How many .243's are Deer legal ?

BRACES of Bristol - Sauer 100 XTA Stainless Package
paul at barony said:
oh god..... 243 rant time. The .243 is not anything more than a foxing calibre that's good for roe. Comparably a 17hmr shooting roe deer is more powerful than a 243 shooting a red stag, here's you maths and no I'm not saying it is legal or acceptable to shoot a deer with 17hmr:

17hmr v's 40lb roe deer (assume for the story it's a 'hunting' style bullet not v-max)

Bullet energy at muzzle 240 ft/lb
Deer live body weight 40lb
Energy delivery = 6ft/lb per live weight pound

243 v's 300lb red deer (assume the bullet actually meets legal energy in England for the large deer :rofl: 1,700ft/lb)

Bullet Energy at muzzle 1,700ft/lb
Deer live body weight 300lb
Energy delivery = 5.7ft/lb per live weight pound

Er hello, your .243 kung foo is not strong..... it is weak like baby mouse!

If you don't believe me about the energy to live weight correlation then consider the reaction of the example deer shot with the energy discussed assuming a 'good' chest shot. Both deer will jump and run before collapsing shortly after, but hit them badly and you're looking at a wounded and suffering deer if a lethal follow up is not made.
Click to expand...

There is an elephant in the room which you forgot...

So consider shooting an elephant with a 416 Rigby. 400gr ME=5115ftlbs.
Elephant weighs 3 tons (2240x3=6720lbs)
5115/6720=0.7611ftlbs/lb.
 
paul at barony said:
oh god..... 243 rant time. The .243 is not anything more than a foxing calibre that's good for roe. Comparably a 17hmr shooting roe deer is more powerful than a 243 shooting a red stag, here's you maths and no I'm not saying it is legal or acceptable to shoot a deer with 17hmr:

17hmr v's 40lb roe deer (assume for the story it's a 'hunting' style bullet not v-max)

Bullet energy at muzzle 240 ft/lb
Deer live body weight 40lb
Energy delivery = 6ft/lb per live weight pound

243 v's 300lb red deer (assume the bullet actually meets legal energy in England for the large deer :rofl: 1,700ft/lb)

Bullet Energy at muzzle 1,700ft/lb
Deer live body weight 300lb
Energy delivery = 5.7ft/lb per live weight pound

Er hello, your .243 kung foo is not strong..... it is weak like baby mouse!

If you don't believe me about the energy to live weight correlation then consider the reaction of the example deer shot with the energy discussed assuming a 'good' chest shot. Both deer will jump and run before collapsing shortly after, but hit them badly and you're looking at a wounded and suffering deer if a lethal follow up is not made.
Click to expand...
My example works just as well
Muzzle energy = 12 ft/lb
Rabbit live body weight = 2 lb
Energy delivery = 6 ft / lb per lb
funnily enough the rabbit is still dead , and dead is dead , no more, no less :roll:
 
true enough, but both bunny and elephant examples usually involve brain shots, which changes things a bit. pretty much anything which will get through the skull will do the job.

We've rather got away from the original question - who's chrono'd their .243 and what were the results?
 
I've shot a lot of deer with the 243 win,but dont really want to ever have to use it again. Even for small deer like fallow & chital its not good unless shots are great. It's usually the case in the bush though that things don't go right all the time. Animals tend not to read the script as well.

I find it funny that folks compare one species to another & then argue foot pounds, animal size, etc,etc like its scientific law. For a start a deer like a chital has twice the vitality of a fallow although its a wee bit smaller. Sambar deer are about 5 times tougher to kill per kilo than an elk. Then you have the odd one which defies the laws of nature by not dying from "text book" shots or premium bullets, etc. Dangerous game is different again & non expanding bullets here cant/or shouldn't be compared to "deer stalking".

The 243 "Is a small gun" almost any adolescent, even from the third gender should be able to shoot something larger in cal. If you can take text book shots on paddock deer then a 243 might be fine for small reds & fallow, I'd start with a 270 & go up for these myself given the nature of shooting wild deer.

In the states down here where min cals are the law, the 243 is not legal on red deer. These laws were advised by deer hunters themselves.
As a side note, bowhunting is legal even where the 243 is not & I dont have a problem with that.

Cheers Sharkey
 
simon1979 said:
Does any use a .240?
Click to expand...

A wee bit on open ground, & cull the odd chital & fallow with one (It's a really great dog rifle though). Still for longer shots the 270wby leaves the 240wby for dead on these species. Most projectiles are made for 243win velocities & give even worse performance if driven too fast, or too close.

Cheers Sharkey

PS the 25 06 is almost the same as the 240wby but usually with better constructed projectiles.
 
Last edited:
sharkey said:
I've shot a lot of deer with the 243 win,but dont really want to ever have to use it again. Even for small deer like fallow & chital its not good unless shots are great. It's usually the case in the bush though that things don't go right all the time. Animals tend not to read the script as well.

I find it funny that folks compare one species to another & then argue foot pounds, animal size, etc,etc like its scientific law. For a start a deer like a chital has twice the vitality of a fallow although its a wee bit smaller. Sambar deer are about 5 times tougher to kill per kilo than an elk. Then you have the odd one which defies the laws of nature by not dying from "text book" shots or premium bullets, etc. Dangerous game is different again & non expanding bullets here cant/or shouldn't be compared to "deer stalking".

The 243 "Is a small gun" almost any adolescent, even from the third gender should be able to shoot something larger in cal. If you can take text book shots on paddock deer then a 243 might be fine for small reds & fallow, I'd start with a 270 & go up for these myself given the nature of shooting wild deer.

In the states down here where min cals are the law, the 243 is not legal on red deer. These laws were advised by deer hunters themselves.
As a side note, bowhunting is legal even where the 243 is not & I dont have a problem with that.

Cheers Sharkey
Click to expand...
And you were doing so well with the sanctimonious bit until we got to the end
"As a side note, bowhunting is legal even where the 243 is not & I dont have a problem with that."
:D
 
the groove diameter is .243, the bore diameter (between the lands) is .236 - means the rifling cuts into the bullet and makes it spin.
 
no, that would leave the rifling grooves as gaps up the side of the bullet so a good deal of gas would escape and the rifling wouldnt bite into the bullet.
 
I knew it! .243 is barely enough gun,glad i got shot of mine,nobody should be allowed to point a pop gun like that at live deer.:lol:
 
Last edited:
90gr Nosler Partition, 40gr H380 = mv 3045ft/sec 1860ft/lb give or take - imo you shoot to your ability/equipment capabilities, if I am out stalking with the .243 then anything under 150yds is as dead as a dead thing provided I do my bit, however if a Roe/Munty/Fox presents a shot at 150+yds then it would be taken, should any of the larger species turn up it would be a close the gap or not take the shot situation, if I expect shots to be taken at the further out distances ie hill or open land then it would be .308 time launching 168grains of good news.

If you shoot enough then you will get runners, then forget muzzle velocities/ bullet calibre its the 22kg of GWP that sorts things out....:-D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Deer legal 44 mag under lever
Replies
14
Views
712
reiver
reiver
.243 to .223, purely for fox 🤔
3 4 5
Replies
95
Views
6K
Smellydog
Smellydog
Deer legal 243 80gr Factory Copper Rounds
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
Bowland blades
Bowland blades
Large Batch Reloading - How Many Do You Load At A Time?
2
Replies
25
Views
775
KimE
K
The quest for the perfect 40gr 22 Hornet bullet
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
2K
Hairysausagefingers
H
1967spud Reloading Supplies Ltd - UK Suppliers for Reloading Equipment supplies, We also stock Bullet Heads and Bullet Cases Guns Cabinets, Night vision and much much more...
Back
Top