I am now older with a bad right shoulder. I have grown tired of the 30Caliber recoil of my rifles. The time has come for me to step down to a smaller, fast, flat, killing round. Am looking for some feedback on various rounds .243-7x57 in bolt action. Naturally, I like the classic stuff w/iron sights also, just my preferred weapon. Comments without starting a rumble would be great my brothers!

How far will you be shooting? Longest expected shot?

Inside 120 yards a low recoiling rifle with enough energy to dump any Texas whitetail, it would be tough to beat a 6x45 loaded with 85gr Nosler Partitions.


Chupa

You can go really light with something in 6mm, but if you can handle the recoil of something in .25-06 you'll still have plenty of horsepower.

I had a chat with a fellow just the other day who's shooting .260 Remington 1000 yards, I think with the 140-grain A-Max. You may not be interested in such things, but it shows the potential of that little number. Lotsa folks love their .260s!

7mm-08, 260 Rem, 257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 6mm, 243...

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

357 mag, 44 mag, 45 LC.....

All factory available loaded ammo.

if you like iron sights and classic style guns, I'd look into something like a Browning BLR in 257rbts.

The round the OP mentioned is pretty much the same as the 6mm remington. For somewhat traditional in that range find a savage 99 in 250 savage. My build for nextyear will be a 6,5 grendel less recoil than the 243 and still has over 1000footbs energy at 300 yards with a 120 grain bullet and trajectory about like a 308 not a bad conbo.

I have thought about a 6.5 Grendel upper for my AR lower.

Have one and thse more i shoot it the more i like it. If you want to shoot one let me know. We can meet some time and sling some lead

Have one and thse more i shoot it the more i like it. If you want to shoot one let me know. We can meet some time and sling some lead

Are you referring to a 7x57 necked down to .243 (6mmAI) or calibers between .243 and 7x57?

Yhe offer for shooting onr is a 6.5 grendel. If counting wild cats that fit OP. 6.8 would be anothet good low recoil round. Just i think for deer the grendel is a better one

7x57 is the bee's knees. Especially in a Ruger #1-A.

Rebel, just the rifle rounds occupying the space between a 7x57 and a .243. Lots of good stuff here. Anyone else?

6mm / .243 will kill any deer and or Axis. Killed a state record silver medal axis with .243 last year.

That being said I love my 6mm.

Black Horse,
I'm with ya, the older I get the less I like recoil. Even my 270 is too much for me to enjoy shooting. So I bought a Stevens 200 and put 257 Roberts barrel on it. I love it, shoots almost as flat as my 270 with plenty of killing power and felt recoil is a lot less. I still love hunting with my 300 WM and 270 WIN but now spend most of my time shooting and practicing with the 257 Bob. BTW, the Roberts is based on the 7x57 case.

x2 on the 257Rbts..

243 win would be hard to beat for ammo selection, versatility, and avalibility.

Black Horse,

With the experience of being older and if you still have the eye sight to shoot open sights, I think your best bets are 7x57 or .257roberts.

either caliber will kill any deer or hog in Texas and both ammos can be found.

Open sighted rifles are harder to come by these days and most of the time if they have open sights the sights are of VERY poor quality.

If I were you I would find a good Ruger 77MKII in either caliber you like and then have a GOOD set of open sights mounted on the rifle by a gunsmith.

This would also allow you to mount a scope on this rifle VERY quickly if you choose to

Thanks. I have heard good things re: that Ruger MK II rifle but just really starting to look. I am quite intrigued with both 7mm and .257. Thanks guys for all this input. Good folks here!

Old Sako L579 or AII in .243 with the original peep sight fits the bill...

The 243 is an easy caliber for reduced loads to find factory ammo. If you go with another caliber, like the 7x57 or 257 options, factory options will be hard to find. If you need help with reduced loads, I could help you with any caliber and bullet you go with.