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I mean where you know for sure a larger caliber would have made a difference. I'm not talking about a deer never recovered so that exactly what went wrong isn't known for sure. I mean one that had a good shot on it that didn't anchor it quickly. Something that required a lot of tracking or a follow up shot where you could see that a larger caliber would have been better.

I'm not someone that thinks magnums are required for deer. I've hunted a few times with a 223 but never taken a deer with one. All my deer have been killed with a 270 or 7mm mag.

I'm about to buy a Kimber Montana. I am agonizing between the 243 and 7mm-08. I want a very light recoil since the kids and wife may use this rifle from time to time. I don't reload presently but am about to start. I have heard good things about the 80 grn Barnes TTSX in 243 and think that might be a great low recoiling choice. On the other hand I suppose the 7mm-08 could be loaded for low recoil and still shoot a heavier bullet.

I appreciate any insight into my indecision. There may not be a bad choice here. Recoil is a big issue but not at the cost of being less effective. Shots would all be under 200 yards.

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If I had other issues, like the only gun I have etc... I would not go 243. Just me.

Other than that I"ve never had a 243 in my hands where I needed something bigger. Its got the job done every time on deer. And pigs. And done it quite well. Quicker to find deer and more DRT than my 300 mags give.

And its been good to just this side of 600 yards.

For 200 yards and in, on non once in a lifetime deer, I wouldn't blink twice about the 243. With the wife and kids added, the 7x08 can have a bit sharper recoil, especially in the smaller rifles...


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Yes. I've hunted with a number of guys over the years (too many) who used the .243 Win. Their deer ran further and left less of a blood trail after being shot than deer shot with bigger guns. Now I am talking about driven deer. Being pushed gets their adrenaline up and they are normally running to some degree. These guys also used garden variety 100 grain cup and cores. But the same is also true for the guys running .270's, .308's, and .30-06's and their deer kills were less of a rodeo. I'll also add that I've not shot a single deer with a .243 and if I had it would have been with a premium bullet and I'm sure the outcome would have been better.

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Thanks. Yes, only deer and pigs. I'm not a trophy hunter, so more likely a 70 lb. doe than a 200 lb. buck. Even if I targeted something larger I have other larger caliber rifles. I just want this under 6 lb. all up rifle to be shootable for the whole family but have plenty of confidence that it is enough for deer and hogs. The hogs would be few and far between and I don't hunt varmints except when a coyote of opportunity presents itself.

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Originally Posted by R_H_Clark
I mean where you know for sure a larger caliber would have made a difference. I'm not talking about a deer never recovered so that exactly what went wrong isn't known for sure. I mean one that had a good shot on it that didn't anchor it quickly. Something that required a lot of tracking or a follow up shot where you could see that a larger caliber would have been better.


I have killed a bunch of caribou with both 6mm and 7mm-08. Overall the bigger caliber seems to put animals down just a bit quicker. However the difference is not huge on the smaller ungulates, certainly not something where you could blame a "failure to recover" on the cartridge itself.

I have cleaned up a few "messes" which others started, generally by shooting smaller calibers - perhaps even rimfires- and doing it poorly. The only caribou I've seen shot but not recovered happened with 300 magnum. Bullet path is everything.


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Originally Posted by R_H_Clark
I mean where you know for sure a larger caliber would have made a difference. I'm not talking about a deer never recovered so that exactly what went wrong isn't known for sure. I mean one that had a good shot on it that didn't anchor it quickly. Something that required a lot of tracking or a follow up shot where you could see that a larger caliber would have been better.

I'm not someone that thinks magnums are required for deer. I've hunted a few times with a 223 but never taken a deer with one. All my deer have been killed with a 270 or 7mm mag.

I'm about to buy a Kimber Montana. I am agonizing between the 243 and 7mm-08. I want a very light recoil since the kids and wife may use this rifle from time to time. I don't reload presently but am about to start. I have heard good things about the 80 grn Barnes TTSX in 243 and think that might be a great low recoiling choice. On the other hand I suppose the 7mm-08 could be loaded for low recoil and still shoot a heavier bullet.

I appreciate any insight into my indecision. There may not be a bad choice here. Recoil is a big issue but not at the cost of being less effective. Shots would all be under 200 yards.


Either one of those will work. The .243 is great if you understand its limitations. For a less-experienced shooter that may just shoot for center-vitals, this means memorizing the location of the animal before you pull the trigger. There won't be as much sign to go on, on average, from a deer hit through the lungs with a 6mm bullet versus a 7mm bullet, assuming similar bullet construction. I've used both chamberings. A well-built 6mm bullet in the vitals will kill reliably, but can mean a bit more work if things aren't anchored on the spot. Notice I say "can mean", as I've also had some easy tracking jobs with 6mm's. The only times a 6mm has really made my life hard was when I was running cup/cores and had to take an angling shot. Tracking was tough, but a good TSX, E-Tip, or Partition would have made a lot of difference too.

In a rifle as light as the Montana, I'd probably go 243win if you want the wife and kids to really enjoy it and get proficient with it. Today's bullets make it better than it used to be.


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For deer no, but I would go along with the thought that a larger caliber may leave a better blood trail. No way of proving this and the .243 usually either drops them quickly or requires only a short distance to find.

For bigger hogs it seems on the light side for chest shots but no issues when head shots are taken.

I think the .260 would be a great compromise especially for a hand loader, it would overlap both the 6&7mm versions some with bullets in the 80-140 grn. range.


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I agree. The 260 is the best option in my book, but it takes handloading and often a custom-built rifle to get the best out of it. Factory options for ammo and rifles ain't the best these days.


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Flip a coin.

Buy rifle in whichever cartridge wins the flip, or whichever cartridge you can find.

Go kill stuff.

It's really not complicated. Either will work fine, especially on smaller big game under 200 yards.

Mental masturbation about cartridge choice is a silly game.

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Originally Posted by prairie_goat
Flip a coin.

Buy rifle in whichever cartridge wins the flip, or whichever cartridge you can find.

Go kill stuff.

It's really not complicated. Either will work fine, especially on smaller big game under 200 yards.

Mental masturbation about cartridge choice is a silly game.




But it's great entertainment! grin

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The bullet you chose is more important than the head stamp on the cartridge

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The only thing I found it lacks is recoil. Otherwise it works great for my needs.


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I am leaning heavily toward 243 and I'm getting into reloading very soon. I already bought a press and bought 100, 80 grn. TTSX bullets yesterday. I figured get them while I can since things are so scarce. I already have a Sako 243 but haven't killed anything with it yet so the bullets won't be wasted even if I choose something else. The Sako is too nice to hunt in all weather, so I don't mind a second all weather 243.

What other bullets should I look at in 243? Do you think the Barnes 80 grn TTSX is a good choice?

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The 80gr TTSX is an excellent all-rounder for the 243. I also like the 95gr NBT and if you are going to be shooting factory rounds for a little bit longer, the Fed 95gr Fusion load has performed well on deer and hogs and has been accurate in several 243's that I've owned.


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I was hunting deer when the .243 was introduced. While I've never owned one, I've seen several of them used by hunters of various abilities. One of those was my 2nd wife who I loaded ammunition for. I did own and hunt exrtensively with the .240 Wheatherby Magnum.
I insist on on larger rounds for deer simply because I feel like I have an edge with larger rounds, say the .308 firing 165 gr. premium bullets. That is just a gut feeling.
I have no real proof of this. What I have seen is that the .243 works alot better than many, including myself, would think.
The one thing I am quite sure of is that if you shoot a .243 significantly better than a heavier, larger round, no matter what the big game, you are better off with a .243. I'll never forget reading an article by a guy named Les Bowman, whoi used to write for Guns and Ammo magazine and test products for Remington. His guided hunters did alot better on elk with either the .243 or the 6mm Remington than his hunters carrying the .338 Winchester Magnums. Over the years, I seen this sort of thing myself. E

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My experience is from several years ago when my brother had a 243. He was using cup and core bullets on blacktail which generally run 110-125lbs.
I was with him when we saw a buck at about 150-200 yards. He shot it and it showed no effect and began to run. He shot 4 more times without any effect. Finally the deer just tipped over. When we skinned it, 4 of his 5 shots had gone through the lungs and there wasn't anything from the diaphragm forward that wouldn't pass through a window screen.
After hunting with the rifle for 5 seasons, he got tired of the meat damage and marginal performance and got a 308.
Granted this was not with today's premium bullets but my personal take is that if you want a coyote rifle that can take an occasional deer or are a very experienced hunter who can choose your shots, a 243 is OK but it would never be my first choice for a new hunter who may not wait for an ideal shot presentation or does not have the experience to recognize a hit and track down the animal.


I am continually astounded at how quickly people make up their minds on little evidence or none at all.
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Originally Posted by Blacktailer
My experience is from several years ago when my brother had a 243. He was using cup and core bullets on blacktail which generally run 110-125lbs.
I was with him when we saw a buck at about 150-200 yards. He shot it and it showed no effect and began to run. He shot 4 more times without any effect. Finally the deer just tipped over. When we skinned it, 4 of his 5 shots had gone through the lungs and there wasn't anything from the diaphragm forward that wouldn't pass through a window screen.
After hunting with the rifle for 5 seasons, he got tired of the meat damage and marginal performance and got a 308.
Granted this was not with today's premium bullets but my personal take is that if you want a coyote rifle that can take an occasional deer or are a very experienced hunter who can choose your shots, a 243 is OK but it would never be my first choice for a new hunter who may not wait for an ideal shot presentation or does not have the experience to recognize a hit and track down the animal.


You say there wasn't anything left of that deer's vitals but call it marginal. Not trying to be an a$$,but how do you think a larger caliber would have helped stop that animal with shots in the same place?

Do you know of any other shots he made with the 243 that would have been more deadly with a larger caliber? That's what I'm really trying to find out. If a bullet was stopped by a shoulder socket or something along those lines where we can say with reasonable assurance that a larger caliber would have put the deer down.

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Originally Posted by R_H_Clark
I mean where you know for sure a larger caliber would have made a difference. Nope

I'm not talking about a deer never recovered so that exactly what went wrong isn't known for sure. I mean one that had a good shot on it that didn't anchor it quickly. Something that required a lot of tracking or a follow up shot where you could see that a larger caliber would have been better. Nope

I'm not someone that thinks magnums are required for deer. I've hunted a few times with a 223 but never taken a deer with one. All my deer have been killed with a 270 or 7mm mag.

I'm about to buy a Kimber Montana. I am agonizing between the 243 and 7mm-08. I want a very light recoil since the kids and wife may use this rifle from time to time. I don't reload presently but am about to start. I have heard good things about the 80 grn Barnes TTSX in 243 and think that might be a great low recoiling choice. On the other hand I suppose the 7mm-08 could be loaded for low recoil and still shoot a heavier bullet.

I appreciate any insight into my indecision. There may not be a bad choice here. Recoil is a big issue but not at the cost of being less effective. Shots would all be under 200 yards.


I bought .243's for wife and kids a long time ago in the 70's and 80's. I had used a 6MM a couple of times before that. We haven't had any poor performance issues. The 7mm-08 wasn't commonly available then.

Were I planning to use it only on deer starting today, I would likely get a 7mm-08 and handload for reduced recoil.

Reading gun books had me yearning for a .260 or 7mm-08. I seem to have outgrown that. I just bought an all matching Swede carbine in 6.5x55 though. I had a 7x57 before that but gave it away.

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In regards to the recoil issue, this past season I helped a female friend of mine get her first deer. She tasked me with finding her a rifle before the season started. She had shot a friend's 270 and didn't like the recoil so I found her a 243. She shot it a few times before the season and loved it because it didn't kick. When the deer came out and wouldn't get closer than 200yds I was glad she was concentrating on the shot and not worrying about the recoil that was coming. She made a perfect shot right behind the shoulder. The deer ran about 30 yds and collapsed. This was with Win PPs.


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Yes, when judged against larger calibers, I have found the .243 lacking, especially when used on game at ranges over 200 yards.. But it has given less than fine performance on some closer shots.. At other times it has been fine..
When there is a poor blood trail, or animals remain mobile longer than they would when hit with a larger caliber, I call it marginal performance..


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