caliber

[Jamie123]

Hello,

looking for some options. new bit of ground im shooting mainly roe. currently using a 243 tika. does the job fine and am happy with it. shooting upto 160/200 yards at a push but id like to start feeling a bit more comfterable at 200/300 yard mark.
currently using 100 grain.

question is. do i get a better scope and take more effort on the range for balistics.
or a bigger caliber if so which would i be looking at?
i have a 308 on my license and like the idea of having something harder hitting for red and fallow etc.

thanks in advice.

 

[6mmAI]

Drop to a 70-75gr bullet, that will help with trajectory.

243 will do any deer within the uk, that being said I shoot a 300wby, personally if it was me in your shoes I’d go 06 over a 08. Either way if you go for a 308 shooting presumably a 150-180gr bullet you would need to practice with trajectory as without running it through ballistic app I’d say it would drop more than your 243. So depending on your budget I’d look at getting a good quality scope 6-24x50/56 for example a Swarovski pv can get them £6-800 ish and with the change from what you was going to spend on a second rifle set up try various bullet combinations to find what suits your needs.

 

[308tikka]

Why do you want to take 300 yard shots?

Take a look at some ballistic tables and point blank zeros for a range of cartridges and you will narrow down possibilities.

 

[Foxyboy43]

There you go - not a huge lot in it drop wise but energy wise quite a difference at your suggested 300 yards.

 

[HonestJohn]

I prefer getting to within 50yds for the sport and challenge, but have culled many a deer at 250-260. That’s with .243 and up to 30-06 and everything in between, plus some smaller and some larger..and most with 4x32 or 3-9x36 scopes. The quality of the glass is what makes a shot on roe at 200+ relatively easy, not the magnification.

Hell, shot a few with .222 and 4x32 last season at 255, that wast too hard.

I don’t go to 275 and 300 because I don’t dial, just use mpbr, and don’t want to be holding over the deers back or offsetting for wind past the shoulder or into the stomach area, too much room for error..250 to me is that ‘it’s ok for standard calibres and normal hunting scopes’ range

 

[TomY]

What scope have you got on your rifle now? 243 kill any red or fallow at 300 yards all day.

 

[ejg]

Look and learn the ballistics of your bullet in either 243 or 308. Also look at the energy at the furthest distance you plan to shoot. I would go with the 308 over 243 for larger deer. At around 300yds you are better off knowing your drops at 25yds/m increments and have a rangefinder. If you practice enough and can hit a 3" circle at 300 there is no reason why you can't body shoot a deer. Best is to use higher BC and heavier bullets, retains energy better and less wind drift. I think every hunter should know his rifle well enough to take a precise 300yd shot, even if one never plans on shooting that far one can practice that far. Ballistic turrets on a scope beat holdover guess every time. 12 mag or slightly over is fine no need for 24mag.
I would start by looking at a capable scope and rangefinder. They work for any rifle. If ballistic turrets, try find a scope with lockable turrets. Forget about GEE
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