Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Is The 243 Winchester in Danger of Being Replaced by the 223 Remington

I think that with the "newer" and better bullets available and the popularity and proliferation of the AR platform its a very real possibility.

To answer the OP's question, I'm not worried one bit the .243 Win is much too versatile a cartridge to be replaced by one that's inferior in many ways..................Hb

I really doubt that that the 223 will ever entirely "replace" the 243. First of all there are tens of millions of 243 chambered rifles out there.

But I could be wrong. The 243 did drive the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts into obscurity. And the AR-15 is greatly popular

Sportdog, LMAO, no way.

Gunner

I only have a personal experience base of two white tail deer killed with a .223 here on our farm here in KY. Both required a second shot for a finisher. Factory Rem 55gr Corelokts. OTOH, I have a significant string of one shot kills on the same deer, under the same conditions, with multiple .243 rifles and 95gr Partitions. No comparison.

I enjoy shooting accurate .223 target rifles. But here in my neck of the woods, if I absolutely, positively want it dead, the first time, the .243 gets the nod...

I have switched to Nosler 100 grain Partitions for the .243, when I use it - seldom. I have killed wild goats with a little .218 Bee using head shots, but there are better game rounds than .22 CFs. IMO, jack

Shoot a Yote with a 243 and he melts in his tracks, shoot one with a 223 and he's likely to run.

Plenty of Yote hunting videos to confirm it.

"Holy leopard-print thong, Batman, That would sure upset Ingwe".

The .223 has about 2/3 the energy of the .243.

Nope. Use both a lot on the ranch. I bought a .243 semi-auto instead of a "standard .223 AR" for pigs. As many deer and pigs as we have killed with a .222 and .223, neither is close to a .243.

stumpy

.223 not legal in VA.

"Rifles used for deer or bear must be .23 caliber or larger."

Will one of the 3 people that Don doesn't have on ignore tell him for the millionth time, that 22's are legal in 37 states, and about half the remaining states are shotgun only.

I've had more deer drop at the shot with s 223AI than anything else I have used to date, and I've used a bunch.

Drilling shoulders and 200 pound deer don't scare me in the least, if they do others then so be it. There is nothing inhumane or 'iffy' about taking one into the deer woods, that's for damn sure.

No doubt the 243 is good and trumps the 223 at longer distances, but not by a crazy about. 75Amax needs and extra 3MOA dialed in to hit at 1K then a 243 shooting 105gr Amax. House that same 75 in a 22/250 and the 243 comes up short.

I think I will try those 75gr A MAx's in my new to me 220 Swift with its 8 twist barrel. Might be loads of fun. Just got the scope for it last night, found an older USA made NITB Redfeild 6-18 Gloss for $200.00 and put it up on the gun last night.

Back on topic, I do think that the 270/280/30/06 class cartridges are seeing a lot less representation in the deer camps as there is not as much need for that much power and destruction and recoil for shooting a mere deer in most areas.

Out here we still have a lot of 257WBY, 264 WinMag and various 7mm's on the scene but this region is the exception rather than the rule with very large bodied Mule Deer and wide open grassland/CRP ground that typically does not allow for close stalking.

If 224 caliber rifles were legal out here I would give the Swifty a try on a doe tag.

I've not heard of a single incident where one sold their 243 to replace it with a 223.

Wel here is one for ya... When my Pastor saw the terminal damage and quick kill that his 223 wrought upon a large Corsican ram that his daughter shot last year with a new to him 223 and Barnes VorTex ammo, he traded to me his Model 88 in 243 that had been his daughters deer rifle. I gave him a PMR 30 for it and promptly re sold the model 88. Now, they (FOUR of them- daughters that is) will be usuing the 223 as the family deer rifle. He also sold his 300WSM and is back to his trusty 270 with 110gr Barnes bullets for big game hunting.

The game HAS been changed by todays much better bullets.

That showcases the problem with using a one-shot sample.

Huh. Guess all those coyotes I've shot with a 223 were supposed to run. Instead they just died. I didn't have to watch a video to figure that one out.

Don't think so and I've been a 22 fan for more years than I care to remember.I've successfully used my Swift on deer and speed goats since the mid 70's with cup/core stuff but the the 6mm's are and have been very popular all over the country and kill stuff quite well.I think for the most part it hinges on factory over the counter availability and we sometimes tend to forget that lots of folks have never heard of a Partition,TSX...etc,etc.

no