Try and convince me the 243 is actually useful

[thriller]

As everyone knows is absolutely hate the 243 because if have seen to much game wounded with it by people using the wrong projectiles for the game hunted. Also seen a lot of game just wounded by good shots with projectiles that were supposed to be ideal for the game hunted. Eg a 100gn Remington core lockt factory round put into the ribcage of a fallow deer. One deer died quickly the other with the same shot placement and same factory load run off never to be seen again.
I have reloaded this cartridge for people and have never attained the book velocities.
80gn max load 2,900-3100 fps
95gn SST max load 2,800fps
100grainer max load 2,700-2,800 fps
To me this round fails to live up to all the hype. To big for small game and not really big enough for medium big game.
I know there are people out there that love the 243 but I'm not one of them.
There's also people that say they use it for culling and it works well with head shots for that. Well a baseball bat to the he'd will do the same job.
This could be quite interesting to see some of the reasons why I should stop bagging out the prissy little 243 and see if I can refute some of the so called claims.
Let's keep it respectful but still have some fun and good humoured bantering.
Bob

There is always a better choice in my opinion!!

 

[WAB]

I just sold my only .243. I had no complaints on the half dozen deer I shot with it. I sold it because I just never used it. Anything it would do, my 6.5 PRC would do better. That said, it is a fine cartridge for deer if you use a decent 100 gr bullet.

 

[Flbt]

Well thanks for the no vote for the 243. I just think that there are at least 100 better mouse traps. you can kill a deer with a 22lr it doesn't make it the best choice.

You are right the low recoil option have changed over the years
We did not start the boys with a 22cf or any of the 6mm
The 350L is low recoil good to 200yd and I believe a better starter cartridge
The one moved up to the 6.5 Grendel.
He has become a good enough shot if he wants to use the 6mm this year I will let him.
But I am trying to move him towards the 6.5x55 with 140gr s@b ammo

 

[Sketchy1973]

Oops, isn't. True, there will always be a better mouse trap for everything. My mother is a little recoil shy, that's why I bought her the .243. she is nearly 70 now. Now that rifle is known as Grandma's rife.

 

[pilar]

I like the idea of use enough gun , but also shoot the shot in the right spot
I have zero problem with a .243 win on deer & antelope, hogs ect
But jump up to 270 win or .308 + + on medium game
.375 are mighty good on everything with correct loads “ 235, 250 deer and elk , 300gr anything bigger
243 is a awesome killer with proper teeth, like ttsx , NP , ect bonded ( nothing mushy like a eldx, SST, sierra tmk )

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I agree with @rookhawk statement.

I've guided many kids during the Oklahoma dedicated youth weekend and 90% of them showed up for their very first deer hunt with a .243 and I am yet to have lost a deer with that round.... on youth hunts.

Where things get dicey is in ammo selection and this is where I developed my hatred for Core-lokts that have lead to some lengthy tracking jobs and even with bonded ammo we didn't get passthroughs even on 150lbs doe.

I much prefer a first time hunter having a .257Rob or 7mm-08.

If the kid didn't have their own rifle then I have a dedicated pair of Ruger 77MKII stainless with one in .22lr to get them to squared away with fundamentals and once they can break a clay pigeon @50yds with that I moved them up to the .30-06 with the now discontinued Federal LITE 170gr Fusion.

@deewayne2003
I'm a firm believer in starting a youth with an appropriate calibre for continual use ase they grow into shooting.
If you are a handloader this is very easy.
Start with a 398 or 30-06 with reduced recoil loads. It's not hard to load a 130gn to the recoil level of a 243.
As they grow you can increase power and bullet weight to levels they are comfortable with and work up to full power loads.
To me this makes more senses than continuing to change rifles and cartridge.
My son started at youth shooting camps at 12 and fell in love with the 308. I bought him a Howa 1500 and 2 years later he had a very successful hunt in Namibia with his 08 taking eight head of game including zebra and oryx.
Bob

 

[Safari Dave]

I own exactly one .243 Winchester and have no desire to own another.

I've had exactly one, one-shot kill on a whitetail. Everything else turned into multi-shot escapade.


I bought my son a .243 when he was 8, and he has taken 2 whitetail deer and a pronghorn with it and they dropped like they were hit with the hammer of Thor!



My best friend and I were hunting pronghorn in Wyoming and he shot a nice buck with a .243.

It went down and we thought all was well and started walking over to it as the sun was setting. On the way, the buck got up and, literally, started walking off into the sunset. I handed him my .270, and he put it down for good.


Why bother with something "marginal" for big-game?

I don't want to handload for a .243 and I don't want to buy $60/box ammo for it either.


My parent's gave me a .30/06 for Christmas when I was 12 (because that was what I wanted). Yeah, it kicked a bit, but I learned to shoot it just fine.

With a .30 caliber, you don't have to search for "magic bullets," to take deer-sized animals.

$28 dollars at Wal-Mart, and your just fine.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bob: stop making fun of the little 243. I know your mama told you to not pick on the handicapped.

@Flewis
Mamma did tell me not to pick on the handicapped. She said nothing about telling people about things that don't live up to they hype and told me to expose untruths, idiots and ripp off merchants.
She also told me to love my wife and family, taught me how to cook and said to enjoy life you only get one chance.
That's why I don't and won't have a 243. I want to enjoy life.
Bob

 

[NDWoods]

When I got out of the Army in the 90s I was a manager at a sporting goods store and just KNEW my wife was going to buy me a deer rifle for Christmas. All the guys I worked with knew what calibers I was interested in and the wife had a basic knowledge as well.

Christmas Day I opened the box and there was a Classic Model 70 in .243. "The guys at the store said you thought it has some of the nicest wood you have ever seen! Do you love it?"

I was so beyond pissed at the guys I worked with I do not know how I saved the moment. We were newly married and it was the nicest thing she had ever bought for me in one of the absolute last calibers I would have chosen.

It can kill deer just fine with a great bullet but I do not know anyone grown who hunts with a .243.

 

[ftrovato]

@deewayne2003
I'm a firm believer in starting a youth with an appropriate calibre for continual use ase they grow into shooting.
If you are a handloader this is very easy.
Start with a 398 or 30-06 with reduced recoil loads. It's not hard to load a 130gn to the recoil level of a 243.
As they grow you can increase power and bullet weight to levels they are comfortable with and work up to full power loads.
To me this makes more senses than continuing to change rifles and cartridge.
My son started at youth shooting camps at 12 and fell in love with the 308. I bought him a Howa 1500 and 2 years later he had a very successful hunt in Namibia with his 08 taking eight head of game including zebra and oryx.
Bob

I started my daughter with a 7mm-08 and 120 grain Barnes TSX and a moderate powder charge. She never had a deer go more than 50 yards with devastating results.

 

[Flbt]

I own exactly one .243 Winchester and have no desire to own another.

I've had exactly one, one-shot kill on a whitetail. Everything else turned into multi-shot escapade.


I bought my son a .243 when he was 8, and he has taken 2 whitetail deer and a pronghorn with it and they dropped like they were hit with the hammer of Thor!



My best friend and I were hunting pronghorn in Wyoming and he shot a nice buck with a .243.

It went down and we thought all was well and started walking over to it as the sun was setting. On the way, the buck got up and, literally, started walking off into the sunset. I handed him my .270, and he put it down for good.


Why bother with something "marginal" for big-game?

I don't want to handload for a .243 and I don't want to buy $60/box ammo for it either.


My parent's gave me a .30/06 for Christmas when I was 12 (because that was what I wanted). Yeah, it kicked a bit, but I learned to shoot it just fine.

With a .30 caliber, you don't have to search for "magic bullets," to take deer-sized animals.

$28 dollars at Wal-Mart, and your just fine.

I just don’t like the 30 cal. If you think you need. A 30 you might as well get a 33 or 35

 

[Flbt]

@Flewis
Mamma did tell me not to pick on the handicapped. She said nothing about telling people about things that don't live up to they hype and told me to expose untruths, idiots and ripp off merchants.
She also told me to love my wife and family, taught me how to cook and said to enjoy life you only get one chance.
That's why I don't and won't have a 243. I want to enjoy life.
Bob

I don’t reload.
So at the time I got the 6 the 243 and cf 22 were the normal for low recoil back then.
Now for a kid I would go with the 350L it has less recoil than the 243 by some of the charts 1/2 the recoil actually. And that’s with a 150gr and the Hornday 170gr interlock works well and the 6.5 Grendel is right there in recoil but with heavier better bullets

 

[steve white]

@Bob Nelson---I won't try to convince you....as Benjamin Franklin said, "a man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."

 

[Safari Dave]

Most Americans love the .30 caliber, and so do I.

To each his own, but I use almost everything from a .30-30 to a .300 Weatherby the vast majority of the time.

I've taken a deer with a .338 Win Mag, but that was "overkill," if there is such a thing.


I've taken a kudu and a gemsbok with a .375 H&H, but I think I could have placed the bullet better with the .300 Winchester that was riding in the Hi-Lux at the same time.


I loved the 6.5 before they became cool.

My father took two very large bucks (in the area where we live) with a 6.5 Carcano in the 60's.

I've got a couple of .260 Remingtons (my best whitetail buck), a 6.5x55 Swede, and (reluctantly) a couple of 6.5 CM when factory loads got so available, that I could no longer ignore them.

 

[rdog]

Most Americans love the .30 caliber, and so do I.

To each his own, but I use almost everything from a .30-30 to a .300 Weatherby the vast majority of the time.

I've taken a deer with a .338 Win Mag, but that was "overkill," if there is such a thing.


I've taken a kudu and a gemsbok with a .375 H&H, but I think I could have placed the bullet better with the .300 Winchester that was riding in the Hi-Lux at the same time.


I loved the 6.5 before they became cool.

My father took two very large bucks (in the area where we live) with a 6.5 Carcano in the 60's.

I've got a couple of .260 Remingtons (my best whitetail buck), a 6.5x55 Swede, and (reluctantly) a couple of 6.5 CM when factory loads got so available, that I could no longer ignore them.

I have 3 kids 2 boys & i girl up untill they got married & had kids, we all use to hunt pigs & goats together, the boys have mens guns 300 win 338 win 444 marlin 30/06 my daughter started with a 223 & shot it very well much to the boys surprise , i brought her a Ruger M77 MK 2 light weight in 260 REM . She killed many big pigs with that rifle . she does not hunt any more, i still have that rifle , the boys still hunt with me & often want to use the 260 Ruger & leave their big guns in camp , i believe the 6.5 mm is a much more effective bullet than any 6 mm with not much more recoil, i have 2 6.5x55 s 1 260 rem 1 6.5 Grendel & a 6.5 CM.

 

[Safari Dave]

I bought my daughter a Remington Model 7 in .260 Rem.

I told her it would be hers, if she shot something with it.

She quit hunting soon after, but is not "anti-hunting." She just doesn't want to hunt now.


I am expecting a granddaughter any day now.

She may get the Model 7!