Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Effective range of .243 for deer?

In General, what is the effective range for deer with a .243 rifle scoped with a 2X post scope?

Go about with a more powerful scope?

Here is the rig as it sits right now,
Weaver 2X on a 1955 Model 70 Featherweight:

Getting a more powerful scope is entirely up to you and your eyesight....I prefer more power but only because my eyes tell me so.....That's a beautiful rifle right there bushy.....You've got a great collection....I want to get a 270 fwt if you know of anyone selling one in perfect condition......Has to have the alum butt plate too......Your 243 will knock the hell out of a deer way out there if that makes you feel any better. Watch some of John Burns videos of him shooting antelope with his.....

I've taken several at 300 or so yards with a 4 power and a rest...

the old 3 x 9 has proven to be a good match for the caliber..

I have a leupy Vari-X 3 duplex 4x14 on mine. It'e a verry accurate gun, and i use it for coyotes, chucks as well as deer. When the targets get small and distant you may want a little more power as well as a finer reticle.

When the world was young, and my eyes 20/10, I use to kill ground squirrels out to 350 yards with a 3-9 x 40 Leupold scope. Now I mount gigantic 6-24 x 50 scopes, some with 30mm tubes, and try to keep the line of my trifocal spectacles out of the picture as I peer through the sweat and forehead grease smear on the lens to aim. Still, I seldom go above 14 power on a target the size of a coffee mug, so a 3-9 should work for deer.

The .243 ought to do the job as far as you can see, as long as you ain't using uncle Howdy's handloads with a 55 grain varmint bullet.

Carmichial used to say std. primer, 42 grains of IMR 4350 under a 100 grain bullet at about 3000 would be fine. My choice is the 100 NP for deer size game and 70 sierras at a little over 3400 for coyote. My lightweight .243 prints the 70s at zero and the 100s exactly 3" high @ 100, without an adjustment. I use a 3-9 on mine, but whatever scope you are comfortable with will be ok. I try not to go too big so as not to overpower the portability. If I needed a new scope, i would be tempted to put an adjustment knob on it. jack

There was a time when I would have argued that your setup is more than adequate. However, I too have been spoiled by variable scopes. My .243 wears a Leupy 3-9x40...I have taken several deer out to 250 yds with it. Guess it all boils down to what you are comfortable with. JMHO. Good luck!

Your scope may be a determining factor in effective accuracy at longer ranges. I believe the parallax setting on a 2 power weiver is set at 50 yds. This would most likely limit effective accuracy to 300 yds or less. A scope with a parralax setting of 150 yds would most likely be effective on an accurate rifle to 500 yds.

If your interested in stalking to within 300 yds I wouldn't change a thing and I certainly wouldn't put a modern scope on a beuitiful classic like the one you have. An older 6 or 8 power weiver would set real nice atop that rifle if your interested in longer ranges. If not, then it couldn't be more perfect exactly as shee is. NICE RIFLE!

SHOD

You're likely to be just fine w/ that scope, assuming you're like me and find >300 yd shot opportunities to be as rare as hen's teeth.

I'm cobbling a 257 Bob for my 9 yo son right now and going to put a K3 just like yours on that for simplicity's sake. I don't believe it'll limit him at all.

That having been said, the cartridge certainly would benefit from a bit more magnification... I have a similar rifle (cartridge, vintage, etc) and I put an old K6 on it. LOVE IT.

Don't listen to these fools. They don't know what they are talking about. You need to get rid of that rifle. Send it to me, I'll give you $500 for that piece of crap, you can take the money and build a super duper long range rifle in the latest greatest super short ultra mag with a 30x champagne bottle scope.

With most factory .243 ammunition, you're carrying >1000 ft-lbs of energy out to 300 yards. At that distance, your eyesight with a 2x scope will likely be the limiting factor - with emphasis on your eyesight.

Young Marines with great eyesight are able to consistently hit torso targets out to 500m with open sights. That being said, my eyesight isn't what it used to be, and MY eyes are a lot more comfortable with a little more magnification out past 150 yards to be able to place rounds where I want them.

Sounds like a great excuse to get your rifle out to the range, and see how far out your eyes will let you hit pie plate sized targets (as if you really need an excuse to go shooting)!

Best,
C.

I think it all depends on how well you can shoot distance with that scope. I have rang gongs at 500 with a scope on 2.5, but I prefer more.

A hunting companion killed a large Wyoming mule deer buck at a paced-off 430+ yards with one shot using a .243 with hand loads that included a Nosler bullet, almost certainly a partition. (This was almost 50 years ago, so the details are a bit fuzzy.)

Other than that, the farthest kill I have seen with a .243 was a very large bodied desert mule deer taken at 320+ yards with 90 grain BTs. It took three shots in the boiler room to put the buck down. All three bullets got heart or lungs or both. He didn't go anywhere, but neither did he go down until my daughter was lining up the fourth shot. His dressed weight was just shy of 210 lbs. Needless to say, none of the bullets exited.

Personally, I would be hesitant to shoot beyond 300 yards with a .243 using anything but a rifle built specifically for long range shooting.

As controversial as this can be, pending on who you ask.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY0w1c-gf18

If your limiting its uses to deer sized game possibly coyotes I'd say your fine. If varmint are on the bill I'd be more inclined to up the power range a tad.
I run 6X42 M8 & FXIII on both of mine. But that's what works for me. If the 2.5 works for your purposes why change?

What was the bullet drop at 688 yards?

713 yards
Any farther than that, and you're pushing it. The velocity kinda drops off....

That was John Burns. He hangs out here. He will know.

I do know he was using the 105 gr VLD at 3000 fps. From a 200 yard zero drop should be about 81" or so

I've killed deer at 200 yards with iron sights so I would feel comfortable to at least 250 yards with your 2X Weaver on that sweet .243.

I'd say 200 would be about max for me with that scope.