ipscshooter

Yes, that's the exit. He hit it right at the elbow on the other side. The deer ran about 20 yards or so, and then folded... Neither of us have ever lost a deer shot with our .243s. We use Remington Express 100 gr. PSP Core-Lokt's. We had to track his first doe, because he hit too far back and low. He had a bit of "first deer fever"... It took us a little while to find her, but we did. We would have had to track her just as far if she'd been hit in the same spot with a .460 Weatherby Magnum.

DM

Are you saying you "have" to jump from a .243 all the way to an 30-06?? What happened to the 260 Rem.? 7-08, 257 Roberts and several others???

All of them are a better choise than a .243 and won't kick the sh** out of a smaller person..

DM

ipscshooter

The .260 and 7-08 may be a "better choice", if you hunt where deer are larger than they are where we hunt. (A large buck where we hunt might go around 160 lbs.)

But according to Chuck Hawks' tables, .260 and 7-08 pack about 50% more recoil than the .243. And, I disagree that the Roberts is a better choice than the .243. With factory loads, the .243 delivers more energy on target, with less recoil in a lighter rifle (again according to Hawks' tables). The standard .243 even has more energy than the .257 +P's.


[blockquote]Ballistics for .243, .257 Roberts, and Winchester's .257 Roberts+P


Velocity (ft/sec)
Cartridge TypeBullet Muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
Remington® Express®100 PSP CL 2960 2697 2449 2215 1993 1786
Remington® Express®117 SP CL 2650 2291 1961 1663 1404 1199
Winchester +P 117 gr Power Point 2780 2411 2071 1761 1488 1263

Energy (ft-lbs)
Cartridge TypeBullet Muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
Remington® Express®100 PSP CL 1945 1615 1332 1089 882 708
Remington® Express®117 SP CL 1824 1363 999 718 512 373
Winchester +P 117 gr Power Point 2009 1511 1115 806 576 415 [/blockquote]

Beware_of_Dawg

Thanks for the replies

cjwink

All my deer have been killed with a 243 and I am 36.. Anyone who says a 243 is not a good round for a kid is absolutly incorrect.. Mine was good for me when I was 14 and is good for me now.

legion

A Marlin is a pretty solid, inexpensive rifle IMO. Not a bad starting place.

Carpmaster

DEFINITELY NOT!!! Different case(longer based off of 22 mag) and smaller bore size by .050 roughly!

Slow Burn

I am missing something here. This thread went from .222 and .223 to .243 thru .30 06? Hmmmmmmm. I also must have missed that day in class when we were covering the 1000 and 1500 foot pounds of energy needed to efficiently harvest animals. I wonder how much energy a compound bow generates? Is that weapon capable of efficiently killing a animal? Who developed these rules on bullet energy and where are they published?

DM

I don't go by someones "tables"... Ibase my opinion on whati've observed on game from my own experience... 25 cal bullets work better than 6mm, and of course it'smostly in how the bullets/jackets are constructed...

I've harvested deer with a .243, so i know how they work, and if everything is right they work ok... 257 works better if everything isn't right though...

That's why i always say the 257 is better...

DM

ipscshooter

Here's one source. Peterson's Hunting Magazine.

http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/all_012505/

I suspect if you try google, you could find a lot more.

Arrows kill in a different way than bullets. Less about energy transfer, more about slicing and dicing. And, I would argue that it's not nearly as "efficient."