How Far Is 243 Winchester Effective for Deer Hunting Review Forums

We had been in the bullheaded for maybe a couple of hours, and the deer were but starting to show up. There were 3 eight-pointers—nil actually big—perusing the does, whenhe showed up, from the correct side of our view. Now, it wasn't a Boone & Crockett record volume deer—having injured his right side resulting in a tall seven-point rack—but for this detail area of Texas he was certainly a shooter. My guide, Ben "Blood brother" Lawrence, uttered a perfunctory phrase, which nosotros both knew was fruitless. "Phil, I tin probably put you on an even eight-pointer, simply that'due south a skillful deer." He was twice as tall every bit whatever other buck I saw on that ranch. The Savage burglarize came to shoulder, and one look told Brother I was shooting this deer. The .243 Win. barked, and the buck savage in his tracks, stone dead.

The famous gunwriter Warren Page was integral in the evolution of a 6mm-.308 wildcat, necking downward the instance shortly later the .308 Win. was released in 1952. Its purpose was to offer the hunter a cartridge that could easily do double duty on both predators/varmints and deer-sized game alike. It delivered, then some. The heavier 90 and 100-grain bullets will handle deer and pronghorn antelope neatly, and the lighter bullets are absolute hell on woodchucks, prairie dogs, coyotes and foxes alike. The recoil of the .243 is a mere fraction of that of the larger deer cartridges like the .30-'06 Springfield, .270 Win. and 7mm Rem. Mag., allowing shooters to place their shots accurately, no affair what level of recoil sensitivity they may possess.

There are projectiles available for both classes of game animals; highly frangible bullets for the varmints and predators, and stout bullets for deer-sized animals. Amongst the cartridges that can cover both of these applications, I feel the .243 Win. is just near the best available, offering a perfect fit for a short-action rifle, with enough case capacity to push fifty-fifty the heaviest bullets to a muzzle velocity of merely about 3000 fps, and the lightest to 4000!

It was rivaled, early on, by Remington'due south .244 cartridge, which was a bit bigger, beingness based on the .257 Roberts and 7x57mm Mauser. The .244—by all accounts—should've been the more than successful cartridge, having the larger case capacity, simply Remington made one little mistake: they produced the rifle with a ane:12" twist rate, and that won't stabilize bullets heavier than xc grains. The .243 Win., with its 1:10" twist, tin can stabilize the 100 and 105-grain bullets, which the hunting public wanted for deer and other big game. Non that yous tin can't chase deer with a 90-grain bullet, just the hunting market is what it is, and the .244 barbarous far behind the .243, with Remington renaming its cartridge the 6mm Remington.

The .243 also had the do good of being chambered in two fantastic rifles—the Rifleman'south Rifle, the Model lxx and the Model 88 lever action. Both of these were very authentic rifles—I've had the pleasure of shooting a prissy pre-'64 Model seventy in .243—and could deliver the precise shot placement varmint hunters need.

Modern advancements in both pulverization and bullet engineering science have done nothing but enhance the capabilities of the .243 Win. Both bonded-core and monometal expanding bullets have made a huge difference, equally they will take full advantage of the high cage velocity the .243 can generate. That Texas buck I told you about was dropped with a Federal Premium 85-grain Trophy Copper load—the bullet expanded perfectly and put the cadet down literally in his tracks. At 85 grains, it's perhaps a chip lighter than most of the deer loads that have been used in the past, but the monometal construction kept the bullet together in spite of striking a rib. The 100-and 105-grain softpoints are all the same available in brands similar Winchester, Hornady and Federal. Nosler offers the ninety-grain AccuBond, for a good long-range choice, and Norma loads their 100-grain Oryx bullet, which may be one of the best accommodating hunting bullets available. Swift loads the 90-grain Scirocco, and I've had nothing only good results with this bullet.

For the varmint crowd, there are plenty of modern frangible softpoints, like the 55-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, which will most definitely generate the famous red mist. Hornady'south Superformance Varmint, built effectually their 58-grain 5-Max bullet volition do the aforementioned; I think you're seeing my point here, the .243 Win. is a very versatile tool.

The handloader can easy fuel his or her .243; there's really no big surreptitious to dealing with the .308-based case. I've had good results with medium-burning powders like IMR4064 and IMR4320 with the lighter bullets, and I've had superb accurateness with 100-grain bullets and IMR4350 and Reloder-xix.

While there are many cartridges that can handle the deer/antelope/coyote class of animals, the .243 Win. sits at the superlative of the heap for proficient reasons: it'due south accurate, easy on the shoulder and delivers plenty energy for the task at hand.

Looking for previous installments of Behind the Bullet? Nosotros've got you covered.

• .338 Winchester Magnum
• .357 S&Westward Magnum
• half-dozen.v-284 Norma
• 8x57 Mauser
• .38 Smith & Wesson Special
• 7x57mm Mauser
• 9 mm Luger
• .35 Whelen
• .454 Casull
• .375 H&H Magnum
• .45 Colt
• .22-250 Remington
• 10mm Auto
• .308 Winchester

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Source: https://www.americanhunter.org/content/behind-the-bullet-243-winchester/

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