My opinion is the .243 all day every day. My wife has shot the Savage youth .243 for three years now with a Nikon 3x9x40. A 100 grain box of Remington Express core lok are available at any Wal Mart or any other place that sells ammo for 19 dollars. That little gun will hold 1 MOA at 100 yards with cheap ammo and she dropped a 170 pound 8 point in its tracks at 168 yards last year with a shoulder shot. What’s not to like. I believe in the KISS method.