Is a .243 alright?

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I can't say anything about other guns but my .243 Savage 10 Predator Brush will shoot the wings off of a fly at 100yds and not mess up the carcass. I handload for it and shoot 70grn and 90grn Ballistic Tips, different powders but same POI and groups. If I want to head shoot, I pick the hair I want to split, that's how inaccurate it is. Mild recoil even with hot rounds.

Whoever told you those tales doesn't have a clue as to the merits of that little cartridge.
 
A guy I used to work with bought a used Ruger (M77 I think) chambered in .243 to take Pronghorn hunting a few years ago. He cooked up some reloads for it and asked me to shoot with him at his 200 range on his farm. First 3 or 4 groups at 200 yards were not at all impressive. The last group he shot, I didn’t walk the 200 yards with him to check it out. When he got there, he just stood there, for what seemed like 5 minutes. Tore off the target and stated walking back. I could tell he had a smile on his face. His 5 shot 200 yard group could be covered with a nickel (a 5 cent piece). That’s a good group no matter how you look at it. All I can remember was he used 95 grain Nosler ballistic tip bullets. They sure work good in that rifle.
 
You've learned something valuable...

I heard different stories on how .243 rifles are not accurate at all and how they are failures.
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Whoever told you that is someone whose opinion you can safely ignore in the future.

How is that true?
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Short answer: it isn't.
 
Some people just don't realize that it's better to be silent , and thought a fool , than to speak and remove all doubt !
 
The deer and antelope of Wyoming have developed a healthy fear of my brother's Remington Model 700 .243 with Leupold optics. He brings something home every season, almost always with a single shot. It's a very capable round when used by a skilled shooter.
 
243s are very accurate and anyone that will tell you they wont kill deer is spending to much time learning about guns on there computer.
 
The .243 is capable of amazing accuracy, which is obvious from the target pics posted.
In my (sometimes) humble opinion, it is an excellent whitetail cartridge, in the hands of an experienced hunter. By that, I mean a hunter that is disciplined enough to only take a good shot.
A 100gr bullet is pretty light, and will probably not be as effective on a marginal shot as a larger caliber would be. Of course, this depends on what bullet you are using... a premium Nosler or Barnes will even the odds somewhat, but the regular Wally world ammo would be a little overmatched on the marginal shots.
That being said, I know that many hunters kill deer every season with the .223, and it's not nearly as good a deer cartridge as the .243.
I wouldn't feel undergunned with one, at all.
 
me thinks

243 will work wonders when it comes to killing deer and will keep killing deer till the time comes that deer start reading some of the stories about how it takes a warp speed nockum flat double wasp magnum to put a dent in the side of an old buck on a crisp November morning.
No kidding a 243 is an excellent deer cartridge that seems to work out of proportion to its light recoil. I have used a 308 and a 3006, but for about ten years now I have only used a 243 and I do not feel under gunned at all.
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Accurate, available, very versatile and relatively inexpensive. Good for target shooting AND hunting varmint to "big game" in the lower-48.

Maybe the most useful overall cartridge.

Target shooting and small-game only? Find that .223.
 
I heard different stories on how .243 rifles are not accurate at all and how they are failures.How true is this?
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Not even slightly true. 243s are quite accurate. While I prefer a larger and heavier bullet for big game, you can certainly kill a deer with one.
 
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