While I have shot mule deer with my Rem CDL in .243, with no problems, I have other calibers which are grabbed for deer hunting.

It gets used nowdays when the wind is really blowing and the distances are long for coyotes. Using a 70g Nosler BT at 3700 fps works swell.

I recently got re-acquainted with a friend from active duty days (22 years ago!) and he's still using the same Rem 788 in 243 he had back then... He's killed whitetail, mule deer, 7 or 8 elk (2 spikes and the rest cow elk), along with a few jackrabbits and coyotes with that rifle in the last 20 years. He's lived in UT most of those years and just drew a trophy elk tag for UT after 16+ years of applications. He felt it was time to buy another rifle as he did realize the limitations of the 243 and would like something with a little more leeway. I chambered up a sporter 30 cal barrel and fitted it to a LA Howa 1500 action I had laying around. He went with the ubiquitous 30-06, and I'm sure he'll still use the 243 for most everything below elk.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Atkinson:
I agree the 243 will kill deer, as will the 222 and 22-250, even elk, but if you keep shooting the 243 chances are it will fail under the best of circumstances sooner or later..[QUOTE]

As will any other chambering! SOONER OR LATER!

The .243 Win will kill big game just as dead as any other cartridge as long as a hunter puts his bullet where it will terminate topside oxygenated blood flow. An elk ain't gonna know whether a 100 grain .243 Win bullet or a 180 grain .300 Win Mag bullet caused it to hit dirt.

I was a lot smarter when I was younger, reading gun & hunting magazines, and left laws of biological science outta gun buying decisions.

You have no clue of how happy I could be with a lightweight .308 Win carbine. A slice of cheese on a ham sandwich is heavy at Rocky Mountain altitude. I'm long past done carrying a 10+ pound 7MM Rem Mag up-and-down high ridges of the Rockies.

I like the .243 for coyotes ( don't save the fur) and as a spare or the occasional antelope/deer. I keep my shots under 200 on game and I happen to like the 85-90 gr Barnes or 95 BT/NP. I like the 58gr vmax on coyotes/varmints. its an easy shooting, fun rifle. If it was the only rifle I had or my bigger rifle got busted, I'd hunt elk with it too. To me, small calibers have 'always been" an experts cartridge. I call it "finessing the shot", ha. Hogs get the head/neck junction, game gets the base of the neck or high shoulder shot. Head shots are OK but only up close for me. I like how the 243 beats the wind when shooting marmots too. The smallest CF round I ever used was a little CZ 527 in .221 Fireball and the old 50gr Barnes XLC. I killed a 70 pound shoat out around 60yds, through the middle of the shoulders. It dropped him and made a 50 caliber exit hole. No blood shot meat. Faster is even better! I've never tried the 80gr Barnes in the 243, but have the old 85 xbt at "243 speeds" (2900fps)

I used a .243 Win Sako a lot...…….then rechambered it to .243 Ack Imp'd.

I loved it. Shot 87gn Hornady spire points on game, .70gn/75gn hollowpoints (sierras ??) at paper. Burnt a lot of IMR4350 through it.

Biggest thing I shot with it was a red stag. I would not hesitate to shoot Feral pigs, dingoes, Feral goats, fallow deer, red deer in Aus with it or Impala, Reedbuck, Bushbuck with it.

There mild/no recoiling...…...bit loud and "punch above their weight".

I have an expression "show me someone who doesn't like a .243 and I'll show you someone who can't shoot".

I dislike the 243, but not for a rational reason. The 243 can, and does, kill. No doubt. My biggest issue (entirely emotive, irrational, etc.) is that it, Warren Page, and the 1934 idiots at Remington killed the 257 Roberts when it was in the prime of its youth. No need to go into all the details, as most around here know the story. The Bob can do anything a 6mm/243 can do just a tad better, at typical hunting ranges. Thanks to the 1934 Rem idiots, one has to handload to get the most out of it, but there it is. I wish they had come out with a 25-08 back then instead. Hindsight is 20/20, and we know a lot more about ballistics and gunpowder these days. The 6mm and 6.5 Creeds are the new ballistically optimized rounds, and if I were a more rational thinker, perhaps I would dispense with the old and embrace the new just as folks did in the 50’s when the 243 came out. If I ever decide I want 6mm, I would go with the Creedmoor.

The bullets that failed according to my notes where Sierra 100 gr. max handloads, factory Rem and WW both with 100 gr. bullets..Another was a Bronze Point I believe, can't swear to it. I didn't document that one for some reason...Nothing was lost but these deer all traveled beyond a 100 yards in every case. Some years later During a Springbok cull I had simulair results with 100 or more yard runs, but mostly quick kills, albeit we used mostly head shots, we culled lots of animals and I was allowed some bucks and shoulder shots for testing.. I was using Rem corelokts in the guides old Sako A series, good bullets that performed well but results were less than I cared for. At some point I just dumped the .243 and went to larger bores of one kind or another..I was always amazed at the 250-3000 in that the ballistics are simulair in my handloads, but never had those long runs..just my personal take on the subject, to each his own, and if it works for you its a good choice.

More bothersome, than 100 yard runs was the lack of a blood trail in these cases, simply little or no blood..

Also I repeat that I read an article that more .243s have blown up than any other caliber and that my friends is a matter of record..It was documented in the American Rifleman at some point in time, and I read it elsewhere, asked some well known smiths about it and it had to do with throat erosion and light weight or heavy weitht bullets, can't recall which.

I have used the 243 off and on over the years. I love it. I have killed a pile of game with it. Deer and elk have all fallen to the 100 gr hornady pushing out at 3150 FPS. My fiends called that rifle the death ray. I have never lost an animal with it. The elk ran about 30 yards after getting punched through the lungs. The animal that ran the farthest was a White tail. I hit him in the point of the shoulder and he ran about 50 yards. There was a blood trail that was like following a river. The 243 is not my first choice in a Elk rifle but it defiantly is my first choice for deer sized game.

Idaho Ron, I have read your posts about 600 rock chucks with an air rifle. Now your post about elk with a .243. I didn't think of you as being boastful, but if you tell us that is your daughter with the nice deer, I might have to change my mind. Great looking deer and girl.

Yep she is mine.

Idaho Ron---Is that rifle a Win model 70 in .243? If so, I have been using it's twin for years. .243 will work fine with shot placed there. BTW her pearlies look great, very nice smile.

I'd be smiling too. Great trophies, good mass on the deer.

Great photos Ron! And wow that bull your daughter shot is a giant

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
Idaho Ron---Is that rifle a Win model 70 in .243? If so, I have been using it's twin for years. .243 will work fine with shot placed there. BTW her pearlies look great, very nice smile.

Yes that is a Mod 70. It still had the wood stock when I shot the elk and then I switched it to the synthetic stock.
Ya too bad all I have left of that girl is the memories.

Idaho Ron--Hate to hear something happened to your daughter.

I bet the serial numbers on our model 70's are pretty close. I'll send you mine in a PM and you can let me know how close.

Ya too bad all I have left of that girl is the memories.[/QUOTE]

Meaning what Ron? Did you lose a child too?

Zeke

I also have a Model 70 in .243...not sure how close our 3 SN#'s are

G1420XXX

quote:

Originally posted by twobobbwana:
I used a .243 Win Sako a lot...…….then rechambered it to .243 Ack Imp'd.

I loved it. Shot 87gn Hornady spire points on game, .70gn/75gn hollowpoints (sierras ??) at paper. Burnt a lot of IMR4350 through it.

Biggest thing I shot with it was a red stag. I would not hesitate to shoot Feral pigs, dingoes, Feral goats, fallow deer, red deer in Aus with it or Impala, Reedbuck, Bushbuck with it.

There mild/no recoiling...…...bit loud and "punch above their weight".

I have an expression "show me someone who doesn't like a .243 and I'll show you someone who can't shoot".

Put a 100 GR Hornady traveling at 3000 FT/Sec
in the heart and you will take the biggest water buffalo Australia has to offer. Put just about any bullet, from any chambering, through muscle, without hitting the vitals, and you may loose him. It all comes down to bullet integrity, and placement, if placed properly it will produce meat on the ground.
The biggest mistake most make with a 6mm chambering is an improper bullet. Most seem to want to use bullets that are too small in weight, and fragile bullets designed for P-dog shooting, and placement.

…………………………….Different strokes for different folks!
…………………………………………………….

quote:

Originally posted by ZekeShikar:
Ya too bad all I have left of that girl is the memories.

Meaning what Ron? Did you lose a child too?

Zeke[/QUOTE]

After graduating high school she signed up for an extra year of high school as a foreign exchange student. I begged her not to do it, but that was her dream. So she went to Costa Rica. She was there a few months and her host family took her to a resort. While at the resort she was kidnapped and raped. When we found out about it she was on her way home. The Rotary Club was in charge of it. Well she got home and she was checked out by more doctors. She ended up with something I tried not to remember it but she couldn't have kids after that. She went off the deep end after that.
I didn't want her to go, I begged her not to go. She put her mother and I into fighting each other over letting her go. It was a sore spot with us. I absolutely said no and she went anyway.
She went to Chicago for a couple years after getting back. The people that she was with there told her that we had abused her for letting her go, and we were to blame for her being raped. They said I abused her for taking her hunting, fishing, and camping. She became a person I didn't even know. She is mean and thinks of ways to make our lives hell. In 2013 was when we spoke for the last time. She is not that girl in the picture. That girl is gone and all I have left are her memories. Unfortunately I have two daughters and she has turned our second daughter against us too.
My youngest is going to be Married tomorrow to another girl. We supported her as much as we could. Raising girls is harder than anything in the world. I worked 12 hours a day for 35 years to make a living for us all, And I get repaid with this.
My son is a fine young man and he is a Nurse. He thinks that the oldest one has had some kind of mental break down. She makes things up and blames people for things they didn't do.

Kasi is my first daughter. She was my shadow for 13 years. What ever I did she did. She won the state of Idaho championship in 3D archery. She got to hunt elk, deer, and a ton of small game. We were very close. But that girl the one in the pictures above is gone.

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
I also have a Model 70 in .243...not sure how close our 3 SN#'s are

G1420XXX

Mine is G196xxx I got it in about 1985 I think.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Ron:

quote:

Originally posted by ZekeShikar:
Ya too bad all I have left of that girl is the memories.

Meaning what Ron? Did you lose a child too?

Zeke

quote:

After graduating high school she signed up for an extra year of high school as a foreign exchange student. I begged her not to do it, but that was her dream. So she went to Costa Rica. She was there a few months and her host family took her to a resort. While at the resort she was kidnapped and raped. When we found out about it she was on her way home. The Rotary Club was in charge of it. Well she got home and she was checked out by more doctors. She ended up with something I tried not to remember it but she couldn't have kids after that. She went off the deep end after that.
I didn't want her to go, I begged her not to go. She put her mother and I into fighting each other over letting her go. It was a sore spot with us. I absolutely said no and she went anyway.
She went to Chicago for a couple years after getting back. The people that she was with there told her that we had abused her for letting her go, and we were to blame for her being raped. They said I abused her for taking her hunting, fishing, and camping. She became a person I didn't even know. She is mean and thinks of ways to make our lives hell. In 2013 was when we spoke for the last time. She is not that girl in the picture. That girl is gone and all I have left are her memories. Unfortunately I have two daughters and she has turned our second daughter against us too.
My youngest is going to be Married tomorrow to another girl. We supported her as much as we could. Raising girls is harder than anything in the world. I worked 12 hours a day for 35 years to make a living for us all, And I get repaid with this.
My son is a fine young man and he is a Nurse. He thinks that the oldest one has had some kind of mental break down. She makes things up and blames people for things they didn't do.

Kasi is my first daughter. She was my shadow for 13 years. What ever I did she did. She won the state of Idaho championship in 3D archery. She got to hunt elk, deer, and a ton of small game. We were very close. But that girl the one in the pictures above is gone.

Idaho Ron, Sometimes life deals you a loosing hand, and the lose of one child is bad enough, but the lose of two is more than I could stand.

I'm sorry for your lose! the lose of a child is something that I don't believe I could take!


Please accept my, and my wife's sympathy not only for you and your wife but for the girls, and your son as well! Life handed you and your kids a hand from the bottom of the deck!

……………………………………………………. Mac

Great shooting Idaho Ron.
Proficiency is obviously your talent.

Ron, words fail me. I wish there were something someone could do to ease your loss. I'm so profoundly sorry.

I appreciate it guys. When someone talks about taking their kids hunting and fishing they think that once you get them into it that it. They are good to go. But we have schools that teach kids that guns are bad. Hunting is bad. Fishing is torture. Raising kids in this environment today is hell.
My youngest daughter got married to another girl. She wouldn't let me walk her in. She wouldn't let her mother help get her dressed and hair fixed.
She said kids don't do that any more. I wish I wouldn't have gone.

I'm sitting here with a great big lump in my throat. I haven't been on AR much for ages and it's great to see old faces in photos. I vividly remember the photos of your girl with deer (possibly with a 17rem?) so it's very sad to hear about your tribulations.

H4350 for the .243w. My son has shot varmints here in Australia, large boar and head shot feral camels. In South Africa all game from Dassies to Impala. Its a great cartridge to Hunt smaller game up to 100kg live weight.

My 243 came about thru a Winchester Model 100 My brother owned that blew into over 100 pieces. Yes he lived but I was afraid to shoot mine after that so took it to a gun shop to sell off and buy some thing.

The some thing was a used Remington 700 BDL 243 the shop owner recommended even telling me to take it home and shoot up a couple boxes of factory ammo.

I liked the light recoil so bought it, the shop owner gave me his recipe for reloads and seemed fine to me.
All I remember was the bullets were 100gr. round noise.

First deer I shot ran 200 yards before dieing and I had a good broad side shot too and the heart was jello.

Finished the season out with my old 94 30-30.

Had a car accident and was off work. Bought a bunch of bullets and powders per my Lyman reloading manual at the time.
shooting pumpkins and water jugs I settled on a 85gr Serria HPBT gsme king bullet.

I have shot a bunch of bucks with this bullet and IMR4350 powder. None have went even 10 yards most just drop right there. Is my favorite deer rifle as is my brothers winchester Model 70 dads Rugar 77 and a friends savage all use the 85gr. HPBT Game king Serria bullets.

I also own two 7mm-08's, One 308, One 300 win mag, 30-30, one 32 win special too.
Yet the 243 is my favorite all around rifle which I now have 2 of inhearting my dads.


Al

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Ron:
I appreciate it guys. When someone talks about taking their kids hunting and fishing they think that once you get them into it that it. They are good to go. But we have schools that teach kids that guns are bad. Hunting is bad. Fishing is torture. Raising kids in this environment today is hell.
My youngest daughter got married to another girl. She wouldn't let me walk her in. She wouldn't let her mother help get her dressed and hair fixed.
She said kids don't do that any more. I wish I wouldn't have gone.

They are young, yet. A couple decades later, and things may change. Maybe.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Ron:

quote:

Originally posted by ZekeShikar:
Ya too bad all I have left of that girl is the memories.

Meaning what Ron? Did you lose a child too?

Zeke

After graduating high school she signed up for an extra year of high school as a foreign exchange student. I begged her not to do it, but that was her dream. So she went to Costa Rica. She was there a few months and her host family took her to a resort. While at the resort she was kidnapped and raped. When we found out about it she was on her way home. The Rotary Club was in charge of it. Well she got home and she was checked out by more doctors. She ended up with something I tried not to remember it but she couldn't have kids after that. She went off the deep end after that.
I didn't want her to go, I begged her not to go. She put her mother and I into fighting each other over letting her go. It was a sore spot with us. I absolutely said no and she went anyway.
She went to Chicago for a couple years after getting back. The people that she was with there told her that we had abused her for letting her go, and we were to blame for her being raped. They said I abused her for taking her hunting, fishing, and camping. She became a person I didn't even know. She is mean and thinks of ways to make our lives hell. In 2013 was when we spoke for the last time. She is not that girl in the picture. That girl is gone and all I have left are her memories. Unfortunately I have two daughters and she has turned our second daughter against us too.
My youngest is going to be Married tomorrow to another girl. We supported her as much as we could. Raising girls is harder than anything in the world. I worked 12 hours a day for 35 years to make a living for us all, And I get repaid with this.
My son is a fine young man and he is a Nurse. He thinks that the oldest one has had some kind of mental break down. She makes things up and blames people for things they didn't do.

Kasi is my first daughter. She was my shadow for 13 years. What ever I did she did. She won the state of Idaho championship in 3D archery. She got to hunt elk, deer, and a ton of small game. We were very close. But that girl the one in the pictures above is gone.[/QUOTE]

Oh Ron, so sorry to bring up all the tough memories.
I'm truly sorry that she and y'all had to go through that and sorry that you're still living the nightmare of losing your sidekick.

I agree, daughters (I have 4) are a real challenge but so are the boys (I had 1, my first born)!

All my kids were married, with children and productive members of society. 2 years and 4 months ago, my son was killed in a bad fall during a high mountain adventure event.

Totally different than your loss but the pain is similar.

Zeke

i used to be a 243 fan, i've owned 3 or 4 of them, but a close cover deer gun, it is not. for about 30 years i handload everything, from the 20 vartarg to the 500 linebaugh. i haven't fired a factory round since then. it was during my remington phase when i "had to have" a 243. so i bought my ex-wife a rem m7 in 243. i also bought a rem m700 bdl in 243(the adl and the cdl were bought about year apart). since i was hunting close cover deer, the m7 was a 100gr hornady rn and the bdl was 105gr speer rn. i was disappointed to say the least. my ex wife shot a 10pt at about 30+/- yards and he ran about 100+/- yards until some guy shot him in the shoulder. i looked at the shot that my ex wife took and it was behind the shoulder entry and behind the shoulder exit wound. the buck was dead on his feet but the guy who had shot it was dead right there. no way i am blaming the guy. he killed it, so it was his.

2 or 3 days later, i shot a 6pt behind the shoulder,(25+/- yards) and he ran about 150+/- yards away. doe season, my ex wife had shot a doe about 20 yards(shoulder) and she ran about 150+/- yards too. i shot a doe at 40+/- yards(shoulder) and she ran 125+/- yards.

i tried nosler partitions, sierra psp, hornady psp, speer psp and finally barnes x bullets. every deer, whether it was behind the shoulder or shoulder shot, ran about 125 yards. the 85gr barnes x bullet was like shooting a pencil sized hole and he(7 pt) ran about 250 yards(behind the shoulder). this was at the point that i gave up on 243(about 5 years) and i sold them.

for hunting deer close up, the 7-08/7x57 and 140+gr are tops in my book. i'd even go to the 6.5 creedmoor with 120-140gr pills.

I saw CDNN has the Talo exclusive Ruger #1V in .243 with 1:7.7 twist. 26" barrel too. That would be nice for the modern bullets of 100gr+. And may take some of the 6mm creed moor advantage away

I like em cuz you can buy em cheap and rebarrel to .260 or 7mm-08.

Ron- I feel your pain. I lost my son 10 years ago today in a tragic car accident. Keep your hope up as you could some day see your girls again. I will never get so see my son or hug him ever again.
I still think of him every day.

My son shoots a .243 and has taken deer, antelope, kudu, bushbuck and a host of other African stuff. One of the PH's we had said he liked the .243 for eland... All were 100gr TSX bullets

quote:

Originally posted by Pegleg:
Ron- I feel your pain. I lost my son 10 years ago today in a tragic car accident. Keep your hope up as you could some day see your girls again. I will never get so see my son or hug him ever again.
I still think of him every day.

As the father of a son and a totally wonderful daughter, I can't imagine losing either one.

I wish you well and please accept my condolences.

No reply needed or wanted.

Forgive me, I didn't read all three pages. Someone else may have covered this. If you you shoot anything but a suckling pig behind the shoulder, they are for sure going to run a very long way. A pig only has a very small lobe of lung and liver and guts behind the shoulder. Not at all like a deer. Never liked a heart shot on a deer either with a gun.

My 243 Winchester reasoning began with a pile of trade wares, in that pile was a well used, but well taken care of pre-64 feather weight 243, also in that pile of goods were three old boxes of 100gr lathe turned Nosler Partitions, the old rifle had Weaver bases on it, I laughed and bought some Weaver rings, mounted a spare gloss 2-7 Leupold, promptly got some dies and WW brass, built a load that runs 3000 fps.

Longest shot so far is 55 yards, those old bullets dropped the few deer and one pig like they were hit with a lightning bolt, I'm a shoulder puncher, so that may help, I have no complaints or regrets with the little rifle.

Ive had small PG and HIll contry whitetail run a 100 yards shot with a 375, and most calibers, its not unusuald, I do try to use a gun that will leave me a blood trail..

I agree with the poster who said the 6mm nosler isn't a particularly good bullet to leave a blood trail. Nosler are my favorite bullet starting with 30 caliber..cup and core cheap bullets work well on small deer..

todays bullet are awesome for the most part, todays bad bullets that fail are an insight to the shooters ability to shoot 99.9% of the time. I have not had an actual bullet failure in 20 or more years best I recall...

If you want instant kills short of brain or spine shots, break both shoulders on most animals, they will mostly be dead by the time you get to them, if not they won't go anywhere.

AS I said in the beginning the .243 normally kills with authority, but you can bet your bippie that sooner or later you'll be whistleing who'd a thought it!!