Portage

I have said previously that I like the 243 for deer but if I were going moose hunting I would want something bigger. Let's not get crazy here and make the 243 into something it isn't. Yes, it is a fine deer, bear, predator round but it is marginal at best when you get to bigger game.

I've shot a number of bear with a 250-3000 and 100 grain core-lokts (very similar to the 243). Problem with bear, in my opinion, is that the fat and fur tend to soak up a lot of blood and finding a good blood trail might be difficult.

zrexpilot

I dont understand why people shoot a moose at 50 yds in the body. I would just put it right in the cabeza, LOL. no really, I shoot deer all the time in the neck or head at a 100 yds , drops them right there. If I did ever get a chance to hunt moose or elk I think I would bust'em in the head , bear too unless I was after a skull mount. Man a moose head must be a really big target no ?
But I really think the .243 can take all north american game animal, no less than any non magnum cartridge. However when you get into the magnums, they are truely a beast. No comparison. But on deer size game, you cant tell if it was shot with a magnum or a .243. leaves the same looking hole.

BROWNING.308

if u can kill a moose with a shot in the neck ill eat the hide off it

FL/GA Hunter

Please stop trying to shoot a deer in the head at 100 yards. Please.

There is never, under any circumstances, a good reason to head-shoot a deer at 100 yards.

DM

The pict. shows what THAT bullet did at those velocities hitting BALISTIC GELATIAN, and nothing else.. Change the design or structure of the bullet, and everything else changes too.

Back when i was designing, swageing and selling my own "bonded core bullets", i did the same thing to see how my bullets were stacking up against the competition. Of course i also tested my bullets to come up with better performing bullets. Next step after that, was to go hunting, and liveing in Alaska, i got to test a lot of them!!! I used a lot of my own bullets in the ammo i mfg'd too..

I still have some of the bullet boards around someplace??? Guess i need to see if i can find them..

Drilling Man

VAhuntr

Since the .243 is the best of the best maybe the firearms companies should just stop making everything else and only sale .243's

All jokes aside, the .243 may be able to kill any animal on this continent but so can many others. Would you really want a .243 to hunt grizzly or brown bear? In fact it is not even legal to hunt elk with a .243 in at least one state. The .243 is a fine round, but lets face it, it does have limitations.

VAhuntr

I also have been wondering why someone would take a head shot at 100 yards.



from zrexpilot: Taking a quartering away shot at a deer is a poor shot and a head/neck shot is not?

To each his own!

ArcticBowMan

I got a hand me down .243 from my grandmother a few years ago. It has taken down quite a few caribou, so very large ones. We have never had a problem with death quality of the caribou compared to those shot with a 30-06, a .270 or a 300 win mag. All have been just as dead as the others.

The first animals I went after with the .243 were snowshoe hares. I shot two on my first day out, one from 50 yards and another from 120 yards. Both were head shots and both rabbits were fairly easy to skin.

We have shot numerous fox with the .243, and it does a number on them. I would like to try some full metal jacket bullets to see if we can reduce pelt damage, or I'm going to look into getting a .223 or 22-250 to use instead. The last critter I shot was a wolverine at 100 yards. I put the cross hairs right between its eyes and hit maybe a half inch closer to its left eye than its right. Luckily, the bullet did not exit as the entire skull was shattered, and I'm sure it would of left a nasty exit wound.

The .243 is one of my favorite guns right next to my 30-06. I wouldn't hesitate on using it for whitetails, mulies, caribou, black bear or equivalent large game. If I'm headed after elk or moose, the 30-06 will come along.

RonM

ABM good to see you back on here, your wife said a few weeks ago that your computer was down. I like my 6mm, but I took my 30-06 bear hunting I take my 308 deer hunting and will continue to use the appropriate weapon for the appropriate game..

Alsatian

The following is a link to a deer kill study carried out at a hunting club.

http://www.scilowcountry.org/cedar_knoll_deer_study.htm

The study covers 493 deer. It found that their was no difference in effectiveness for killing deer between .30 cal, .284 cal, .270 cal, .25 cal, and .243 cal cartridges. Shot placement was found to be important. Soft bullets were found to be more effective than hard bullets. Pretty interesting study, and the report is well prepared. Lots of interesting information besides just this summary information I provide here.

Of course, different deer (bigger, northern deer for example, mule deer versus whitetail) and/or different ranges to shooting the deer may change the results somewhat. Still, this is something more than just talk about Uncle Billy Bob's huntin' results.