110 yards. I use Hornady 100 gr. light mags, they get the job done. Just put the shot on the shoulder or just behind, the deer will be in the freezer. I think you can't go wrong with the .243. Good luck and good hunting
 
The .243 An Alaskan Legend!

Greetings all, it's freaking unbelieveable how so many non hunters can give biased and useless opinions online.
Here's the no BS answer, shot placement is everything period. The .243 Winchester is the caliber of choice of the Alaska State Outfitter Champion for ALL Alaska Game!
 
Ultima-Ratio, are you telling us you're a non-hunter? I was wondering, because your comment, "The .243 Winchester is the caliber of choice of the Alaska State Outfitter Champion for ALL Alaska Game!" is in conflict with EVERY Alaskan who's ever spoken about hunting in Alaska...

:), Art
 
Er, I do believe that Savage may make the best .243 rifle. But that is just my own prejudice because mine shoots really really well.
 
for what it's worth a .243 will take deer ,however if all you will own is one rifle just buy a .308 and you should be set for most anything .plentiful,cheap ammo in just about any bullet weight for any purpuse.my 12 year old daughter has taken deer with my remington BDL (CIRCA 1975) with a leopould vari x 3 3-9x40 , Hornady 165 light mag load with no black and blue marks and she only weigs 102 lbs .
 
I have a Browning A-bolt Hunter in .270 and a Stainless Steel Stalker in .243. It seems that I alway grab the .243 when I go deer hunting. I have never lost a deer and have shot deer out to 350 yards. I reload all my own sells and I shoot 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets.
 
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