Got to exercise the 243 win today

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pctechdude

New member
So my parents had left town for a few days and was coming home today so the wife, son and I took their dog home. They live about 25 minutes from us.

They have been telling me they've seen some groundhogs out and about. As they live on a 100+ acres I took my 243 out and set up shop on the first one. He showed up about 150 yards out, I got good clear shot and took it. Down he went. Right through both shoulders.

I waited about an hour as I knew the other hog usually showed around 6pm. Camped out in the field and saw his tail in the pasture field. He came to a stop and my range finder was showing 317 yards, adjusted the scope quickly and fired. Another one down.

So as the test I posted last year with the sight in with this gun and the 95gr Sierra match kings, it's easily becoming a favorite of mine. The low recoil, range and accuracy of this is astounding!

Attaching some pictures of said gun and the groundhogs from today.

The gun
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This is the first groundhog
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The second
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A 243 is no doubt one of the best rounds going in an all around hunting rig. Light recoil, accurate, easily found, easy to find loading components, etc.... I really like them. Now that they are being put on the AR platform, I look for a huge "discovery" of this round and what it offers, by the new shooting crowd. I have often wondered why our military didn't pick it over the 5.56. It is such a great round.

Nice gun and good shooting. God Bless
 
I have often wondered why our military didn't pick it over the 5.56. It is such a great round.
Click to expand...

Yes it is, but not for fully automatic fire. The 243 is my favorite caliber, but is very close to the 308 which was used in the M-14 in service at that time. As a matter of fact (maybe) the 308 is the parent case of the 243.

The first AR's were made in 308 and did not provide the quantity of rounds they wanted (30) in a magazine and the 308 produces quite a bit of recoil that makes it firing fully auto a big problem keeping it on target.

That is why they went with the lighter weight 55 grain modified 220 bullet (.224) and came up with the 5.56 (223) round for the rifle.

Jim
 
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I've killed a lot of different animals with a .243 and never felt undergunned using it. Some people in the Southeast think you need a 7mag for our deer. They can show up with a magnum kicking round and I'll show up with my .243, bet the deer won't know the difference. Best kill I ever made was on a doe with my .243. My dad and I were sitting in the same field about 250yds apart and we had 2 doe's walked out just under 250yds out from both of our stands. I picked the biggest and bang-flop. My dad gets the other one to stop and he shoots her. I grab the truck and get to my dad and all he says is "you shot my deer" lol. He had his sights on her when I dropped her lol. As far as I'm concerned, a .243 is one of the hardest rounds to beat on pure versatility. I think I need to build another one now.
 
Yes the 308 is the parent case to the 243, I can see the 308 being quite hard to control in full automatic fire in an AR platform. My decision on why I went the 243 route was because, I live in central Ohio and I have to be cautious with my shots. I know both the 243 and 308 are capable of long range shots but at intermediate distances it's better than my AR-15, not as much wind doping and flatter trajectory.
 
If I had to own only one rifle, it would be the .243 Win.

My old Model 70 has taken many a jackrabbit, coyote, and deer.

75 grain HP for the jacks, 85 grain HP for coyote, and 100 grain Nosler partition for deer. Absolutely the best cartridge for all around Texas hunting.

Strangely enough, my .243 likes very slow powders (4831 & 4350) better than anything else.
 
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