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Wanting a 243 for my boy

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Wanting a 243 for my boy

Old 10-30-2013, 12:54 PM
  #11  
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How about a 260 remington don't have one but was thinking about getting myself my first full custom rifle and that caliber looks good. I know remington makes one in there model seven youth rifle. The 260 seems like a good alternative to the 243 as well. Just a thought. Talked to a guy and he said that was his main dial deer gun he used on the eastern shore in Maryland.
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Old 10-30-2013, 01:38 PM
  #12  
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I have several .243's (Browning BLR, H&R Heavy Barrel, Remington 700 BDL, Weatherby Vanguard)...I think a 243 loaded with 100g Partitions is damnear impossible to beat for a deer gun...my 8 year old daughter hunts with the Weatherby and my Niece also hunts with a Weatherby Vanguard in 243 as well. Great caliber, low recoil, accurate....

I will add like someone else that a 7mm-08 is also a great low recoil, accurate, youth option and my daughter shoots my Savage 11 in 7/08 without trouble as well except the stock it too long for her to hunt with it.

Be sure to find a rifle in a youth stock...when my brother and I bought the Weatherby Vanguards in 243 they offered a package with both youth and adult stocks...haven't seen them since but was a deal too good to pass up.
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Old 10-30-2013, 04:10 PM
  #13  
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Originally Posted by Bbj270
How about a 260 remington don't have one but was thinking about getting myself my first full custom rifle and that caliber looks good. I know remington makes one in there model seven youth rifle. The 260 seems like a good alternative to the 243 as well. Just a thought. Talked to a guy and he said that was his main dial deer gun he used on the eastern shore in Maryland.
Maybe the OP is considering availability of factory ammo.
The 260, great cartridge that it is, is kind of scarce on sporting good store shelves in my neck of the woods. You can get all the 243 you want.
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Old 10-30-2013, 04:33 PM
  #14  
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I love my .243! Since moving to Virginia other than my muzzleloader this is all I use for whitetail. My 7mm Mag and my .338 mag are taking a break from hunting since I moved from Alaska. The farthest a deer has run after being hit was about 30 yards.

It seems, for whatever reason, the .243 seems to be relegated to young folks and women. That's too bad because it is a very lethal round. Yeah, I'm sure you might lose a deer if you were to take Texas heart shots, but it is no sissy round. That 100 grain pill is serious business!

Depending how much you have or want to spend, an H/R in .243 would be a great "starter" for any youngster. Single shot is a wonderful way of learning to shoot; one well placed shot!
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Old 10-30-2013, 05:58 PM
  #15  
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Originally Posted by Bbj270
I still say the 7mm08 is a better caliber. The 7mm08 with 140 overlooks is 2142 ft lbs at 100 yards. A 100 grain 243 corelocks is 1615 ft-lbs at 100 yards. Muzzle velocity is 2860 for the 7mm08 and 2960 for 243. All information from remington website. My cousins 8 year old son shot is 243 and 7mm08. He liked the 7/08 better, He killed 4 deer and a 175lbs bear with it last year. Another friend took his 14 year old grandson to Africa and he shot 6 plains game animals with his 7/08. I might add my conditions 7/08 is a youth model seven with synthetic stock and his 243 weights more and is a wood stock 788. So recoil is not any more noticeable.
Better? How so? I own both 7mm-08 and 243, along with 270, 280, 264 Winnie, 7mm STW, 30'06. 7-08 is a great round, so are the others. To say one is "better" than the other is nonsense. I have yet to see any whitetail that can tell the difference between any of em with a properly placed shot. If we were talking about a do all gun for whitetails, bear and African game, I'd agree that 7-08 is probably a better choice than 243. However, the question was for a youth gun for deer and antelope. I have a soon to be 5 year old whom I'll be shopping for a quality bolt gun. 243 will be the choice. Recoil energy from a 243 100gr bullet is 8.8 lbs as compared to 12.6 lbs for a 7mm-08 140 gr bullet (Chuck Hawks site). No way am I going to subject a 55 lb kid to 43% more recoil for no real benefit on game.
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Old 10-30-2013, 06:23 PM
  #16  
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My 56lb seven year old nephew shoots the 7mm/08 about 10 times at a time. He feels no difference between it and 10 rounds of 243 out of a winchester 70 ranger youth that i shot my first deer with. Also the 100 partitions seem to zip throw the small west Virginia deer like full metal jackets. Shot them behind shoulders and they ran 100 -200 yards. They ran less then 50 if shot in shoulder. 95 grain ballistic tips worked much better.
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Old 10-30-2013, 06:27 PM
  #17  
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I also like the handie rifle. I have one in 223 with bull barrel. The remington model seven youth is a excellent choice also. So is the weatherby vanguard youth. The remington and weatherby can be switched to a adult stock for not a lot of money when they out grow the youth stock.
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Old 10-30-2013, 07:13 PM
  #18  
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A .243 with good 100 gr. hunting bullets will take any whitetail an this planet!
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Old 10-30-2013, 07:21 PM
  #19  
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I find myself saying this more and more lately:

The longer I hunt whitetails, the more I consider the .243win to be the optimum whitetail deer cartridge.

As for which rifle to get for your boy:

How old is he? If he's a teen, then I'd consider getting a standard sporter weight rifle and then buy a cheap after market stock, cut it down to his current pull and add stock spacers until he fits the standard stock, then put that back on. That way he can use the rifle now, then have the stock grow with him, and keep using his first rifle forever.
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Old 10-30-2013, 07:47 PM
  #20  
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Wow! The responses are really appreciated!

My boy is 14 this January. He has a 20 gauge (see picture) and is good with it. He is average height for an 8th grader, but toothpick skinny. He is recoil paranoid. There are folk around here who hunt every big game animal with the 243, so I latched onto the idea.

I'm thinking about the Savage Arms Axis Next Gen. 1 Combo in camo. Thoughts?

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