I am an engineer and spend way to much time as it appears many others do on BC, speed .......ETC, ETC. The truth is whatever gets the job done gets it done. I grew up in Northern Saskatchewan shooting what are the biggest deer around and used a 243 to knock down more trophies in my youth than most people can dream of. I never needed a magnum. I found the animal and put one in the bread basket and down he went. NO muss NO fuss.

I now live in North Dakota and listen to tons of people talking about needing 338's and 300 win mags etc to get moose and elk. Yes these will kill em dead at range XXX and messign with speeds and BC.......... make them "better" in some ways but what they really do is help that poor or unlucky hunter succeed when he makes a bad shot. But do you need that extra power ........ NO. What I consider my hunting father, the guy who taught me everything has liver his whole life in the great white north and takes a nice moose every year with .............. wait for it ............ a 30-30.

So argue all you want about specs and coefficient but remember there is no one gun best suited for any purpose and dead is dead. A chuck hit with a 22-250 is just as dead as one hit with a 338! Its only when you stretch the limit of your ability that the gun can help make up for poor judgment.

Oh to those with the inevitable "Its unethethical to use such a small gun on such big game" I say this. Its not unethical to use a weapon thats of legal caliber. It unethical totake poor shots!

LR1000 - you might look at some of the high performance 6MMs. The 6MM-284 and the .240 Weatherby are awesome long range guns for varmints and medium big game. In fact - for the three game combo of coyotes, antelope, and deer; there is no better caliber than a 6MM-284, IMHO. Roskoe

bingo. nuf said.

Thanks for the thoughts Roskoe. I might look into it. But, realisticly, my longest shot possible on my land is 400 yards. I think a 243 win would be fine out to that distance. If I could find a 6-284 that didn't cost an arm and a leg I might be interested. Anybody makeing them affordably?

How ironic it is, that when I post ballistics you say they dont mean squat but when you post them it's the law.
For one, pick a better bullet for the .243 like the Fed 100grBT. And dont post the results at the muzzle. post them at 200 yds or 300 yds

The .243 AI's and the .243-06's are some mean machines. Have you seen or heard of these.

How the 243Win. stacks up? Not too well
The following from Chuck Hawks site ref. killing power of various cartridges used for big game hunting.
Website Link: http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_killing_power_list.htm

"The list that follows is intended to suggest the relative killing power of various big game hunting cartridges and loads at 100 yards (or meters, if you prefer) when those cartridges are used appropriately. (Cartridge, bullet weight in grains, muzzle velocity in feet per second - killing power number at 100 yards.)"

.223 WSSM (64 grain at 3600 fps) - 10.1

.243 Winchester (100 grain at 2960 fps) - 18.1

.243 WSSM (100 grain at 3100 fps) - 20.0

.25-06 Remington (120 grain at 2990 fps) - 26.5

6.5x55 SE (140 grain at 2700 fps) - 30.7

6.5mm Remington Magnum (120 grain at 3210 fps) - 30.2

.270 Winchester (130 grain at 3150 fps) - 35.0

.270 Winchester (150 grain at 2850 fps) - 37.4

.270 WSM (140 grain at 3125 fps) - 40.1

7mm-08 Remington (140 grain at 2860 fps) - 33.6

.280 Remington (140 grain at 3000 fps) - 37.1

7mm Remington Magnum (150 grain at 3110 fps) - 44.8

.30-30 Winchester (150 grain at 2390 fps) - 22.8
.30-30 Winchester (170 grain at 2200 fps) - 25.4

.300 Savage (150 grain at 2630 fps) - 30.0

.308 Winchester (150 grain at 2820 fps) - 34.7
.308 Winchester (180 grain at 2620 fps) - 46.2

.30-06 Springfield (150 grain at 2920 fps) - 37.3
.30-06 Springfield (180 grain at 2700 fps) - 49.2

.300 WSM (180 grain at 2960 fps) - 59.5

.300 Winchester Magnum (180 grain at 2960 fps) - 59.5

.300 Weatherby Magnum (180 grain at 3240 fps) - 72.8

7.62x39 Soviet (123 grain at 2365 fps) - 15.7

.303 British (180 grain at 2460 fps) - 40.1

8x57 JS Mauser (195 grain at 2550 fps) - 52.0

.338 Winchester Magnum (250 grain at 2650 fps) - 94.8

.35 Whelen (200 at 2675 fps) - 56.4

.350 Remington Magnum (200 grain at 2770 fps) - 60.9

.375 H&H Magnum (270 grain at 2690 fps) - 106.2

.416 Remington Magnum (400 grain at 2400 fps) - 188.4

.44 Remington Magnum (Rifle) (240 grain at 1760 fps) - 26.4

.444 Marlin (265 grain at 2325 fps) - 63.4

.45-70 Government (300 grain at 1810 fps) - 50.1
.45-70 Government (405 grain at 1330 fps) - 55.0

.450 Marlin (350 grain at 2100 fps) - 88.9

.458 Winchester Magnum (500 grain at 2090 fps) - 217.3

.....................................
Nope, not too well at all!!!

who made chuck hawks god when he pick a 30-30 over a 243 that says it all at lease pick somone better than him that has common sence!!!!!

unbelievable ! he picks the .44 mag over it and puts it at a tie with a 25-06
Buwahahahahaah !
can a .44 even reach a 100yds ? Buwahahahah!

I don't put much stock in formulas. When I get serious about killing I look to crush tissue with heavy lead. Mua ha!