My experience with the 243 goes back to 1965, when a hunting buddy started using one. The heaviest whitetail I ever saw killed was taken with a 243 The longest shot on a deer I ever witnessed, 465 yards, was with a 243. Yet, for many years, I considered it marginal for deer because I had seen several deer wounded and lost with the 243. To be honest, it was poor shooting and bad shot placement that caused the 243 to look bad, not the cartridge itself, with the hunters being the problem. I have used it with zero problems to take a number of deer. I've used the 85 grain Sierra HP, 90 and 95 Nolsers, and am currently using 95 grain SST's. I have used 100 grain bullets, but have always gotten better accuracy using the lighter weights.
