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

Seems poachers like flashlights also...

Those guys, when asked what they're using, they'll reply in millions of candle power. Their rifle will be a .22 WMR.

DF

I've taken a deer and several hogs with the .223 using 55 grain TSXs. They seem to work as well as anything else I've shot them with. One went through both shoulder blades on a hog, a shot I've seen stop a Remington 405 grain SP out of a 45/70.

I do find myself waiting for an ideal shot with the .223 when I'd take a shot requiring more penetration with a .260 or up.

(I've not shot anything with a .243, so I can't comment on it.)

precisely so, and i personally don't use those while i'm shooting deer either...

I've killed hundreds of deer with a 223 and have seen other hundreds killed with a 22-250. So my answer is yes they kill deer but not as well as a 243 which I've also killed plenty and seen plenty more killed with. No the 243 is in no danger of being replaced but I would agree that with better bullets performance is enhanced. Bullet choice is another topic that is always a hard choice because its hard to find that one bullet that does everything esp when its on the small side. For example if I were to shoot directly into shoulders I'd prefer a tsx or nos pt but with that same bullet move back 4" and youre going to have a blood trail to follow and prob not a very big one. Not saying the animal wont die or be found but it will run most of the time. I have never used premium bullets on deer out of a 22 cal but have used many other types. Most of my deer were killed with 55 nos solid base or 55 hdy sp. I don't really know why you would want to hunt seiously with a 223 when there are better tools. That being said the bulk of my rifles are in 22 or less and 30 cal. With a few 7-08s 7 rem mags and a 7stw. I'm not a 243 or 270 fan either....whoa I just bashed them both in the same sentence. I hope I don't get removed from the fire.

I am always amazed when I hear of a hunter that has killed hundreds of deer and or seen hundreds more....now I am not judging or disputing....but unless there is special circumstances, I just can't wrap my head around how that occurs in a lifetime that is not that long........again....that is just me and I live and hunt in NH.

Damage hunts.

I should have known that was coming. I grew up on an apple orchard in WV. My uncle owned another orchard right down the road and all my relatives and friends were big (for the area) farmers. We were issued permits by the hundred. Every evening after school I hunted (shot) deer. Just for the record these deer were not shot and picked out of the fields and put in piles or holes either. (which was done on many neighboring properties)
It was a great oppurtunity for some practice. My dad wasnt that interested in shooting them but myself and my uncle had a blast. He taught me how to reload and was big into shooting. We would see them at 100 yards and drive the truck to an even 300 or whatever we felt like depending on what we were shooting or just felt like. A few times we would take our big guns and move to an even 500. Those were the good old days. I would shoot them with my 7stw or he would get them with his 700 classic in 264 win mag. Both topped with the old 6.5-20 vari x iiis. But most of them died to my 223 and his 22-250 and his old tang safety ruger varmint in 243. good times indeed.

Depends on where you live too. Some states have very liberal tags/bag limits.

I just get upset when I see results and opinions drawn from....that one time this happened or that one deer I shot 2 seasons ago. I see the same thing with broadheads and archery tackle. I have buddies that won't use this or that or swear by this or that all because of that one experience.

Here in East Haddam, I see no problem with using a 223 on the local white tails. Thou I don't think the 243 is going away anytime soon.

Hey man....I hope you didn't think I was ripping on you...not the case. I specifically made comment on special circumstance and that sure as hell qualifies! People have farms and orchards and deer are crop busters...I get it. In NH we have neither liberal bag limits, nor long seasons and I have not heard of many situations that called for special permits....not saying it doesn't happen here or elsewhere....I know it does....but I have not been a part of such an adventure or know first hand of anyone that has. That is all I was saying.

That said, I have heard some stories or inflated egos of some Klondikes with the whack em and stack em going on in their dream scape!

And I'm always amazed when people who kill less deer in a lifetime than some 12 year olds kill in a single year where I'm from, give pointed opinions on what is and what isn't capable. If you've only killed ten or twenty deer in your lifetime you don't have much killing experience. Not a dig or slam but if I were a mechanic and only had worked on ten cars I wouldn't have much mechanicing experience.

I grew up and live in a state where the limit is 3 deer a day, every day, for nearly 4 straight months. That isn't say just because someone has killed a hundred deer that they know the first thing about guns, shooting, equipment, etc. I worked crop damage with guys whose ballistic knowledge could fit in a teacup. Those same dudes might shoot ten or twenty deer in a day. I eventually came to the conclusion that there is a difference between killing one deer 20 times, and killing 20 deer.


Between our seasons and crop damage, I can't think of a cartridge I use that I don't have at least 25 deer on.....


Now having done it I don't quite agree with predmaster on the 223. Of course it's doesn't damage as mush tissue as a 243 with good bullets but it damages enough. Way more then an arrow and I would rather kill deer with a the right bullet out of a 223 than an 85gr TSX from a 243......

Just so we're clear fatjack34, I wasn't referencing you with the above....

Hell, I'd kill 4 a year in Alaska and see another 10 killed. Florida allowed 2 a day and where I'm at now the limit is 3 doe a day.

The 243 has earned it's stripes, and is a classic.

It will outlive all of us, and then some.

Can't argue with that Master Guns

260 replaced my 243 and 708, I like a tweener.....

I am giving the .223 a go this year. I love my .250 Savage and I do have a big boy 9.3..... But I love the reports from Steelie and Ingwe and others.

So what your saying is the 223 will replace the 243 when it gets the Testicular Fortitude to climb up the 243's Chevrons and take it.