The 243 Anyone?

T

The Terminator

New member
I just struck a deal to get a NEF 243, bull barrel. I want a longer range deer rifle than I currently have, a 45-70 Guide Gun. I have never owned a 243, but, I've always heard that they are good for most whitetails to about 300 yards. Anyone have experience with one?

Best - Ted
 
I wouldn't hesitate to do it

I've got one that I bought for my wife. I also use it for my open country gun. I love it. It's a fast powerful round. we have taken them out at 300-350 yds no problem....with remington corelokt at that.

Plus they are easy shooters w/minimal recoil
 
Had one...

they shoot flat and hit more than hard enough to take down white-tail I only ever took down mulies with mine and out to about 150 yards but it worked quite well.

I traded up to the .270 for a little more oooomph and i love it too. The .243 is also a great coyote gun.
 
I too had the NEF heavy barrel in 243. I didn't like the rifle for carrying around, the heavy barrel made it ummm, too heavy.:) It was a good shooter though.
 
the .243 win is a great performing whitetail round.

I use Remington Accutips ( 95 gr ) and they really open up inside a deer, but still give enough penetration. I have yet to recover a bullet fron a deer shot through the ribs at any range. typical exit holes are over a half an inch in diameter - so I know that they have expanded fully. I used to use the Winchester/ combined technologies ballistic silver tip ( 95 gr ) and they worked very well too.

I would hesitate to use it on any raking shot or a texas heart shot but the .243 is great for broadside shots.

No recoil, all the ones I have shot have been very accurate and it is a nice flat shooting cartridge.

Plus, you can go for coyotes or other varmints with it.

Have fun!!
 
I took down a huge South Texas whitetail this year with my new 6mm rem. Same bullet. 1 shot kill through the shoulder. Dead in his tracks with a Nosler partition 100 grainer.
 
+1 on this being a good caliber for deer, as long as you use the proper bullets. My State requires 70 grain or heavier for Deer and 85 or heavier for Elk. I've never used lighter than 95 grains for Deer or Pronghorn. I save the lighter bullets for coyotes. I like my .243 and will never sell it but it was downgraded to a varmint gun for me as soon as I bought my .270 Win, but I wouldn't be afraid to use it again on deer.
 
I love the .243 win. I have 2 rifles in this round, and am considering more. Big enough to take whitetails cleanly, very flat trajectory; small enough to have not much recoil and be useful for varmints at long range too. I just ordered 3 boxes of lost river 80 grain hunting bullets with a BC of .444. After I load some up, I'll post on how they perform in each of my rifles. Plan to shoot some deer this fall with them.

I had the NEF in .243, in the "medium" or regular contour barrel (which is a heavy, semi-bull anyway). But I gave it to my half-brother because I wanted a "light rifle", and the NEF is a heavy dude.
 
Where are you going to hunt. I have taken TX whitetail with a 243 and felt fine about it. Also, SoCal muleys. But these are relatively small deer though the TX WT can have nice racks. In Alberta I shot WT that it took two of us to drag out after field dressing. Those guys (the Canadian hunters) would laugh at a 243 except for coyotes ... then they use 22-250s. However, I will not sell my S&W Model C (say Carl Gustaf)! It's too pretty.
 
I switched to .243 this year and hammered two Hill Country whitetails at ~140 yards. Both were heart lung shots resulting in bang flops using the Hornaday Light Magnum SST 95gr bullet. It looked like the deer were struck by lightning through the scope! You won't be disappointed as long as you use premium ammo.
 
Those guys (the Canadian hunters) would laugh at a 243 except for coyotes
Click to expand...

Haha, almost I know a few guys that do but if you can shoot the .243 is a great deer round.

Our coyotes do get about as big as a southern White-tailed deer though. Sorry guys we just know how to grow em.
 
The best thing I've found about a .243 is that you won't mind practicing with it so you'll be a better shooter than carrying something you don't want to take to the range as much.
 
I don't know what it is about the .243: Bullet design? Velocity? Anyhow, from conversation and personal experience, both, "It kills bigger than it oughta."

For instance: I've mostly used the Sierra 85-grain HPBT. In a deer's chest cavity, it makes a double-handful of mush. A six-inch sphere of "used to be". Neck shots are a DRT deal. And it spreads coyote innards all over the countryside.

But, ya gotta be picky about where you hit. I wouldn't use it on a running deer, particularly one of any size.

Art
 
I belive it was mentioned in Jack O Conner's book ' The Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns " that he referenced a statement by Col. Crossman that a 100 gr .25 caliber bullet going 3000 FPS at the muzzle was just about the perfect whitetail/ antelope/ sheep round.

The .243 is darn near this ' ideal ' size, so are several other mild cartridges like the .257 roberts, the .250 savage, the .260 rem. the 6.5 X 55 swede.

All of these, like Art mentioned above "It kills bigger than it oughta."
 
I have two NEF rifles (no .243 barrels unfortunately) and I love 'em both. As for the .243, I use a 6mm Rem for almost everything I hunt. 6mm is the same bullet in a slightly larger casing, and by all the numbers I've seen and personal accounts, they perform neck-to-neck in almost every way. A NEF in .243 is a winning combination for a deer rifle, no matter how you look at it.

And +1 again for Art---"It kills bigger than it oughta."
 
This is truly one of the most popular cartridges of the World. Every major manufacturer builds at least one rifle in this chambering.

I've had very good luck with our older Remington slide action rifle in this chambering. One shot topple-'em-in-their-tracks performance is quite common, indeed. Even big 275 lb mulies can not stand up to well placed 95 grain Ballistic Tips.

The only gripe I have is that the popular .243 displaced the most excellent 250 Savage cartridge. Unfair but true. But just about any .243 can be easily bored to 250 Savage by a competant smith. I doubt if any advantage is gained but it can be done for those who want a 250 in the worst way and can't find one anywhere.

Jack
 
I've used my Weatherby Vanguard in .243 on some long range praire dog shots. Ideal caliber for varminting in general.

It's a little to heavy to tote for deer compared to my synthetic .270, so it doesn't see much service. However I do plan on using it when I get drawn for antelope (someday;) . I suspect it could be the single most popular cartridge for antelope here in Arizona, at least if the trophy photograph boards are of any scientific survey value.
 
bullet choice

I used the Nosler partition 105gr bullets and the 95gr ballistic tips. Both worked well with excellent shot placement. Blood trail was minimal at times.
 
Not me

I'm going to put in my 2 cents.
The 243 is ok for some.
But I like to hit them hard,with a lot of lead.
Hunting in deep East Texas,you need a good one shot kill.
 
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