i was loaned a .243 for my wife to hunt with and she backed out on the afternoon of the hunt, i had made sure the rifle was zeroed in and i noticed there was hardly any recoil what so ever and it would really shoot to be a factory gun no trigger work, so i took it loaded with 85gr federal bthp on the advice of the sierra rep, and shot a doe in the neck at 60yds pinhole going in fist sized hole coming out, having returned the gun i am now waiting for some guy who will come in the gun store saying his .243 will no longer kill a deer, and trades for a 7mm mag to shoot 150lb and down deer off a corn pile here in north carolina, you can't go wrong with the .243 use the right bullets for the situation and you will be satisfied

i was talking on the phone while trying to reply to the .243 topic, can't work and play at the same time, sorry!

Fats,

Thanks for the reply but if it is a 60 yard shot and I was using a centerfire I'd just use my 30-30. A bit longer distance and I'd use my 308 or 30-06. See my dilemna? My best rationalization is that my oldest son would be able to use it in a couple of years, he's 6 now. If recoil were an issue I wouldn't have any 45 calibers....

On top of that, I live in Illinois which forbids centerfires but that's OK since I have guns for both shotgun and muzzleloader seasons. So I'm back to wondering how much better a varminter it is than a 223....