That's what I bought mine for. The .243 makes a real nice dual purpose rifle. It will work for deer sized game, medium sized game and varmints depending on what loads you use. And they make all kinds. There are probably better guns for each purpose but the .243 really shines on deer sized game down to large varmints like woodchucks. If you were going to go for a varmint only gun a .223 or a 22-250 might be a better choice but the .243 with a 55-80 grn bullet is pretty flat and powerful for varmint/predator hunting.

I would also shy away from the cheap remington. I have never owned one but I did look at a few and wasn't that impressed for the money. You would be better off with a used gun of better quality. Or a Stevens or Mossberg, they are built pretty well and you can get them for $300- $400. The Howa are pretty nice as well if you want to up the price a hundred or so. I have never heard a bad review of any of those three.

Here is a pic of my savage .243 with a 16X Mueller scope.



Paul

I'm sorry, I thought that said GROUND HOG hunting. I guess I've got woodchucks on the brain. Still, the .243 should work great for hogs as well, just use a heavier tougher bullet that will penetrate better is all.

Paul

I agree with all of the points of the .243. Own a little beauty built on a Mauser 98. It is a shooter and extolls all that you have said. Still, on my largest deer to date (which only went 16 yards after being struck by the 100 grain handload!) the bullet killed the deer but blew up completely. I know that the bullet selection was a little suspect, but for that reason I developed a hesitation when targeting really large animals. When I have a bubba on my plan (not too often I might add)I usually carry my 6.5 X 55 with 140 gr pills or my 30/06 with 165 pills.
I know the 243 only lags behind a little bit, and is better on trajectory, but my shots are generally under 100 yards, so that part is a moot point.

243 is a great deer round.. You won't need anything more..

I have known of several people that have taken elk with a .243. I wouldn't use mine for elk, but I know it's been done. I can't think of any finer deer roundthat's out there. I have been using a .270 for deer but this year I'm using my new Rem 700 .243 in bdl!!

Bullet blow up is more of a function of the selection of the bullet for the job...It's not caliber specific...I've seen .270 and 30-06 bullets blow up on close range whitetails as well...

They didn't go far either...

I'd still rather have one "blow up" occasionally on close range deer with them falling a few yards away than a heavy for caliber, hard bullet that does little expansion and internal damage and a slow, tedious tracking job and the deer falling 100-150 yards away...

Of course, that's why they make Chevys and Fords...

Like Hawk says....bullets blowing up or being called failures is really a misnomer if the deer or whatever you are shooting at is dead. The only true "failure" I have had which means a hit deer and a non recovered deer remains the 165 BT from a 30-06 in the early more fragile version of that bullet. The 85 gr NPT's have piqued my curiosity for the 243. Cant wait to load some and see if they group...

The .243 with an 85 gr TSX on deeris Skookum...

The .243AI with an 85 gr TSX on deer......is Skookum +P.

The .243 Win makes a good deer round for young hunters or lady shooters who might be recoil sensitive. While it does have enough energy to make a clean kill, a 30 caliber round like a .308 or 30-06 will perform better in more circumstancesover the years.

A 243 will kill a deer just as dead with either a Man, Woman or child behind the trigger. In fact the 243 using the85 BTHPbullet will have more speed, less drop and aboutthe sameEFP than many of the 308 150 grain bullets out past about 350 yards. I am not sure what "more circumstances" are but to me the 243 is a better "deer round" than the 308. That is not a knock to the 308, cause I love the 308.. Just for bigger sized game..