The 243 may be fine in some localities, but

Game Larder - Your reliable choice for Game Larder solutions - www.gamelarder.com
If folk are admitting that the 243 is a suitable calibre out to 200 yds then does that not tell a story?

From anything I have read in manuals, pre moderator use, the argument in favour of the 243 (without exception) was that it was light recoiling, and a good choice for young, inexperienced, women or recoil sensitive shots. In this day and age with the use of moderators, that argument no longer holds water in my opinion.

I have noting against the chambering, I have owned several and shot a lot of deer with them and am in fact about to pick up another one as a backup and for roe. I would never go out with it for Sika stags however...
 
eggy s said:
From what I know when the legislation was made the .243 was picked purely for the fact that was the most commonly used rifle on the MP's stalking estates.
Click to expand...

and it was just coincidence that .240 was the smallest cartridge/calibre that H&H made. :suss::doh:
 
Wow Muir...nest, hornets and the stirring thereof springs to mind :)

I. like many FAC holders, started with a .243 as my deer shooting calibre more than anything because it was the 'easiest' calibre to get 'passed' by my enforcing authority.
Now I use a .308 to shoot deer.
I've shot red stags with the .243, fallow, sika and roe and theyve all dropped. Ive had one roe that I didnt find but that was due to poor shot placement and shooting at a distance I should have known better to try given my experience at the time...lesson learned.
I'd still be happy to shoot any deer in this country with a .243 BUT I personally now prefer the .308
 
8x57 said:
and it was just coincidence that .240 was the smallest cartridge/calibre that H&H made. :suss::doh:
Click to expand...

It was more to do with the fact that it was the only calibre any of them really had any experience with. So it was considered the entry level one.
 
Got rid of my .243 some while ago and can honestly say I don't miss it. Similar concerns over efficacy and suitability for deer, especially larger deer. Yet there are still those on here who are still advocating .243 as suitable for wild boar, as recently as this morning! Now I know there are many who swear by their .243 and my shooting buddy loves his so I fear this is debate that will run and run. :stir:
 
This is exactly the same debate as whether the 9.3mm or .375 is adequate/suitable for dangerous game, only in miniature!
 
JabaliHunter said:
This is exactly the same debate as whether the 9.3mm or .375 is adequate/suitable for dangerous game, only in miniature!
Click to expand...

I have a 9.3x74r and other with Woodleigh bullets for some dangerous game it wouldn't be my choice. Yes it's great for boar and perhaps the larger deer species but not proper dangerous game shooting. Just my thoughts on it.
I have shot .243 and seen the effects of .243 on a few deer including sika stags it can do the job but it's not for me. It all comes down to how you use it I suppose.
 
As a few of you know I sufer with bad knees and ankles I get arround this problem by using a quad and walking as gently as I can, then comes the problem with chasing deer that do not drop to shot,

I found a way around most of that problem use a proper rifle my answer was go 30 cal I get very few runners.

The 243 kills deer no problem but you have to go and find them, I prefer having them on the floor where I can see them especialy in thick timber, you can spend a lot of time looking for deer but why, its better to sit with a beer in your hand than crash about in a forest.
 
Good Morning, all.
As I said, the 243 is fine in some regions for deer. In woodland areas where shots are limited, it's fine. I have a lot of friends who use it on eastern whitetails. I just don't think it carries the day with western mule deer or whitetails. I liked my old 243. It was one heck of a varminter; accurate and fast. I let my daughter us it for deer with 100 grain PPU and she took big deer over two consecutive seasons but she stalked to within 70 yards of both of them: One heart shot, one head shot. (15 yards, bedded in the grass) I had warned her not to take long shots with this rifle and she didn't. Some other folks weren't as judicious. Bullet weights were 80 to 100 grains in all cases.

There is no accounting for marksmanship. I grant you that, but we have a different kind of shooting. Most of ours is standing, off hand. Whitetails in canyon cover don't give you time for sticks or bipods. You have about 5 seconds from the time they become aware of you and they are gone -and they are generally speaking, always well aware of you before you of them. Surgical shot placement becomes difficult. Antelope are the same way. If I'd lung punched an antelope with, say, a 30-06, I would have waited for it to fall as well. I lung shoot all my deer and know that a good shot/bullet will have them bled out in a few seconds.

I read about you guys shooting deer with 243 all the time and that's good. I just won't be a party to it on open ground any more. And as to the guys hunting elk with the 243? Idiots. I know of some guides that wouldn't let a 243 on their land, let alone take out a customer using one.~Muir

PS: After this season I told my daughter I'd like to swap out that 243 she swiped from me for a 30-06. She's 5'1'' and she's fine with that.
 
Last edited:
8x57 said:
It may well be true but I wonder. The .243win came out in 1955, H&H already had their own .240 H&H mag that had very similar ballistics that was brought out in 1920. If indeed H&H did produce a rifle for the Queen wouldn't they have been more inclined to use their own cartridge?
I know that BSA actually produced a CF2 for the Duke of Edinburgh in .308win, its in the proof house museum in Birmingham. The story goes that they billed him for the rifle and he sent a bill back for the same amount for development work. There is a tiny scope on this rifle that has only minimal magnification if at all any the likes of which I have never seen before. It resembles a small tubular aperture sight. Does anyone know more about this sight?
Click to expand...

That might be the actual cartridge then as opposed to .243 as both 6mm? And so legal size off bullet
 
I have a .243.
I wouldent even consider using it it on anything above a Roe.
I consider it my munti/ fox round.

For fallow, I have never reached for the .243. The 30-06 comes out of the cabinate every time.
I expect that will continue until I get a 6.5 in some form, next year.

It has to be said that a moderated 30-06 has almost the same recoil as the unmoderated .243 IMO.

I will be making more effort with the offhand shooting. I am finding sticks are a pain.
 
Of the 225+ whitetail deer I've killed in my lifetime only one was killed with a 243 and only one was shot at with a 243 WIN !

The first deer I ever fired a gun at was in 1973 with my then new Remington 700BDL 243 WIN with a Bushnell Scopechief IV 2.5-8x scope on top shooting Remington factory 100 grain CoreLokt loads . I shot a big fat doe whitetail at about 75 yards in the temple and as you may imagine she was DEAD RIGHT THERE . Now that was THEONLY deer I ever fired a 243 at to date .

I think in the correct hands it is a fine deer killer . However I'm not so sure I'm the correct one as I prefer some more bullet weight . Now with that being said I've killed 35+ deer with the 260 REM which is just slightly larger then the 243 and with a 120-125 grain bullet .

So I can see arguments for and against .

My maternal grnadfathers brother killed all the deer he ever took in his life with a 244 REM (6mm REM to those unaware) shooting 85 grain bullets . There are several older fellows I know here that have killed deer all their lives with nothing but a 243 .

But............................. just about all the deer these folks kill are 150 yards or less !

A young fellow I met in Pennsylvania about 7 years ago shot a black bear that field dressed 660 pounds with a 243 WIN shooting 90 grain handloads . He was sitting on a cliff for lack of a better term and the bear walked by about 40 yards from him on the forest floor below . He said when it stopped he popped it behind the shoulder , the bear moaned and ran around in a tight circle for about 30 seconds and fell over dead . I asked why he didn't shoot it again and he told me he didn't want to make it mad !

Anyway I'm not so sure the 243 is a 250 yard deer rifle . But if I were relegated to only hunting with it here for the rest of my life I wouldn't be to put out . My shots average a shade under 50 yards so it isn't a big deal to me although I readily admit I would rather have a larger bullet .
 
6pt-sika said:
A young fellow I met in Pennsylvania about 7 years ago shot a black bear that field dressed 660 pounds with a 243 WIN shooting 90 grain handloads . He was sitting on a cliff for lack of a better term and the bear walked by about 40 yards from him on the forest floor below . He said when it stopped he popped it behind the shoulder , the bear moaned and ran around in a tight circle for about 30 seconds and fell over dead . I asked why he didn't shoot it again and he told me he didn't want to make it mad !
.
Click to expand...
:rofl:
Classic
 
Wow. I'm getting a lot of hate mail on this one. For you guys who just bought you first 243, and for those who use it expertly all year round, read my initial posting: I don't like it for large deer at long distances. That's it. If you aren't shooting under these conditions, you have a fine deer rifle.~Muir
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

.243 to .223, purely for fox 🤔
3 4 5
Replies
95
Views
5K
Smellydog
Smellydog
Ruger Seems to have dropped .22 Creedmoor in favor of the .22 ARC. Any .22 ARC Feedback?
2
Replies
20
Views
1K
Penyard
Penyard
Time to put in a variation, talk to me about the 6.5 & 7 PRC 🤔
Replies
12
Views
1K
angusb1
angusb1
Weatherby Rifle Twist Rates for .223 Rem and .243 Win in the Model 307 - Readiness for Lead-free
Replies
8
Views
1K
Keith Edmunds
Keith Edmunds
Deer legal 243 80gr Factory Copper Rounds
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
Bowland blades
Bowland blades
PSE Composites Limited - The next level Rifle Stocks
Back
Top