BCBUCKHUNTER Welcome to the Board .Dave

The .243 has become my primary deer rifle. I have shot 11 deer between 70-280 yards and never had one need a second bullet. I always used the Sierra 100gr SBT either hand loaded or in the federal premium loading. Of those deer 5 where shot clean thru both shoulders and I have yet to recover a bullet. I shot all those deer in michigan and average weight was 120-135lbs. One was a large doe that dressed at 160lbs and one was a nice 7pt that dressed at 174lbs, its nice having a hog scale to check weights. The load I used was a 100gr Sierra gameking SBT at 2850fps out of my short barreled browning eurobolt w/bossCR. 4 of those deer where shot past 200 yards the remaining 6 between 100-150 yards, and one at 70. I have found the .243 ability to kill all out of perportion to its size. There isn't the deer made that will take a good 100gr .243 bullet in the vitals and not die quick.

shoot what you have confidence in and can shoot and hit with.the most imporant thing is make sure of your shot.

as has been said on this board many many times,the 243 is a fine deer gun.no matter what anyone says,I will put mine and my kills up against anyone's.
I have saw deer shot and shot with 7mm mag. and got away,also with any other cal. there is. it depends on the shooters ability to hit what they shot at.

I will stick with my little varmit gun(243).
just my 2 cents,there are 98 more<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle>

I am not a hunter I am a whitetail population reduction specialest

remember keep your back to the sun, your knife sharp, and your powder dry.

Most of the guys who tell you that the .243 won't do it right on a deer are lifelong .30-06 shooters, like myself, so take what they tell ya with a grain of salt. It has a lot less energy than some rounds, so it can't be worth anything, but truth be told, it's really worth a lot. Here in Kansas, I'd say it's a better all around gun than my .30-06, better accuracy and less damage for small game, and only big game is whitey's and muley's. It'll do the job at practically any range you would ethically take a shot at, it's just that it doesn't give you the 300+ yrd shot that larger rounds give you (which shouldn't be taken by 99% of us anyway). There isn't such a thing as too dead, so it's better for us that do to ensure that we pack enough to drop them stepless.

Mostly it's about personal preference and ability, I've shot a couple good sized Kansas deer with a .243 at ranges out to just under 200yrds, not one argued about dying (and I don't shoot unless I can get a shoulder shot). I've never noticed that they've ran any farther than when hit by my .30-06 bullets, all of them dropping within 50 yrds. I've known a lot of guys that will only hunt with .243, after giving up bigger rounds, because when you hunt ranges of only 200 yrds, you don't need that extra punch. Cousin of mine took a 280# whitetail buck last year running at 75yrds with a .243 (handloads of course, forget what bullet), I watched it fall, looked more like a duck hit by shot than a deer, running then flopped...skidded and never moved.

It ain't an ample round like a .30-06 or 7mm mag, but it's still enough to knock them in the mud.

Screw the 10 ring, keep them in the zero!!!

A friend of mine that hunted extensively in the northwest said he has seen a pile of elk killed with the .243, as long as the bullet is placed correctly.

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Moss,

Great post! I have always been a huge adovcate of the all mighty 243!


YES... a 243 will drop any deer even with in 150 to 200 yards. I have hunted with on for more than 20yrs. The very same one my father bought me, a Browning 243.

Now, I use the core-loc 100gr. As for shoulder shots, absolutly just about dead in the spot!!

I don't know if any one has seen the video of the Eskimos that hunt Polar bears with 22Lg's. and they never ran more than 75yrds before dropping.

beleive me I have droped deer dead in thier tracks at 100yrds with my 243. They never saw or felt a thing.

Good luck and happy hunting!!

KEEP HUNTING THE GREAT OUTDOORS & GOD ALIVE, PASS IT ON!

jred, I'm pretty certain you're thinking of the .22 hornet, it's been used for....forever basically by eskimos for polars, which amazes me, they say it's because the ammo was cheap and available, and the eskimo's didn't know any better, not that it did it well.

I'm proud of you guys....I haven't heard nearly as much .243 bashing as what normally occurs when someone asks about it, pretty much it seems like the concensus is that it'll do it just fine, which is a nice change of pace.

I never did ask, what's the deal, are you planning to buy a .243, or getting one given to you, or do you have a varmint rifle you want to hunt deer with? Where do you hunt, how far do you need to shoot, which species of deer?

Screw the 10 ring, keep them in the zero!!!

I'm with Tree climber and others on this one. I will take the little guy any day against any whitetail.

Good Luck. Capt Brad.

I personally don't like the round for deer. I know it will kill one, but there are much better choices out there that don't kick much more. Spend some time at the range and learn to shoot an adequate deer round. I've seen too many deer wounded by slob hunters using the .243 to ever accept it as a proper deer round.