Todd1700

I've personally killed deer with a .243, a 7mm-08, a 270, a 7mm magnum and a 30-06. I have a friend that uses a 300 magnum every year who discusses and describes every kill to me. I have an uncle who uses a .308 and a cousin that uses a .270 that both discuss and describe their kills with me each year. I prefer tougher bullets that give me an exit wound but the friends and family above love ballistic tips. Do you know what my personal experience combined with their accounts have taught me? There is no gun, caliber or bullet type that produces dropped in his tracks kills every time. But I will say this, I have had just as many deer drop like a stone at the crack of the gun with a .243 as I did with either the 7mm magnum or the 30-06. About half the deer my friend shoots with his 300 mag drop and about half run a little ways. I think a lot of the horror stories attributed to the .243 are due to people using very light bullets that where intended as varmit bullets or taking shots from very bad angles. I've never lost a single deer I shot with a 100 gr corelock out of my .243. Use a bullet designed for shooting deer size game, wait for a broadside or quartering shot and put it in the boiler room and you will not have a problem with a .243. Fail to do any of those 3 things and you are asking for trouble even with the largest calibers.

NVMIKE

you said it todd

gopher slayer

i have a 243 and ive kill moose and deer with it i wouldnt go any largeer then moose because its a light bullet. and you have to be realy careful with shot placement. the 7mm -08 will give you a little more forgivness

KonaBoy

Hands down the 7mm-08


GO CANADA

BeltedMag

7mm-08, definetly. It is quickly becoming one of the most popular calibers of all time.

Dave

herman

I don't think all you pop gun guys have used a 243 very much on deer.Have taken deer out to 300 yds with one and its no pop gun.I don't hunt with it much anymore because I like trying different calibers.
I have all three 243,7/08 and 260,all are remingtons,to me I think the 260 is just a tad better accuracy wise than the 243 0r 7/08,and it sure works on deer with 100 to 140 gr bullets.
which would I choose between the 2 I would take the 7/08 because it is very accurate and can shoot light and heavy bullets.But if I had my chooice between the three I would have to go with the 260and a 120 gr bullet.

killer243

"pop gun" well i don't think so


a 13 year old boy shot a 700+ pound feild dressed black bear up the road from me last bear season here in pa and he called and asked if i would help drag it out becuause it was so big he and his dad were haveing trouble. well when my dad my uncle and me went over to help we found out he shot the bear with a 243 at about 75 yards the bullet blew threw the other side of the bear and he went less then 50 yards! look it up if you don't believe me it made the papers.

anyhow with the bullets out there today a 243 is not a pop gun by any standards

Steven Ashe

When I came home from the Army in 1964 and could finally afford a commercial deer rifle, instead of using a cut-down British .303, I bought a Ruger Model 77 in .243Win. At that time, I thought that the rifle could serve both as a groundhog shooter and a deer rifle. I killed a fair number of deer with the .243Win, but shot placement had to be right on, or I ended up tracking, which at dusk, can be dicey. The 7mm bullet is a better killer of deer, when loaded in the right cartridge/rifle combo. Also, the 7mm bullet would not be outclassed if an opportunity came to hunt big mule deer. I personally would not go after elk with 7mm-08, but plenty of hunters out there would. IMO the 7mm-08 is a good intermediate rifle to fill out a battery of hunting rifles. That said, if a one rifle battery is what you seek, you should go with 30-06 or even up to a 7mm magnum or 30cal magnum rifle. With one of those, you can cover all bases on game on N. America. Think about what hunting you may have a chance to do in your lifetime and begin to build a complete battery of rifles to fill every type of game, after which you may someday go. For instance, off the top of my head; a complete battery of hunting rifles might be:223Rem for varmints, 270Win for deer sized critters, and a 338 for elk and bear sized animals. With those three, you could hunt almost anywhere in the world and not be undergunned. I am not excluding the 7mm-08, but in my arsenal, the .270Win would fill the slot for the 7mm-08 (maybe a generational thing!)

spl1

How about two guns to handle anything? 30.06 has so many weights and types of bullets available it is ridiculous you can use 65 gr for varmits or 200 gr for elk. If you want some sho nuff down range energy and still have the choice of .30 cal bullets get a .300rum. Thats what I did, I can't think of another combo that could serve me better.

Carpmaster

7-08 is a great gun for both critters, i love it just dont shoot it much due to my other gunsand my affection towards them.