Try and convince me the 243 is actually useful

[steve white]

Who among us has worn out the barrel of their hunting rifle?

Me, it was age, use for everything and possible bad cleaning choices. Rebarreled.
But you better not screw up like that with a drilling or suddenly you are shotgun only.

 

[Doug3006]

I suspect that short barrel life is more common with varmint or target rifles. I doubt that most big game hunters will ever burn out a 243 barrel.

 

[Flbt]

Me, it was age, use for everything and possible bad cleaning choices. Rebarreled.
But you better not screw up like that with a drilling or suddenly you are shotgun only.

I have a buddy that shot out a savage 99 in 250-300

And I had a grate uncle that shot out a savage single shot in 32 rim fire
I have no idea how many rounds it would take to shoot out a 32 rf unless it was crosive or something but he all so carried it on the side of the tractor so maybe the dirt hurt it to?

 

[CBH Australia]

I suspect that short barrel life is more common with varmint or target rifles. I doubt that most big game hunters will ever burn out a 243 barrel.

Bobs .243 barrels corrode among the Tomato vines.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Who among us has worn out the barrel of their hunting rifle?

@Doug3006
Me.
Arem788 in 22-250 shot out in 2 seasons.
Bob

 

[Doug3006]

@Doug3006
Me.
Arem788 in 22-250 shot out in 2 seasons.
Bob

I guess I needed to clarify what I meant by hunting rifle. I’d consider the 22-250 a varmint round. Yes, varmint guns can get shot a lot. My 22-250 and 223 prairie dog guns have had many hundreds (thousands?) of rounds through them. More than my big game hunting rifles combined.

 

[steve white]

I guess I needed to clarify what I meant by hunting rifle. I’d consider the 22-250 a varmint round. Yes, varmint guns can get shot a lot. My 22-250 and 223 prairie dog guns have had many hundreds (thousands?) of rounds through them. More than my big game hunting rifles combined.

There is a WORLD of difference in barrel life between the 22-250 and the 223, just sayin'

 

[ftrovato]

@Doug3006
Me.
Arem788 in 22-250 shot out in 2 seasons.
Bob

22-250 is hard on barrels...

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I guess I needed to clarify what I meant by hunting rifle. I’d consider the 22-250 a varmint round. Yes, varmint guns can get shot a lot. My 22-250 and 223 prairie dog guns have had many hundreds (thousands?) of rounds through them. More than my big game hunting rifles combined.

@Doug3006
That 788 was used in foxes, pigs and goats as well as rabbits but mainly the first three.
Back in the day fix skins were worth good $$$ and pigs were a problem. It wasn't uncommon to shoot upto 200 pigs on a weekend hunt just for pest destruction. Ah how I miss those days.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

There is a WORLD of difference in barrel life between the 22-250 and the 223, just sayin'

@steve white
223 upto 10,000 rounds
22-250 around 1500-2000 rounds before accuracy falls off.
Once my 250 started grouping 2" it went down the road. The person that bought it said it was the most accurate rifle he owned. He had a lot of ex military rifles so to him 4-6" was average.
Bob

 

[Doug3006]

@Doug3006
That 788 was used in foxes, pigs and goats as well as rabbits but mainly the first three.
Back in the day fix skins were worth good $$$ and pigs were a problem. It wasn't uncommon to shoot upto 200 pigs on a weekend hunt just for pest destruction. Ah how I miss those days.
Bob

Goodness! I bet you miss those days!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Goodness! I bet you miss those days!

@Doug3006
Certainly do but at least I got to live thru those times.
I'm over pest destruction, it was fun at the time and necessary. Now I hunt for the pleasure and don't really care if I don't shoot anything. It's just good being in the bush with mates and teaching the younger generation the joys of hunting.
With the price of ammo now doing pest destruction is just downright expensive.

On one farm back in the late 70s a farmer friends crops were being decimated by a kangaroo plague. He organised a shoot ( you couldn't call it a hunt). We set up a high fences in the corner of one paddock. That night we herded a BIG mob of Roos into the corner. A group of us just opened up on them.
The next morning my farmer mate estimated he bull dozed 700 kangaroos into a pit to bury. We went out under spotlight the next night to check the population. There were still that many you would have thought we hadn't shot a single animal. He had to do another couple of such shoots to get them under control. I didn't participate in the other shoots. One was enough. It was a shame but needed to be done, not an enjoyable job.
Bob

 

[ZG47]

Who among us has worn out the barrel of their hunting rifle?

I know a couple of former deer cullers who might have done that.

 

[CBH Australia]

I know a couple of former deer cullers who might have done that.

I think the emphasis was on a “Hunting Rifle”

Nothing against culling (or you) but using you rifle in a professional capacity with high volume is different to the usage of a personal hunting rifle.

I’m have friends who harvest Roos professionally but still own a hunting rifle that gets little use or is pulled out to go pig shooting on occasion.

 

[Mauser78]

I grew up in the Limpopo bushveld, where shots is 60-80yards. And there the 243 sucks. No penetration. But it is all do do with the speed. I had a 6x45 that outperformed any 243 in that area, with cheap cup and core 100gr Hornady round nose i got 85-95% weight retention. But it was @2300fps. After 150yards it dropped like a brick, but that is all i needed was 100yards.
But for 200-300 yards shots it is a very nice caliber for springbuck in the Karoo and Kalahari. And is one of the most common in that area.