.243 for Whitetail

243 with good bullets does a great job on whitetail here, 95 or heavier seems to be the ticket. No complaints at all. I would consider it the perfect cartridge for anyone recoil sensitive who wants to take a few deer. The flat trajectory is great too!

I have personally seen at least a dozen deer taken with my buddie's 243 with 95g bullets. Distances were 50 to 300 yards. Good terminal performance and seemed to consistently put them down fast with heart/lung shots.

95 grain noslers do the trick

I've been using federal fusion 95 gr. Performs very well either exiting or lodging in offside hide, retains weights and won't blow up or lose penetration due to bone and expands reliably and predictably. Quite accurate out of my rifle too.

iknowftbll said:

I am very confident in my wife's ability to take an ethical shot out to about 100 yards. Like I said earlier, that is probably the limit here in Virginia anyway because of the vegetation. It is much more likely she will be taking a 50 yard shot.

Another big factor to consider for us is the county where we hunt. A lot of Virginia counties do not allow rifle hunting, so we have to use a bow, black powder or shotgun. In addition to the .243 I'll be picking up an inexpensive 20 gauge at some point this spring. I'd like a 11-87 but will probably go with the 870. It's a good secondary gun for some of the more restrictive counties here in VA.

It's going to feel good to get this gun out of the box, bore-sighted and out to the range. We'll tinker with different cartridges as they become available over the summer, and by late fall we'll both be ready to step out and bag some meat!

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If you will be putting a scope on it, I recommend a 1-4 or 1-6. In a lot of Virginia hunting, you simply can't see very far and the shots will be close as you said.

So having the wide field of view of the scope at low power is an advantage.

redbullitt said:

243 with good bullets does a great job on whitetail here, 95 or heavier seems to be the ticket. No complaints at all. I would consider it the perfect cartridge for anyone recoil sensitive who wants to take a few deer. The flat trajectory is great too!

I have personally seen at least a dozen deer taken with my buddie's 243 with 95g bullets. Distances were 50 to 300 yards. Good terminal performance and seemed to consistently put them down fast with heart/lung shots.

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Hornady SST 95 grain work really well. I trying some Berger's 95 grain hunting bullets and 68 grain target bullets. The Berger's on paper ,I get small groups less than an inch.gun)

This past year I used the 243's little brother, the 6x45.
I shot a doe at 65 yds with a 80 grain ttsx and she only ran about 45 yds but the blood trail totally blew me away, I didn't expect that much blood.

For a healthy adult, what is the point in 243 for deer? A 150 grain 30-06 is faster, and 180 is just a little slower.

Personally I've never seen a deer walk away from being shot by a .243
As a matter of fact my son shot his first elk last year with his .243
The bull went maybe 5 yds then tipped over.
135 yds. With a 100 grain Nosler partition.

Zerk said:

For a healthy adult, what is the point in 243 for deer? A 150 grain 30-06 is faster, and 180 is just a little slower.

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No offense intended, but your statement seems a bit inaccurate to me.

Have you shot a deer with a 243 lately? Once a healthy adult swallows a little pride, a 243 makes more sense than many other rounds. It's less recoil, which for 99% of the shooters out there, equals more accuracy. Deer aren't hard to kill when hit with an accurately placed bullet in any weight. Ammunition cost is higher in the '06 as well, as is weight of the gun, and noise if you're measuring differences.

I reload for 243 Win up to 338 Win Mag and as for handloads, unless your 30-06 is pushing a 150gr at 3200fps, then the 243 is WAY faster. And that is Alliants R26 data for a 100gr pill. I looked at Hornady American Whitetail and Win power point loads and the 150gr 30-06 loads were close, but not faster. The 180 pills weren't even close, speed wise.

Bottom line is a 243 Win is a great deer round and there are many reasons to use one. The great thing is we all get to choose for ourselves.

Love the .243 for my two sons (11 and 8). They have both taken white tails with a .243 and this gun creates very confident shooters. Highly recommended

Zerk said:

For a healthy adult, what is the point in 243 for deer? A 150 grain 30-06 is faster, and 180 is just a little slower.

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I am 6mm/243 fan ,I carry light very accurate rifle. The price of reloading is cheaper as it use less powder. There many different bullets available in 6mm. Yes it is a small bullet ,but does make you a lesser man by use it ?

Sensitive about your manhood?

The cost of powder between 243 and 30 cal, is not that much. If it is an issue for you, than one gun is probably for you.

I like power, it is the American way. I realize when presented with a double lung shot, darn near anything will work. I hunt some dense woods, and like a gun that can make a forgiving shot. Luckily I have not had to test that theory.

I am going to load up some 100ish and have it as back up deer gun. Though I already have back ups, so not sure how much it would get used.

To me if you are able bodied, I don't see the point in using it for deer. Maybe long ranges less recoil will produce better accuaracy. But 300 win mag and 30-06s have been used by shooters for years.

I like my 243, no kick is nice to blast a lot of ammo.

Here in the east, with shots at 100yds average... consider the "lowly" 30-30". I only say that because felt recoil is not much more than the 243.. and you do not have to worry so much about perfect broadside shots.... a .243 leaves very little, if any , blood trail. the 30-30 is a bit more forgiving in that respect, especially with modern bullets. just my opinion

Gun is for his wife... nothing to do with "manhood"