Hunting with the .243 Winchester - Possibly the Perfect Deer Round
The .243 Winchester is a wonderful round. It is accurate, has light recoil and hits with enough authority to take deer sized game cleanly and humanely. The .243 is a necked down version of the .308 Winchester. It is normally factory loaded with bullets which weigh from 80 to 100 grains. Those who hand load have a choice of weights all the way up to 105 grains. It pushes these bullets anywhere from 2700 to 2900 feet per second with plenty of foot pounds of energy to do the job.
I bought my wife a Winchester model 70 many years ago. The caliber .243. It is the only center fire rifle she has owned. She hunts with me often. And I have seen her take many deer and several antelope with this rifle. It has performed spectacularly in the field. In fact my wife has taken the better of buck antelope between the two of us. On that hunt I watched in amazement when she sent an eighty grain Speer bullet downrange and knocked that antelope buck head over heels at about two-hundred and fifty yards.
In my hunting experience I have used many different calibers for my hunts, from the 22-250 Remington, to the .338 Winchester magnum. Of all of the rifles I've owned I feel my favorite is the 7mm Remington magnum. But when I really think about it I could have taken every head of game I have with a .243 Winchester. I am slow to admit it but it is the truth.
This round has caused the demise of several comparative rounds. When Winchester brought out the .243 Remington brought out a similar round called the .244. The Winchester round proved to be more effective and won the sales war hands down. Remington redesigned the .244 and called it the 6 millimeter Remington but it was too little too late. The .250 Savage and the .257 Roberts were likewise overshadowed by the performance of the .243.
There is an old saying amongst hunters and soldiers alike. It is Beware of the man who owns one rifle. The reason for this belief is that to use one rifle makes the shooter/hunter more proficient, yes more intimate, with this one rifle. Well my wife has owned the one rifle and she is a crack shot. I must say I am a believer. Of course I take pride in saying i reload for her. And I must say the .243 is very easy and actually pleasurable to reload.
I believe the .243 Winchester is a perfect rifle for deer sized game out to about 300 yards. I also believe it is also a good varmint round with inherent accuracy. In the deep woods though I would probably, and I mean deep woods, steer toward a brush buster like the 30-30 Winchester or .35 Remington. But all-in-all the .243 is hard to beat as the perfect deer rifle. I may need to get me one.
Published by george chavez
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14 Comments
Post a Commenti have never hunted deers so my friends make fun of me i aint freinds with them so i dont have a freind text me on face book
I have hunted with the .243 since 1968. I have hunted deer on the Missouri River bottoms south of Mandan, ND to the North Woods of Minnesota. I have shot several deer, only one taking more than one shot. The bullet of choice has always been the Speer 90 grain bullet ahead of 39 grains of IMR-4895, WW cases and CCI 200 primer. No deer has moved one foot although I will admit a few of them kicked once or twice following being hit but none took a step. I choose my shots very carefully and I know my rifle very well, a Remington 700 ADL. I also shoot a .222 Remington. I have also shot antelope with the .243. I'd use it on any big game animal including elk or moose if the opportunity presented itself. I'd just make darned sure I had a clean shot and put the bullet into the spine for a sure kill.
I think you are right. Of all my rifles and all the game I took with them I bet I could have done just fine with only one rifle. The .243. A great round for deer. If I put the bullet in the right place, like a good hunter should, a .243 will put a deer down every time. Thanks
Yep,shot placement is key, whether with a .243 Winchester or any other cartridge. Like many hunters, I own several rifles and have used them all to take whitetails and muleys. These rifles include a .243, 30-06, 30-30, 44 Mag, 444 Marlin and even a 12 gauge slug gun. My conclusions based on my experiences? All work well but none of them drop deer as cleanly as the .243 Winchester! I can't explain why, but suspect it's the instantaneous shock that occurs when that fast little 100-grain bullet dynamites a deer's heart and lungs, turning all into a bloody hash. I don't feel as though I have to take a head/neck shot with this rifle, as some folks suggest is necessary with this caliber. The drawback to the .243 compared to my other guns? Not much of a blood trail when they do sometimes run. But they don't go far, so put on your tracking shoes, get hot and get to tracking....that's a part of hunting too!
It seems like the .243 was made for use on deer. They go together like cigarettes and coffee. Anyone who thinks they need a more powerful round to hunt deer is either a poor hunter or a poor shot, or both!
I already have a 308 but just bought a 243 for my son to use and to get as a surprise gun when he gets his first deer. Plans have changed-I'm keeping the gun. I love shooting it, my 11 year old son likes it as well. We are practicing with the light loads but when I checked the placement of the heavier rounds. They were hitting just below the light loads. Sorry kid, maybe you can borrow my 308 kimber with some reduced recoil loads.
Thank you so much! I think there has been more game lost or missed completely as a result of a recoil "flinch" as there has been from being under gunned. 243 is a personal favorite - and shot placement is just whole key!
I too purchased a Remington 7600 in .243. I think it is a little light for the really big bucks we have, though a colleague used it to take a 165 lb 6-pointer this past season. I plan on using it primarily for coyotes and as a back-up to my .30-06 for deer. If I ever convince my wife to sit out in the woods, this is what she will use.
I just purchased a Remington 7600 in .243 and plan to use it for stalking/still hunting deer. I will probably also go to it for anything unwanted that wonders into my fields (coyotes, porcupines, woodchucks, etc).
useing the 243 was the best exprience of my life.