.243 vs 6mm remington

[SCOTT78]

i am looking at getting a new rifle for hunting coyotes but i would like to be able to use it on deer too so i was thinking of a .243 but then i saw some info on the 6mm remington. I know they are close to each other but if you are hand loading does one have an advantage over the other? oh ya i would also double it as a target rile to go shoot on the weekends too.

[James B]

If you hand load you can get 100-150 fps more velocity from the 6MM Remington. In the field there is not enough difference to make a difference. Ammo availability would go to the 243 as its much more common. I have owned both and handloaded for both. I prefer the 6MM Remington but it really is just a matter of opinion because the they are very close in performance. My 6MM rifle just happened to be a bit more accurate than my 243.

[biscuit jake]

My personal preference for reloading is to use a longer necked casing, and the 6 mm Rem has that. Both fine cartridges, though.

[Virginia7]

Both good cartridges, and either one will make a good varmint/coyote rifle. Advantage to the 6mm Rem. if you're handloading, but it's slight. The deer won't notice the difference. The 243Win., being far more widely used (popular) will be available in many
more rifles, and of course, factory loadings are readily available anywhere. The 243 will likely also be easier to sell/trade if and when that time comes.

[Roskoe]

I am going to go out on a limb here and advise that the .243 is usually a more accurate cartridge. I mean, there are 6MM Remingtons that shoot well - but it has been my experience that the average .243 will group a little tighter than the average 6MM Rem. Kind of like the .308 Win. and the 30/06.

[renfrowridge]

I own both a ruger 6mm and a parker hale .243 I hate to say this but the ruger 6mm will shoot a better group. my 2 cents goes to the 6mm.

[bronko22000]

Having used both and being that you are going to handload, I would opt for the 6mm. It does have a slight ballistic edge over the .243 that you can take advantage of.
The .243 came out first and became very popular. Even though the 6mm is a little better, it lost out in sales due to the .243's momentum in that arena.

[James B]

The 243 and 6mm Remington came out the same year as the 243. However the 6mm had a 1 in 12 twist and would not stabalize bullets above 90 grains. This gave the advanage as a dual purpose cartridge to the 243 which came out with a 1 in 10 twist. This allowed it to shoot well with 100 grain bullets. I think that in their current form the 6MM has the edge because it has a slightly larger poder capacity and the longer neck makes it a bit easier to reload. I don't feel that the 6MM is a great dual purpose cartridge. I feel that the 25's were and are a little better for deer with the varmit edge going to the 243 and 250 Savage because of slightly less recoil. In my thinking the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts are the best all around varmit/deer calibers. This from using all of the above calibers for many years. I either own or have owned all of these.

[Slamfire]

I have owned and loaded the .243/6mm, .260/6.5x57, .7mm-08/7x57. To get more velocity from the larger case you have to load it to higher pressures. Differences of less that 200 fps are worth nothing in the hunting field as you have to have that much to get an additional 25 yards range.

[James B]

Just saying that the 6MM case has more powder capacity. If a bit more velocity is desired then the 6MM will provide that.