Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Anyone ever found the 243 lacking?

I've found the 7RM to be far more than needed on deer-sized game, with the 6mm's being about ideal. If hunting larger game like elk, moose, bear, then I'd prefer something .264" on up.

Different strokes for different folks...

Yep, I agree.

If I only hunted wide open areas, the 6mm carts or even smaller would probably get the nod quite often, but I don't. They will kill plain and simple. The majority of my hunting is in very thick areas, areas where a death run of a mere 25yds can be like finding a needle in a haystack when you don't get an exit. I've killed hundreds of big game animals and I can pretty much count on sparse trails when I shoot .257 cal or smaller when the cns is not struck, even with monos. With larger cals, I just get better blood trails and for me personally, shorter. It's not a question of if they will kill effectively, I know they will. I just prefer punching larger drains in them.

" Anyone ever found the 243 lacking" Not really but it does happen to certain people posting on the internet and some gunwriters ,everyone else who has one just goes and kills [bleep] with theirs. Probably unbelievable at this point but the vast majority who just kill their deer with a 243 use std c&c bullets factory loaded and bought at Wallyworld never thinking that would be held against them. Magnum Man

bingo! best post of the thread perhaps! the internet causes people to forget reality and replace it with speculation conservative enough to not upset the applecart of other posters.

Yea, like a twenty ga. for dove and quail.

Really big and tough Bastids should shoot a 458.

The deer I shoot with my 243 taste just like those I shoot with my 300 RUM.

I'm a hand loader and selected a 7-08 for my son when he started hunting and I would do it again. It's a snap to load up ammo that reduces recoil to .243 levels and then you can always load hotter loads later if you feel the need.

SCHMUCK!

Totally. Deer die every time I shoot them with a .223. If you cannot kill with a 24 or 25 maybe you cannot shoot

I've always hunted with an '06, or my 300 Savage. The damned heart doctor said I need to start being careful about the recoil, so I picked up a .243. Reports to follow this fall. I'll be getting a cantilever slug barrel for my 20 gauge too, as well as finally retiring my .54 cal. Hawkins for a .50.

I must admit I have only read the first three and the last five pages of this thread. I am under the impression the question is what caliber to buy in a Kimber Montana for me. If you are going to let beginners shoot a rifle in Alabama why do you want a Kimber Montana? Are not Kimbers light weight high end rifles? I would not choose a light weight high end rifle for a beginner. I think heavier rifles are inherently more accurate. The Savage 110 with the accutrigger and the such come to mind for a beginner. How far are the beginners going to carry this rifle? How big of animals are you going to hunt? Do you ever plan on using this Kimber for a Western Elk hunt? How much coyote hunting do you plan on? Why a Kimber? A .243 will top you out on Deer sized game, a 7 08 offers a bigger range of heavier bullets. A 243 would be an excellent coyote varmit rifle, a 7 08 not so much. If I was gonna buy a Kimber Montana I would buy a caliber to carry up a Mountain, knowing it was an adequate caliber to harvest anything on that Mountain, but thats just me. If I walked for miles calling coyotes three days a week in the winter I could understand a Kimber .243. I would think about a more economical rifle for the beginners and not get a Kimber for someone unless I knew how much they wanted to use it. Remember Kids are going to grow, and serious hunters learn to become proficient with shooting.

I'm a big .243/6mm Rem fan. I've shot alot of deer with alot of different calibers. Our bucks can be very heavy up here. Here's my 2 cents....

I grab my .243 most of the time if I'm thinking shots will be inside 250 yards. The one thing I've found though is on chest shots with the 80 TTSX or the 85 TSX is that you seldom see a reaction to the hit. Not even a flinch. The deer will just run away then stop and fall over. Blood trails were sometimes poor aswell, even in snow, with two tiny holes in and out. This usually isn't a big deal but I always dreaded the thought of this happening at last light on the edge of thick cover or a deep coulee. As much as I tried to tell myself to take out the shoulders, 40 year habits die hard and I kept putting them in the bread basket behind the shoulder. I've since switched to 100 gr Partitions and I now see a reaction to the hits and the exit holes are slightly better (bigger) too. Still can eat up to the hole though. Penetration is never an issue from any angle.

I really like what my 243 and the newer bonded bullets do on deer. Having said that, it's not capable of being a 'better' deer killer than anything bigger....cuz it ain't. If recoil is a factor in the equation, then it could make for better placement...which is it's own discussion. I buy into the bullet construction being more important, the lighter it gets. The deer that run on me when shot with any of my .358, 30, 45, or 284 cal rifles, will run about the same with the 243. They'll die right there, just the same, too. Depends on the placement and the mood of the deer. I've shot through 3 ribs, and near 20" of deer, and broken an off shoulder at 267 (lasered), with a 243 and an off the shelf bonded bullet. My bigger guns probably wouldn't have stopped under the hide like the 243 did, but the deer was DRT, so I'm not sure it mattered.

very well stated!