git u a 243.

What are you going to do with it? if just plinking then I would pick a mil. cal. for all the Mil Surp ammo. Its dirt cheap. for hunting a .223 is about all you really need for killin the varmints and is cheap as can be.

a 243 will out perform a .223 on any level,speed, accuracy,no comparison,but the 223 uses less powder to reload, some rifles cannot shoot the mil surplus ammo without problems,also the mil surplus ammo has increased in $ & availability,go to rem website & compare some different calibers on the ballistic program to see the differences ,lord if $ was no object i would have several rifles in every caliber,there is no bad choices,only better & each 1 may not be rite for every shooter ,mike300wm

i would get the .243 or the 7mm-08 they are preety good all round calibers

Looks like you are in NY. The .308 will do everything head over heels on the .243, (no offence .243 shooters) simply due to its greater mass= terminal ballistics. You simply dont find hardly anyone (sure the exceptions will call in) in NY or the northern states shooting the .243 as they learn that in a hurry. Fine for the southern states though with their smaller deer (yes, I have hunted south, and the bigger deer ARE smaller, considerably.)
The .223 is a great mid ground if you are looking for an affordable varminting and target shooting round. It is still one hell of alot cheaper than the .243 to shoot, and is great on anything from crows to woodchucks to coyotes. As you have a great deer round, dont worry about crossing over, get it for what you will use it for.

Yeah,.223 cheap ammo for target shooting but can be tuned to shoot well enough for comp. shooting also!