Is .243 big enough???
- Thread starter Dagben77
- Start date
I own both a .243 and .270 and i have to say the difference in recoil is a fair amount.
berg
Well-Known Member
i let my wife fire the 243 and she thought that it kicked witch fair enough it has got a little kick ,but she would shoot it again but if she had shot a 270 or something along those lines i dout she would pick up another rifle .
To be fair my .270's recoil is a baby tap compared to my AYA bandit that hurt shotgun lol
Ade8mm
Well-Known Member
OK but what I would like to know is .243 big enough.
He he..
Well. Almost certainly
bewsher500
Well-Known Member
I had a parker hale .243 1100 lightweight which kicked lumps out of me as it didn't fit
My .270 has an extra inch in LOP and standing or prone is much more comfortable
My .300WM has an extra 1 1/4" and fits perfectly now, even prone it it just gives a polite shove to remind you.
snappy rounds need well fitting stocks
shotguns are much more violent but you stand up
If you don't like a bit of recoil take up golf
My .270 has an extra inch in LOP and standing or prone is much more comfortable
My .300WM has an extra 1 1/4" and fits perfectly now, even prone it it just gives a polite shove to remind you.
snappy rounds need well fitting stocks
shotguns are much more violent but you stand up
If you don't like a bit of recoil take up golf
Close the Border and go at it man. You've plenty of courses along your Salmon-infested shoreline!
I take it that is either a tongue-in-cheek comment or one of a Highlander attempting to 'tweak' the non balls of steel Soft Lowlander??
K
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I have to be honest and say that I've taken a lot of stags (and hinds, etc.) with a bog standard .243, and they've all fallen over dead (eventually after a bit of stagger...no pun intended..)..I've also done so with 6.5x55 and irrespective of bullet choice they seem to enjoy a good run..personally I don't like that.
I've shot stags with 30-06 and now that really sends them to god pretty swiftly...on the roe though, the 30cals gives (can give) runners where the .243 puts them 6ft under on the spot.
that said...that's with 'good shooting'...I've taken quite a bit of family, friends and some clients out stalking, and I have to admit that the absolute worst of the bunch shooting wise are/were those with 30cals.. I also have to say that I've never had issues teaching any friends or family to make a decent shot with a .243....so therefore, one must make the observation that whilst people are shall we say, inexperienced, a smaller, less recoiling caliber makes for better and thus more ethical shooting than a larger caliber...but when the person learns to shoot and becomes comfortable with recoil, a larger caliber, 'for the right deer!',,,is perhaps a better choice,,,however, note, it's determined by the shooters ability, deer species hunted and bullet choice.
i don't think a blanket XYZ caliber is too big/small is a good argument/debate...even a 85g partition in .243 will be more ethical for big stags than a 158g 6.5 swede in ballistic tip...it's horses for courses
I have four 308's and we have one 243 in the family at this time, belonging to my son. I have spent years on tweaking the 308's and getting the ballistics really good, however they are just too much for summertime long range vermin shooting. The bullets tend to bounce on dry ground.... sooo I'm thinking of building a ultra light 1/8 twist 243 that I can spend some time with getting the ballistics sorted. 105gr for longer range deer and say 75- 87gr v-max for fox etc. Recon it will take a good year until I have the ballistics half way sorted and know the rifle. My last 243 had 1/10 twist and loved 80-90gr, although I had less faith in it compared to a 308, it didn't really let me down. Certainly dropped em quicker than my friends 6.5x55 or my 30-30 with soft points.
edi
edi
For every smiling shooter I see behind a 308 or 207 at the bench I may count 100 with a similar countenance when ejecting a 22 Hornet case.
K
K
timbrayford
Well-Known Member
Si
Well-Known Member
Paul@F you're needed here.... (refer to posts #65 and #67)
Some say he eats ballistics gel for breakfast... and that his farts smell like H380
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Paul at Fechan
Well-Known Member
lol 
posted this before but contains the important information about the relationship between calibre in it's standard output of energy against the weight of deer species in terms of ft-lb per live weight lb. Interestingly but not on the chart, a high velocity .22rf would be about as powerful on muntjac as a .243 is proportionately on large park red
Also which is great, a 223 or roe is significantly more powerful proportionately than a 375 holloand and holland on reds!!! It's dead simple really, most shots miss the heart and so the greater the ft-lb per live weight lb, the more damage and quicker the bleed out.
posted this before but contains the important information about the relationship between calibre in it's standard output of energy against the weight of deer species in terms of ft-lb per live weight lb. Interestingly but not on the chart, a high velocity .22rf would be about as powerful on muntjac as a .243 is proportionately on large park red
Also which is great, a 223 or roe is significantly more powerful proportionately than a 375 holloand and holland on reds!!! It's dead simple really, most shots miss the heart and so the greater the ft-lb per live weight lb, the more damage and quicker the bleed out.
timbrayford
Well-Known Member
lol
posted this before but contains the important information about the relationship between calibre in it's standard output of energy against the weight of deer species in terms of ft-lb per live weight lb. Interestingly but not on the chart, a high velocity .22rf would be about as powerful on muntjac as a .243 is proportionately on large park red
Also which is great, a 223 or roe is significantly more powerful proportionately than a 375 holloand and holland on reds!!! It's dead simple really, most shots miss the heart and so the greater the ft-lb per live weight lb, the more damage and quicker the bleed out.
good info, thanks
Based on accurate shots to the chest area presumably there needs to be a balance between velocity and acceptable levels of tissue damage whilst achieving a clean kill, is there any research that factors in the type of bullet used? e.g. comparing ballistic tips with accubonds and partitions.
atb Tim
palmer_mike
Well-Known Member
Paul, you've posted those graphs you've compiled a few times before and I'm sure they present the figures correctly. I'm just not sure that the energy vs love weight of deer is particularly relevant once you get beyond a certain point though.
I like your analogy of muntjac with a rimmy being the equivalent of a park red with a .243, however a well placed h/l shot will take a red stag. Not so sure a rimmy would don't gendarme for a munty buck? (Given the number of Munties that people seem to find with rimmy bullets embedded in them).
Not meaning to be argumentative, just not sure I agree with the assumptions behind your graph
I like your analogy of muntjac with a rimmy being the equivalent of a park red with a .243, however a well placed h/l shot will take a red stag. Not so sure a rimmy would don't gendarme for a munty buck? (Given the number of Munties that people seem to find with rimmy bullets embedded in them).
Not meaning to be argumentative, just not sure I agree with the assumptions behind your graph
berg
Well-Known Member
I agree with mike i dont think that ther's many reds running around with 243 bullets in them .but i have found .22rim bullets in the necks and shoulder's of munt jac on more than a few occasions
lol
posted this before but contains the important information about the relationship between calibre in it's standard output of energy against the weight of deer species in terms of ft-lb per live weight lb. Interestingly but not on the chart, a high velocity .22rf would be about as powerful on muntjac as a .243 is proportionately on large park red
Also which is great, a 223 or roe is significantly more powerful proportionately than a 375 holloand and holland on reds!!! It's dead simple really, most shots miss the heart and so the greater the ft-lb per live weight lb, the more damage and quicker the bleed out.
Bullet construction and velocity are bigger determinants of terminal performance than simple ft/lbs of energy. A solid will hardly expand at all, unless it hits very hard bone, usually passing through pretty much like a sword stab, where a match hollow-point may well over expand at first contact. Likewise, large slow bullets are likely to hold together where hyper-fast little ones explode. There are so many different bullets available in 6mm these days you could make up all sorts of loads with very similar energy levels but completely different terminal performance. Truth is, little bullets need to be carefully chosen and well placed maybe more than big bullets. Partition bullets have double personality, good expansion even with lower speeds and great penetration too. Animals die from being shot by being fatally damaged. The balance between enough damage and unacceptable meat loss is a discussion that never ends before the camp fire has burned away. Is the .243 big enough, Yes! it is big enough for most small to medium sized game. Is it a good choice? Well, there are better for general use. Those start at 6.5mm for deer and don't need to go above 7.82mm. A 6.5 or 7mm probably strikes a very good balance for most UK game, I think.
berg
Well-Known Member
i like that answer so basically bullet choies is just as inportant as calibre selection and what it will be use on there really is no need for a 308 if you will never shoot anything bigger than a roe .
I rarely disagree with Paul's posts, but I don't think the graph and data are 100% relevant. After all, we don't spread out the energy of the shot across the entire mass of the animal. We are looking to penetrate the skin and damage, say, the heart and lung. Maybe we should have a graph showing the weight of the heart and lung.
Ok, more seriously, echoing the thoughts in the subsequent posts, surely after a certain point it's down to bullet construction and the reaction once it penetrates the animal.
regards
Ian
Ok, more seriously, echoing the thoughts in the subsequent posts, surely after a certain point it's down to bullet construction and the reaction once it penetrates the animal.
regards
Ian
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