.243 or .308?!

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BunnyDoom

Well-Known Member
I know this has been talked about but my questions are slightly different...

The .243 appears to have a better BC than the .308 when comparing a 100gn .243 to a 150gn .308 (which seems to be the norm for each respective calibre) - this said, then why do so many people recommend upping to a .308 if your after larger deer species?

As far as I can make out, the .243 is travelling faster than the .308 at 200yds, and is LESS prone to wind drift not more (working off ballistics software here) in the same way that a .17HMR is less prone to wind drift than a .22lr...?!!

I'm probably only thinking of getting a .308 as I know I'm more likely to be invited to red shoots if I have one, as the perception is the .243 lacks knock-down power - is that really true though?

I appreciate the .308 round is half again as heavy as the .243 but does anyone know the actual difference in ft/lbs at 200yds?

Do I really need a .308? Is it really that much better? Are the rounds any cheaper than a .243?

If I get a .308 I'll probably have to do a 1-for-1 and lose my .243 (my FLO can be tough)... so want to be sure!
 
My first deer rifle was .308, can be considered heavy for Roe so I have a .243 as well. In the right hands a .243 will cull a red. My suggestion would not to be too concerned with ballistics per se, as they both have enough oomph as hunting rifles. For practice at the range, unless you reload .308 FMJ factory ammunition is readily available and cheap.
 
Your missing a lot just looking at paper charts.

The .30 cal has a larger diameter bullet to start with so has more area to transmit it's carried "energy" and make that "energy" work as we would like it too.

In the .308 Winchester cartridge the 150 grain bullet is often loaded to produce 2900 fps now the .243 with a 100 grain bullet with a top load taken from the same loading data manual is 2966 fps. Looking at these results just picked out at random (I just grabbed the first up to date manual off the shelf which happens to be Speers #14) your looking at a 60 fps difference ........................................... gee wow . It's possible to get that much difference in velocities from one load.

Looking further:-

Hornady's 7th edition ( not the latest which is the 8th) lists 7 loads that they achieved the magic 3,000 fps velocity in .243 with 90-100 grin bullets. However they were more conservative with their .308 loads only getting 2800 fps with the 150-155 grain bullets.

Vhit on the other hand with the Sierra 150 HPBT got 2956 fps in the .308 and a whopping 3085 fps with the Sierra SPBT 100 grain in .243..

Of course what YOUR rifle can produce with any of the loads will have to tried and tested to find out but it's unlikely to be the same as the books say or claim ;)

For Reds I would personally load a nice 165 grain bullet at around 2800 fps. This of course will also work nicely on Roe and Muntjac. Or so I have found :D.

In reality there is a good reason to have both rifles. However as you say the FEO and licensing department have their own ideas :roll: ............................ nothing new there then!

As for felt recoil make sure the rifle fits you and learn and practice good technique. Far too much is made of recoil and I feel a lot of times people are taught to be scared of it before even handling a rifle.
 
Brithunter said:
Your missing a lot just looking at paper charts.

The .30 cal has a larger diameter bullet to start with so has more area to transmit it's carried "energy" and make that "energy" work as we would like it too.

In the .308 Winchester cartridge the 150 grain bullet is often loaded to produce 2900 fps now the .243 with a 100 grain bullet with a top load taken from the same loading data manual is 2966 fps. Looking at these results just picked out at random (I just grabbed the first up to date manual off the shelf which happens to be Speers #14) your looking at a 60 fps difference ........................................... gee wow . It's possible to get that much difference in velocities from one load.

Looking further:-

Hornady's 7th edition ( not the latest which is the 8th) lists 7 loads that they achieved the magic 3,000 fps velocity in .243 with 90-100 grin bullets. However they were more conservative with their .308 loads only getting 2800 fps with the 150-155 grain bullets.

Vhit on the other hand with the Sierra 150 HPBT got 2956 fps in the .308 and a whopping 3085 fps with the Sierra SPBT 100 grain in .243..

Of course what YOUR rifle can produce with any of the loads will have to tried and tested to find out but it's unlikely to be the same as the books say or claim ;)

For Reds I would personally load a nice 165 grain bullet at around 2800 fps. This of course will also work nicely on Roe and Muntjac. Or so I have found :D.

In reality there is a good reason to have both rifles. However as you say the FEO and licensing department have their own ideas :roll: ............................ nothing new there then!

As for felt recoil make sure the rifle fits you and learn and practice good technique. Far too much is made of recoil and I feel a lot of times people are taught to be scared of it before even handling a rifle.
Click to expand...

Thanks very helpful
 
243 will kill everything in this country but you have to be confident with your shot placement, because of there tiny bullets against the 308 bullets. 243 is faster than the 308 there as good as each other as they both do the job its your choice wich you pick we can only advise.


Regards james
 
Always the same story when the calibre is too small one talks about shot placement.
BS
edi
 
One of the reasons the .243 and 6mm cartridges ar so popular in the UK has nothing to do with how good they are but an awful lot to do with the agenda of Firearms Licensing and their desire for control.

Simply put the law stated in the Deer act that the MINIMUM calibre was .240" and the Police read that to be .243"/6mm. Now the Plods love the word minimum and they try to impose that on the shooters especially new shooters. If the Minimum had been .223" that what they would have been foisting upon them.

We won't get into what the word calibre actually means :roll: as that's another whole can of worms :old:.

The OP already has a .243 and is thinking about/wanting a .308. As I pointed out there is good and valid reasons to have both.
 
with a 243 i had alot of damage to muntjac and sika would run on quite a bit , the bigger bullet just plops through small deer and sika dont run as far
 
Bh the op choose a 243, and if I remember rightly from the time we met he had not shot it at deer, due to problems with the gun, you are right in there are pros and cons for both, as I shoot deer with a 3030 which is slower than both, and started stalking with a 303, which most people would say are way under powered.
I also have a 243 for those long shoots though.
 
I think that the OP should have both .243 & .308. The law requires you to provide "good reason" not "need". In this case he currently uses his .243 for smaller deer and wishes to acquire the .308 to extend his shooting opportunities to include larger reds. Provided that he can show that he has shooting rights or arranged a booking/invitation for both the large and small species of deer there should be no problem with his FLO (outside of Hampshire anyway!)atb Tim
 
Taff said:
Bh the op choose a 243, and if I remember rightly from the time we met he had not shot it at deer, due to problems with the gun, you are right in there are pros and cons for both, as I shoot deer with a 3030 which is slower than both, and started stalking with a 303, which most people would say are way under powered.
I also have a 243 for those long shoots though.
Click to expand...

Hi Taff! Hope you're well mate? Yeah had only used a 6.5x55 when I met you, since then have shot deer with the .243 and seems very effective on Roe... early days with this calibre though and am planning a few trips to scotland this summer. Still not that impressed with the xbolt so am going to get a new gun regardless (either as a 1 for 1, or in addition to the .243).
As my FLO won't let me use the .243 for fox (?!!?) and the majority of the land I shoot is cleared for .308 it seems like a good idea to get this calibre - I hear what you say about shot placement, but I see more target shooters at bisley using .308 than faster/flatter rounds, and I've read a lot of comments about retained energy at longer distances with the .308... also they're both relatively flat in the grand scheme of things aren't they?
 
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