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

My friend and I have whatever the factory Remington barrels are. 1 in 9 1/4 I think.

Rem claims to be 1:9.125". Seems to be about right. I did a bunch of rough measures that came out just proud of 9" in one. I've shot a 1:10 quite a bit, and it stabilized 95 SST's just fine.

over 100 deer by age 18? I'm curious how you could manage the logistics of that. If true, that is a lot of deer for a teen to handle[/quote]

Doe culling operation. Most were taken when I was first starting out. We hunted on a 12,000 acre ranch.

Bbear,
Can't imagine a better scenario for getting a yute accustomed to shooting deer. That's a lot of learning in a short period of time that most youngsters aren't afforded.

Doe culling operation. Most were taken when I was first starting out. We hunted on a 12,000 acre ranch.
[/quote]
And thats not even a lot of deer really when culling or simply meeting quotas is the need... 16,000 acre ranch I used to guy on out west, we had to take over 300 deer a year IIRC...

Know a 75 yr old women hunter that has a ranch west of us that culls 45 to 50 does a week on 25000 acres. and gives them to the church, to give to those that are needy. Rio7

Rio, that's pretty cool.
I'd love to give her a hand sometime - though she seems to do quite well on her own.

RIO7,

She sounds like a dedicated "Hunters for the Hungry" heroine. = I know a lady in another State that culled over 120 WT for HFTH in a single year.
(One of the officers of the local chapter took her to his gun room & said, "Take your pick, Darlin'. - You're my hero." = She picked an "old-school" Model 740 with a 15 round police magazine, btw.)

yours, tex

So he doesn't like the .243 because its a combination varmint/medium game round.
But loves the 257, which was invented to be exactly that.

The OP is saying goodbye .243 I am saying hello to another .243!

Monday I will get back home and pickup my new Fieldcraft .243 that is sitting at my local FFL with it's 1 in 7 twist and I cant wait to do some loading for it.. This will be my new predator / whitetail gun for the next few years. Cant wait for deer season so I plan to try some 90 gr etips on pigs next moth.

I ordered the 6CM, because that's all they had with the 21" barrel in stock where I bought it. Would've gone for the .243 if that's what they had instead. That 1-7 ought to handle even the long Bergers. Too bad you can't use them.

A cheap shot, hmmmmmm. I haven't made a bad hit on a deer since I was in my 20's. Feral hogs, they are a different story.

I like the 6CM far better than the 243, it gets rid of the short neck , the very sloped shoulder and is capable of using the long but still skinny high BC bullets. And most will come with a proper twist. No matter, I still would not take any shot with one that I wouldn't take with a 22-250 loaded with proper bullets.

Combination guns are compromises, the 243 being a lot of gun for varmints generally and small enough to give spotty performance at times. The 257 is 20% more gun than the 243. I think the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts were developed as medium game rounds first and as varmint rifles as a second job not the other way around.

I agree Rick, for "varmints" the 243 really IS a bit much. For "predators", its the cat's meow,. ha.

I owned a 243 for a couple years. I found it inadequate for deer, not any better than a good 22 centerfire for coyotes and way to big for PDs. Sold it many years ago and won’t own another.

I am getting my Model 70 pre 64 243 featherweight ready for the deer woods this year. I am putting on it a VX5 2-10x42 and will handload 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips for it. I think I will be alright with this combo.

I will be using this gun out here as well as in Kansas and PA so I will be trying out the Bergers, I found this one with the 21 inch barrel on centerfire guns for $1507 shipped...

That is the bullet I liked the best in my 6MM's, still I stopped several in deer and only used them for neck or head shots on feral hogs. In fact I found that was the best way to use the 243 CNS hits.

For a good many years, I thought the 243 was a poor choice for deer. Then I realized that I was judging it on the people using it, not on the cartridge itself. Too often a 243 is the choice of a beginner, who often has trouble hitting the right spot, which results in either a wounded deer, or a lost one. In the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, it's as good a choice as a 257 Roberts or a 250 Savage. I like a bullet of at least 90 grains, preferably heavier for deer. I've not killed as many deer with as most of claim, but I've killed enough to know it will do the job very nicely.

Loaded with bullets between 55-75 grains, it's a coyote killer supreme. I shoot the 58 grain VMax at about 3775, and it's better than anything my 22-250 spits out.