Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Goodbye 243 I'm done

The 243 certainly has it's place, and it's here to stay. The bob is a less than exciting cartridge that has always had a small following "mostly for the name imo" for the last 40-50 yrs. It's never appealed to me more than a passing thought.

The Roberts is a neat round, Remington in their usual way screwed it just like they did the 244 and 280. There were other factors like the common use of 93, 95 and 96 Mausers to build them on. Winchester should have come out with the 257AI instead of the 243 but Warren Page and Charles Askins were singing the praises of the 6mm bore, the rest is history. There was a big interest in dual purpose rifles then, more so than now also.

My family had terrible experiences with the 243 shooting 100gr cup and core bullets but no more deer needing multiple shots or lost when I started loading 100gr Nosler Partitions. It really doesn't take much to kill whitetail deer but for some reason we were jinxed and all swore we would not have another. Other than shooting heavier bullets the 257 Roberts and the 243 should be able to down deer equally but I'll have nothing to do with another 243. But I would gladly hunt with a 250 /300, 250AI or a 257 Roberts. Just doesn't make sense but I don't want any dealings with the 243.

I am not a fan of anything 243 or 25 caliber. I will take a 22-250, skip the next two calibers and jump to a 6.5.

My boys both have 243's which they like.
And I once had. Faux 257 Roberts LVSF, shot lights out but could not warm up to the cartridge and was never impressed with it on deer.

Yeah.......

Yeah, the Creed may be, but the Roberts isn't.

I like the 243 and my 257. I'm also fond of my 6mm Rem as well as the 240 Weatherby. All are great rounds. The 243 is super for pronghorn, the 6 mm ideal for whitetail, and 240 does wonders on mule deer. The 257 Weatherby is being saved for bighorn.

You said a 243 wouldn't touch your 22-250, I was just disagreeing with you.

Maybe we need a 2018, game killed with the 243 thread.

Counts me out, my 243 is a 6mm.

Game killed with the .243 would out number game killed with the .257, as there are a lot more .243s hunted with than .257s, must be a reason for that. Rio7

I'll be honest, never really gave the 243 chance, first rifle was a model 7 and after some issues with corelokts my dad moved me up to a 270. That being said, had the 243 tuned after it sat around for years and some custom loads done with sierra gamekings. It's been heck on whitetail ever since. I rarely take it out but allow others to use it on hunts and its done well.

I picked up a used ruger m77 6mm, killed several deer with it and loved it...but I wasn't reloading at the time and ammo was hard to find so let it go. I'd like to give a 257 roberts a try and though about picking up a kimber hunter in it. I reload now so its not an issue.

Just getting started w 243 win for deer (2016)
Seems to work, changed to diff bullet.........see how it does this yr (let em all walk last yr)

Buddy has three 760's in .35 rem, told me to come over and pick one out.
Got the $ but dunno if I need another deer rifle (have a few others).
Like the .35 rem though.
Been blasting chucks w .243 win of some sort for over 30 yrs. Has more HP than needed............but I likes it!
Did not purchase my #1 .243 for deer, was snagged to rebarrel to .35 rem.
But it shot very well...........so I ran it.
Proly leave as is and look for another one to redo.

Having seen recovered bullets a lot in my years I"d trust a core lokt before I'd trust a game king again. YMMV

Well the 243 is a flat shooting varmint gun for sure but it's case design and short neck make it hard on barrels, it does burn more powder also. I may have gone a bit far with the "can't touch" comment. I do believe that with lighter bullets the 22-250 can get to 4000fps also.

And I pointed out those reasons.

Without a doubt but I'll bet 243 sales are down since the Creed has made it's debut.

I still have one 243 though it's days are numbered. However poor game bullet performance on deer is the main reason I'm done with it and of course poor barrel life. In the last 3 years I took 5 deer with this 243. I used the 95 gr. Ballistic Tip, 100 grain Nosler solid base and the 85 grain Nosler Partition. All were hit well solidly in the chest, 2 went down and got back up to run a ways. The only bullet that left any blood to follow was the Solid base. The Partition always exited but it was a small exit hole. A doe shot with the Ballistic Tip was the only one to drop on the spot. There is no comparison between the 243 and either my 7x57or my 308, they are both much better at bringing hogs and deer right down and if a blood trail is needed much more likely to provide one. Neither kicks much and the rifles are just as light.

That is one fine rifle! I always like the RSI models.

Would be interesting to know how many hunters have burned out a .243 barrel, I would bet it's damn few. Rio7