Hi Guys, The Famous Grouse here, first time posting, but a long-time reader of these fine forui.

To my question. I'm looking for a bolt-action rifle that will do double duty. I'd like a caliber that I can shoot for varmints like coyote and the occasional trip shoot prairie dogs, but I still want it to be legal for deer. Which in this state means bigger than .23 caliber.

I already have a .30-06 and I also have a T/C Contender that I use for deer and then I use the .223 barrel for pasture poodles and coyote. But I want a rifle that's good for long-range varmint whacking, but also something I can use for the occasion when I need to take a long poke at a whitetail in a hay field.

I was eying up the .243 and .243 WSSM. Basically, they look very similar, so .. .

- What are the advantages of the .243 WSSM. From what I saw today, ammo price ain't one of them. $30 a box!!!

- What's the recoil like? Can I pound dogs all day like I can with a .223 or .22-250, or does the .243 give you more of a thumping?

- Accuracy? I know this varies, but generally what can I expect or what do you achieve with your .243?

Any other thoughts? Thanks

Grouse


Grouse

Depends on what you mean by a "long poke in a hayfield". I really like my .243, and have used it successfully on about a dozen Texas whitetails. My longest shot has been about 100 yards on a whitetail. About 175 yards on a wild hog. Based on ballistics tables, I think the .243 will work well on whitetails out to about 300 yards or so. I've never shot a .243 WSSM, so I'm not sure how the recoil compares, but, if my shots are going to be 350 yards or less, I think I'd rather be spending less than half as much for ammo, and maybe invest the savings in better optics...

Edit: Just went to Winchester's website to review the ballistics charts on the two. No question about it, I'd rather have the .243 Win. Not enough difference between the two to justify the expense of the WSSM. You can get .243 Win ammo ANYWHERE for $13-15 per box...

Also, to answer a couple of your other questions, last time out, I put five shots inside a nickel at 100 yards, and I'm not even a very good rifleman... .243 definitely kicks more than my .223. I've not shot a .22-250, so can't give an opinion there. But, even so, the .243's recoil isn't bad at all. I switched from .30-06 because I'm very recoil averse with rifles and with the '06, I had to really FOCUS to keep from flinching. No problems at all with extended bench sessions with the .243.

I'd probably go with the plain-ol', tried-and-true, .243 Win. The .243WSSM doesn't offer, IMO, enough of a performance improvement to justify it's drawbacks (like the added cost and somewhat reduced availability and selection of ammo).

As for recoil, assuming identical rifles, the recoil of the .243 is not quite twice the .22-250 about about 3 times the .223, which is still not much but you will notice the difference. After a box or two, well, that really depends on you. Felt recoil, and the tolerance for it both immediate and cumulatively, is very subjective. Some people, like my wife for instance, don't tolerate recoil well at all, and she won't put more than about 10 rounds through my .243 M700 ADL (7.5lbs or so) before she doesn't really want to shoot it anymore. But she'll shoot her M700 VLS .22-250 (about 12lbs) all day long without complaint. Others can shoot a box of .300 RUM without flinching once (not me, and not many, but there are a few people who really don't flinch when they touch off the big boys).

Accuracy, well, the .243 Win, based on the .308 Win which is arguably one of the most accurate cartridges on the planet, shares in it's bigger brothers reputation for great accuracy. But it's really more of the rifle than the cartridge. As long as the rifle's not an accuracy slouch, the .243 will do very well. Of course, I don't think that the .243WSSM is necessarily any less accurate. Give two rifles of equal quality and precision, I would think that accuracy would be a wash between the two.

So my opinion would be that both cartridges have merit, but I'd lean strongly in favor of the .243Win. The decision is ultimately yours, of course, so pick the one you like the best and enjoy.

Mike

Bluegunner has 4 hogkill pictureswith the .22-250 on the Hog Forum....

Bluegunner
Fawn

Posts: 76
Joined: 2/12/2003
From: Albert Lea Mn USA
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Last spring I took four hogs from 160# to 320# with my 22-250. I load a 53gr. Barnes TripleShock solid copper bullet pushed with 35gr. of Varget and it knock the stuffing out of the hogs that I shot, none of them went more than 20 feet and they were all lung shots.






I like IPSC like the .243 and 100gr Sierra "Game kings"....

243 Win. all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would never even consider the 243 WSSM.

What they said.... a .243 is all you need. and it is good to 300 yards on deer. Cost benefits too...

There really is no reason to look further..... this one is simple.

Unless you really need(want) the boost in spees the 243 Win will do anything you want....

Where the WSSM comes out on top is when it is chambered in an AR-15.

I'd go for the tried an true 243. That is my dual purpose coyte/deer rifle. And it will cleanly kill a whitetail past 300 yards with ease.

The magnum version gives you about 200 fps more in velocity with less ammo choices, less availability and more expensive ammo. Umm, I'll pass on that bargain.

Paul