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Did the OP ever say what he planned to do with the rifle/caliber? If he plans to hunt deer and smaller critters, the 243 will do Ok. If deer and larger are the objective, then the 308 would be a much better choice.
I don't own a 243, but I do load for the grandson's 308 (reduced loads), and I personally hunt with a 260 these days, with 100 grain and 120 grain Nosler BT's. After shooting quite a few deer with the 260 in both those bullet weights, I have come to the conclusion that the 120 gr bullet is a bit more effective than the 100 grain on deer. Both work just fine, but it seems that the heavier bullet puts them down a bit faster. That is even more noticeable when shooting hogs in the 200 pound class. So, based on my extensive 'research', and and having to pick between 243 and 308, I'd choose a 308 over the 243 for deer and hogs, and would shoot 150 gr bullets. What I require of a caliber is to put the deer or hog down before they can drag, jump, hop, or flop into the impenetrable brush, and I found that the 100 grain bullets just didn't reliably do that.
Having shot probably 300 or so deer over the decades, using a variety of calibers, my actual favorite caliber for deer is the 270, but the light weight and low recoil of the 260 has me toting a Tikka T3 in 260 as I've aged. I love the rifle and caliber and think of it as a '270 Lite'.
I don't own a 243, but I do load for the grandson's 308 (reduced loads), and I personally hunt with a 260 these days, with 100 grain and 120 grain Nosler BT's. After shooting quite a few deer with the 260 in both those bullet weights, I have come to the conclusion that the 120 gr bullet is a bit more effective than the 100 grain on deer. Both work just fine, but it seems that the heavier bullet puts them down a bit faster. That is even more noticeable when shooting hogs in the 200 pound class. So, based on my extensive 'research', and and having to pick between 243 and 308, I'd choose a 308 over the 243 for deer and hogs, and would shoot 150 gr bullets. What I require of a caliber is to put the deer or hog down before they can drag, jump, hop, or flop into the impenetrable brush, and I found that the 100 grain bullets just didn't reliably do that.
Having shot probably 300 or so deer over the decades, using a variety of calibers, my actual favorite caliber for deer is the 270, but the light weight and low recoil of the 260 has me toting a Tikka T3 in 260 as I've aged. I love the rifle and caliber and think of it as a '270 Lite'.