Possibilities .243Win caliber hunting.

[kristian55]

Possibilities .243Win caliber hunting.
Please share opportunities caliber .243Win on hunt, the minimum and maximum distance shots,
the minimum and maximum weight of the killed animal.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Kenny474]

You can hunt anything from varmints to whitetail deer with the .243. Pronghorn, coyote, most deer species, most anything 250lbs and under should be doable. If game starts getting much over 250lbs, I would start looking at a larger round.
I don't have the same faith in the .243 that others do, as I have had it fail miserably on a well placed shot on a deer.

As for max distance, that really depends on your own ability. But the round should be good to at least 300yds on larger game, and probably around 1000yds on varmints.

If I was to use the gun for hunting anything larger than deer, I would step up to a 7-08 or .308.

 

[kristian55]

You can hunt anything from varmints to whitetail deer with the .243. Pronghorn, coyote, most deer species, most anything 250lbs and under should be doable. If game starts getting much over 250lbs, I would start looking at a larger round.
I don't have the same faith in the .243 that others do, as I have had it fail miserably on a well placed shot on a deer.

As for max distance, that really depends on your own ability. But the round should be good to at least 300yds on larger game, and probably around 1000yds on varmints.

If I was to use the gun for hunting anything larger than deer, I would step up to a 7-08 or .308.

Hi Kenny474.
Thank you for an answer.
I have for a large beast 30-06 and other calibers.
My littlest caliber it 7.62x39 SKS.
I want to fill a niche between 7.62x39 SKS and 30-06.

 

[Kenny474]

The .243 should fill that just fine.

 

[necchi]

+1 to kenny,
The 243 is used here in Minn for up too White tail,,and friends use'm out west for Antelope/muley in open ranges.
Usually a youth or ladies round because of the lighter recoil. Not a very good round for brush work or heavy timber/swamp, but it does have it's place in open areas.

 

[jimbires]

I agree with most everything that has been posted above . I started my son with a 243 . I hunt central Pa . where we hunt the woods is on the thick side so about all shots are under 100 yards , and most are under 60 . my son is a front shoulder shooter. so at close range with a 100 grain bullet going 3100FPs we had some bullet failures , that turned into long tracking jobs . I kept trying different bullets with some being worse than others . after a few tracking lessons I decided to load the 100 grain Nosler partitions and give these a try . that was the answer for us , they made a night and day difference . all deer had exit holes , fell within sight ,and quite a few fell right there . my opinion is most 6mm bullets are constructed to light for close range, high velocity, shoot them in the shoulder scenarios, unless you are using a less fragile bullet .if the bullet impacts were kept behind the shoulder a few of the other bullets could have been ok, but I'm not sure. my advice , if your going to try a 243 is , start with a good stout bullet and save yourself a headache . Jim

 

[RonAKA]

I would agree with the information at this site for game rating. Click on the .243 Winchester link. Essentially deer sized game up to 300 yards.

http://www.gunnersden.com/index.htm.rifle-cartridges-ballistics.html

I tend to rate cartridges based on their boiler room (case capacity) instead of the bore size. The .243 has the same case capacity as a .308. But the issue as Jimbires points out is that the energy of a .243 has a bias to velocity. And the bullet manufacturers tend to make the bullet construction lighter too as bore size goes down. So I fully agree with the choice of Nosler Partition bullets for big game hunting with the .243. Overall I think a very good choice for game up to deer size.

 

[M700]

My son and I use the very similar 6mm Remington.

It's fine for 200 pound mule deer out to 300 yards, or anything smaller. Although I've heard of guys using the .243 for big animals like elk (600+ pounds) I can't bring myself to do so - there are better answers for that problem.

Regards, Guy

 

[deadlyswift]

The 243 win can very easily take whitetail or mule deer size game out to 300yrds. Maybe even a little futher. It has already been said, but shot placement is the key. I have taken deer with cal. ranging from 22mag. to 7mm Rem mag. My uncle hunts with his 243 more than any other cal. He has killed and found every deer he has ever shot with it. Again he only takes shots that he knows he can place the bullet where it needs to be. With a 95gr Nosler Partition bullet, and out to 300yrds I would say that the bullet would perform well if placed just behind the shoulder. It will take both lungs out as well exit. If you take anythings lungs away, it can't breath! So it isn't going to run far! If you are going to shoot a hog, I would strongly suggest you not shoot him anywhere but in the ear or more less a brain shot. Hogs are tough! Their vitails are futher foward than deer, and protected by a very strong shoulder plate. They also usally live in very thick cover and trust me you don't want to have to track a hog in some of the stuff that they live in! You want them to drop right there!
Mark

 

[15Tango]

Anything within reason.

In my opinion the .243 can take just about anything that a .308 can from 0-1000 yards - the .243 has the ability to deliver more energy than a .308 from 400 yards and beyond. Most say the .243 can only take things out to 3-400 yards but then say the .308 is better past that when it's actually the opposite, at 400 yards the two loads I have listed both cross 1400 ft Lbs, after 400 yards the .243 has a larger energy advantage the further you go.

Food for thought:

.308 loading, 168 SMK @ 2650 FPS:
Muzzle energy: 2619 Ft Lbs
Energy at 400 yards: 1402 ft Lbs, 8.1 moa drop
Energy at 1000 yards: 478 ft Lbs, dropping 40.1 minutes.


.243 load, 107 SMK @ 3100 FPS:
Muzzle energy: 2282 Ft Lbs
Energy at 400 yards: 1405 ft Lbs, 5.3 moa drop.
Energy at 1000 yards: 603 ft Lbs, dropping 24.3 minutes.

Wayne

 

[30378]

I have 3 different 243s and like each one in its own way. Only thing I would say is to make sure you get at least a 9 1/8" twist. There are some factory 243s out there with 10" twists that struggle with 100+ Grain bullets. My favorite bullet is the 90 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Not a deer or hog in the state of Texas I can't take with that bullet inside 300 yds.

 

[kristian55]

I have 3 different 243s and like each one in its own way. Only thing I would say is to make sure you get at least a 9 1/8" twist. There are some factory 243s out there with 10" twists that struggle with 100+ Grain bullets. My favorite bullet is the 90 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Not a deer or hog in the state of Texas I can't take with that bullet inside 300 yds.

Hi.
What models of rifles or carbines in a caliber .243Win twist 1:9.125?
It seems to me, that standard models have a twist from 1:9.25 to 1:10.

 

[30378]

My Remington 700 SPS has a 9.125" twist and that is what is indicated on their data sheet. Look under the specification tag.
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire/model-700/model-700-sps-stainless.aspx

 

[Quackaddict]

I think of the 243 as more of a heavy varmint caliber, with the ability to take larger critters. You smack a coyote with a well placed 55-87 grain bullet from a 243 and you are gonna cut a hole in it the size of a football. Being able to push a 70 grain bullet at 3650 like I am doing right now gives you a point blank range of about 250-260 yards, with no wind, its a point and kill deal out to that distance.

As far as larger game is concerned, I have hunted with and seen others use 243 for deer, it is very popular here. I have however seen more poorly anchored deer shot in the right spot with the 243 than any other caliber. I was fortunate enough to not be one of the shooters, but It happens. It think there is very little margin of error when shooting big game with a 243, the veliocity biased energy it creates and the small initial and expanded cutting diameters leave something to be desired IMO. A caliber such as a 7mm-08 or a 308 are more bullet weight energy biased, and have larger cutting diameters, which transfer energy better to game and provide more clean kills.


I would look at what you are going to do wiith it most. Since it sounds like you have a suitable deer gun (30.06) the 243 would fill in your collection well with a variety of small, fast, and explosive bullets for critters. Another good option may also be the 22-250.

 

[kristian55]

Interestingly me as will work on a black bear bullet
Hornady 6mm .243 100 gr InterLock BTSP and
6mm .243 100gr InterLock SP.
This information interesting about work of this bullet and on other animals, is distance, maximal weight of animal, opening of bullets on different distances.