243 or 6mm reminton

[victor3ranger]

I really like the 243.
My newest favorite is my ar10 243. Running 100g Interbonds out to 500 very easy and very accurate

 

[General RE LEE]

I went the other direction and built a Howa Mini 6mm ARC bolt rifle. With 108 ELD-Ms and Varget, it still packs a punch with minimal, and I mean minimal recoil with a suppressor.

 

[41Magnum]

The 243 Winchester has been my favorite rifle cartridge since 1983. Took scads of deer with it and have never lost an animal from 30 yds to a tad over 350. Always used good bullets from 85 to 100 grains.

 

[65WSM]

I have loaded for both since the 1970s, I will bet that most shooters won't find any difference between the two cartridges. If you blindfolded them, they couldn't tell you which was which. As with most rifle cartridges, how much barrel are you willing to walk around with in front of you, how many rounds do you expect to get out of a barrel and how much scope are you willing to buy and carry?

I recently had to give truth serum to a .243 shooter at my club range with a 22 inch barrel who was shooting factory ammunition. When he shot his ammunition over a chronograph, his velocity was two hundred fps less than what it said on the Federal box. I also had to tone down the 6mm ARC rhetoric from an AR shooter who was sure he was getting 2800fps from his handloads in an 18 inch barrel. He proved to be just over 2300 fps. I will bet his bullets from the 6mm ARC would not open up at 200 yards.

My 6mm Remington Browning Model 78 wears a 26 inch barrel and an 8-32X scope. It has the trigger worked on and pull reduced to 24 ounces. It is sighted in at 300 yards for long range coyotes and marmots. It is particularly valuable in the wind. In my neighborhood, these species are heavily shot at with short barreled ARs. They learn to stay over 200 yards away, jump up and down a lot and they are safe from these shooters.

My .243 is a 24inch barreled Savage 99 with the internal spool magazine. I purchased it from a Gunsmith who put the Douglas barrel on it and the guy never showed up to claim it or pay the bill. The trigger pull is three pounds. I tried to get the gunsmith to reduce that pull but no improvement. It wears a fixed parallax 2.5 to 10X that weighs 7.5 ounces (older Sightron model). I really notice the parallax (factory set at 100 yeds) at the 300 yard target. This rifle is not for "Long Range Hunting".

 

[choprzrul]

Neck that 6mm Rem up to 257 Roberts, buy loaded Winchester +P ammo and shoot it to break in the barrel and fire form your brass. Do load development with the 90gr Absolute Hammers using RL16 to get 3450+ fps. Go kill stuff to 700 yards where that projectile drops to the minimum for terminal performance (1800 fps).

I've put that bullet in 4 deer using my 25-06. All were 1 shot kills and none ended up more than about 20 yards from point of impact.

.

 

[ImBillT]

If the only thing we're evaluating is the cartridge, then I might lean toward the 6mm Remington for the longer neck and sharper shoulder. Also, I don't care what cartridge the head stamp says, so I buy Lapua, Norma, or RWS 7x57 or 8x57. That requires annealing and neck turning but the availability of 243Win brass doesn't come into play for me personally.

All that said, I have really hard time recommending the 6mm Remington over a 243Win, or the cartridge you left off, 6mm Creedmore, for 95% of people. All three are almost identical for practical purposes. Factory rifles and ammo are more abundant in 243Win and probably 6mm Creedmore. If you want to use a 700 S/A the 6mm Remington can be a pain, although it should fit better in most clones as well as probably a number of medium length actions.

For whitetails I'd say almost any bullet 85-105gr would be great from any of the three.

 

[General RE LEE]

I'm new to the .243 caliber after getting a 6 ARC bolt gun. 108 ELDM seems a tad puny compared to a 147 ELDM or 178 ELDX

Guess I'll find out how well the 6mm caliber kills in a few months.

 

[ImBillT]

I'm new to the .243 caliber after getting a 6 ARC bolt gun. 108 ELDM seems a tad puny compared to a 147 ELDM or 178 ELDX

Guess I'll find out how well the 6mm caliber kills in a few months.

For whitetails 6mm is plenty. Considering 6ARC velocity I would personally shoot something lighter than 108gr at a whitetail unless you were hunting somewhere with big 300lb plus deer. I think the 6ARC is an excellent cartridge that is exactly what the 6.5 Grendel should have been. That said, its popularity in bolt actions has puzzled me.

 

[General RE LEE]

For whitetails 6mm is plenty. Considering 6ARC velocity I would personally shoot something lighter than 108gr at a whitetail unless you were hunting somewhere with big 300lb plus deer. I think the 6ARC is an excellent cartridge that is exactly what the 6.5 Grendel should have been. That said, its popularity in bolt actions has puzzled me.

I had a 6 ARC in an AR-15 upper and the issues with belting when sizing the brass along with filthy brass shooting suppressed moved me to get a Howa Mini. I love it in a bolt action.

 

[Buckleman]

I just built a 6mm-06 ackley. 26.5" Benchmark barrel. Getting ready to test some loads. Deer rifle. Have one but 10" twist. This one's 8.

 

[ImBillT]

I just built a 6mm-06 ackley. 26.5" Benchmark barrel. Getting ready to test some loads. Deer rifle. Have one but 10" twist. This one's 8.

I've had midair blowups with 95gr Bergers in an 8-twist 6mm Remington. Shoot a thicker jacketed bullet, or a heavier bullet. 105's and 115's were all fine.

 

[Straight Shooter]

I've had midair blowups with 95gr Bergers in an 8-twist 6mm Remington. Shoot a thicker jacketed bullet, or a heavier bullet. 105's and 115's were all fine.

I shoot the 95 grain Bergers in my 6mm creedmoor with a 7 twist with no problems .

 

[ntsqd]

Speed related, how hard are both of you pushing them?

 

[Jasbo]

.243 Win because Lapua brass availability.
Savage M10 .243 Win 22" 9-1/2 Twist 75gn Hammer Hunter Tipped 41.5gn Varget MV 3599fps. At 400 yds 2499fps 1040 lb-ft KE. 1/4 Turn Lee Factory Crimp Die. Accurate and stable.