your opinion on the .243
- Thread starter trigger45
- Start date
Best all-around rifle I,ve ever used. The VERY BEST whitetail gun I've ever used.
I would not use it on Elk or other larger game but I've used .270, 30-06, .308, 7mm mag, .44 mag and others on deer. They are all good but the .243 is the best of the lot, based on my personal experience.
Mikey
I would not use it on Elk or other larger game but I've used .270, 30-06, .308, 7mm mag, .44 mag and others on deer. They are all good but the .243 is the best of the lot, based on my personal experience.
Mikey
Two of my hunting partners use .243 for southern whitetail. It has plenty of power, penetration, etc for these animals and is very flat shooting. Be sure to use the heavier bullets for large game (90 - 100 gr), as they are constructed to hold together and penetrate. The lighter bullets are often designed with thin jackets to blow up on varmits. For northern whitetail and mule deer you may want to use the partion type bullets. I've heard of elk being killed with .243 but I don't recommend it (IMHO).
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
I've killed about 20 deer with my .243. Almost all were with the 85-grain Sierra HPBT--which is also a heckuva coyote load.
With something like a 100-grain Nosler, I wouldn't worry about any whitetail. Killim'n'eatim.
, Art
With something like a 100-grain Nosler, I wouldn't worry about any whitetail. Killim'n'eatim.
, ArtLegionnaire
New member
Great cartridge. I gave my son a Remington Model 7 in .243 when he started hunting a couple of years back. Perfectly adequate for eastern whitetail with heavier bullets, and you can get good factory loads for varmints as well. I put the .243 as a great medium between the .223 and .308.
WalterGAII
Moderator
We don't have large deer here in GA, but a young cousin of mine dropped a 275# buck with his .243 last year, with one shot. Lots of folks around here use and love the .243. (I'm one of them.) I don't hunt deer, but if I did, I'd not hesitate to use either of my .243's for the job. I use my .243's for varmint hunting and punching holes in paper.
.243 win? That's my mother's hunting rifle!
Don't get me wrong, it works great. In fact it is the only rifle she owns and she has taken dozens of mule deer, a bunch of antelope and a spike elk with it. The elk was 1 shot - it's all in the placement and quality bullets. (She used Nosler partitions) On weekends my father and I would borrow it to hunt coyotes and foxes, then I discovered the .223 rem for that. Still, I think the .243 is an excellent caliber.
Don't get me wrong, it works great. In fact it is the only rifle she owns and she has taken dozens of mule deer, a bunch of antelope and a spike elk with it. The elk was 1 shot - it's all in the placement and quality bullets. (She used Nosler partitions) On weekends my father and I would borrow it to hunt coyotes and foxes, then I discovered the .223 rem for that. Still, I think the .243 is an excellent caliber.
Arizona Fusilier
New member
While I bought my .243 primarily for varmints, I'd have no problem using it on Coues deer or antelope here in Arizona. Mule deer and above is another proposition; I'd move up to .270 or .308 then.
Byron Adams
New member
243
Prior post are accurate. I use the 100 gr Hornady BTSP and have better experience than 308 in N GA mountains.
Prior post are accurate. I use the 100 gr Hornady BTSP and have better experience than 308 in N GA mountains.
Small "Exit Holes" can be a problem.
Hey trigger45, I'm also a BIG (literally and figuratively) fan of the little 243Win. It is a fine caliber for Deer " IF " you put the bullet directly into the chest, or low just behind the near shoulder so it angles into the off-side shoulder. This is of course true for ALL calibers, but especially so with the smaller ones.
Lots of bullets work well and if you load your own, you can wear out a couple of barrels just trying different ones. I currently prefer the 90gr Speer Hot-Cor which has never required more than 1-shot for a clean kill.
Kind of surprised no one mentioned the "Small Exits" though. If you hunt where there is thick understory, the "Small Exits" can be a problem for tracking. Quite often some of the internal goodies cover the Exit and you end up with little-to-no blood trail. In these situations, a larger Exit is a real advantage.
But, I still carry my Stainless & Synthetic 243Win M7 a good bit each year. Fine Deer caliber if you remember it's limitations.
Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills, Hot Core
Hey trigger45, I'm also a BIG (literally and figuratively) fan of the little 243Win. It is a fine caliber for Deer " IF " you put the bullet directly into the chest, or low just behind the near shoulder so it angles into the off-side shoulder. This is of course true for ALL calibers, but especially so with the smaller ones.
Lots of bullets work well and if you load your own, you can wear out a couple of barrels just trying different ones. I currently prefer the 90gr Speer Hot-Cor which has never required more than 1-shot for a clean kill.
Kind of surprised no one mentioned the "Small Exits" though. If you hunt where there is thick understory, the "Small Exits" can be a problem for tracking. Quite often some of the internal goodies cover the Exit and you end up with little-to-no blood trail. In these situations, a larger Exit is a real advantage.
But, I still carry my Stainless & Synthetic 243Win M7 a good bit each year. Fine Deer caliber if you remember it's limitations.
Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills, Hot Core
I know it may sound incidental, but this guy I know shot a large deer with a .243, 100gr premium bullet, right in the Texas Bullseye (that's what you guys call it, right?)...
The bullet went through the deer lenghtwise and was found right under the skin of the chest, deer dead in its tracks. 243 will do the job with a good bullet, but IMHO is somewhat limited to deer-sized game.
Just my 0.02$
The bullet went through the deer lenghtwise and was found right under the skin of the chest, deer dead in its tracks. 243 will do the job with a good bullet, but IMHO is somewhat limited to deer-sized game.
Just my 0.02$
biggest animal i have hunted ; whitetail deer
it's an age old arguement, but i think it boils down to bullet placement. i have personally killed 46 deer with a 220 swift, all one shot, all fell in their tracks, even accidently killed two in one shot with it. you know the swift; one of those 22 caliber guns that can't be relied on to humanely kill. how many shooters of the larger calibers can say they have killed 46 in a row and never had one leave his tracks? i have also kiled 7 with a 243, same results. i have loaned the same rifle to friends i have taken hunting, who don't practice with this or any rifle and had to track down the deer and shoot them again. same people squawked and blamed the 243, give em a 7 mag or 30-06 and it's worse. the 243 is a fine cartridge, just as any other, when you do your part.
i use a 243 with winchester 55 grain supremes to hunt coyotes and just love it. also with these light fast bullets shoot through and richochets are less of a problem.
sighting in is fun, shoot a terget on a cardboard box, bullet explodes on one side of the box, hits the other like a grenade.
it's an age old arguement, but i think it boils down to bullet placement. i have personally killed 46 deer with a 220 swift, all one shot, all fell in their tracks, even accidently killed two in one shot with it. you know the swift; one of those 22 caliber guns that can't be relied on to humanely kill. how many shooters of the larger calibers can say they have killed 46 in a row and never had one leave his tracks? i have also kiled 7 with a 243, same results. i have loaned the same rifle to friends i have taken hunting, who don't practice with this or any rifle and had to track down the deer and shoot them again. same people squawked and blamed the 243, give em a 7 mag or 30-06 and it's worse. the 243 is a fine cartridge, just as any other, when you do your part.
i use a 243 with winchester 55 grain supremes to hunt coyotes and just love it. also with these light fast bullets shoot through and richochets are less of a problem.
sighting in is fun, shoot a terget on a cardboard box, bullet explodes on one side of the box, hits the other like a grenade.