Is the 243 the best whitetail deer cartridge?

[Outlaw6.0]

It's pretty much a given that i've probably already posted my .002 in here somewhere over the last year; given that I am a 6mm fan boy but....

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a 6mm pill (whatever case) for deer. Living & hunting in Wyoming all my life, i've had the opportunity to see & shoot a few big deer... . Experience in the field tell me that 6mm pills kill just fine. Grandpa's ole .270 won't kill'em any deader, been there & seen that.

I started hunting with a .243win, which was my first centerfire rifle. I was never under-gunned, i'm still not 25yrs later. I believe, in the last 4-5yrs hunting I've used nothing but 6mm (for deer). Granted, we are talking 6mmAI & 6x284, which offer a good bit more horsepower than .243win.

But, when the wife asked which one of my rifles she thought she should use for her first muley many moons ago; I grabbed the .243 & never looked back.

At the end of the day, if you shoot it well & have solid confidence in it, rock that .243, 6mm, etc. You'll be enjoying venison steaks in no time.

Confidence, confidence & understanding is what it all boils down to. I don't mean YouTube ya'hoo confidence in their own idiocy. I mean confident that it will put the pill where you want it to go, confident that you've chosen the correct bullet for the task at hand, confident that you aren't in a position beyond your skillset. If you aren't confident, stepping up in caliber isn't going to help.

Show me a deer that is 6mm proof, i'll have it field dressed and in the truck before sunset.

Anyway, please excuse the rant (told you I was a 6mm fan boy)

t

 

[Sneuses]

I am surprised it took someone this long to bring up the holy grail of all calibers...... all hail lord 6.5 creedmore

You might look at the PRC it is pushing a 140 grain pill 300 feet per second faster.

 

[41magnut]

If the 260 Rem would have had followed the 6.5 Swedes twist rate already proven over a 100 yrs ago the 6.5 Creed would not be in existence the only fault of the 260 was the standard 1-9 twist same as the 264 win mag the 6.5 Creed was just a reinvention of the whell

The 260 Rem is another example of good cartridges either developed or domesticated wildcats from Remington.
Two other examples,
244/6MM Remington, 7-08 Remington/7mm Remington Express/7-08.
7-08R caught on with the Rifle Silhouette shooters, and has a decent following among hunters.
6MM-R never really recovered from marketing mistakes. Good cartridge with velocity a bit faster than the 243W.

Winchester has made their mistakes as well but they certainly got it right with the initial roll out of the 243.

 

[Tom Gresham]

A little background, my father in law debated me one time, 243 is the best deer cartridge. I said, naw, it's the 30-06. He said no way, the 243 kills them just as dead, sweetest shooting cartridge with no recoil, and very flat and fast.

Shortly after that, I 'd gotten on a lease and bought a 243 as a back up to my trusty 30-06 and for my father in law to use when I took him as my guest. Well guess what? I've come to believe he's right. I've shot deer with calibers up to 375H&H and pistol calibers 45 ACP and 41 magnum and nothing kills deer as quickly as that 243.

Since then I bought a small frame 243 Tikka T3 for my kids to use as their first deer rifle. That gun is a tack driver and kills deer dead right there. It's light, smooth action, relatively inexpensive, sized right for kids and comes with shims to grow with them. My buddy took his youngest of three sons out to hunt his first deer this weekend. Borrowed that 243. One shot, DRT! Loved the gun.

Just more proof in my mind that my father in law was right. The 243 is the best deer cartridge. I don't know what it is, speed? sweet-spot diameter of bullet? Just the right amount of energy? Love to hear others' thoughts and reactions, both pro and con!

 

[Tom Gresham]

Low recoil. Thst's what makes the .243 so effective. Hunters actually hit the right place.

Same as 6.5 Creedmoor

 

[Sneuses]

Low recoil. Thst's what makes the .243 so effective. Hunters actually hit the right place.

Same as 6.5 Creedmothe difference between the 6.5 creedmoor and the PRC. The needmoor is on the right and the PRC left. As you will note it is the casing, the PRC holds substantially more powder. Leading to a faster bullet meaning more pounds per square inch delivered to the target upon impact. My creedmoor is

 

[Sneuses]

the difference between the 6.5 creedmoor and the PRC. The needmoor is on the right and the PRC left. As you will note it is the casing, the PRC holds substantially more powder. Leading to a faster bullet meaning more pounds per square inch delivered to the target upon impact. The PRC moves at magnum speeds, my load for a 140 grain bullet is traveling at 2847 FPS at the muzzle and the creedmoor with a 140 grain bullet is coming out of the muzzle at 2455. I guess a good bit of marketing makes a world of difference.

 

[tjoh74]

I'm new here but I Can say My father bought my brother and Myself our first deer rifles and they were .243 Bolt actions and we shot ALOT of whitetails with those guns! fact My brother today 30 years later! still hunts with his, Love it.

 

[jasent]

Love my 243's. Maybe not the "best" but one of the most versatile cartridges out there. From deer to ground hogs, even taken a few black bear with mine.

 

[freefloater59]

Tossing my $0.02 into the 387 previous responses... I love my 243. Shot my first deer at 10 yrs old with a custom 243 Mauser my dad built for my skinny frame, using his 100 gr Hornady load. It was a nice 10 pt west texas muley at about 125 yards and DRT. His Mauser 243 took many, many, white tails, muley and antelope over the decades using that same 100 gr load. Recently I finished a renovation of his old Mauser and am using it again dialed in with 90gr Accubonds. Yup... I've got the full menu to choose from in the safe, from 22-250 to the choices of .308 calibers, and have taken game of all sizes with them. Lesson learned is "practice", "practice","practice", and "shot placement", "shot placement", "shot placement", but make sure the bullet is strong enough to bash through a shoulder joint and ribs if needed. I don't need a 6.5 CM because I've got 264 WM's. 25 cal is covered with 257AI and 25-06 both are equally effective for DTR shots. So when my go-to is the 243 for whitetail and antelope. It's a pleasure to shoot, minimum recoil, and typically hits where it's pointed.

 

[BenelliHunter]

I typically hunt with a 300 mag of one flavor or another but over the last coupe years I have built multiple 6 Creedmoors for my kids- now 4.5 and 9. Those 6 Creedmoors kill just as fast as my 300's do. They are just a stepbrother to the 243.

 

[rewiltshire]

I hunt Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota, along with Texas. Here in Nebraska I have a 50-50 chance of looking at either a Whitetail or a Mulie, and we are talking some good sized corn fed bucks at any where between 50 to 200 yard shots. I shoot a Ruger No 1 in 6mm Remington (100 gr Sierria Prohunter with RL23). Shot placement is the most important part of hunting to me. If you don't have a clean shot, don't take it. Now if I go to my friends place in Maine for Moose, I will drag my old Winchester 70 30-06 (which my nephew has decide is now his) - that is a totaly different story.
Grandson liked the Ruger the best of all my rifles, so it is now his. Old grandpa is shooting a 14" TC Contender in 7-30 Waters. We both do just fine.
But again, it is where the individual hunter feels most confertable.
@Hard rock, I hunt north of Junction. Nice whitetails , Axis and hogs. Good times and lots of fun at that deer camp.

 

[41Magnum]

I have taken a boxcar load of deer with the 243 and it's my favorite rifle caliber. Put the pill where it belongs and it's skinning time. I have taken deer out to around 340-350 yds and never lost an animal. I have used Nosler Partitions, Ballistic tips, Hornady Interlock, Speer Grand Slam and Remington Core-Lokts with H4350 powder, Federal 210M primers. Always worked for me

 

[memtb]

You might look at the PRC it is pushing a 140 grain pill 300 feet per second faster.

The 6.5 Creedmore…..the epitome of cartridge technology. Yet there is a post started on how to "maximize the potential of your 6.5 Creedmore! Which seems to be a contradiction to what we all know to be certain…..there is no improving the 6.5 Creed! memtb