The mighty 243

[Creigh]

Sorry

I love my .243 and you should too. Love the custom twist rate mod on the 243. Great idea.

 

[dgr416]

My late friend Roy in Alaska killed a bunch of grizzies shot in the ear and killed a buffalo with it .I want way heavier bullets .I used 243 on deer awesome on 120 pound bucks but lost 2 200 pound bucks switched to 338 wim mag to get ready to live in Alaska .

 

[Luvthunt]

Great coyote cartridge

 

[MS 9x56]

Passable ground hog caliber.

 

[BeeMaa]

No reason to be sorry. The 243WIN is a wonderful cartridge despite what @Bob Nelson 35Whelen thinks.

Duplicated here.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/the-243-is-among-the-best-rifles.98734/

 

[Ruraldoc]

A 243 works wonders until it doesn’t.

I have seen two situations where 243 bullets designed for medium game failed to reach the vitals because they stopped on a shoulder.

85 grain Sierra Game King and 100 grain Hornady interlock.

I have had better luck using a rifle of at least 270 caliber.

My 243s are loaned to kids when it’s all they can handle. When they are a little bigger they use a 257 Roberts or 6.5 Creedmoor with 120 grain bullets. But even these are not ideal here.

I think people who hunt in open country where game not incapacitated immediately is generally found can use lighter cartridges.

Where we hunt, an animal that goes 50 yards may be lost because of water or impenetrable thickets.

In the open areas of the west you will rarely loose an animal that goes 100 yards.

Here it gets really dicey if they go that far.

A lot of cartridge debates hinge on issues like this where a 243 may be fine or not depending upon circumstances.

 

[Creigh]

No reason to be sorry. The 243WIN is a wonderful cartridge despite what @Bob Nelson 35Whelen thinks.

Duplicated here.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/the-243-is-among-the-best-rifles.98734/

Ah apologize for the duplicate. I did a quick scan of the new page before posting. Didn't look back far enough.

 

[skydiver386]

Very well said. Any cartridges effectiveness depends largely on the circumstances of its use.

Tina loves her 257 Roberts, but she understands that it's best on Deer size game and smaller. Anything larger than a Mule Deer, or more than 300 yards, it's best to use a larger caliber.

 

[Field28]

You beat me to it, lol. I saw that video popup yesterday and immediately thought of Bob!

I vowed earlier this deer season that there WILL be a pic of a dead deer in the back of my Toyota with my 243 Sako Bavarian laying across it posted here. Might be as early as this weekend!

 

[pilar]

Definitely not my 1st choice but if my only choice I could make it work
With a savage 99 & a couple cases of Remington core lok 100gr , wever 4x on top .
Grew up with entire family hunting with that combination
Just know where to place your shots on anything bigger than a mule deer.
Can’t remember anyone needing to shoot something twice, deer , hogs , pronghorn, aoudad .

 

[dgr416]

The world record kodiak bear was killed by natives with a singleshot 22 with 22 shorts .I killed a 350 pound bear deader than a dornail with 22lr agulia 60 gr bullets he just clincked and rolled .I did so go with the 243 till i shot those two big bucks .I trailed one a mile to a gut pile another guy shot it didbt even mknow it had been shot huge buck .The 22 highpower in savage 99 was a tiger killer in its time .Roy killed that 2000 vpound buffalo at 400 yards with 243 .It took 4 hours to die but didnt go any where .Has anyone used nosler partitions in 243vwin 100 gr .I want to try some in that old styer mannlicher 243 I got .

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I like the 243, it's no 6mm Creedmoor, but it gets the job done.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Passable ground hog caliber.

@MS 9x56
Marginal at best.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You beat me to it, lol. I saw that video popup yesterday and immediately thought of Bob!

I vowed earlier this deer season that there WILL be a pic of a dead deer in the back of my Toyota with my 243 Sako Bavarian laying across it posted here. Might be as early as this weekend!

@Field28
It may be a photo of deer and rifle but you will have a hard time convincing me said rifle killed said deer
Bob

 

[Ruraldoc]

I think a 243 does it’s best work on medium game if we step up to a premium bullet like the Barnes TSX or the Nosler Partition.

My two failures to kill involved standard cup in core bullets.

The only issue with premium( hard) bullets in the 243( or pretty much anything), is they can make smaller wound channels than softer, standard cup in core designs.

This problem is exasperated in a small bore.

Because of where I live, I have killed literally hundreds of hogs and deer in my 50 years of hunting them. Power does matter, I killed 90 deer with a 300 win magnum before the first one went more than 5 yards. He went 10.

Killed about as many with a 270 Weatherby with the same results.

The Hornady Interlock that failed in the 243, was awesome in the 270 and 300.

I don’t use magnums much anymore, but something in the power class of a 308 just kills quicker than the 243 in my experience.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[Creigh]

I think a 243 does it’s best work on medium game if we step up to a premium bullet like the Barnes TSX or the Nosler Partition.

My two failures to kill involved standard cup in core bullets.

The only issue with premium( hard) bullets in the 243( or pretty much anything), is they can make smaller wound channels than softer, standard cup in core designs.

This problem is exasperated in a small bore.

Because of where I live, I have killed literally hundreds of hogs and deer in my 50 years of hunting them. Power does matter, I killed 90 deer with a 300 win magnum before the first one went more than 5 yards. He went 10.

Killed about as many with a 270 Weatherby with the same results.

The Hornady Interlock that failed in the 243, was awesome in the 270 and 300.

I don’t use magnums much anymore, but something in the power class of a 308 just kills quicker than the 243 in my experience.

Your mileage may vary.

I used 100gr interlock for a while @ 2700 fps. It was very accurate even though the bullet wasn't stabilized with the twist rate. Weird.
Ended up returning to orthodoxy, using 90gr Accubond @ 3000 fps, properly stabilized. Still sub 1 moa.
Have yet to hunt with it but it's ready to go.

 

[dgr416]

Hornady sucks thats why I dont like their ammo bullets dies reloaders any thing that says hornady .My 338s will not shoot any hornady bullets but they shot cloverleafs with noslers winchester and speer bullets .I had a mess with hornady 405 brass 308 brass and many others i totally avoid 416 rem mag hornady or any of their brass .I dont have problems at all with other brass .Hornady dies are terrible I bought 18 sets before i knew it nond of them would decap brass without knocked with a hammer on the decapping rod .I wouldnt hunt squirrels with any of their junk much less dangerous game of any kind .The hornady xtp bullets were fair but varied so much couldnt trust them except plinking .