Since we're in the deer hunting forum, I'm going to assume you're talking about preference for a deer hunting cartridge. Since I hunt in Texas, where the deer are not as large as in some of the corn-belt states, I voted for the .243. Plenty of pop. Virtually no recoil. Accurate. Haven't lost a deer yet, and the terminal performance (drt and/or distance traveled after shot) has been no different than when I used my .30-06.