I'm sorry, but, I seriously doubt that, given the exact same impact point under the exact same circumstances, your .270 would have "flattened" a deer, while your .243 "failed to impress" him and he just moseyed off 20 yards to die. Deer shot with my .243 have actually averaged LESS travel after the shot than deer shot with my .30-06 (which is more potent than your .270...). I've had them drop in their tracks with both. I've had them run after the shot with both. Every deer that I've shot at with my .243 has been impressed to death by its effectiveness. With regard to your .250 on the muley (nice one, by the way), I'm curious about the bullet you used, since you say you shot twice in the chest with one foot of penetration (I take from this that there was no exit?). I've yet to take a chest shot on a whitetail that didn't fully penetrate with my .243.

As for new hunters and the buck fever crowd... I think they are better off shooting a rifle of which they are not afraid of the recoil.

No deer I've ever shot with a .270 failed to give a reaction[they vanish legs skyward with 150gr .308 Norma Mag as far away as you can hit them]The WT buck that walked away and laid down didn't die for a full minute after loosing both lungs.John Wooters and his deer camp collected data on .243 deer kills and found the 7x57 /.300Sav were both user friendly and anchored deer better with[his words ] marginal hits thus involved less tracking.I'm shooting 100gr Sierras on top of 41gr/Win760-Fed mag primers+Win brass in my .250 Sav The two broadside shots on the mulie passed through both sides and the neckshot shattered the spine and only went in 6"[Rutted neck]I,m in Alberta and the deer [body size]here arn't like Eastern WT's by any means.Bullets I have recovered from deer are pic perfect mushroomed so they're working.You'd be surprised at the number of bozos I see at the range that never touch their rifles all year except the week before season opens.If they can hit a 9x11 piece of paper to them at 100 yards "that's good enough' WOW I move down two benches.Funny they seem to at the range throughout the seaon instead of hunting with tales of missed and wounded deer.I've shot over 120 head of assorted big game over 35 year period so I'm not making things up as I go along.[Also guided and witnessedtruck loads of other game shot] Just my observations......................Harold *within range limitations and using correct bullets any cartridge will work if you can shoot

Just out of curiosity what bullet where you shooting out of that 243? Many times people that are using a 243 get the highest grain bullet out there for deer, usually the 100 grain PSP or the 95 grain Balistic tip. Neither of which I think are the best bullet for deer..

Not sure if your question is directed to me butI own two .250 Sav gun a Sav 99[lighter loads] and a Rem 700 Classic .Don't own a .243 [seen it in action]but the .250 is close enough for comparison purposes 12% larger bore dia. same speed-same bullet weight.Don't get me wrong I continue to shoot deer with my .250's but avoid shoulder blades and bad angles .Novices and the once a year touch my gun crowd should only be shooting at stationary broadside deer at close range deer[closer the better],but we both know with excitement common sense goes out the window.I know of locals that shoot moose regularly here with .243's but it's a hump/headshot proposition at best.They're dull witted enough to give you plenty of time to be surgical about it.Caliber selection is highly personal ,like asking someone to pick you out a woman[blond,brunette or redhead]They all work but what turns your crank?Harold

It's better than a 410, by about 1000 times.

Ihave also used a .243 win since i was 13 , it was my first rifle and i will always own it. But up here in Saskatchewan the deer are (for the most part) more dense and heavier in mass than almost any where else. We shoot bucks on average well over 2oo lbs. On that size of a white tail, the .243 isnt doing much. It works perfect on smaller bucks and all does, but the big boys seem to just shake it off and run for miles on end. This year makes two enormous Saskatchewan whitetail bucks that i have had to chase over a mile, in fact this year i had to chase him over 4 and a half miles!!!! through the thickest heaviest Northern Saskatchewan timer and scrub you can imagine all the while with him trying to play the same games they all do to get away. My father owns a .300 win mag and the performance of that rifle is astonishing. I shot my buck last year with it at 250 yrds running and it dropped right there, ive also shot moose and he has shot elk and wild boar and the power is amazing. Suprizingly enough there isntt alot of meat waste after hittingdeer with such a large shell. Dont get me wrong i live for my .243 but it has let me down so often on the big deer that i will be switching and my wife and on the way child will use it in the years to come. I will still use it on the does and coyotes but up here , when i want to get serious , the .243 stays home in the Saskatchewan wild.

i wouldn't trade my .243 for anything

200lbs Ooooo. I am not impressed, nor is my .243
Ihave taken 250 lb axis deer here in Texas and 300 lb hogs with a .243 and they were unable to
" shake it off " There is no way an elk, much less a deergoing to take a classic double lung shot from a .243 and go 4 1/2 miles. Put a 22 LR to the lungs of a deer and he still wont go 4 1/2 miles, and just how do you track for 4 1/2 miles ?
A gut shot deer wont even go 4 1/2 miles, you need check your scope or shooting abilitites, cause that deer that went 4 1/2 miles wasnt even hit.

When you hit one of those monster bucks that shake off the effects of that tiny .243 bullet, does the bullet explode in different colors like a Roman candle or does it just bounce off and fall to the ground???

It takes a brave hunter anymore to take to the field with a little .243, mostly for the bashing you'll get here on this forum for doing it. This is the age of the "super-extra-special-testosterone-magnum", after all.

I've used a .243 on whitetails, muleys, and pronghorns for years - and it's never disappointed me.

I see some photos of some brave little hunters herewho weren't disappointed, either.