Forgot how deadly the 243 is

[Dave]

I was running out of time to get my deer quota this year. I couldn't make one hunt and was a little snake bit on another one blowing a sneak. I passed up a long for me shot with my lever since my 2 power scope wasn't giving me the fine aiming point I like to see. I decided no more mister nice guy. I dusted off the 243.

One evening I was watching a place and here came my fat doe. She was at 300 yards, then 200, then she hung up at about 150. I felt bad as I turned my scope up to 6 power, placed the crosshair on her neck, and pressed the trigger. The gun kicked up a little and she was already down. No attempt to get up.

The next day another fat doe appeared at about 125. Same thing. Neck shot no attempt to get up. Man. I could have made that shot with my 2 power, but it was so easy with the 243 and a higher magnification scope. Ridiculously easy.

I guess that is why most people use a gun like that, but it isn't as exciting as putting the sneak on a deer and getting the close shot. My bullet is a 100 grain Sierra ProHunter and it hits them hard. I had forgotten how hard. I hope next season my sneak is better and I won't need a "cheater" gun.

[iceman]

Nice going. I have never used the 243 but have heard different comments, too light (usually a poor shot, bad placement) or as in your case, DRT. Proper placement is the key. With a neck shot broken spine and not going anywhere. I still like to sneak up on them if I can, but with my 300 savage i can still reach out and touch if I have to.

[mod71alaska]

Good hunting and shooting, Dave! What model rifle in .243 are you using? Pics pics pics...!

[marlinman93]

I bought my son in law a Savage 110 in .243 as his first hunting rifle. The second year out he took a nice mulie with it at a measured 325 yds. It dropped him like a ton of bricks. I wish I'd kept it and given him my old .30-06!

[Cliff]

The 243 is ballistically similar to the 30-30. Of course it shoots flatter. Check out the energy each puts out kind of interesting. ATB

[cshold]

I am as of this yr. a .243 convert.




That’s the exit wound. 100 gr. Federal SP.

[El Chivo]

I was checking out the bullet drop at long range and it's about the best out there, although of course the bullet is quite light. I think I'm going to buy one this year and use it for all hunting, which I think is going to be ground squirrels, coyote, and those scrawny deer I see from time to time.

I was reading some comments on the Midway site, one user talked about DOTS (Dead on the Spot) and a three-inch exit wound.

By the way, how come it's not called 6mm?

[cshold]

I was very apprehensive about buying a .243 do to all the horror
Stories I read and heard about over the years.
Now the people I knew first hand that owned and used the
.243 and .244 / 6mm swore by them, not at them.
About 3 yrs. ago I picked up that model 70 at a price I just
couldn’t pass up. I more or less just through it in the gun dungeon,
remembering all the bad about the .243 and forgot about it.
Till this yr. Now I must say that little Lightweight is fast becoming
my favorite.

[76/444]

"Forgot how deadly the 243 is"

That would be a mistake!!!

As my old sniper bud has explained to me ,.... "it is the flattest shooting caliber out there, with enough power for more types of work than the average shooter needs."

Most of the hunting I did with the one I had years ago (when they called it a 6mm) were head shots and neck shots. This was more than possible with this caliber, and, produced the very best results. It isn't a caliber I would hope to crush much bone with a poorly positioned body shot.

jmo,
76/444

[awp101]

By the way, how come it's not called 6mm?

Because Americans don't like them silly metric names. When the .244 remington was redesigned with a different twist rate it was renamed the 6mm Remington.

I have a Mauser based .243 that has the potential to shoot lights out when I get it sorted out and more trigger time with it. I think it was either someones old varmint or benchrest rifle so it's too heavy to carry but I think it'll be dandy out of a blind.

[Charles]

The .243 made quite a splash when it first hit the streets in the mid-1950s. Warren Page a big name gun writter had been beating the 6mm drum for some years with his 6mm PSP (Page Super Pooper) which was nothing more than the .257 Roberts squeezed down to 6mm with a little different shoulder angle. The 6mm Remington, later the .244 was very similiar to Pages cartridge.

Anway, Page hunted with both the .243 and 6mm Remington around the world and pronounced them the nee plus ultra combination deer/antelope/varmint cartridge. A large following ensued and it became a popular deer round here in Texas.

I jumped on the bandwagon in 1959 with a new Winchester 70 Featherweight and I used it for three years until I went nuts and traded it in on a 300 Weatherby. One season with the Weatherby was enough and I bought another Winny 70, which I still have. I hunted with it for 25 year, and killed 30 or 40 deer, 5 antelope and a pickup truck load of coyotes, javalina and othere assorted critters. Longest range for a deer was 250 yards, and I once picked off a Javalina from the side of a mountain a full 400 yards away. I never lost an animal and it never took more than one shot.

The combination of low recoil, flat trajectory and fine accuracy makes this a deadly game getting rifle. It not a kids gun, or a woman's gun, it is a hunter's rifle. The 6mm Remington, 257 Roberts and the 250 Savage all do a fine job. A high quality bullet is necessary in these smaller caliber rounds.

[Dave]

My gun is a Remington Model 7. I put the laminated stock on it because I was underwhelmed with the hollow, flexy synthetic stock that came on it. The scope is a Leupold 3 X 9 Compact. I seldom get a new gun but I did buy this one new. At first it would only shoot about 1.5" at 100 yards. Once I fired about 40 rounds out of it it suddenly tightened up and has been a shooter every since. The sling is made of Neoprene that really sticks to your shoulder. It even has a little loop to put your thumb in when you are carrying the rifle and that makes it extra nice.

I killed a good number of deer and a couple bobcats with this gun before going back to my lever. It is a short, light gun that really handles biz.

My load is 33.5 of Varget and a 100 grain Sierra ProHunter in whatever case non reloaders give me. Usually Remington.




Model 7 in 243

[MrMurphy]

While i'm just barely getting into hunting, my grandfather-in-law has a .243 Sako Forester with a Leupold M8 4x on it that in it's day (mid 50s) was a apparently a real deerslayer. It wasn't his rifle but whoever first owned it treated it well because it looks brand new.

The Austrians loved the Mannlicher carbines in 6.5 for the same reason.

[Streetstar]

You guys can keep 'em My .243 is currently reserved for coyotes sized animals and down. Anything that might weigh over 120 lbs on the hoof gets at least a .270

(my preference, and not bagging on the .243 --- i am glad other people have success with the .243, because it is sure a fun , accurate cartridge to shoot at the range)

[stew71]

Love my little .243. I've only had it a single season so it hasn't taken any game yet. Carries like a honey and shoots like a dream.

[76/444]

Love my little .243. I've only had it a single season so it hasn't taken any game yet. Carries like a honey and shoots like a dream.

droooooool

[Batman1939]

Shot 3 deer with my .243 this year. All were hit just behind the front leg at ranges less than 100 yards. Two dropped in their tracks; a 9-point buck went about 40 yards, though he was dead all the way.

[Wildgoose]

This 6mm Ruger has done everything from parie dogs to deer over the past fifteen years. It took my sons first buck and is now the favorite of my fifteen year old grandaughter. She started hunting deer when she was tweleve, this buck was shot at about 170 yards and only went about ten using an 85 grain Nosler Solid Base load. She is very picky about her shots and only takes the ones she can make, not to mention a lot of time on the range. Of course I am not biased or anything!

[Bogie35]

I've always wondered why the military didn't adopt the .243.

bogie

[CordWood]

I have a Winchester M70 in the 243. Every deer has been a one shot kill. My son took his first buck with it. It's a great round.
Butch

[Triggernosis]

I've always wondered why the military didn't adopt the .243.

bogie

Because it'll burn up a barrel in a heartbeat. I got less than 1,000 rounds out of my .243 F-class rig before it had to be re-barreled. My gunsmith says most every .243 he's ever tinkered with (he specializes in building long-range rifles) was burnt out in less than 1,500 rounds, usually less than 1,200.

[mohavesam]

I bought a Winchester M70 Coyote from a private party a couple years ago. It was in 243 WSSM, which I knew little about. I learned quickly.

Essentially it shoots any .243 bullet about 150-200FPS+ faster than any 243 Win! It was as accurate as my crosshairs, and almost zero recoil. I took a couple does and a nice heavy Michigan 8-pt. cleanly and with dime-sized accuracy. The way a rifle should shoot! It won't satisfy the "look at me" types envisioning a Grizzly in their deer camp, but I think the 243 WSSM is as close to a "one-gun" rifle for anything from crows to swamp bucks.

I bought another - a synthetic-stocked M70 Super Shadow in the same caliber for my daughter, which is for sale now (NIB) as she found my 260Rem Model Seven to be "her" new all-around rifle.

[cshold]

One of the things about the plain-jane .243 is you still can get ammo.
for a somewhat reasonable price for us non-reloader’s.
Those WSSM are awesome, but the price for factory ammo Is
this side of ridiculous.

[Old Savage]

Love the 6mm Ruger - mine has almost 1500 rds through it and two antelope.

Also love the Model 7 mine shot about like yours until my wife and I bedded it. Now it is very accurate. Like what you have done with yours.

[jerry b]

I've gone full circle in the last (good grief) 44 years. I started out with a .243, but moved on to more power in my 20's and beyond. Now that I am told to watch recoil levels by my opthomologist, I'm back with a Browning A-Bolt.

A cousin here in PA started with a .243 and never changed. He has shot many deer, a few black bear, and whatnot over the years with it.

A capable cartridge in capable hands.

[Otto]

...Now that I am told to watch recoil levels by my opthalmologist...

Come again?

[jerry b]

I'm a nearsighted sumbit, and I've been warned over the years to reduce recoil lest my retinas decide to detach (aka-Bristol, Wooters, and others). The doctor knows I shoot a lot and does not approve of heavy recoil. I don't approve of losing my sight. So, it's a .243 or .45 LC for me, which is fine.

[Otto]

I'm a nearsighted sumbit, and I've been warned over the years to reduce recoil lest my retinas decide to detach (aka-Bristol, Wooters, and others). The doctor knows I shoot a lot and does not approve of heavy recoil. I don't approve of losing my sight. So, it's a .243 or .45 LC for me, which is fine.

Never heard of such. I am quite nearsighted as well. Maybe I should ask my doc the next visit.

I've always been pretty recoil sensitive anyway. The .243 and a .357 M92 are the stoutest things I own. I gave my .30-30 to my brother 'cuz I couldn't take the abuse!

I mostly shoot EBR's and handguns anyway, though the .243 has wrought genocide upon the local marmot populace.