243 for white tail- fans and detractors

[Captcurt]

+1, factory rounds good enough for me also.

I believe I took 12 deer with Federal Fusians then loaded the brass with Ballistic Silvertips. Personally, I like the Fusians better even though the Noslers are more accurate in my rifle. Working up a load for Speer Grand Slams now.

One doe that I hit with a Fustian left the biggest bloodtrail that I have ever seen and I have taken a bunch of deer with a long list of calibers.

 

[CraigC]

Nope. Had one, sold it, don't miss it. I don't particularly care for bullets that penetrate a few inches and fragment. Traded away the .243 after a 100gr Federal came unglued on a rib bone. It may be a fine minimum for some folks who never take anything but a perfect broadside shot. Being primarily a handgun hunter, I want a tough bullet that exits from just about any angle and doesn't come unglued when it encounters bone.

 

[FL-NC]

Craig- that's crazy. I know some times bullets do "weird things"- believe me, I've seen it, and I also understand how "weird things" can make someone lose confidence in a particular round, caliber, etc. As for me, I've always gotten great performance from the Winchester power points I use- excellent penetration, expansion, and blood trails. I haven't recovered a single bullet or fragment yet, which I can't say for other caliber I've used- like 30-30.

 

[3212]

I don't always take perfect broadside shots.I prefer them.I take the shot I'm presented with. My last buck went down with a shoulder shot that blew a 1'' piece of bone into the chest cavity.The bullet was a 100 grain sierra spitzer at about 70 to 80 yards.He kicked for awhile but could not get up.

 

[FL-NC]

I'm with you 3212. I'm not above taking a frontal neck shot when I know I can do it and that's the only shot I have.

 

[zb338]

I have seen many deer and antelope killed with .243s. I still think if you are
going to buy a gun for bigger game than woodchucks why not use a .308 or
a 7MM/08 they have a little more power. Neither one of them kicks very
much. I think that it would be better to have a little bit extra than a little
less.

Zeke

 

[MaterDei]

243 is perfectly adequate for whitetail.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

i have killed maybe 40 deer over the years with my model 7 rem in 243.always rem 100 grn corelokts. a lot of these deer were medium to ave sized deer here in sw mo. it always did a good job. it just killed with boring regularity.

my favorite shot was broadside heart lung. they would go about 40 yrds and keel over dead from massive blood loss.

then this year a massive buck stepped out, the biggest id ever seen. easily 250lbs,huge 10 pt antlers.massive neck and rolling in fat.

he was at 280 yrds which is a strecth for me with the little 18" barreled model 7.

fired once, no reaction, fired twice, he kiked, fired again, no reaction. all this while he was moving.he went out of site.

i had some serious doubts about my marksmanship.cuss words were said.

waited about 20 min and walked over and there he was, dead as a doornail.

he had went about 50yrds and what i found upon cleaning him was i shud of just stopped after the first bullet.

all three cud of been covered by my hand in the heart lung area.his insides were a mess.

atfter the shot i was wondering if i had enuf gun for this massive deer.it turned out i had plenty.


ive also killed a lot of deer with the 06 and the 6.5x55.

the only diff i see is ive had several 06 bullets that didnt exit where the 243 always did.doesnt make sense but just my experience.

 

[natman]

243 is perfectly adequate for whitetail.

I agree. However, I prefer a larger caliber that shoots a heavier bullet. Here's a couple of quotes that explain it:

Rick Jamison (Shooting Times) has a oft repeated story about a big buck he nailed twice with a 243 that went on to be shot and claimed by other hunters. Page 59 "Rifleman's Handbook":

"I couldn't help feeling that a cartridge with more punch would have anchored the buck sooner."

Jamison is a big fan of the 243 *for varmints*, in fact he considers it the ultimate coyote cartridge.

Finn Aargard (NRA Field Editor)

Aargard wrote an excellent article called "The 243 for Big Game".
Page 101 "Hunting Rifles and Cartridges.

"[If you need a varmint / deer rifle] ..trying to make a varmint cartridge work on big game is going at it the wrong way around. It would be far better to choose a cartridge for the largest game he intended to hunt with it, the develop a load for it that would work on varmints."

"...the 6mms are essentially varmint cartridges. With the right bullets and careful shooting, they can be made to perform fairly satisfactorily on big game up to perhaps 200 lbs live weight. But why choose a cartridge that is only 'fairly satisfactory' when other cartridges are readily available in rifles that are just as light and have no more kick than those for the 243?"

In short, I don't want an adequate cartridge, I'd rather use the most powerful cartridge available without paying disproportionate penalties in weight or recoil.

Which is why I use a 308. Sure, it kicks more than a 243, but not so much as to make it unusable.

 

[DeepSouth]

I've killed more deer with a .243 than with all other caliber's combined, it's what I started with when I was 8 years old. I've killed dozens of deer with it over the years and with that said I no longer use it for deer, their are just better options. I let my kids use it when they go hunting but recoil is no longer an issue for me so I go bigger. I consider it to be the absolute bare minimum that could be suitable for white tail.

 

[FL-NC]

Natman- I've used the 308 for critters both large and small. I wouldn't hesitate to use one on most anything in the lower 48, and I really learned what its capable of as an Army sniper. The only deer I ever "lost" was a nice 6 pointer in Tn. with a well-placed 308 150 grain hornady from about 20 yards. Very little blood, and we looked for hours. Naturally, I spent the night just sick about it and doubting my abilities and wondering where that bullet REALLY went. Well, my hunting buddy found him about 400 yards from where he was shot on the way to his stand the following morning just by chance. He told me from what he could tell the shot placement was fine. Unfortunately during the night the coyotes had been on it like Larry the cable guy at the Golden Corral. My buddy sawed off the antlers and brought them back. Last I asked, they are still hanging with my shirt tail and that Hornady case. Sometimes, things just happen, and its not necessarily anyone's fault, or the gun's, or the bullet.

 

[Hookeye]

I dunno about the .243 win on whitetails.
Will report back mid November (Ruger #1 RSI).

Folks say the .35 Rem is a good one, even capable on bigger stuff.
Only shot two deer with mine, neither dropped at the shot, one went 30 and the other about 75 (yds). Good shots each.

Sometimes the critters haven't read all the magazines or internet forums, maybe never even read the movie script.

 

[krimmie]

FL-NC, I would have sewn that shirt tail back on!

 

[FL-NC]

krimmie- don't think I didn't think about that! But the deer got the worst end of the deal, and even though I lost a shirt tail, its the only one I lost and its the only one on that wall with antlers on the same nail!

 

[natman]

Sometimes, things just happen, and its not necessarily anyone's fault, or the gun's, or the bullet.

Yep, sometimes things just go wrong, no matter what you do. However, I believe that they are less likely to go wrong with a 308 than a 243. That's why I use one.

 

[SARuger]

The .243 is a great "all-around" rifle for this area, Southwester VA mountains, but with that said, the 30-30 kills more deer around here than anything combined

 

[stoky]

I think the .243 is fine for deer and antelope. It shoots really flat, making range estimation less critical.
A down side is (for people that like to shoot a lot), it's hard on barrels.

 

[FL-NC]

Stoky- I've heard that its hard on barrels too. Does this manifest in those with crazy high round counts, like the bench rest and prairie dog shooters? What is shooting "alot"? I've had mine for about 15 years, but "alot' for me is 20-30 rounds a year, since all I do is zero, take some offhand shots, and then hunt for a season (5 more rounds MAX). Unless it got dropped or something during the season, it won't get fired until the next fall.

 

[entropy]

Nothing wrong with .243 for deer-though I would personally get a 7mm-08 first.

 

[FL-NC]

entropy- I've heard good things about the 7-08 from people who swear by them. A friend from Texas slays deer with one like its his job. I would consider one except for 2 things: 1) I have a 243 that works fine, and I've become a little attached to it 2) 7-08 isn't commonly available at my local Wal Mart (a major factor for me regarding the purchase of any gun I'm actually going to use)

 

[entropy]

True on both counts. If you have a .243, keep it. You already know it's a good caliber. And yes, some Wal-Marts don't stock 7mm-08. Ours does. The Sporting Goods Dept. Mgr. shoots one. If I did have one, I'd load for it anyway.

 

[41 Mag]

I got a Win 70 in .243 for Christmas in '70, when I was 7. It has taken a ton of deer through the years as well as fox squirrels and other critters. Being I am now 52 it has served me well and is still capable of shooting 3/8" groups at 200yds with the right loads.

I watched my pop shoot a doe once out of a swaying tree stand that was far enough away I had to go back to the stand and direct him another hundred or more yards to find it. We could plainly see it laying dead as it was when he shot it from the stand but we didn't see the first creek we came to and it was laying next to the second one WAY out past that. I don't know how far it was since I was only around 9 at the time, but it was far enough we both got tired of dragging that deer back.

I used the Nosler 85gr Solid Base for many years loaded over a nice dose of 3031. It put a lot of deer down on the spot. I had a few run but they usually only went about 30-50yds before they realized they were a goner. I shot straight through a 200# doe with one from front shoulder to opposite rear ham, and made a total mess out of everything in between. What was funny she ran straight to me and looked back behind her. When she stopped I slipped another one through the base of her neck and that was that. When I walked up I immediately knew why she looked back as there was a 3" hole in her ham, and I presume she was wondering what bit her in the rear.

My grandsons range in age form 7 to 14 and have all shot deer with a .243 using my handloads. I have to drop them down a bit for the younger one due to the Ruger Compact only weighing 6.5 pounds, but they still get the job done. I'm loading them 95gr bullets over reduced loads of H-4895, and I only let them shoot to 75yds at the max. Those little pills are still hitting with plenty of authority to slam a decent sized doe on her ear.

 

[FL-NC]

41- I've considered getting into reloading mostly for long range precision 308, and maybe some hunting rounds like 243 and 30-30, but for right now, I'm just not shooting enough to justify the $ or time, plus the satisfactory performance I've been getting from the off the shelf stuff for hunting. Maybe next year when I retire (again).

 

[Legionnaire]

All my kids who hunt took their first whitetail with a .243. While my go-to hunting rifle is a Model 7 in .308, I would not hesitate to go afield with its twin in .243. I find the .243 to be a great intermediate cartridge, big enough for deer and not too big for ground hogs. If I had to split the difference, I'd opt for the .260 Rem, although a 7mm-08 would be dandy, too.

 

[olkowsr]

Based on your love for the 243 I think its perfect for you.

I live in Michigan and I use my .300 Win Mag because its just a few inches of drop more than a laser at 350 yards or less (haha get it, lasers don't have drop).
- but that's my personal preference.

FL-NC what is the model / make of your 243? Just wondering.