whatnickname
Member
First let me say that I’ve got three rifles that shoot the .243 round and two more that fire the 6MM Remington round. I like the round for all the reasons the gun rags tout. I’ve taken everything from varmints to deer with the round. There are still any number of people that speak poorly of the .243 for deer. In my opinion a good bit of the criticism that is leveled at the round as a deer cartridge is likely due to those people that have attempted to take deer with varmint bullets...and for purposes of this discussion, a varmint bullet is whatever the manufacturer classifies as such. It’s not so much a matter of bullet weight as it is bullet construction IMO. And yes, there are any number of deer that have been taken with varmint bullets. At the same time, deer don’t often behave as expected. They move unexpectedly, stop at the last minute or turn quickly and, in those instances, when a varmint bullet is being used, (and not just a .243 varmint bullet for that matter) the .243 becomes a deer wounding round.
My choice for deer with this round are bullets of 100 grains at velocities around 3000 fps. The last deer I killed with a .243 was taken with a double lung shot, behind the shoulder, broadside at 100 yards with a 100 grain Nosler Partician. Nice little eight point went down in his tracks. The bullet passed through.
There is quite a bit written about the maximum effective range of the .243 with some experts claiming that the round is at best, a 200 yard proposition. I disagree. I think 300 yards, maybe a tad further, is a realistic expectation...and I’ve seen some people tout the round as 500 yard medicine. IMO the question is not whether the round will travel 500 yards, or my ability to hit a deer at that distance...I’ve killed prairie dogs at over 500 yards with the .243. My issue with the .243 the other side of 300 yards, is the residual energy of the bullet at that distance and what is considered adequate energy needed to reliably harvest a deer. What’s your opinion? What bullet and load do you prefer for deer?
My choice for deer with this round are bullets of 100 grains at velocities around 3000 fps. The last deer I killed with a .243 was taken with a double lung shot, behind the shoulder, broadside at 100 yards with a 100 grain Nosler Partician. Nice little eight point went down in his tracks. The bullet passed through.
There is quite a bit written about the maximum effective range of the .243 with some experts claiming that the round is at best, a 200 yard proposition. I disagree. I think 300 yards, maybe a tad further, is a realistic expectation...and I’ve seen some people tout the round as 500 yard medicine. IMO the question is not whether the round will travel 500 yards, or my ability to hit a deer at that distance...I’ve killed prairie dogs at over 500 yards with the .243. My issue with the .243 the other side of 300 yards, is the residual energy of the bullet at that distance and what is considered adequate energy needed to reliably harvest a deer. What’s your opinion? What bullet and load do you prefer for deer?