I am looking for a walk-around rifle in .218 Bee, and am contemplating a Winchester 43. Those of you that have or have had them, what kind of accuracy were you getting?

i've had two . one with a replaced heavy barrel , the factory barrel shot best. I didn't shoot over 100 yards, but both were very accurate. Make sure if you get a 43 it has a clip.

I've had mine for quite awhile, It shoots 40 gr. Nosler Varmegeddens and Hornady V-maxes under an inch at 100 yds using 13 gr. Lil' Gun and under 1/2" at 50 yds using 4.3 gr. unique and 45-46 gr. Speer flat points.

Hip

If you can find a Ruger No.1S jump on it. Medium barrel profile and unlimited barrel life.

They are pretty decent little rifles. Mine has a pretty good trigger and is acceptably accurate. I'm not a Winchester guy, but I think that most of them were not factory D&T for scope mounts, although most have been done so after market. Check closely on how the D&T was done to make sure it isn't a Bubba job that is misaligned or otherwise messed up.

Ive played with several back in the day as they were popular and lots of them around at a cheap price, a real bargain gun for the money back then....I liked the IMP version in the Bee and the Hornet as the cases don't streatch...I think Id look for a Hornet, they are easier to find and easier to get components for by a long shot..

As to the rifle itself, I like the Win. 43 rifles, they are pretty neat IMO..Every one I had shot and inch with a little tune up..A great walk about varminter second only to the Sako L-46 of the day.

An older friend of mine hunted groundhogs extensively with them throughout his life,
and had at least 6 when he passed away. His
primary observation about them was that they
were basically a scaled-up .22 rifle design,
and not as well-suited to the full power of a
.218 Bee as other, stronger actions. He preferred not to fire factory ammo in his due to possible problems with difficult extraction. He loaded them a bit lighter than full factory specs, to ensure smooth functioning. However, he did respect their accuracy.

Good luck!
John

I know an old rancher about my age whos only gun other than a 22 LR and a 410 shotgun is a old Win. 43 with a drift wood stock and no blue, that's been his deer rifle for mule deer and whitetail and one bear..I asked him how many deer he killed with it knowing it was many as we hunted together a lot over the years, he said "oh I dunno, maybe more than a 100 or so" and I believe that...He's never wounded one and he takes both heart, head and neck shots depending on range, and its just got the original iron sights, its always in his truck for coyotes etc on his ranch...and sometimes in a saddle scabbard on his mule or horse. I gave him a dozen boxes of factory ammo 20 years ago and he still has enough to last a few more years than he or I will..