.223 vs .243

[Birkie94]

I currently have a .223 for fox control, small deer and the occasional rabbit. I now have to opportunity to stalk fallow and red deer so will need a minimum of a .243. Should I keep my .223 and get a .243 or should I sell my .223 and use .243 for foxes and deers. Price of ammo doest matter as they are provided. How much louder is a .243 moderated vs .223 moderated?
Cheers.
Luke.

 

[Andyquadra]

Hi Luke
I used to have a .223 and had the same thinking about having one rifle. I got the .243, then sold the .223 and then got a 6.5mm.
Wish I'd kept the .223 and got the 6.5 first!

There is a noticeable difference in noise and recoil between the .223 and .243, but dot a massive amount. Both rifles were Tikka T3's and the same mod

Andy

 

[Sonicdmb73]

I currently have a .223 for fox control, small deer and the occasional rabbit. I now have to opportunity to stalk fallow and red deer so will need a minimum of a .243. Should I keep my .223 and get a .243 or should I sell my .223 and use .243 for foxes and deers. Price of ammo doest matter as they are provided. How much louder is a .243 moderated vs .223 moderated?
Cheers.
Luke.

Personally I would skip the 243. We seem to be in an uncertain situation with the future of lead ammunition. As such I would suggest that you go for a 6.5 of some description. I will not get into a P*ssing contest about which one is better. They all do pretty much the same. ie chuck a bullet down range at similar speeds. The 6.5x55 was the largest cartridge that many FLD’s would allow for fox (ALQ AOLQ make that irrelevant).
I started with a 308 well before ALQ and they listed Deer and fox. But later limited it to fox whilst stalking a waste of time. As it removed Lamping as an option. So I bought a 243, don’t get me wrong it was and is an excellent dual use cartridge. But I believe that it might lose out in the long run.
I eventually got a 6.5x55 partly because of the rifle make and action I wanted. Partly because it is what I probably should have bought in the first place.
I have a 222 a 20 Tac then 6.5 and 270 along with the 22lr. The smaller two are ideal for fox and smaller deer/roe where legal. The larger ones cover all quarry here and much more abroad.
Keep the 223 in my opinion and add something a bit bigger. My FEO wanted land with deer larger than Roe for my application. I have Sika on some so not a problem. But I would happily use the 6.5 with a 85 to 100 grain bullet for fox.

 

[Ludders]

Ive got 2 tikkas
1x223 for foxing
1x243 for deer
I had the 243 first and used to use it on the foxes, but I much prefer the 223 for foxing not quite as loud and zero muzzle movement which is a bonus when lamping or nv/thermal use

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

Im a .243 owner and have owned one for about 12 years, i get on with it fine and dont find it that noisey in the grand scheme of things and I dont think for one minute it will become redundant if and when the lead ban happens especially seeing as its one of the uk's most popular calibers. With all that said though if I was taking reds and fallow on a regular basis I would be looking to go go for a bigger calibre for me personally it would be a .308 but thats just my personal choice a .270 .30-06 ect ect will all do the job as will the .243 but I just feel if its a regular thing get the most suitable tool for the job.

 

[cjs66]

Keep your 223 and buy a 308

cjs

 

[Tim.243]

Shot loads of deer and hundreds of foxes with the .243 I have a .270 as the .243 has a NV bolted to it so easier to have to.
However if I was in a position to only have 1 rifle it would be the .243....

Just got in from foxing with 1-0 to the .243

 

[Heym SR20]

Keep the 223. The 243 is substantially louder and whilst doesn’t have much recoil, it certainly does recoil. And whilst perfectly adequate for all UK deer, you do need to be careful on bullet choice and placement.

I would go straight up to the 6.5 CM, 6.5x55, 7x57, 7-08 or 308 for an all round UK deer cartridge. They are all efficient cartridges with not a lot of recoil, nor muzzle blast, that work well with lots of choices on non-toxic ammo.

The 270 win is also a superb calibre, but its fast. Thats great on open ground such Scottish mountains where most shots are more 200 than 100m, but because of its speed at closer ranges it makes a bit of a mess.

More important than calibre is type of rifle and how it fits and works for you. If you found a nice 270, 7x64 or 30-06 I wouldn’t pass them up in favour of any of the above calibres.

 

[Acm]

Sell the .223, buy a .222, forget the .243, buy a .30-06

 

[Colonel]

I would keep the 223 and get a 308. The non lead loads are easy to get right.

 

[Carlsuffolk]

I would keep the .223 and get a 6.5 in some form the lead alternative race is picking up and there are now several 120 grain bullets available with the sonics brass ones getting great reviews

 

[rem284]

There could be advantages to having 2 rifles. A) .223 could have a dedicated nv or thermal sight on it. B) if a fault develops with one then at least you still have the other one to use. On the flip side of that it's easier to be tuned to one rifle rather than 2.

If you do not home load then choosing rifles that you can find a good supply of ammunition for should be high on the list.

The choice of 243. It might be worth considering the possible lead ban and the effect this might have on this chambering and whether you might use it to shoot deer in Scotland. There is talk about a change in law to allow deer to be shot with an 80 grain bullet rather than a 100 grain bullet to suit the extra length of the non lead stuff.

If it was me and I didnt home load then I would probably go 6.5cm for deer. I don't do much in the way of foxing so I don't have a separate rifle for that. I normally use my 6.5x47

 

[6pt-sika]

243 I like 223 not much . But if we’re me I’d rather have more 260 , 6.5x55 , 6.5-06 , 270 maybe even a 7x57 !

 

[Sako75Hunter]

My first centrefire (which I still have) was a .223. When I has looking for another for sika, I searched for the exact same make/model of rifle (Sako 75) second-hand, but ss/synthetic rather the wood/blued of my .223, and in any calibre above .243.

The rifle I happened to find was in 6.5x55, and I've never looked back since. Using Sako Powerhead II 120gr. copper it works every time, and is future-proof to the coming lead ban.

As others have said, I'd keep the .223 and get another rifle bigger than a .243, if possible something around 6.5.