.243

Anyone had any bad experiences with a .243 before?. I've had success with it but I'm worried that one day I'll regret using the smaller caliber.

The 243 is great if you use good bullets. It will run bullets fairly fast so if you sling a cup and core bullet into a shoulder fast you aren't likely to have the harmonious outcome as if you put it through the ribs. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is a crossover round as it has varmint bullets and big game bullets so special care needs to be made on bullet choices.

I hunt with a 243 and believe it's enough that's why I leave my 25-06 and 308 at home . Between my nephew and I my 243 has killed 4 deer so far this year. Just go buy a box of winchester super x power point 100 grain ammo (grey box ) this bullet will drop them right there if you do your part.

It's a great deer round. Go 95 or 100 gr bullets.

Great little round, the 80gr TTSX are nasty medicine.

I've used it for many years and have no complaints.

My wife uses one, great rifle caliber. She's taken 10 deer and several hogs with it. She's using the whitetail specials.

Use a heavier bullet (100-grain) and it'll handle most anything in Texas.

Very good caliber for Texas sized deer. I have been shooting core lokts for years. No complaints.

243 is a great little round. One of my favorites.

It's been my gun of choice for 20 years. Farthest shot was 375 yds on a broadside doe. Dropped hogs well over 200 pounds in their tracks. Taken more game than I can count. Best gun I've ever owned.

I have a pre-64 Model 70 in .243. Don't use it much, but it's incredibly accurate. The caliber is fine for Texas deer.

LOVE THE ROUND for deer... somebody will fight with you about it but there have been plenty of elk taken with it... not saying I would but put the bullet in the boiler room and no problem.

more about shot placement than anything

Love it.... Wish i had never sold mine.

I have actually put up my 30-06 this year and am using the Ruger 243 with 100 gr. Federal that I bought for my son. Very accurate.

Love the 243 and have kills to 350
Texans Gun safe is as follows:
Colt 45 or 45 ACP
22lr
12gauge
243
30-06
All others are toys and collectables

I got my wife and son a Ruger American .243 last season, shooting the Hornady whitetail 100 grain. 3 deer numerous hogs and yotes, not one lost animal.

My dad has hunted nearly 40 years and that's all he's ever used. I've hunted 35 years, and for 15/35 that's what I used. We've collectively taken over 200 central TX deer with .243, most of them with 100gr Corelokts. I moved up to a .308 20 years ago and he recently switched to Hornady ammo (95 gr SST) but it keeps on killing.

It wouldn't be my first choice if I was buying a new rifle (I'd buy a 7mm-08, 260, or a 6.5 CDMR first) but I'll always have one in my gun cabinet, and still have one today (my 1st gun, a 1979 REM 788 .243).

If you're not chasing south TX bruisers at 350 yds it should be more than satisfactory if you do your part.

The only gun I have sold was a Rem 788 .243. Loved the gun. Sold it to a friend to be his daughter's deer rifle. She borrowed it for a hunt and loved it. First rifle she found that fit her well. She took two fat does, d.r.t. out at 150 yds. Remington Whitetail ammo.

The .223 is more effective. But the .243 will work in a pinch.

243 is a great deer bullet. its more than plenty sufficient. anyone who has had a bad experience with a 243 is because they made a bad shot with a 243....not because there was anything wrong with the caliber. they would have had the same bad experience with any caliber.

243 maybe has some reputation as a deer wounder because it is a very common caliber choice for first time hunters and children who are first time hunters. bad shot placement would be more common in this group anyways. nothing to do with the bullet itself.

Love this caliber.

I have a 308 and a 243. The kids use the 243 and I find that I like shooting it much more than the 308. If I ever need something larger for bigger game, I'll probably sell the 308, get a big game rifle and keep the 243 for deer. Till then, the 308 is a safe queen and occasionally goes to the deer lease as a backup rifle.

X2, for deer hunting I use my 243 more than anything. Bought my oldest son one a few years ago and about to buy my oldest daughter one for Christmas. They both killed their first deer & pigs with the 243. I shoot 95 grain Silver Tips, have my kids shooting 100 grain Corelock's. When my pig hunting buddy first started hunting with me, he was making fun of my "little" 243. After a few trips, he bought one and he just bought one for his wife too (he's always been a BIG gun guy). Also have been using the 55 & 58 grain ballistic tips on pigs and a few deer, blows a heck of a hole in them. Impressive.

Hunted with a Winchester Model 70 .243 for about 5 years now and absolutely love it. I use a 100 grain Winchester bullet. Most of my shots have ranged anywhere from 50 yards to 150 yards. Make a good, smart, clean shot and you'll have no issues.

I think its find for WT size game. The only times I can think of where I would complain about it was with a scimitar oryx. One was a youth hunt and the other was a guys wife. Both 100 grain bullet. Both times the shot went in the right place but one bullet with the youth hunter hit square on the leg and didn't penetrate through to the vitals. Kind of odd I thought. The other was slightly behind the shoulder and at 110 yards. When it hit, other than the animals running I couldn't tell much to confirm the game was hit until we found the animal dead at the very back of the ranch. That bullet went through the vitals well but didn't make it through the opposite shoulder. No blood trail on either. These are tougher than WT and was my first time to ever use that low of a caliber on that type of animal.

Great round for deer and hogs. Would even take it mile deer hunting no problem. Lots of punch and have buckled plenty of WT and 250lb+ size hogs with one. Love the 85gr Barnes in that rifle

Same everything here. Great round for lots of stuff.

Savage Model 99 in 243, with practice it can spit out bullets like a machine gun.

Speaking of smaller, faster bullets in the 243 like the 55 or 58 grain ballistic tips.......this is the kind of damage they can do to a WT deer. Mature doe taken the other day by a friend of mine, broadside at 150 yrds, deer stepped as the trigger was squeezed so hit a little far back instead of high shoulder. She didn't go far. Shot with a 55 gr Winchester Ballistic Tip. Don't expect an exit wound if you hit shoulder. Dead deer, yes. Blood trail, no. No problem with a blood trail on a rib shot like this Lungs & liver, jello. Entry wound was right behind the shoulder on the other side.

I love it and that's what I started using with 100 grain cor-loks. Only had 1 shot that made me question it's power and that was my first kill. 80 yards double lung. Entered between 2 ribs and through the center of a rib on the way out but did not pass through the skin... I think it was a fluke cuz I killed 9 more deer after with the same gun and always had total pass thru. But do to that 1 time I chose to go 270 when I bought a new gun

If you like track jobs then a 243 is great

bet your truck has a massive lift, huh?

I bet you missed the thread on 223 for deer hunting.

Go ahead and make fun it's easy behind a computer all I'm saying is yes they work and yes there are way better guns out there that do not kick

Use a Barnes 80/85 or a 95 Ballistic tip/WW Ballistic Silvertip
Place thru vitals
Dead deer/hogs.

Got 2 more deer this year with the trusty savage 243. Shot placement is key. Neither deer went more than 20 yards after being hit. I use 100 grain federal blue box.

Have never lost a deer with mine. Have had this rifle since 1968 has killed 200lb Arkansas deer in their tracks and some mighty big South Texas bucks.

This was shot with a .243 today!

Another "is it big enough/will it kill em?" thread...

Yes they will all kill em from .22LR to a 460 Weatherby. The majority of the deer I have taken over decades from coast to coast "and a few of my elk by the way" have dropped pretty much in their tracks from a 100gr out of a .243 Is it the perfect big game cartridge? No... But is it effective? Absolutely...

I have killed a lot of deer with 6mms. I use a 6 BR Norma fairly often, have used a 243 a good bit and had a 6mm rem for a time. I will say shot placement is very important, but when is it not. I like the Barnes X style bullets and the heavy bergers, my go to load is a 95 grain Berger in my BR. It does the job...if I do mine.

Ed

Many people love the .243, but I have talked to numerous hunters who have horror stories of well-shot deer who have covered a few hundred yards before expiring. A .260 or 7-08 doesn't recoil a whole lot more than a .243 so, unless one is especially recoil sensitive, I've never seen the advantage of a .243.

.280 Remington.

But I've had the same thing happen with deer shot with 12 ga slugs, even finding piece of rib cage in the blood trail. Sometimes well-shot deer just frickin' run, regardless of caliber. But they're still dead.

The point is, run what you brung, but put the bullet where it's supposed to be. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

i just got an old savage .243 lever action from my great grandma. anyway ive only taken 2 deer with it but both have dropped right where they stood. one was 200 yards away and the other was 80 yards away. it all depends on shot placement. if youre comfortable with the gun and can make a good clean shot the .243 is just as good as the next gun.

A 410 will kill ducks just as dead as a 12 gauge so why don't we all put down the hard kicking 12 gauges? The answer for me is why limit myself? Same could be said for a 243 and let's say a 270.

It will get it done.

I have had less trouble with a 223 than a 243.

A .243 will kill anything you want in america. Once again, it's shot placement that matters. You could kill what ever you want with a .22 ( not saying you should!) but it is a very nice caliber.

I'm willing to bet none of those guys ever made a bad shot in their life, either. I've been around hunting 35 years and I have NEVER seen a well-shot deer travel more than a 100-150 yards. Any deer we recovered that went further than that almost always required a coup de grace, and upon examination the original shot placement was never what one would term 'well-shot'.

If you put a lead pill in both lungs, the heart, the liver, or the spine, you'll have a dead deer nearby, be it a 100gr .243 or a 300gr .375, and everything in between.

Not the same discussion. The 12 being more effective has less to do with power and more to do with number of bbs. These discussions always go the same way. A 300win mag is more powerful than a .270, but then a .50 is a bigger bullet than a 300wm. I hear people always say, it's enough fun if you have a clean shot. Well if you don't have a clean shot, you shouldn't be taking it. If all you have is a shot at a deers gut or back leg, it doesn't matter what you shoot, it's not going to be a clean kill.

A female friend texted me the other day. Said over the weekend she shot a big buck at 125 yards with her .308 and it ran. They tracked it for a while but never recovered it. So, she decided that she is getting rid of the .308 and getting a 7mm magnum so that it doesn't happen again
Now if a .308 at 125 yards is no good what is? Shot placement is her issue but it's easier to blame the gun. It can't tell you that your aim sucks. Hit the good spot with a good rifle and you'll have meat in the freezer.

Yep, the .243 has been around for a long, long time, and will continue to be around and taking down deer years from now!

Minumum .300 rem ulra mag for dangerous game such as whitetail.

Why limit yourself? The ballistics of a .338 are much better.

At this rate we'll be having a discussion in a couple weeks about why the .270 is not adequate.

http://i.imgur.com/RmRo5d2.jpg this is were this thread is heading...

Why don't we all just shoot me with a .50 bmg? Why limit yourself?..

[s][/s]

My daughter in law has killed 2 in the last 2 years with a little Browning A bolt in .243. It's all about shot placement.

i appreciate your offer, TS, but I think even with this thread and your sworn affidavit they'll still prosecute us...

My grandson shoots a 243 with 100 grain bullet, he was using 70 grain and they were not getting the job done.

70gr is a varmint bullet, like the 110gr in the 270. It is not intended to shoot deer with.

I have a .280 Remington Model 700 Mountain rifle that is light and it has a Muzzle break on it. The recoil is the same or less than a .243. Just sayin. And let me Crarify this statement since everything seems to be conceived as rude on these forums. I am in no way trying to be negative at all. To each their own. I do agree with the other poster, Why limit yourself. The extra power is very helpful if the shot is less than perfect. You cant make a perfect shot every time, Especially when the biggest buck you have ever seen comes in and your shaking uncontrollably. Just my

Now ive heard it all... a 270 isn't big enough

Same can be said for a 300, put a break on it an can have similar recoil... why limit yourself to a 280?

I personally would rather shoot a 243 with no break than a 280 with a break for WT deer hunting. No I don't wear ear plugs while deer hunting. With a 243 it doesn't even phase me with a 280 and a break I might be deaf in two years.

You have a point lol it is loud as heck!!

I ment shoot EM' not me!...

I watched a WT doe take a 180gr 30-06 strait to the heart and covered and easy couple hundred before she died... not the only mishap to... chit happens usually the shooters fault rather than the gun... Iv watched even .222 drop deer in their tracks.

This is the only way to gaurentee the kill! Ha!!

Yea that exit is just not adequate enough

It could be bigger LOL.

She would probably be better off going the other direction. I bet she flinches with the .308, and that's what caused a poor shot. It'll only get worse with a 7 Mag.

Without sufficient range time it makes no difference what you are shooting!
Might as well throw rocks!

oldest son shoots a .243 (when he's not bow hunting), younger son shoots a .223. I never worry about either dropping a deer. They know where to hit a deer and watch it drop, and they don't worry about flinching!! They worry more about letting the deer get to a place they can drive the buggy before shooting, in order to pick it up. They don't like to drag the deer around!!

did most of y'all talk about shot placement???????????????????

Hunt does with 243, but go to my 30-06 for bucks.

Between my nephew and I my 243 has killed 3 bucks and a doe this year one of which scored just under 140" . None of them made it over 30 yards . Two fell where they stood. 243 is plenty .

I love my Remington 243. Been using it for 16 years and have killed large pigs and big body bucks. I shoot everything in the shoulder and the animals have run up to 80 yards with lungs blown out and shoulder broken. Sometimes no blood trail but have found everything so far. My farthest shot was on a large hog at over 300 yards and he ran a long way across a hay field and dropped after running a couple of hundred yards. I never could find a entry hole in the vitals but the lower shoulder was broken.

My main rifle is a ..243 kimber Montana using fusion 95! Its cut down to 18" but i run a titanium suppressor on her! Always heard the ballistic tips are a nice fast killer in the .243, but have never tried them, as i have about a case of fusion for it.

Grandpa have me his a Sako 579 Deluxe .243 when I was younger. I never got to use it on an animal, and wen I was older my dad said a .243 was a woman's gun. I gave it to my wife and she dropped a nice little buck with it. Last year I got an opportunity to do some mule deer hunting and didn't have time to load ammo and sight in anything else, but I knew the .243 was battle ready. I wasn't too worried, but did have some concerns. After dropping a 300lb Muley at over 400yards, I'm not too worried anymore. He reared up on his hind legs and then face planted. It hit low in the chest, clipped a little leg meat, blew up the heart, and hit some more leg meat on the back side.

Yup. I've double lunged small deer with a 30-06 and they ran. If all you hit is lung, you need some explosiveness to drop them quickly. A lighter bullet in the '06 probably would have done it. Then my wife hot her first deer with a .222 using a thick jacketed Lapua soft point. It blew both sides and the deer didn't go as far as the '06. She double lunged another with a .243 using a Nosler solid base and it dropped. I used the same gun an ammo on a big bodied mule deer and it dropped. I got a little leg meat and the heart.

There are two ways to go about it. 1. Blow up lungs and drop em, but a good explosive bullet doesn't always exit, or 2. Shoot a tough heavy bullet that will blow both sides and leave a good blood trail. #1 can be impressive and saves meat and tracking, but #2 is usually fatal even with poor shot placement or shooing at less than ideal angles, but often leaves a little tracking unless you hit bone(not including ribs).

I read an article from a guy that killed wounded animals for the state of Arizona. He used a 22-250 and was called out to whack a buck that had been hit by a car. After tracking it a considerable distance he found it still walking, but poorly. He killed it, and upon opening it up found to places where lungs were ground between ribs all the way out to the skin. He believed that at least twice in its life it had been shot through both lungs and healed fully. Now maybe those were arrows, who knows? A little expansion sure helps. Personally l still prefer a double lung shot. The point is simply that a well shot deer can disappear, if circumstances are right and he can lie still long enough for blood to clot before he looses too much.

243 is plenty

Use the right bullet for the job, spend enough time at the range to know your rifle and your skills and the .243 is more than enough for Texas deer.

I've killed over 10 deer with my .243 including some decent bucks. Never had any deer travel more than 50 yards. I always used some type of ballistic tip in 95 grain.