Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What would be a nice upgrade in caliber for my .243?

Hi guys the first rifle I ever bought is a 243 and this is my all-around rifle, I use it for everything, but I'm thinking about upgrading caliber, no I don't need nothing for big game, I just need a good deer caliber. Any suggestions will be very appreciated. Thank you in advance.

.308(Win) or .338(Fed)

IMO 6.5 ain’t much of a jump from 6mm.

358 Winchester

Hard to go wrong with a 7mm-08 or .308 there.

7mm-08
great for deer and you can go up 20-40 grains in bullet for a deer load
great factory ammo also

If you don't reload or plan to, a 308 would be a good choice.

Thanks, that is how I feel about the 6.5 Creedmoor. 338? Interesting I will look into that round. Thanks.

Right, I dont reload and the .308 sounds good, from my understanding it's easier to find .308 than 7mm-08 also.

Sell the 243 and get a 223 AND 7mm-08 or 6.5 CM.

7mm-08 vs 308... does 308 has more selection and prices ?

^^^ this..... a good .223 for most of your gunning.
The Creedmoor has a ton of really good factory ammo and is all you’d need.

.270 Winchester

Yep, then id buy a good ol 30-06 to top it off.

You already have a good deer "caliber".

That's your answer.

I too suggest the 308 for your step up. Its easy to shoot well, wads of factory loads out there-from varmints to Bison! Bison? Yep, I have a hunting buddy out here who uses one rifle, a Browning BLR he bought in 1970. He uses nothing but the 150 pointed Corlokt for everything. He has killed many mule deer/ antelope, and elk. He drew a tag for a cow buffalo ( Bison) in the henry Mountains. A very tough hunt for very wild buffalo. He finally shot her around 250yds, got complete penetration side on. Big one inch "rope" of blood poured out for feet he said. She wobbled, fell over!

Now, what kind of hunting you do most will determine if a heavy barreled varmint rifle and big scope (box stand ,long shots) works for you ( Mod 700 SPS Varmint, etc.) or a lighter, more of a Mountain Rifle type, i.e. Kimber 84M, etc. I used a .308 Mod 70 FWT 80's model and the 165 NBT for a big Axis buck at 230yds once, from a kneeling position and 4x scope. It was a good compromise rifle model! Good luck to you Pard, and let us know what you decided on!

+1

270, 280, 30-06, All great

Listen to these guys.

Any time someone asks a question like this I like to refer them to midwayusa.com. Shop the Ammunition/Rifle Ammunition offerings and show all 176 types. The number of offerings for each cartridge is shown to the right of the cartridge name. Here is a sampling:

60 = .243 Win
69 = 6.5 Creedmoor
3 = 6.5 PRC
64 = .270 Win
17 = .280 Rem
8 = .280 Rem Ackley Improved
31 = 7mm-08
67 = 7mm Rem Mag
158 = .308 Win
123 = .30-06
82 = .300 Win Mag
2 = 300 PRC
5 = .338 Federal
25 = .338 Win Mag
2 = .358 Win
44 = .45-70 Government

My suggestion would be to choose a cartridge based on your wants and needs as well as availability and cost of ammo and/or components.

If you reload or plan to do so, ammo costs are much less of a concern but you should still look into the cost, variety and availability of components - especially cartridge cases since they are the only unique component for a particular cartridge. Prices for cases can vary from under $0.50 each to over $2.00 each.

You say you don’t need a “big game” rifle. Do you plan to hunt hogs or bear as well as deer?

What about range of shots? A .243 is fine for lots of things but factory rifles are generally not twisted for heavy-for-caliber, high B.C. bullets. If you want to start stretching your range past 350-400 yards a good place to start is with the 6.5 Creedmoor – whether you plan to purchase factory ammo or reload. A .243 Win launching a 95 grain Hornady SST at 3185fps (Hornady ammo spec) delivers 992 foot-lbs energy at 400 yards. A 6.5 Creedmoor launching a Hornady 143g ELD-X at 2700fps (Hornady ammo spec) delivers 990 foot-lbs energy at 750 yards. At 750 yards the .243 will have 57” of drift in a 10mph crosswind, and less than half the energy of the 6.5CM, while the 6.5CM will drift only 35”. Another advantage of the 6.5CM is that recoil is only marginally greater than the .243 Win you already have. As you go larger in caliber and heavier in bullet weight, recoil will increase accordingly.

The ballistics of the 6.5CM, coupled with ammo and component availability are reasons I purchased one even though I have a .243 Win, .257 Roberts, 6.5-06AI and a slew of rifles in .280 Rem and larger. For Daughter #1 I purchased a lefty .270 Win and handload 150g Nosler bullets. That handload beats the 6.5CM some but not by enough to justify the cost of factory ammo if I didn’t reload for her.

While the 6.5CM was originally developed primarily for target competition but finds wide usage for hunting, the new (2019) 6.5PRC was developed for hunting but has good application for target competition. Factory rifle and ammo options are limited at the moment, although what is available is pretty good and more and more manufacturers are supporting it. I believe it will be hugely popular in years to come as it balances performance with barrel life. As with the 6.5CM, the SAAMI spec is properly twisted for heavy-for-caliber, high B.C. bullets and it adds about 250fps to what the 6.5CM can do.

Comparing Hornady factory loads for the .243 Win, 6.5CM and 6.5PRC at 500 yards with a 200 yard zero:
.243Win/95g SST = 1950fps, 802ft-lbs energy, -38.4” drop, 22.2” drift
6.5CM/143g ELD-X = 2030fps, 1308ft-lbs energy, -44.4” drop, 14.4” drift
6.5PRC/143g ELD-X = 2248fps, 1604 ft-lbs energy, -36.2” drop, 12,6” drift

A .308 Win and .30-06 are never wrong in my estimation. If you want a lot of fun, it is hard to beat lever actions like the Marlins, especially the .45-70. Standard factory loads for the .45-70 tend to be pretty mild in recoil in spite of the heavy bullets. As they say, the .45-70 can be loaded “from mild to wild” and factory options for Marlins range from trapdoor and cowboy loads to loads suitable for Cape Buffalo and grizzly bears. My subsonic 350g handloads for my .45-70 are among the most fun-to-shoot loads I have – even my daughters love them and they are very inexpensive to build.