.308 versus .243?

[Bart Solo]

1armoured,
Nobody disputes that the 308 is an outstanding caliber.  If the choice was between the 270 and the 308 a powerful argument for the 308 could be made.  He has made it clear, however, that he has a 270 which he likes a lot, but he wants to buy one new rifle.   In a world where people have to make choices because they can't afford to do everything, I think for all the reasons stated that 243 is a better choice.   

[His lordship.]

I forgot to mention that I had 2 rifles in .223, recently sold my CZ-527 bolt gun as it did not shoot all that well at 300 yards.  It could have been the bullets, I mostly used 55 grainers, it did great at 100 yards.  I am now down to my Smith and Wesson M & P AR-15, but it is setup with open sights.
 
The point of the .308 being so similar to the .270 is valid, the .243 would be a nice middle of the road alternative between the .223 and the .270.  My Mossberg in .270 shoots best with the 130 grainers at 300 yards, not so well with other bullet weights, I am not surprised as I think it was sold with the idea of the buyers being deer hunters and the 130 grainer is what they would use.  The 115 grainers in .270 do well at up to 200 yards, it would be a great wood chuck gun.  In central Texas where I live, the deer here are very small, it has been mentioned that anything over .243 is over kill. 

[mcwoodduck]

I think in your bullet selection your 270 and a 243 are reall close.
130 or 115 grain for the .270 and 80 to 105 for the .243  With the 308 you are looking at a 150 to 180 grains.  The 125 grain 308 is going to douplicate the 270 and the 243.
Also for the deer I have seen killed with a 130 grain 270 it makes a lot of Jelly meat.  It is only about 4 but each one was really bad.  one jellied a whole ham, the other a right side from the ribs forward.  All the killed deer and pigs I have shot with the 180, 165 and 150 grain bullets, I can eat all the way to the bullet hole and exit.  Very little if any jellied meat.

[Bart Solo]

McWoodduck
 
Are you suggesting he sell his 270? 
 
By the way, if you want to really expand the discussion maybe you should include the 30-06.  While the 308 and 30-06 are nearly equal up to 180 grain bullets the 30-06 has much better top end performance.   

[mcwoodduck]

McWoodduck
 
Are you suggesting he sell his 270? 
 
By the way, if you want to really expand the discussion maybe you should include the 30-06.  While the 308 and 30-06 are nearly equal up to 180 grain bullets the 30-06 has much better top end performance.

No,
I just think the 308 is more versitile than then either the 270 or the 243. 

[flintlock]

The problem is you bought a .270 before buying a .243...
 
If you had of bought the .243 first then you wouldn't want either a .270 or a .308.......

[BBF]

Having a great Sale on for a Savage Axis I ordered one in .243 Win.
After some serious reflections I changed my order to 308 Win. 

[rickt300]

If I had a 270 I would use it for target shooting, varmints along with any medium game needed shooting. My next rifle built would be a 224 TTH with the correct twist (1 in 8?) or a 22-250. And who cares about shooting a deer with it because I have the 270. Now for the important part build a 35 Whelen for serious hog hunting and timber Elk. Become absolutely obsessed with timber Elk hunting, do a lot of it and be happy.

[helotaxi]

The long range ballistics favor the .243.  Many long range target shooters use one of the various 6mms because they shoot flatter, buck the wind better and have negligible recoil compared to the .308.  Almost no competitive shooters use the .308 anymore unless shooting a class that requires it.  Even the tactical guys have gone to something else.

The idea that the .308 can do anything that the .243 can do and do it better is laughable.  If that were the case it would still be a viable competition cartridge.  It isn't and for a good reason.  When it comes to hunting, I can't think of anything that I would be uncomfortable shooting with the .243 that I would consider the .308 OK except at close range.  The .308 just gives up too much velocity to its smaller progeny and doesn't offer anything other than a heavier bullet in return.  I'd much rather have the .270 than either if I was shooting at anything bigger than a deer.

[quatroclick]

The problem seems to be that the .270 is such a do it all type of round anyway.  I have a 243, a 270 and a few 308's.  In your case, given the choice between 243 and 308, I would go with a 243.  But, I would find a heavy barrel varmint gun, assuming that your 270 is a standard sporter weight gun.

[Zachary]

So, either a .308 or .243 on hogs huh?  Okay, let me put my 2 cents in....solely regarding the use of each on hogs.
 
A 150 grain Winchester Power Point out of a 7mm Rem. Mag has bounced off of a 200+ pound hog's grisle plate. I, personally, would never use such a bullet, on such a large hog, in such a spot.  It was my younger, and less experienced, brother who bought that plane jane ammo and shot it where he did.  I would have used a more premium bullet such as the Barnes X (or newer styled model), etc.  At the shot, the hog ran like heck, and there was chunks of bone on the ground, but the hog was never found.
 
I have also seen someone use a .222 (not .223, but .222) also with plane jane 50 grain Remington core-lokt ammo who shot a similarly sized hog right behind the ear.  The hog dropped right in its tracks.
 
I can tell you many stories of hogs that I have shot over the years, but I am trying to make 2 points:
 
1.  Bullet placement is especially important when shooting hogs.
2.  If you use a small cartridge on a hog, but you don't shoot it in the right place, then you'll wish that you had a larger cartridge. (Especially when they are wounded and come running right after you!!!)
 
Don't get me wrong, a .308 isn't an excuse for poor shot placement.  What the .308 offers is a little more insurance against marginal shot placement.  And let's face it, hogs are usually moving constantly, so even if you are a great shot, those darn critters may likely move the last second right before you hit the trigger and, depending on how much they move, a .308 is going to be a better choice than a .243.
 
Even so, with all else being equal, I would take a .308 over a .243 for hogs any day.

You want to laugh?  I once got so ticked off with hog hunting (and losing them even after I shot them kinda pretty good), that I got myself a .375 H&H Magnum.  I don't need to go to Africa to use my .375.  I'll tell you what...even shooting a 250+ hog on the grisle plate using 300 grain Federal Nosler Partitions, that sucker dropped right in its tracks! And I laughed!   

[Mikey]

What?  A 7mm mag bouncing off a hog's grizzle plate?  Now I have heard everything.  Dang, I thought the 7mm Mag was the end-all to be-all but I guess the hog didn't quite understand that.  So, I guess that's why I use my 444 Marlin and 300 - 300 gn cast 'bacon makers' - they don't bounce off anything.
But, to the op's question:  I would say that your 270 covers anything you would want to hunt with a 308 but I feel the 243, which is a 6mm, is a bit too light for what you want.  I would opt for a 6.5mm bore and the 260 Remington, is a 308 simply necked to 6.5mm with the 243 being a 308 necked to 6mm.  The 6.5mm bore has a higher ballistic co-efficient, which to me means it will penetrate more, which it does.  Hogs are some tough critters and although a properly placed bullet will take them easily I would opt for more penetration to help with difficult shot placement.
If you absolutely have to buy a new rifle (and like why not??) I would opt for the 308.  You can use it for varmit, target, surplus ammo shooting, big game; you can purchase sub-caliber inserts for garden pests or develop a lighter recoiling load than with the 270.  Reloading components are plentiful.  Good luck.

[tuck2]

 If you can not get sub one inch groups at 100 yards shooting off a bench rest its most likley the quality of the rifle or  the shooter , not the cartridge.  Now that various types of bullets are available one should match the bullet type to the size of the animal hunted.  For a person who is just starting  and has only one rifle there is no point in nearly duplicating it with a like round 270-308.  Get the 243 Win , it shoots 55, to 105 grain bullets , your 270 shoots 90 to 160 grain bullets. After getting  a 243 Win rifle start looking for a .224 caliber varmint rifle that could handle 35 thru 60 grain bullets. The fourth rifle could be in the 300 Win class that handles 150 thru 200 grain bullets. You then would be set up for most hunting .