.223 or .243
 

what gun is the best for multipurpose hunting

RE: .223 or .243
 

243 Win of course. Its just stupid to shoot deer sized game with a .22 caliber.

RE: .223 or .243
 

I agree Friz, well said!

RE: .223 or .243
 

Oh my gosh, you guys are relentless. You all crack me up. :D

RE: .223 or .243
 

A lot of folk will disagree, but .243Win is too light for deer, save for when range, angle and a clear, clean shot is presented. Deer can take a heart shot from a 100gr .243Win and keep going, sometimes for hundreds of yards. In woods, at dusk, having to track a wounded deer may be impossible. A larger wound channel has a much better chance of putting the deer down. Use something like a .270Win with a good 130gr bullet. Two hits on two deer, in the same spot, at the same range would show the difference. That would be difficult to set up, but I wager that many deer will be anchored by the hit in the boiler room from the .270win and if the shot is from a .243win, the deer will run. If one is careful enough to always get head and neck shots with a .243Win, deer will always drop. Likewise, with shots that sever the spine. But boiler room shots into the heart lung area of a deer with a 100gr .243Win bullet, many times simply does not get the job done. Robert Ruark was correct, when he wrote, "Use enough gun". If you do not like the .270Win, get a 7mm-08, .308Win, all in short actions, like the .243Win, which is a necked down .308Win. In long actions, you cannot go wrong with .270Win., 280Rem or the old standby 30-06. Forget .223Rem for deer, unless you are a poacher.

RE: .223 or .243
 

Let me tell you this. GET A .270 Winchester. This is the best all around huting gun imho. What cant you take with a 270? Deer : hell yes. Varmits: a bit much but with the right rounds u can do it without too much damage. Elk : No problem Bear : yes ( YES ) Alot of african plains game..etc..

RE: .223 or .243
 

I have killed 2 deer with a .243 and both ran less than 50 feet, it is a great whitetail deer cartridge. I personally like my 7mm-08 better, but the .243 is a wonderful cartridge.

RE: .223 or .243
 

Last year, I opening morning of the gun season, a decent sized yearling 3 pointer (which I actually thought was a 6-8 pointer, because it had a 13 inch spread, but anyway) stepped out 75 yards away, a made a grunting sound with my mouth, and my .243 destroyed his lungs, and took off low and hard and I found him 30 yards away...

People who say a .243 will allow the deer to run forever simply cannot shoot

RE: .223 or .243
 

.243 if you are saying multipurpose, but it would be cutting it pretty close for deer. I personally think it is small, but then again ppl that have used it on deer think it works fine for them.

Or you could just get a small caliber gun for varmint as so and a larger caliber for deer and up.

RE: .223 or .243
 

IMHO you should ALWAYS have a clear, clean shot, no matter the caliber in question.

RE: .223 or .243
 

.243 Win. Good luck.

RE: .223 or .243
 

I have a .223 and am very happy with it. It is a blast to shoot. It is my general purpose ranch gun. It has no recoil and ammo is cheap so I can afford to shoot it frequently. But I would hesitate using it for deer. Will it kill a deer? Yes. I have seen several taken with the smaller .222. Would I use it on a deer? Probably not. Too many things can go wrong. Shot placement has to be exceptional. I have used it successfully on large animals, but my shots were extremely close (<75 yards) and I was not hunting them specifically. Others will tell you to go bigger than a .243, but if I were getting another gun today, it would be a .243. I don't have much use for a macho-magnum.

RE: .223 or .243
 

.243 is a great varmint gun and an adequate deer rifle.

RE: .223 or .243
 

Well from the choice of those 2 calibers I would have to favor the 243 as a multi purpose caliber. But I will suggest a better Multi purpose caliber you should look into a .308 win awesome deer cartridge an also great for those long coyote shots and will make a crow go poof into a cloud of feathers.

RE: .223 or .243
 

It won't take a heart shot with the 60 grain bullet and go any where but down. The heart, lungs and everything else will pour out like it was in a blender when you gut it.

RE: .223 or .243
 

I have used both on deer, both worked well, but now I only use the 243.

PS- I am NOT a poacher.

RE: .223 or .243
 

I'm not getting into this again!;)

RE: .223 or .243
 

get the 243 great gun and it is more then enough for deer. i have seen many deer fall to one.

RE: .223 or .243
 

One of the guys I work with has ample experience to prove that the .243 is a leading cause of Sudden Deer Death Syndrome.

RE: .223 or .243
 

One would rule out the 223 for any sort of consistent deer hunting. It is simply not ethical unless you hunt 75lb trophy bucks. I could almost agree that a 243 is light but have an aquaintance who has one of the Sako finnwolfs(discontinued lever rifle) in 243. At the time I last spoke to him it was one shot kills on all his bucks and he took a trailer load of them and he hunted 2 of the heaviest hunted states around NY and Pa, where if the deer runs off on state land someone else will end up claiming it.

RE: .223 or .243
 

..

that is the only real shot any respectiable hunter should take.as far as the heart lung shot,I have taken in excess of 100 deer and way more than that in hogs with my 243;not counting the ones my wife has taken,probalby 25 for her.I have also never had one run over 50 yards from the point of impact.that is with the exception of one buck that I didn't get.(bad hit on my part.)

the 243 is a small bullet ; but will do the job well.thats why they make 243 , 270 , 308 , and 7mm mag. everyone to his or her own.

shoot what you want as long as it does the job.I do not own or ever shot the 222 or 223,so I can't say . just think they are a little to small ; JMHO;)

RE: .223 or .243
 

Of the two you mentioned the 243 is UNDOUBTEDLY the better multipurpose round. It is clearly enough for deer, the 223 is not. If you only want to shoot coyotes,squirrels,ground hogs, prairie dogs ect that is where the 223 has few equals mainly because of dirt cheap ammo. Some one said the 270 is perfect, and for deer sized animals it is, but it is much more marginal for elk than the 243 is for deer. Matter of fact I know an old guy who shoots 100gr 243 and gets an elk every year and has for about 25-30 yrs. never looses one either, he just knows his limitations. To many 270 shooters think that they have PLENTY OF GUN FOR ELK, the 270 will do, but they go in thinking that they have an adaquate caliber instead of a marginal caliber, so they arent as carefull w/ their shots as they should be and wound alot of animals that they would not have if they went out w/ the mindset of haveing a marginal caliber and knowing that they will have to pass on some shots. Also, A deer hit in the heart w/ a 22longrifle wont run far let alone a 243. A true heart shot drops animals quickly.

RE: .223 or .243
 

let me rephrase my question what is the cheapest as far as ammo and the best for multipurpose hunting thx

RE: .223 or .243
 

well you can get 223 ammo very cheap however it is fmj's and you can't hunt with those. as far as hunting bullets the 243 and 223's are about the same. for hunting anything from jackrabbits to mule deer you can't beat the 243 shooting a good 95-100 grain bullet

RE: .223 or .243
 

Even with the question rephrased, the answer is still the .243! Out of the two calibers, the .243 is more suited for animals through whitetail, and antelope! The .223, or any of the .22 centerfires are varmint, to small game calibers at best!