Dang Rebel I like the way you think lol. Me and my dad are huge fans of those little calibers for hunting(.243,25-06,6.5-06 ) those are what we use the most. And I am a huge Ruger fan . I would have to say the .243 is more capable of killing deer at distance then the avg. shooter/hunter is . No disrespect but the avg. hunter doesnt go out and punch paper @300 yrds. or even know what his bullet is doing at that distance. I have seen my dad take 2 out of 3 does at 375 yards running across a field . and saw him on 2 seprate occasions take deer at 500 yards with his 243 and 87gr bullets. So I like to not so much put the "effective range " tag on the gun or caliber , but more on the shooter.