243 fazination???
- Thread starter MARCBO
- Start date
Hunters/stalkers around the world seem to spend a great deal of time discussing the good and bad points of the different calibres, but in my opinion, it is the ammunition which deserves greater deliberation.
It is true that the .243win is not the best calibre for taking N. American big game, but here in the UK it is perfectly adequate for all deer species if you select your ammunition carefully.....there's a decent bullet available for all UK deer.
I don't believe that British stalkers are particularly fascinated (or fazinated if you prefer?) with any particular calibre but the .243win has certainly become quite popular here for all of the reasons listed by PKL.
I also suspect that some chaps wanted to identify themselves solely as sportsmen by moving away from the military type cartridges popular in target shooting.
It is true that the .243win is not the best calibre for taking N. American big game, but here in the UK it is perfectly adequate for all deer species if you select your ammunition carefully.....there's a decent bullet available for all UK deer.
I don't believe that British stalkers are particularly fascinated (or fazinated if you prefer?) with any particular calibre but the .243win has certainly become quite popular here for all of the reasons listed by PKL.
I also suspect that some chaps wanted to identify themselves solely as sportsmen by moving away from the military type cartridges popular in target shooting.
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MARCBO
Well-Known Member
Adequate, not optimal, but adequate. I don't normally choose to just meet a standard. R
OFLMAO!!!!
SS
no, the optimal small to mid size deer cartridge actually happens to be the .222, nowhere as large as the .243
It's Perfectly adequate, actually.
[h=2]ad·e·quate[/h] [ad-i-kwit]
adjective1.as much or as good as necessary for some requirement or purpose; fully sufficient, suitable, or fit
Dead is dead. An animal cannot be deader than dead, so you can ROFLYAO as much as you like
Paul at Fechan
Well-Known Member
optimal .222 
for hares and munties sure but:
mid sized deer are fallow in the uk, in the world reds.... last fallow I shot was with a 375 h&h, usually use 308 because that's the man's choice... not your firearms licensing dep. on your behalf
It's your choice after all if you have good reason.
for hares and munties sure but:mid sized deer are fallow in the uk, in the world reds.... last fallow I shot was with a 375 h&h, usually use 308 because that's the man's choice... not your firearms licensing dep. on your behalf
It's your choice after all if you have good reason.
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I'd be with marcbo on this,
222 is the smallest cartridge and marginal for the smallest of deer we have in Europe.
243 is just about perfect for the smallest of our deer
243 is marginal for our larger deer and not allowed for the larger deer in some Euro countries for a reason.
The big problem is that very often beginners start with the 243 for larger deer maybe because of the licence issue, or lower recoil or possibly to have one rifle for fox and deer. Inexperience and a marginal calibre is not a great combination.
edi
Casual-T
Well-Known Member
i think this has become an issue of 'psychology' more than anything else.
This wouldn't have even been debated 20 years ago.
In that time I have shot 100% of my deer (and i have to add, as a caveat, that this is a) recreational and b) just Roe and Munties) with a .243 and the only runner was a shocked Munty that i found 50 yards away. The only Roe that didn't drop on the spot was a poor shot from me as it quartered away from me as i squeezed, but still dropped on the spot and i dispatched it a minute later.
I have utter confidence in this round but that's just me with Roe and smaller stuff.
i think it's easy, these days, to get talked into thinking it's "not enough" but i can't see myself changing ever.
(again, this is mainly woodland/forestry stalking, the odd muntie and a few fox that appear at dusk etc)
This wouldn't have even been debated 20 years ago.
In that time I have shot 100% of my deer (and i have to add, as a caveat, that this is a) recreational and b) just Roe and Munties) with a .243 and the only runner was a shocked Munty that i found 50 yards away. The only Roe that didn't drop on the spot was a poor shot from me as it quartered away from me as i squeezed, but still dropped on the spot and i dispatched it a minute later.
I have utter confidence in this round but that's just me with Roe and smaller stuff.
i think it's easy, these days, to get talked into thinking it's "not enough" but i can't see myself changing ever.
(again, this is mainly woodland/forestry stalking, the odd muntie and a few fox that appear at dusk etc)
optimal .222
Makes rather a nasty mess of hares...
I'd say optimal for head shooting hares, optimal for head and body shooting fox up to roe.
Having now shot roe with .222, .243 and .308, on balance I like the .243 most. .222 is fun to use and perfectly effective, but I do still worry about it for longer shots, windy days or places where a runnner would be a problem (though not had one yet). The .308 is emphatically effective, but with 150gr ballistic tips (which I use because I like them for fallow), can cause more damage than I'm happy with - though I really like it for longer range , windy days or thick gorse scrub, where even a 10m runner means a lot of searching. .243 is the perfect mid point between the two.
When I got my .308, I thought I'd fairly quickly sell the .243 and be done with it - but I've found I just like it too much for roe to part with it.
I wonder if the critics of .243 (particularly the North Americans) really realise how small roe are!
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Brithunter
Well-Known Member
Part of THE problem is that an awful lot shooters in the UK just don't seem to think they need to practice. According to them are they born with gods gift of marksmanship. After all practice costs both time and money which it seems is viewed as a waste of both.
Europe has some very strange ideas just as the UK does on regulations especially when it comes to shooting and hunting. perhaps they are right with some of them as after common sense seems to be in very short supply in the modern world. Then again perhaps it's those in charge desire and perceived need for control in everything???
Uncle Buck
Well-Known Member
I don't see it as a fazination !
For several years I used a .222 on all the roe I shot and found it more than adequate, when I decided to upgrade I chose the 243 simple. (adequate)
I did'nt see the need for overkill bazooka ! (afterall were not stalking dangerous game are we).
Does a larger calibre make you shoot any better I wonder !
Aim small miss small, that's the key.
Agree with Casual-T would we have debated this 20 or so years ago.. I think not.
Atb, Buck.
For several years I used a .222 on all the roe I shot and found it more than adequate, when I decided to upgrade I chose the 243 simple. (adequate)
I did'nt see the need for overkill bazooka ! (afterall were not stalking dangerous game are we).
Does a larger calibre make you shoot any better I wonder !
Aim small miss small, that's the key.
Agree with Casual-T would we have debated this 20 or so years ago.. I think not.
Atb, Buck.
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I have gone through several .243s with little or no success in that I couldn`t get them to shoot straight! Last year I discovered 55gr Winchester Silvertips in and my Blaser loves them. They are fantastically accurate. Its the first time 6 years that I can get this thing to shoot really tight groups. I bought it with the intention of using it for smaller dear but I find myself nearly always reaching for my 300WM. Saying that, I shot my first stag with a .243 from 168 meters and I can remember it like yesterday. I doubt I will use it on the hill again but its nice to have the option. For the moment, it is my foxing round.
berg
Well-Known Member
Are saying you have had a blaser and this is the 1st bullet in 6 years that it likes . i thought they were better than that ,i thought they could shoot most ammo fairly well
I bought it six years ago, it was my third .243 the previous two being a Steyr M72 and a Weatherby MK V. They all seemed to struggle with heavier bullets. The Blaser would produce a 1.5 inch group which I was not happy with given that my other barrels could shoot well within an inch.
berg
Well-Known Member
At half the cost as well ,that's poor given the price tag it has on it .
MARCBO
Well-Known Member
Have you gentlemen considered that perhaps the "Authorities" don't want you to have a caliber they could not cut-off easily. If you were to get a 308 and something happen you might be able to rebell. And ammo, you could use de-linked ammuniton from the LMG. A fellow sniper instructor of mine once said "If you can't hit what you are aiming at with de-linked machine gun ammunition you are a poser".
Any way, Would you rather your wife describe your performance as "adequate" or "more than required"?
SS
Any way, Would you rather your wife describe your performance as "adequate" or "more than required"?
SS
Paul at Fechan
Well-Known Member
nothing wrong with 243 for roe and it's the perfect calibre but roe are a small deer, not medium or large! Reds are 6x the size!!
