Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Realistic .243 range on deer?

Bbear, That's very good shooting. Rio7

Thanks, Rio7,
It's a Weatherby Vanguard I picked up after giving my 600 to my Grandson to grow into. Inexpensive Bushnell scope (I think it was $199.00). Bench with bags.

The realistic range of the 243 on deer has more to do with the shooter than it does with the cartridge.

, Iv'e given each of my grand kids a .243 2 got Howa's 2 got Bullberry's so far every one is happy, but I have 3 more coming up, hope they like shooting. Rio7

Hey Rio, need some help shooting a couple of those deer ? I can take out a five each year for you.

More if you have some place I can send the meat to.

My longest kill with a .243 was 640 meters (700 yd more or less). The largest animal I've shot at long range with a .243 was a large mature bull tahr at 400 metres. It worked but as a 'one gun man' I prefer a 6.5mm these days for a little more oomph, better bullet selection, and better twist rates in factory rifles (can't stand the 1:10 .243 standard)

I ended up holding off on the .243 for now, but it has nothing to do with the cartridge, just didn't end up with the Sako. I'm thinking my 7x57 needs to try the 120 Vmax on coyotes first.

For Texas deer, you can be confident at any range at which you can keep all of your bullets on a luncheon plate. Depending on where you are, that may be just about the size of a deer's chest, especially in areas where there are lots of deer. Although they may run a short distance with a chest shot, that is the one that has the most room for error. A Texas whitetail's neck may be about the size of your forearm.

I prefer to use the heavier bullets in standard cup and core designs (90 grains and up) but I think you can do well with lighter bullets if they are partitions, monometals or bonded.

It's still all about bullet placement, so to me the limitation is the maximum range at which you can reliably put that bullet where you want it to go - through the vitals. Any 6mm will be deadly at any range at which you can do that.

Now if you come across hogs, you'll probably want to shoot for the head...just sayin'