Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .243 Win vs. .240 Weatherby

The way I look at the 300 yd range and in comparison to cars is along the lines of which car will take you to the grocery store better the Hugo or the Ferrari....

Dober

I used to shoot goats of cliffs at 500 yards with my .240 Weatherby. I don't think I would have tried it with a .243 but that does not mean it would not work.

For 300 yard shooting, either would do and the .243 would be cheaper to shoot. I always found .243's obnoxiously loud with 22 inch barrels and preferred 24 inch tubes. The 26 inch barrel on my Mark V made it pleasant to shoot in the full size 9 lug action.

JW

AGW-4 me, the 6/06 was instant love, I totally love the Big 6's.

Dober

Not TC, but he's giving praise to the Roy, while saying the 6/06 is smarter/easier.

I was just joking around a little, based on the point I was trying to get across, that the 240 Wby works fine, but it is a belted case that approximately duplicates 30-06 case capacity... so I was just making a little joke...when making a dumb mistake, the reference is to slapping your forehead with the palm of your hand as if to say..."Now why did I go and do that?"

A true fan of the Simpsons would know what I was referring to...

TC

I run a 6mm Rem and 240 Weatherby. For the heavier slugs (95+ gr) I'll pack the 240. Eighty to 90 grain slugs the 6mm.

Last week's effort at load tuning for the 240. Bottom right is the first of 5 rds. Group can be completely obscured by a nickel.

I have to say humbly that after all this discussion and thought on the matter, the 240 Wby round is starting to appeal to the iconoclast in me...and with the right twist...why not?

After all, who among us is strong enough to resist the lure of that venturi shoulder.

TC

What are the maximum ranges for each? For Deer/ Hog hunting.

What type of ammo is recommended for these two calibers?

Hehehe... this is the first time I've ever felt compelled to check out the Simpsons. It seems they might illuminate the reason for many of my rifle purchases

Mark,
I laid a .240 Wby and a 6mm/06 side by side on the bench once and put them over my Oehler 35P. The 6mm/06 was 150-200fps faster with like bullet weights. In Oz we call it a "Ball Tearer"

JW

For what you described, the 243 has the advantage. WAY cheaper to shoot and there won't be a hill of beans between them to 300yds. I've owned both. I have zero use for the 243, but with your parameters it is the one to pick.

If you're hung up on the 6mm the 6mm Rem is a better choice IMHO. It has the cost benefits of the 243 and gets close enough to the big 6mm's. Blows me away how if this cartridge was introduced in a rifle with the proper twist we wouldn't be having this discussion. The 6mm Rem peepees all over the 243.

If you're not hung up on 6mm anything that starts with .25 will serve you better for the critters you mentioned.

At the outset, I'm not too shot with the 24s for big game. That said, of them all I'd sure pick the 240 Weatherby. I've had the other two here, prefer the 6mm Rem to .243, but the Wby is a big leap in performance.

I no longer own a a 24 of any kind, but I'm still impressed with my first experience with the .240, almost 30 years ago. It was amazingly easy, easier than any other rifle that I had used, to ring the gongs on a metallic silhouette range to 500 meters, no sight changes. Some might argue the 24-06 is a better deal than the Weatherby, and they might be right in terms of components, etc., assuming the shooter is a die hard gun nut and handloader.