Is the 243 the best whitetail deer cartridge?

[Calvin45]

With few exceptions I place a round between the 4th and 5th rib just behind the trotting shoulder.
With smaller calibers this may actually be tougher than a head shot. If deflected by a rib this can lead to a long day.
My 35 bores go anywhere just behind the shoulder. I do hate turning a shoulder roast into bloodshot sausage.
Hand gunning is different yet. Although we can hunt with the .45ACP here it presents fewer angles and humane kill opportunities. Stalking and good fortune are critical.
45LC, same thing
.357 is a bit borderline as well but terminal ballistics of the semi jacketed truncated cone flat point 125gr are well known. 158gr Keith are also effective.
.41 and 44 are probably the sweet spot for handguns.
Lastly , do not underestimate the wound channel of a ball from a '51 Navy repo.

1,000 ft/lbs ? no not really. Shot placement is everything.

Ooooh! Tell me more about the round ball! Everything about it says it should absolutely suck. But it doesn't seem to.

I've never hunted with round ball (except .177 cal bbs as a kid with an Airgun). But I have used shotgun shells that, instead of a foster slug, are loaded with a .68" caliber round ball. Sometimes called pumpkin balls I think. Worked good for shooting through many pumpkins lined up, maybe that's why they call them that!

 

[Calvin45]

I don't disagree shot placement is everything. But It's not a perfect world and sometimes that perfect broadside shot isn't possible. Most hunters will take that quartering to shot, especially on a 5 day diy public land out of state hunt. I don't like wasting a shoulder, but it's better then eating a tag. So I gauge my max effective range at 1000#'s of energy.

Energy certainly isn't meaningless I'll agree with ya there. AND…nobody would argue that shot placement is the most important thing, I think we're beating a dead horse or preaching to the choir about that. But what I will say with no hesitation is that, all things being equal, cartridges with a combo of more energy and more projectile mass do in fact open up more options for what constitutes a fast killing shot. There are shot angles, distances, game animals, etc, that I would pass up with my .243 for concerns of humane fast killing that I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on with my .358 Norma, .300 win mag, or even .270. I really have observed that on marginal hits (and I'm not talking about all out failed shots like in the guts, I mean just clipping the liver or hitting the rear lungs) more powerful cartridges do in fact kill faster and are more forgiving. I don't make it my habit to plan for everything going right, and I unapologetically state that overkill beats the alternative (and you'll never see me hunt big game with a .22 centerfire of any kind, there is absolutely no good reason to do so for me and lots of good reasons not too)

Shot placement is important. It's not everything. There I said it! If it was everything go take the .243 on a polar bear or elephant hunt. If nothing else mattered we'd all just focus on marksmanship and save money, .22LR for everything, just shoot it in the right spot. Right?

 

[del2les]

Ooooh! Tell me more about the round ball! Everything about it says it should absolutely suck. But it doesn't seem to.

I've never hunted with round ball (except .177 cal bbs as a kid with an Airgun). But I have used shotgun shells that, instead of a foster slug, are loaded with a .68" caliber round ball. Sometimes called pumpkin balls I think. Worked good for shooting through many pumpkins lined up, maybe that's why they call them that!

LOL. My first ML kill as a teen was with 45 cal ML patched ball any many since. Some went completely through various deer and hogs, and they all had no idea it wasn't 1,000 ft/lbs.

 

[Calvin45]

^^^^^^^This^^^^^^ And, a properly placed bullet penetrating to the vitals kills quite nicely……Ft/lbs. energy be d@^^£d! memtb

Hearing a one gun hunter who chooses the .375 ackley for everything say "foot pounds of energy be damned" is like having to listen to rich people tell me that money doesn't matter or movie stars say that looks aren't important…

 

[SSG Graybush]

Energy certainly isn't meaningless I'll agree with ya there. AND…nobody would argue that shot placement is the most important thing, I think we're beating a dead horse or preaching to the choir about that. But what I will say with no hesitation is that, all things being equal, cartridges with a combo of more energy and more projectile mass do in fact open up more options for what constitutes a fast killing shot. There are shot angles, distances, game animals, etc, that I would pass up with my .243 for concerns of humane fast killing that I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on with my .358 Norma, .300 win mag, or even .270. I really have observed that on marginal hits (and I'm not talking about all out failed shots like in the guts, I mean just clipping the liver or hitting the rear lungs) more powerful cartridges do in fact kill faster and are more forgiving. I don't make it my habit to plan for everything going right, and I unapologetically state that overkill beats the alternative (and you'll never see me hunt big game with a .22 centerfire of any kind, there is absolutely no good reason to do so for me and lots of good reasons not too)

Shot placement is important. It's not everything. There I said it! If it was everything go take the .243 on a polar bear or elephant hunt. If nothing else mattered we'd all just focus on marksmanship and save money, .22LR for everything, just shoot it in the right spot. Right?

Actually, I watched a show where a inuit guy was hunting polar bears,,,, with a 243! I was shocked. I guess that was all he had. Shot placement. lol.

 

[memtb]

I don't disagree shot placement is everything. But It's not a perfect world and sometimes that perfect broadside shot isn't possible. Most hunters will take that quartering to shot, especially on a 5 day diy public land out of state hunt. I don't like wasting a shoulder, but it's better then eating a tag. So I gauge my max effective range at 1000#'s of energy.
And hard cast bullets penetrate well so....

Taking a through the shoulder shot intentional or not…..is "small potatoes" as to the aforementioned hunter on the last day of his 5 day hunt, watching the trophy of a lifetime walking straight away into the forest with darkness rapidly closing!

As with all other hunting…..minimal cartridges are best for those that will have or think they will have many more opportunities coming to them! Many hunters may only have "one" opportunity for that forever memory! memtb

 

[Calvin45]

Actually, I watched a show where a inuit guy was hunting polar bears,,,, with a 243! I was shocked. I guess that was all he had. Shot placement. lol.

Oh I know! There's a difference between "all you got" sustenance hunting and deliberately choosing to be under gunned for the task at hand when a more appropriate weapon is obtainable. One of the biggest brown bears on record was shot by a native grandma (I think) in self defence when she was picking berries. A single shot .22lr. I had a great uncle who apparently back in the dirty thirties/dust bowl/Great Depression years here in Saskatchewan kept his family well fed with a .22 hornet that he headshot moose, elk, and deer with.

 

[memtb]

Hearing a one gun hunter who chooses the .375 ackley for everything say "foot pounds of energy be damned" is like having to listen to rich people tell me that money doesn't matter or movie stars say that looks aren't important…

It was for hunts (which never happened) that required a minimum of .375 caliber. The AI simply made it more versatile as a long(er) range cartridge! I've always liked the idea of big bullets, at moderately high velocity, making large, deep, wound channels! Maybe the reason my first centerfire handgun at age 16 was a .357 Mag. or my present hunting handgun a 460 S&W 460 pushing my 400 grain cast bullets at 1500 mv.

Oh, I've also had a near lifelong, irrational love affair with the 375 H&H…..energy or lack thereof wasn't figured into the equation!

On this and another forum I have shared the following link numerous times, pretty well explains my disbelief in the ft/lbs energy school of thought! memtb

Terminal Ballistics

 

[Calvin45]

It was for hunts (which never happened) that required a minimum of .375 caliber. The AI simply made it more versatile as a long(er) range cartridge! I've always liked the idea of big bullets, at moderately high velocity, making large, deep, wound channels! Maybe the reason my first centerfire handgun at age 16 was a .357 Mag. or my present hunting handgun a 460 S&W 460 pushing my 400 grain cast bullets at 1500 mv.

Oh, I've also had a near lifelong, irrational love affair with the 375 H&H…..energy or lack thereof wasn't figured into the equation!

On this and another forum I have shared the following link numerous times, pretty well explains my disbelief in the ft/lbs energy school of thought! memtb

Terminal Ballistics

Sad to hear those hunts never happened man. Still a possibility?

 

[epoletna]

Memtb: I love the .375 H&H. I've used if for dik-dik to elephant. I love the way it puts a Cape buffalo down!

 

[memtb]

Sad to hear those hunts never happened man. Still a possibility?

Thanks…but not likely! Sometimes life gets in the way of life!

On the bright side….I get to use my rifle all year long right here at home! It ain't Africa…..but, it ain't bad!

Besides……knowing that I can take a few jabs and "ruffle a few feathers" among the "small bore" crowd is an extra benefit I owe to my little rifle! memtb

 

[Calvin45]

Thanks…but not likely! Sometimes life gets in the way of life!

On the bright side….I get to use my rifle all year long right here at home! It ain't Africa…..but, it ain't bad! memtb

Less malaria and equatorial heat for sure

 

[epoletna]

Less malaria and equatorial heat for sure

Malaria. Let me tell you about it. Whole family had it at one time or another. I had breakout parasite loads about 7 times in 20 year on the continent, including one particularly bad one in Douala, Cameroon. Malarial dreams? I had 'em. Especially after a 20 CC shot of quinine from a French doctor who hadn't sharpened his needles in over 20 years. No single-use implements for him. He fished the glass syringe and dull needle out of a pan or hot water and loaded it with quinine, then pumped it into my butt. Woke up from a horror-dream-filled nap around 2 in the afternoon and saw my houseboy wearing a blond wig and swinging on my gate. That's worse than a malaria dream! Yeah, stay home and watch the Africa hunts on You tube. Unless you're ready for some nasty health issues.

 

[del2les]

For those who believe the old error that you must have 1,000 ft/lbs "minimum" of energy to kill deer sized game, here is a ballistic chart for one of my 10" Contenders in 7mmTCU. Its a 120gr Sierra bullet at 2,000fps sighted at 100yds and altitude charted for the old family farm in the South. Notice it falls below the 1,000 ft/lbs "minimum" before 50yds, and at 200yds, it is 672 ft/lbs.

That handgun and old load has been killing deer for 4 decades, and some very close to my 200yd self-imposed limit for that barrel length and load. Add this to the numerous other posts on many other calibers starting or impacting well below the 1,000# mark, and its time to let this go.