.243 QUESTION
 

i was wondering how a .243 would work for deer hunting. how is the recoil
from a .243 thanx

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

Some will say its too small but personally for deer hunting I think its about perfect. I would go with at least an 80 grn bullet up. I use 85grn Nos Partitions in my .243Wssm. Very low recoil factory ammo is reasonable to buy even if you get the premium stuff. Alot of guys on this site swear by thier 243's here. Just do a search you'll see all the threads that have been previously discussed on this. The recoil very light.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

The .243 is about a perfect a deer cartridge as ano of them. Yes you will hear of horror stories about the .243 being too small and bullets not penetrating, flesh wounds, so on and so on. You got to remember that there are also many varmint bullets loaded for the .243 so you gotta make sure that you choose the correct ammunition.

The vast majority of those that talk about the .243 being a bad deer cartridge have either never hunted with one and really don't have a clue, chose the wrong ammutition and experianced one of those flesh wounds, or can't shoot worth a darn under hunting conditions in which case a bigger cartrigde wouldn't have helped any way.


Recoil of the .243 is almost nothing. Any child big enough to shoot a center fire rifle should be able to handle the .243.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

I have a 30-30 and 270 for deer. I was looking for another deer rifle and based on suggestions here I purchased a 243 a few months ago.

My first day hunting with it i shot a deer at 151 yards and dropped it right where it was standing. double lung passthrough. nickle size hole out the other side. Used 100g corelok. great accurate cartridge

My 13 year old 89lb daughter who is sensitive about recoil has no problem shooting this gun.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

In many if not most states, the 243 is the minimum cartridge allowed for deer hunting. That is the best way to describe it for deer, Minimum. Some states allow the centerfire 22 calibers I rate them about the same and have had simular results from both the 223/223 and the 243. With perfect shot placement they work. I would much rather use calibers from 25 caliber on up.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

I have one in nef bull barrel with a nikon pro staff scope. That thing will shoot with my customized ruger m77 vt .220 switf andI am very impressed with it. I have never deer hunted with it but my friends have and I watched a 358 yard (nikon range finder distance) on a good ol missouri buck and dropped him where he stood. That changed my opinion of that cartridge,what a statment for its ability to kill deer size game.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

If you use the "search" function here you'll be an old amused and confused person before you are done reading about the 243 and deer.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

Yes indeed, well put by bigbulls. I took a large doe with mine this year from 160 yards and she stepped of maybe 10 yards. She only stepped that far because the shot was 2 inches high. I used a 100 grain hornady interlock that is actually made for big game. So, follow bigbulls direction and use quality bullets for taking big game and you will take more than the fella using a 38 win mag to take deer, but mostly because you are shooting straighter because you have nearly 0 recoil. I love mine and have adopted it as my new whitetail cartrige. Save the big guns for the big stuff.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

With proper bullet selection and shot placement it will drop them in their tracks. I have a 243WSSM, and with the 100grn power points, it does more internal damage than my 308.

Fat-Arrow

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

How much faster is that 243 WSSM? I noticed them after I got my plain vanilla 243 and wished I would have looked at them. I am plenty happy with the 243, but you know the faster is better thing. EJ

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

It is faster, but the ammo is more expensive and I don't reload, so bullet choice is also limited. I think in hind sight, I would rather have a regular 243 win. If you reload though, I am sure you could work up something great. I was actually considering selling mine to buy a different gun, but my buddy keeps convincing me to keep it, and still buy another gun. That's what friends are for!

Fat-Arrow

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

In my younger days I used a .243 for whitetail and black bear. I never had a chance to shoot a bear with it but I did take several deer with it. I always used handloads. My favorite load out of this Savage 110 was 40.5 gr of IMR4350 behind a Hornady Interlock 100 gr bullet. Out of the roughly 10 or so deer shot with this rifle/load, only one needed a follow-up shot.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

The 243Wssm isnt that bad though. The regular 100grn power pts are around 16bucks and the Nosler Bt Winchester Supreme ammo is only around 19-21$ at alot of places Ive checked. Still more than a regular 243 but not the 30$+ like some of the WSM stuff.

They have 55grn BTs(over 4000fps)and 95grn Bts along with the 100grn power ptsI mentioned. Federal is supposed to be coming out with rounds for it, so their will be more offerings soon. I do think that the Reg 243 is fine but if you can get or if you reload the WSSm is had to beat.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

Yeah, the price of the ammo has come down, but the bullet selection isn't there. I guess that is the bigger of my complaints. There are the three offerings from winchester, and I think federal was making some too, but it is really hard to come by around here. Don't get me wrong, I love the gun, it is a Browning A-Bolt Hunter and a dream to shoot. Sometimes it just doesn't seem that versatile for me. Maybe that means that i should get into reloading! ;) HHHMMMMMMM, I've been thinking about that for a while too....:)

Fat-Arrow

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

I have the same rifle. Its getting bedded as I write this. I have good luck with most everything I've tried with it so far. All right around 1" groups, nothing real awesome nothing real bad.


If you do get into reloading. I have abunchof load info I've saved on the 243Wssm that I'll happily send to your just let me know. If not let me know if you want to sell your brass.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

bronco22000, that is almost the exact same recipie I use. Except I use 40 grains of 4350. It is good for a smidge over 2900 fps. Good-n-accureate. I likes!

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

The 243 will get the job done for whitetail deer as it has so many countless times in the past for women and youth. "this of course does not mean that men cannot use it" But anyways, using the right choice ofammo and keeping shots in the maximum effective range along with well placed shots will put venison on the table. And the nice thing is you dont have to punish yourself with recoil either.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

In many, if not most states, the .243 is the minnimum cartridge for Elk.
Which is the best way to describe it for elk.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

IMO the 243 will get the job done, but bullet placement is critical. The .260 would be a better choice and the recoil would be about the same as the .243.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

Minimum.:D The 243 WSSM is about 200 fps faster than the standard if I recall. If I already had a 243 I would stay with it. If I didn't I would be tempted to try the WSSM.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

IMO it is the best deer rifle. saying that, i don't have one but i do have the twin sister in the Rem 6mm. took my 1st deer with it and my daughter took her 1st deer with it this year

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

I have taken about 140 deer with my .243...Have used it since 1980..
No problems...

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

a .243 will knock black pepper out of fly poop.

RE: .243 QUESTION
 

the .243 is just fine for deer i would go with 90/95/100 gr bullets though for more energy. 95 gr ballistic tips are around $22 dollars a box but they create a wounds channel of catastrophic proportions on deer an allow for quick clean kills.