Somewhere along the line here the thread took a turn from the actual subject. So far nobody has said the 243 is a do all things for everyone cartridge. I find it astonishing that a cartridge with the destructive capabilities of the 243/6MM would be questioned by anyone as to deer killing ability. On the other hand I feel it is a Niche cartridge like the 30-30, good at some things and not so good at others. I feel the 6MM's are at their best when good shot placement is possible at ranges under 300 yards. This covers most cartridges. If I needed one cartridge to do it all from the unsportsmanlike "flag" shooting to open country then I would pick a Remington pump chambered for the 30-06 with a peep sight or red dot and a bolt action rifle in 30-06 with a good scope . With these two I wouldn't "Need" any other rifle. So even with one cartridge two rifles makes sense.

I think the keys to a 243 or 6mm, are making sure that one has a bullet that will do the job at the velocity it is being launched at....

then comes shot placement...

Do that right and the 6mms will do just fine...

Some others always squak about using a bigger cartridge, and a bigger bore, and then highlight the times that a smaller bore has failed....

We I had a 300 Win Mag with a 200 grain Sierra in Federal factory ammo, hit a very large Minnesota buck... it hit the ground nose first, and there was a circle of blood and fur that covered a radius of over 30 inches... then the buck jumped up and headed straight into the swamp in front of him... by the hit I could tell the shot broke its front left shoulder....

Sierra told me that the 200 grain bullet was too tough for even the largest of deer... so it never opened was their interpretation, even tho it appeared to break the shoulder....

so should I conclude the 300 Win Mag is too light for deer????

Of course not....

But how many guys would experience that, and then think they needed a 340 Weatherby for a reliable deer cartridge?????

Just because someone experiences a failure with a 243 or any other cartridge, then I think bullet selection, or poor shot placement should be looked at first.... and if they were good, then the hunter has to look in the mirror and blame shot placement....

Bigger calibers are not the answer for every time a hunter screws up or plain old bad luck dropped in....

You'd be surprised of the lethality of a 243 with a 95 grain ballistic tip, with a MV of only 2250 fps...within 200 yds or so.... and considering 90 % of all deer are taken at half that range...

There used to be, and may still be a bunch of guys on the shop floor at Nosler bullets in Bend, Oregon that had a .243 Club. They hunted and regularly killed elk with their .243 Win rifles and the Nosler Partition bullet. Not something that I have done or would do myself, but it's hard to say one shouldn't do it when I know others who have done it.

brian, just because someone did doesn't mean it's a good idea or should be emulated. Really, we could probably all kill everything that walks NA w/ a .22lr if we were really carefull, but it doesn't mean it should be done.
I look at the .243 as a great long range varmint round that you can kill deer w/ within it's limits. Much like a pistol round or a broadhead, all lethal within their perameters, but when you start streching things, bad things can & will happen. By all means, hunt w/ what you like, what makes you warm & fuzzy, but if it goes sour, you can't say you weren't warned.

fredj338,
Lately you've provided load guidance to me for my 338-06... that's my elk rifle and I've always considered 30-06 as a minimum for elk. I view the .243 exactly the same as you do. It's not my choice even for deer. Those guys a Nosler were pretty successful though, but like I said, I wouldn't do it.

Hey Brian, anyone that hunts elk w/ a .338-06 has it figured out.

Rickt300:

I drew a lot of flak in earlier posts for questioning how useful the 243 was in eastern woods hunting where the deer was going away. We simply don't have the deer hunting conditions in the NY or Pennsylvania woods that you have in Texas. Not only do we often hunt differently (walking up deer or "still hunting") but we also have far shorter hunting seasons (often as short as two weeks) so we must shoot as soon as a reasonable shot is presented. Many of us just don't trust a 243 to drop a deer going the other way - or at least give a blood trail to follow. I admire these 300 yard shots. I just simply question whether a snap shot with a 243 will drop a buck in the NY or PA. woods. Fact. No argument is wanted. I'm just saying that we have different conditions for hunting whitetails. I never mean to say that the 243 doesn't drop deer. I'm only saying that in my neck of the woods and in my day, I preferred something at least a wee bigger!

Sounds like just the place for that Remington pump 30-06. I agree, shooting big deer quickly and at odd angles is not a place where I would use my 243 or 6MM. Spend some time in those woods before the season, figure out the bucks ways and you just might get that easy broadside moving slowly or standing still shot. No matter where you hunt if you work at it you can control what shots you get to a point. Anyway there is always next year.

I think it sounds like a good place for a slug gun! I have not seen a deer no matter where you put one those slugs will put the smak to the extreme on anything they hit! I'd put $100 on dropping a deer with a 12ga. slug and a Texas heart shot on a deer yes you guys from Texas I got that from one of you. Later,

Kirk

quote:

Originally posted by gerrys375:
Rickt300:

I drew a lot of flak in earlier posts for questioning how useful the 243 was in eastern woods hunting where the deer was going away. We simply don't have the deer hunting conditions in the NY or Pennsylvania woods that you have in Texas. Not only do we often hunt differently (walking up deer or "still hunting") but we also have far shorter hunting seasons (often as short as two weeks) so we must shoot as soon as a reasonable shot is presented. Many of us just don't trust a 243 to drop a deer going the other way - or at least give a blood trail to follow. I admire these 300 yard shots. I just simply question whether a snap shot with a 243 will drop a buck in the NY or PA. woods. Fact. No argument is wanted. I'm just saying that we have different conditions for hunting whitetails. I never mean to say that the 243 doesn't drop deer. I'm only saying that in my neck of the woods and in my day, I preferred something at least a wee bigger!

This post hits the nail square on the head and echos my 50+ years of experiance. In the past some have said that they don't take hard shots. Well fine.

Just spend a year or two freezing your extremities off while seeing nothing and then finally you get a shot. A buddy uses a hot loaded 30-06 with 150 Partitions and he, like myself, will take a shot at a legal deer from any angle.

Not only is the game scarce but you don't want it to travel due to posted land or other hunters getting there first.

There is no good reason for a grown man to use a 243 on big game.