That old thread 'is a .243 enough?'

[sir-lamp-alot]

ive got a .243 had it for years with it ive shot 5 out of the 6 species of our deer and just have a red to go, in the interests of science, bragging points and sheer bloody mindedness im willing to shoot anyones red deer for them to prove once and for all if the .243 can do it, i await your invites........

 

[Chasey]

Hi all,

There are some very good points here and all situations/permissions are different.

I have successfully used my .243 on fallow right up to when I had a few issues. I heart shot a fallow buck at about 120 yards and he ran for about 100 yards into the bush and out of sight.

There was no exit wound and no blood trail, it took me nearly an hour to find him. Then a month later and it happened again but on a doe.

No no exit wound, no blood trail to follow.

I changed to my .308 and never had the same problem again. I now Always get an exit hole and a blood trail to follow.

Just my opinion folks, but there’s no worse feeling then when you start to think about a lost deer.

For me, on my permission it’s .308 all the way.

Jeff

Worst runner I ever had was with a 308 which only shows that shot placement is far more important than calibre.

 

[bogtrotter]

, i await your invites........

Not from me you won't, used a .243 for most of my working life as a stalker, shot more than my fair share of reds,never had a problem with 243 in fact I would go as far as say it was my caliber of choice, and I did have others at my disposal.

 

[baguio]

Not from me you won't, used a .243 for most of my working life as a stalker, shot more than my fair share of reds,never had a problem with 243 in fact I would go as far as say it was my caliber of choice, and I did have others at my disposal.

However, Scotish reds are the same size as Norfolk roe. I would have no problem shooting roe with a 243 either!

 

[Chasey]

It would appear that it's not just me who doesn't agree with your opinion takbok? Breckland reds are big animals. The 243 just doesn't have enough power for many of us.

400lb Hog shot with .22 sub sonic Ruger 10/22

shooting boor with a .22 - Bing video


A 243 will put anything in the UK flat on the ground but a bigger bullet simply allows for a bigger margin of error

You can put the same argument forward for a 338 Luper over a 308 as you can for a 308 over a 243

 

[baguio]

400lb Hog shot with .22 sub sonic Ruger 10/22

shooting boor with a .22 - Bing video


A 243 will put anything in the UK flat on the ground but a bigger bullet simply allows for a bigger margin of error

You can put the same argument forward for a 338 Luper over a 308 as you can for a 308 over a 243

No, Chasey, it's not just a bigger margin of error is it. A bigger hole (or even an almost guaranteed hole) will mean that it bleeds out quicker and drops sooner when compared with the exact same impact point with a smaller bullet. Improve your chances when shooting big heavy animals and use big heavy bullets. It's no exaggeration that Scottish reds are half the size of southern reds. You will not have much chance of getting an exit with a small light bullet when shooting big animals. Everything has its limits regardless of the type of bullet that you use.

 

[levigsp]

No, Chasey, it's not just a bigger margin of error is it. A bigger hole (or even an almost guaranteed hole) will mean that it bleeds out quicker and drops sooner when compared with the exact same impact point with a smaller bullet. Improve your chances when shooting big heavy animals and use big heavy bullets. It's no exaggeration that Scottish reds are half the size of southern reds. You will not have much chance of getting an exit with a small light bullet when shooting big animals. Everything has its limits regardless of the type of bullet that you use.

I have used all sorts over the years, from 22 to 2 bore, when I was clearing deer for a living it was the .243 I used and at the time I had, 243, 270, 7X57, 300wm and bigger.
I have said it before and Ill say it again, using the 243 and GKs shooting roe and reds I have not had a single deer run out of hundreds shot, the only deer I hit with the combo that ran was a Sika stag shot at very long range because it was already injured and hit in the boiler room it ran 50 yards.
Strangely all the deer Ive had run on, have been right through shots in the H/L area, yes there was a blood trail to follow, but I would far sooner get drop to shot. And before anyone says " yes but your shooting smaller animals, well I shot Red/Roe in newly planted forestry in the north Highlands[most on the lamp] Muntjac, Roe, Fallow, Reds in Suffolk, Same in Hampshire with the addition of Sika. The only animal I would NOT shoot with the 243 in the UK is Boar.

 

[bogtrotter]

I have used all sorts over the years, from 22 to 2 bore, when I was clearing deer for a living it was the .243 I used and at the time I had, 243, 270, 7X57, 300wm and bigger.
I have said it before and Ill say it again, using the 243 and GKs shooting roe and reds I have not had a single deer run out of hundreds shot, the only deer I hit with the combo that ran was a Sika stag shot at very long range because it was already injured and hit in the boiler room it ran 50 yards.
Strangely all the deer Ive had run on, have been right through shots in the H/L area, yes there was a blood trail to follow, but I would far sooner get drop to shot. And before anyone says " yes but your shooting smaller animals, well I shot Red/Roe in newly planted forestry in the north Highlands[most on the lamp] Muntjac, Roe, Fallow, Reds in Suffolk, Same in Hampshire with the addition of Sika. The only animal I would NOT shoot with the 243 in the UK is Boar.

Well said, I have to agree with this.

 

[baguio]

The only animal I would NOT shoot with the 243 in the UK is Boar.

Why not levigsp?

 

[levigsp]

Why not levigsp?

Simply because I've seen to many mishaps with 6millers in Europe, mishaps with boar that I do not wish to replicate. One thing I will state is ive heard people state" we shoot hogs with 22lr," hogs are feral domestic pigs and are relatively easy to kill, physically they are not wild boar.

 

[N.F.W.M]

As has already been said, put the bullet where it needs to be and .243 is enough for uk deer species at normal ranges (less than 200m). I seldom use anything else for lowland stalking out of 6 deer legal calibers. If there is a chance of the shot needing to be at a longer range then for me there are better calibers. When using a lighter caliber like the .243 bullet choice is critical. If you're wanting and not getting an exit wound then you're not using the right bullet.
Would 100% agree that a .243 is not for use on wild boar.

 

[User00033]

I think its a silly calibre.... I've been told on numerous occasions that I must have been using the wrong bullet in my .243 to have these issues. All I can say is that I've never had issues
with the wrong bullet in other calibres. I've even used those same "wrong" bullets in my 6.5 without issue. I put it down to the velocity, not the structure of the bullet.

Well for one thing, a “silly” cartridge the .243 Win certainly ain’t. Silly would be this:



Most of the problems people think they have with the .243 Winchester is due to excessive velocity. If you are a hand loader this is very easy to control. Most guys seem intent on squeezing as much oommppff out of the round as possible... I found this to be counter-productive and settled on a very middle of the road load for the 100 grain Sierra ProHunter. At a steady 2,700fps this classic bullet delivers just the right balance between fragmentation and weight retention and, assuming you are able to put it in the right place, the projectile will deliver every time. Drops ‘em out to 400yds every time.

Try and drive it at 3,100fps at 100yds or less and it’s no surprise that you’re going to make a mess!

 

[mchughcb]

Think you have it right there for right proj and speed fir goats ans fallow.

 

[baguio]

At a steady 2,700fps this classic bullet delivers just the right balance between fragmentation and weight retention and, assuming you are able to put it in the right place, the projectile will deliver every time. Drops ‘em out to 400yds every time.

Utter rubbish. At 400yds the power has dropped right off. To say that it will drop them at this range every time is embarrassing tbh. At that range much bigger and more powerful calibres cannot claim to do that. I'm starting to think that you're saying this just to convince yourself now dodgyknees.

 

[rabbitter]

If a .243 bullet is only driven at a modest 2700fps doesn't it defeat the object of necking down the parent case in the first place? A .308 165gr running at the same speed seems like a better proposition.

 

[NigelM]

At the risk of winding this up even more...

It's not the chambering that matters, it's the bullet it delivers.

Today we have some fantastic bullets, like the ABLR and ELD-X. These have BC's in the region of .575 to .675 and because they are so slippery are able to carry there energy a long way before falling off. My 6.5 Lapua firing a 129 grain ABLR is still carrying 1000 ftLb's at 600 meters. More than a 270 Win firing 130 grain Norma's. The other big advantage is wind drift which is also minimised by the high BC.

Unfortunately the smallest they make these LR bullets is 6.5mm.

In contrast my 6mm Lapua with 100 grain Prohunters drops to 1000 ftLb at 350 meters and at 600 meters has just 500 ftLbs. Fired from exactly the same case as the 6.5 with similar muzzle energy.

The 6mm/243 is perfect for most UK deer stalking, but head out to other countries where 500 meters is considered pretty normal and it will be found wanting compared to a 6.5mm or 7mm with decent bullets.

 

[The deer man]

The 243 is like fishing, "it was this big", as the hands move wider and wider apart!

Within reasonable stalking ranges, out to say 175 yards (most deer are shot under 100 yards) the 243 works and I've shot enough East Anglian Reds with one to know that. However claiming the 243 is perfect out to 400 yards for the average recreational stalker is ludicrous! There are better calibres more suited to longer ranges and it doesn't mean magnum calibres like the bad example of the foreign gentleman with his 300 mag, you'll always get them with all the gear and no idea!

The 243 does its job within its standard parameters however other calibres which are as easy to shoot will outperform the 243 every time. To name a few 6.5x55, 260, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08, 7x57, 308, all non magnum and will deliver more energy and better penetration.

The fact that this post exists shows the amount of doubt there is with the 243 so why limit yourself to this calibre? It make no sense!

 

[mchughcb]

6mm .243 103 gr ELD-X® - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

I'm just saying that at the 400 yard range you are getting good expansion and about 900ftlb of energy. I'm just saying.

 

[Deermanagement]

tonyt,try some nosler partition bullets in the 243,expensive yes but will give an exit every time even on shoulder shots,brilliant bullet in 243.i use 100 gr partition in tikka t3.

The 100g Nosler Partition will do everything the UK has to offer. Taken plenty of Dorset and Scottish Sika Stags and a reasonable number of Scottish Red Stags with no issues at all. Seen many more issues using the so called more reliable larger calibres on these deer and yes I do occasionally use a .3006, although I know I don't really need to use it. First choice is the .243 with Partitions for the tougher animals and 95g Nosler Ballistic Tip for everything else.

 

[hendrix's rifle]

Utter rubbish. At 400yds the power has dropped right off. To say that it will drop them at this range every time is embarrassing tbh. At that range much bigger and more powerful calibres cannot claim to do that. I'm starting to think that your saying this just to convince yourself now dodgyknees.

The poachers tool of choice is the 22lr... from roe to reds if you can put it in the right place it's dead. Not wanting to start an argument but if you can put a bullet with 900ftlb or so of energy behind it it will go down.