Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Is The 243 Winchester in Danger of Being Replaced by the 223 Remington

No.

No problem, but he did not provide any specifics. Possibly Vermont, but not NH, CT, or ME. For big game that is.

It has been a long time since I read that book. IIRC, his problem was with a .220 Swift and 45 grain cup-and-core bullets at 4100 fps that that didn't survive impact with game.

As I remember the book, Ruark spent most of the hunt drunk, and shot a warthog in the azz with a Swift. Strangely, it didn't work. Quite the role model for Savage 99 to get his rifle advice from.

I prefer personal experience. My experience has shown that the 223 with good bullets works just fine for deer.

No

prairie goat,
It's been so long since I read it that I can't remember. Did he just try it that one time or were there several failures with that rifle?

Having shot stuff with both I lean toward the .243. The .223 will do it most of the time but when its a long shot late in the day the .243 just seems to me to be more sensible.

A 220 Swift would be better than a .223.

Bullsheet

.22 cf are ok in NH, ME, .... MA is just weird! I should have clarified.

No need to clarify to anyone around here!

The .22cf may be legal, but I don't see it replacing the .243 anytime soon.

George

Thanks for those details. It has been a while since I checked. Anyway, I have only run .22 CF for yotes and chucks. .22 is not on my radar for much else.

Hey Geo! Long time pal. Hopefully today finds you well and safe! 25 years working hand in hand with LEO's has proven time and again, that you folks are truly our last line of defense! Hats off!

Back to the topic.....243 is a proven classic but I think the tide is turning because of the flood of marketing and endless choices in 223.

As for New England....ONLY CT requires .243 and above. MA and RI are shotgun/ML only and do not count. ME, NH, VT....center fire only is the restriction for caliber, which is inclusive of .22 cf's and actually, ME may still allow .22 magnum rim fire!

I debated breaking out the .223 Montana last year but couldn't bring myself to do it. I did hunt the .260.....baby steps for a guy who likes his .358s.

Time will tell!

BTW, if you check the fine print you'll find that nothing other than the '06 with 180s is allowed north of the Notch (at least that's what I keep telling Bob).

George

The 243 also enjoys new and better bullets.I would have no problem shooting a deer with a 223 but I have a 243 so dont bother.

It's been some time since I read it. I'm not around my copy of the book right now; I'll sure look it up tomorrow.

I've often thought about grabbing my swift out of the safe to take to the deer woods and have also thought about getting a .223 for deer, I come to my senses as always when I have to dig around my 30's, 270, 6.5's, 25's, and 6mm cals. There are far too many mild recoiling cals to concider before I choose a 22. I'm sure their adequate for deer but I cringe thinking about drawing down on a 200+ lbs 170 in. class whitetail with a 22. Just me and it may never happen but if it does I plan to be holding a .243 or larger tube in my hands.

Only on 24hrcampfire....and only to pimp for Barnes.

Understand that other than 1 post by a author of a thread telling of his failure to cleanly kill his deer with 223 loads he got at whatevermart you won't hear of the failures. With the ridicule and countless people telling him he is a dumbass for using this load or that he is not gonna owe up to a failure again.So are all the glowing reports adequately countered with factual failures? I have both and like the 243 on deer and antelope and will keep using the 223 for the varmints. magnum Man

Debates over cartridge diameters that can kill a deer have been ongoing since the thirty caliber smokeless cartridges came out. Think of the 45/70 versus 30-30.

When the 243 came out in the 1950's it was a commercial success but hunters were skeptical. Now with todays improved bullets that argument has been settled.

Will the 243 Winchester with a 100 grain NP bullet kill a Deer BETTER than a .223 Remington with a 60 grain Nosler Partition bullet?

I don't know how good a deer cartridge the 223 is. I'd need to hear more actual examples by hunters who have used them. Anyone can have an opinion. However because we hunt with a 243 doesn't mean that you can say that the 223 won't work.

An older friend of mine approaching 70 years of age made the statement that with some of the new bullets today he believes his 243 will kill as effectively the 270 he's hunted with for more than 30 years. Maybe this thread should be will the 243 replace the 270 in the lower 48?

As far as the 223 being used to kill deer more than the 243......I really don't believe the idea of that is too far fetched by any means. Look on any survival websight and the 223 is the deer rifle of choice....Not to mention I think it is probably one of the number one selling rifles in the united states today and I'm pretty sure most who are buying a 223 are not preparing for varmint season.

Shod