RE: .308 or .243
 

The wrong bullet or a poorly placedshot will do that every time . Not something that can be made up by using a bigger bullet . I have been using 85 gr bullets on deer and antelope for years and have never shot one twice and never lost one either . A little knowledge of the bullets your shooting helps along with some range time to see where it shoots.

RE: .308 or .243
 

haha 243 sucks haha, in my opinion, 308 will take anything in north america from gophers to grizzleys. why waste ur time on a 243 when u can have a 308 haha, just my $0.2

RE: .308 or .243
 

zrexpilot...I haven't tried those Federal 80gr HotCores...I have killed several with the 100gr HotCore and they worked fine...Frankly that 85gr Sierra HPBT is so good as a longe range bullet that I didn't need to experiment with others...I've been stocking up on ammo for the past 2 years and have settled on the Federal Premium 85gr Sierra GameKing HPBT and the Remington 100gr CoreLokt...My gun shoots the 85gr 1/2 an inch higher at 100 yards than the CoreLokt, so I use the 85gr over fields and the CoreLokts in the woods and smaller fields...

mike87...For game up to and including deer then the .243 is all that's needed...I have killed over 150 with mine and have only lost one since 1980...It's used year round for coyotes, groundhogs, crows, wild dogs, deer and even 6 black bears that were eating my peanuts...That's the secret to being a good shot, using the same rifle and shooting more in the field, not at the range off sandbags...

We kill 40-50 deer a year on our 3 farms and various other centerfire rifles are used...Calibers from .243 to 30-06 are all fine for deer...Hit a with center lung shot a deer will run from 30-75 yards, no matter what caliber is used...In fact, youcan see more difference between different type bulletsused in the same caliber than you will between different calibers, that's the secret...Each caliber has certain bullets (or factory loadings) that just seem to excell when it comes to penetration, weight retention and the size of the wound channel...

If you do buy the .308, select your varmit bullets carefully...They need to be fragile to reduce richocets...

RE: .308 or .243
 

I'm a believer of the .243!

RE: .308 or .243
 

I own a 308, and a few 243s. 243 is definately my choice when I want a nice, light, walking deer gun. I do ALOT of varmint blasting, and 90% of the time my 243 is in my hands. I found 95gr Combined Technology BTs are my cup of tea, and I know it will anchor a 250lb buck in its tracks at a lasered 472 yards.

RE: .308 or .243
 

The original question was regarding varmints to deer. Not gophers to grizzlies. So, your twenty cents was spent based on an irrelevant premise and isn't worth $0.02... Frankly, anyone who thinks the ".243 sucks" for "varmints to deer" doesn't know what he's talking about.

And, you might consider using "you" and "your" instead of "u" and "ur", or folks are likely to figure you're 12.

RE: .308 or .243
 

haha You don't know anything about guns. haha And your going to end up as grizzly poop, haha

RE: .308 or .243
 

The .243 is a necked down .308 anyways. In my opinion, it is more suited for varmints. The .308 is a legendary, wickedly accurate cartridge, capable of taking any game on this continent.

RE: .308 or .243
 

There we go finally some one who has somthing good to say about 308 not stupid frigin 243s. Why would u buy a 243 for varmitns to deer maybe some day this guy will go elk or moose huting ever think about that, thats why the 308 comes in handy not a 243,

RE: .308 or .243
 

Who says a 243 won't kill an elk? And I know plenty of people that think hunting moose with a 308 would be retarded. Then again I know people that think the 30-06 is a minimum for deer, where I think it's overkill.

In my opinion a .308 would make a poor round for varmints, the 243 is almost too big. For a true varmint gun you want a fast light flat shooting bullet, but you can make a good compromise with the .243.

The truth is the .243 is a great deer round and works fairly well on varmints as well because of the ammo choices available and the flat shooting characteristics of the round. Maybe if the guy wants to hunt Elk and Moose he will just get another rifle more suited to those endeavors, like a 7mm mag or a 300 win mag.

And for that matter why would you waste your time on a .308 when the 30-06 is far superior and just as popular if not more so. I personally don't see the need for the .308 myself, it's a bit outdated really.

My point is you can argue this any way you want really, it boils down to a matter of opinion in the end.

Paul