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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: BMD] #5716636 04/26/15 01:54 PM
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Originally Posted By: BMD
Go with 7/08 and 120gr bullets. I went through both with my daughter the .243 at 7 and 8 and switched to 7/08 at 9 and she has taken big game up to giraffe with her 7/08 and wouldn't have considered taking the .243 to Africa. I sleek from experience is she is nine she can handle the 7/08 get nice scope with good eye relief she will no issues.


this^^^^^^^^^^^I bought my wife a nice 243 a couple of years ago. She took a heavy bodied west TX wt and first shot placement was perfect, right behind the shoulder. The buck rocked back and forth and was gathering his energy. I told her to take another shot and placed once again right in the boiler maker. We were using 100gr. bullets. 243 may work for some but if I am going to have to opt her shooting head and neck shots more so on WT, I will get her another rifle. The next one will be a 7mm08. BTW, jut for grins, the 223 is not a WT round either, jmo.


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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: 7mag] #5716854 04/26/15 04:29 PM
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Originally Posted By: 7mag
Originally Posted By: BMD
Go with 7/08 and 120gr bullets. I went through both with my daughter the .243 at 7 and 8 and switched to 7/08 at 9 and she has taken big game up to giraffe with her 7/08 and wouldn't have considered taking the .243 to Africa. I sleek from experience is she is nine she can handle the 7/08 get nice scope with good eye relief she will no issues.


this^^^^^^^^^^^I bought my wife a nice 243 a couple of years ago. She took a heavy bodied west TX wt and first shot placement was perfect, right behind the shoulder. The buck rocked back and forth and was gathering his energy. I told her to take another shot and placed once again right in the boiler maker. We were using 100gr. bullets. 243 may work for some but if I am going to have to opt her shooting head and neck shots more so on WT, I will get her another rifle. The next one will be a 7mm08. BTW, jut for grins, the 223 is not a WT round either, jmo.

My personal upper limit for the 243 is 180 lbs field dressed or about 215 live weight. If there's a chance, an animal will be bigger, I choose a bigger cartridge. I refuse to be handicapped by a marginal cartridge.


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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: dee] #5716859 04/26/15 04:34 PM
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Originally Posted By: dee
Originally Posted By: charlesb
I've had both, and liked the .243 better. Same gun, swapped barrels.

The 243 was generally more accurate, and had less recoil. I played with loads for the 7mm-08 for quite a while, trying to get it to shoot as well as the .243 barrel. It never did.



The 243 is no more accurate than the 7mm08 as they both are off the same case and are equal. It was likely your barrel or sensitivity to recoil.


Case design or capacity does not determine accuracy. The 7mm-08 barrel looked much better with the bore-scope, the .243 barrel had significant button-rifling chatter, making it look like corrugated iron inside. I have heard many shooters refer to the 7mm-08's tendency to finicky-ness as to how it is loaded, and what it is loaded with. Most of these stories end with a really good load being discovered... I ran out of patience before I found that load.

There were no such difficulties in working up an accurate .243 Winchester load. - Several of them with different bullets, in fact.

My first rifle as a teenager was an 1895G in 45-70 and I've been a big-bore magnum fan for years. Recoil is not an issue here, particularly with anything built off of the little .308 Winchester case... Once I mastered the lightweight 45-70 as a kid, I never developed and flinching tendencies after that.

On the other hand, I have never owned or used anything more powerful than a .375 H&H, either.

Last edited by charlesb; 04/26/15 04:35 PM.

Kind regards, charlesb


Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: charlesb] #5717832 04/27/15 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted By: charlesb
Originally Posted By: dee
Originally Posted By: charlesb
I've had both, and liked the .243 better. Same gun, swapped barrels.

The 243 was generally more accurate, and had less recoil. I played with loads for the 7mm-08 for quite a while, trying to get it to shoot as well as the .243 barrel. It never did.



The 243 is no more accurate than the 7mm08 as they both are off the same case and are equal. It was likely your barrel or sensitivity to recoil.


Case design or capacity does not determine accuracy. The 7mm-08 barrel looked much better with the bore-scope, the .243 barrel had significant button-rifling chatter, making it look like corrugated iron inside. I have heard many shooters refer to the 7mm-08's tendency to finicky-ness as to how it is loaded, and what it is loaded with. Most of these stories end with a really good load being discovered... I ran out of patience before I found that load.

There were no such difficulties in working up an accurate .243 Winchester load. - Several of them with different bullets, in fact.

My first rifle as a teenager was an 1895G in 45-70 and I've been a big-bore magnum fan for years. Recoil is not an issue here, particularly with anything built off of the little .308 Winchester case... Once I mastered the lightweight 45-70 as a kid, I never developed and flinching tendencies after that.

On the other hand, I have never owned or used anything more powerful than a .375 H&H, either.


Case design has a lot to do with accuracy potential. I've never heard of a 7mm08 being finicky at all. It's been no more difficult to find a load for than any other 308 based round.


"A vote is like a rifle; it's usefulness depends on the character of the user" Theodore Roosevelt
Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: Stegar] #5717918 04/27/15 12:54 PM
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I think 243 is the right call.


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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: Stegar] #5718092 04/27/15 02:52 PM
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I'd pick .243 over 7mm-08 for a 12 yr old girl - or boy. Not a lot of weight or upper-body development at that age, and a bit too much recoil can undermine shooting confidence. Always give a kid a break.

The deer won't know the difference, it's lights out in either case.


Last edited by charlesb; 04/27/15 02:53 PM.

Kind regards, charlesb


Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: charlesb] #5718211 04/27/15 04:10 PM
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Originally Posted By: charlesb
I'd pick .243 over 7mm-08 for a 12 yr old girl - or boy. Not a lot of weight or upper-body development at that age, and a bit too much recoil can undermine shooting confidence. Always give a kid a break.

The deer won't know the difference, it's lights out in either case.


I Agree with you
1

Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: charlesb] #5718215 04/27/15 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: charlesb
I'd pick .243 over 7mm-08 for a 12 yr old girl - or boy. Not a lot of weight or upper-body development at that age, and a bit too much recoil can undermine shooting confidence. Always give a kid a break.

The deer won't know the difference, it's lights out in either case.



Yup. cheers

For me, I'm actually looking for another 7mm-08 so I can shoot 120 grain handloads exclusively with it. It'll be my varmint/truck rifle. Trying to decide between a T3 (my wife has one in 7mm-08 and loves it) and a X Bolt (I have one in .270 Win. and it's awesome).


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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: Stegar] #5718932 04/27/15 11:50 PM
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7mm-08 is a great rifle. i shot my first deer with one when i was 8 and it did wonders. The good thing about it is she can use it the rest of her life.

Last edited by Aggieman775; 04/27/15 11:51 PM.

TSmith
Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: Aggieman775] #5719505 04/28/15 12:21 PM
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Originally Posted By: Aggieman775
7mm-08 is a great rifle. i shot my first deer with one when i was 8 and it did wonders. The good thing about it is she can use it the rest of her life.


My grandfather hunted his entire life with a 243 win. Age 16-70 and never had a need for anything else. A deer isn't going to know the difference between a 100 grain 243 and 120 grain 7mm08.


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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: Stegar] #5719577 04/28/15 12:51 PM
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Uh You might want to think about this... it might make a difference between a 100 gr 243 and a 140 or 160 & mebbe 175 gr 7-08... don't loose sight of everything available in a 284's versatility range that a 243 cannot ever reach, just 'cause TxWhite tails don't weigh much over 100-130 lbs on avg. So IMO, for a One Caliber Lifetime Gun purchase IMO the 7-08 is by far a better choice between these 2 calibers....but then only owning a single caliber in a Lifetime these days is very rare, with our Kleenex Culture of gun ownership.

This is why I have moved to a softer recoiling 260, with my advancing Geezerhood's creaky bones that in many ways resembles a young pre or early teenager's physical aspects from my old TX Standby 270 WCF for a Do All TxWhitetail shooter, with common WTail capable bullets from a "243 like" 100gr's - at more MV's than a 243 can provide -, to a "270 like" 130 & 140'grs and even a tad heavier in some bullets in the "7mm like" 156gr & 160 gr stuff. Reloading, as always, allows the maximum amount of flexibility within a caliber in bullet selection ... and even more so with today's broader range of bullets to choose from in a given caliber.

IMO it's always been about the bullet chosen to do the job required, and then choose the caliber & cartridge needed to deliver that bullet payload to do the job most efficiently @ the highest % of success and least amount of drama involved.

FWIW a 243 was also my 1st real deer rifle in the late 1960's and I shot it long enough to learn it's pro's & con's on Texas WT's - believe it not we did not have the bullet proving ground to experiment on called HOGS back then, moved on experimenting with several other calibers, and settled on a 270 in the early 1970's and have always had one since then and still do, despite my change in concentration into 6.5's.
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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: redchevy] #5719810 04/28/15 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted By: redchevy
Originally Posted By: Aggieman775
7mm-08 is a great rifle. i shot my first deer with one when i was 8 and it did wonders. The good thing about it is she can use it the rest of her life.


My grandfather hunted his entire life with a 243 win. .


Your grandfather?? Wow, I'm feeling old. I remember when the 243 was introduced. crazy

Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: JJH] #5719819 04/28/15 02:33 PM
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Originally Posted By: JJH
Originally Posted By: redchevy
Originally Posted By: Aggieman775
7mm-08 is a great rifle. i shot my first deer with one when i was 8 and it did wonders. The good thing about it is she can use it the rest of her life.


My grandfather hunted his entire life with a 243 win. .


Your grandfather?? Wow, I'm feeling old. I remember when the 243 was introduced. crazy


Yup told the story many times how him and his brothers ran trap lines for furs to buy it.


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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: Stegar] #5719867 04/28/15 02:59 PM
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I shot a .243 for a long time and took probably over 100 WTs with it and my dad has taken more than that with his. It is certainly a capable gun and I still have my 1979 Rem 788. I also own a .308 and recently bought a Ruger American in 7mm-08 because it was a great deal and I always wanted a rifle in that cartridge. Despite being pretty light weight the 7-08 had surprisingly limited recoil both with 120 and 140 gr loads.

The OP got a great deal on a gun that they can use for a long time, and in the event they move on can sell it and not lose much if anything on the deal. But I feel like Wiley above; the 7-08 is a much more flexible cartridge. It can do everything the .243 can, from low recoil shooting with managed recoil/lite loads up to 160+gr loads capable of taking much larger game or taking game more cleanly depending on size/distance. And there are plenty of OTC offerings for the 7-08 if you don't want to handload.


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Re: .243 or 7mm.08 ? [Re: Stegar] #5719892 04/28/15 03:18 PM
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My experience with reduced recoil loads is they are less functional/effective than smaller caliber rounds using full power and good bullets.


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