243v .308

[njc110381]

Out of those two I'd buy a .308 for deer every time. If I was new and wanted to do a bit at the range, I'd buy a .308 for that too. If I wanted to mash up carcasses with what is, in my opinion at least, the worst deer calibre ever... I'd buy the .243!

It's not about power. Both will kill anything in the UK and beyond. For me it's about velocity. The .243 does a lot of damage to deer and if you're putting a lot of shots down it on the range because you're new and loving it, it will also burn a barrel out considerably quicker.

 

[bcshadow]

Because of the diverse game in BC, Canada where I live and hunt, if I went with one cartridge, out of the two I would choose 308 without a doubt. I have a 243 and have harvested many coyote, cougar, and deer. If it were for nothing bigger than a large deer under 300 yards, I would go with the 243 using 100 grain premium bullets.

 

[Nelson62]

There seems to be a common thought that bigger is bettter and deer have to be heart shot.. what's happened to the art of stalking, and low neck or head shots?

 

[njc110381]

There seems to be a common thought that bigger is bettter and deer have to be heart shot.. what's happened to the art of stalking, and low neck or head shots?

For me personally, I just like heart/lung shots. I can head shoot if I need to and I do, but why aim at an inch circle that moves quickly vs a six inch circle that doesn't? In most cases I take the safe option. Ultimately I want the deer dead with as small a chance of injuring or losing it as possible.

The art of stalking was killed off by the 1700ft-lbs energy minimum imposed by the deer act. That and the fact that high impact velocity messes up meat. If I could legally run a .243 at 2500fps and be legal I'd happily shoot a .243, but that will produce under 1400ft-lbs even with the heaviest bullets most factory rifles can handle. That 1400ft-lbs .243 bullet will kill a deer just fine, but it won't do it legally.

I've just gone beyond what you'd consider a big deer calibre and am having a .35 Whelen built. 250gr bullets are no bother in that and to reach 1700ft-lbs I need... Wait for it... 1750fps! I'm going to need a soft lead bullet to achieve expansion at that velocity but no bother, that's easily done.