Author Topic: Does anyone shoot a 243? (Read 5895 times)

cal sibley · « **Reply #30 on:** July 01, 2005, 06:54:23 AM »

My .243Win. is an older Savage 110 with a 1 in 10" barrel twist. It's a virtual tack driver with the lighter bullets, but mediocre with 100gr. bullets, grouping well enough for hunting purposes, 1" (5 at 100yds.), but nothing special. Anyone else notice this with their .243s? Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Nebraska Kelly · « **Reply #31 on:** July 07, 2005, 08:19:01 PM »

The 243 is my favorite round. I have reloaded more of those than anything else. I have always used HORNADAY 100gr spire point flat base bullets with 45gr of IMR 4831 for deer. Most accurate load. For off season shooting I like HORNADAY 75gr hollow point with 49gr IMR 4831. I have killed deer with both loads. They are both one inch or better in the 243 rifles I have owned over the years. I have never had any luck getting lighter bullets to shoot as well. I did try a couple of the lighter bullets when they came out but they did not shoot well. I did not experiment with them much because I didnt really want to use them anyway. The 75gr HORNADAY hollow point was instant death on coyotes (and anything else). Didnt really need anything faster. I must agree with the guy who said in his 40 years of reloading for the 243 he cant make light bullets shoot well. I cant either.
Nebraska Kelly

Lone Star · « **Reply #32 on:** July 08, 2005, 02:25:06 AM »

Quote

I have never had it happen to me of but there is a good possibility that the bullet just zipped right through without touching any bones to cause exspansion.... I have never trusted a "behind the shoulder shot" just for that reason. I read a story in a Feild and Stream magazine once about a guy.

Proper bullets certainly do not need to hit bone to expand! Thousands of successful hunters know this. Hey, I once read a story in Shooting and Blasting about a guy who said his brother-in-law knew a guy at the plant whose uncle read on the Internet about an old man said....

Poor bullet expansion was indeed a problem with early .243 deer bullets; there were many reports from reliable sources that bullets failed to expand. This is one reason some old timers prefer the 80-grain bullets. Winchester and Remington redesigned their deer bullets in this caliber to open more rapidly and the rest is history.

cal sibley · « **Reply #33 on:** August 05, 2005, 02:38:20 PM »

Incidently I own a Remington VLS in 6mm Rem. as well as a Savage in .243Win. The 6mm Rem. is easier to reload for having a longer neck, but in terms of effectiveness I doubt an animal would know any difference between the two calibers. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

tuck2 · « **Reply #34 on:** August 09, 2005, 07:27:48 PM »

The four 245 Winchester I have has 1-10 inch rifleing. All do not shoot the 65 Gr bullets well. I have used the 100 Gr. bullet for deer hunting and the 75 Gr bullet on varmints. The rifles are a Browning bolt action Mfg. 1963, Winchester 88 Mfg 1972,Winchester 70 Varmint Mfg 1983 and a Ruger No 1-B. Mfg 1987. Lact year I took two shots with the Ruger on deer .One deer ran about 30 Yds the other droped in its tracks. One shot is all I needed for pronghorn and mule deer I have shot. Try various bullet weights and Mfg bullets in your rifle , I think working up reloads for a new rifle is fun.

tuck2 · « **Reply #35 on:** August 09, 2005, 07:33:56 PM »

I don`t have new round ,but I could read before I post . The four rifles are the 243 Winchester round , not 245.

kombi1976 · « **Reply #36 on:** August 10, 2005, 03:24:12 AM »

Does anyone shoot a .243? Yep! :-)

Do I? Nope!!

:mrgreen:

(Sorry just had to do that)

blittle2003 · « **Reply #37 on:** August 10, 2005, 09:33:11 AM »

I just got a chance to actually go shoot my .243 this weekend. I was really disappointed with my first couple groups. I was using the Hornady Light Mag 100 gr. boat tail loads. They would shoot into 1 1/2 to 2 inch groups. While this is acceptable hunting accuracy, I was expecting more out of my Tikka that is supposed to shoot 1" or less. I then tried a couple groups with the Federal Fusion 95 gr. rounds. I could not believe the difference. My groups shrunk to under 3/8" at 100 yards. I would definately recommend trying the Federal Fusion ammunition.

Brandon

while99 · « **Reply #38 on:** August 14, 2005, 03:30:39 AM »

I bought my first .243 yesterday. I walked into a hardware store to buy a Remington 700 CDL in .280 and walked out with a pre-64 Model 70 in .243 Winchester. I put a 6x Leupold on the rifle in Weaver rings and Grad Slam bases. I bore-sighted it and fired two, 3-shot groups at 100 yards with Winchester 100 grain factory ammo. It averaged just under 1.5 inches for those 2 groups. I'll have to work up a hand load for it but I don't have dies yet.
I was always, and still am, a 6 mm Remington fan. I like the case of the 6 mm better because of the longer neck, sharper shoulder, and more capacity. I think I'll keep this .243 and, when I shoot the barrel out, have it re-bored to 7mm-08.

High Brass · « **Reply #39 on:** August 18, 2005, 01:59:32 AM »

My 243 is essentially a utility gun. I killed my first deer ever with it and will never part with it. It has had a trigger job and now sits in a laminated stock bedded and free-floated. The flimsy injection molded stock served me well for 12-13 yeards but I wanted something more rigid. I've never shot a "bughole" group with it, but have never shot a horrible group with it either. It seems that if I do my part, every powder/charge combo that I've used so far with Remington PSPCLS have shot from .75-1.5" at 100 yards. So it isn't a "tackdriver" by most people's standards, but it darn sure shoots plenty accurate for me. My most recent load shoots the above bullets and 41gr. of IMR 4350 into sub one inch groups, it's a keeper. The ease of loading, lack of recoil, inexpensive cost of components, have earned it a permanent spot in my gunsafe. I still hunt deer with it every year and a few people have used it to hunt with as well. Should I get into an area where groundhogs and/or coyotes are around then a 75-85gr. bullet will be in some cases for that application. I have abandoned the idea that it has to go super duper high speed to get the job done. I load it for consistant accuracy and shoot/hunt with it. So far in the last 15 years or so, it's been relatively easy to do. Maybe I'm just lucky or too easy to please.

dano · « **Reply #40 on:** August 27, 2005, 08:04:44 AM »

I had a 243 remington 700 for years. This was one of my favorites. Had a friend that was having a rifle built in missouri and asked if I was interested in having one,6mm remington. Got it built,shoots wonderful. Problems are you cant seat the bullet out as far as you can on the 243.If I was to seat the bullet to kiss the lans on the 6mm the bullets wouldn't go in the magazine Now I load for both guns as my # 1 son inherited the 243. I cant see any advantages as far as case capacity as I start flatting out primer on both at the same loads. when the 6mm is shot out the next barrel will be 243.

Qaz · « **Reply #41 on:** August 31, 2005, 01:42:48 AM »

Thanks everyone for the info on the caliber. I bought a Remington 700 CDL and absolutely love it. I am not a handloader, so I am still trying to see what shoots best in it. I have read alot of bad things about Moly coated bullets as far as build up in barrel and being hard to clean out. Anyone have first hand experience with moly coated bullets?

I hope to get to the range to work on sighting it in a little better now that it is broken in.

b23ball23 · « **Reply #42 on:** September 25, 2005, 08:48:37 AM »

there are a lot of deer in my area......same with groundhogs and fox.......would a .243 in different loads work for all three of them??

this might be a better alternative since a .223 cant shoot deeR(i'm not comfortable shooting a .223 at deer)

BEN

VeryOldDog · « **Reply #43 on:** September 25, 2005, 09:25:48 AM »

I have a 243 which my wife uses for deer hunting with great success. She generally shoots 100 grain Hornady. The Rifle is a Steyr Prohunter SBS Mountain gun. It is extremely accurate at either 100, 200, or 300 yards with a Simmons 3.8 - 12X Aetec scope. I enjoy shooting it with lighter grain rounds at targets. I was pleased with the choice then and I am still pleaed with this choice especially for my wife.

ilv2hnt · « **Reply #44 on:** October 22, 2005, 08:41:11 AM »

:-D I have a 700 ADL 243 that was bought new in 1976, my father killed his first buck with it, as did I, and also my son when he was 8 killed a doe (his 1st). I reload for 4 other guys in this caliber and to be honest, I think alot of people push this caliber faster than needs to be. 3 of these i load for are 700's and the 4th is a 788, all of these guns love SIERRAS and REMINGTON bullets 2 shoot the Hornady decent but I use the SIERRAS IN THE 100 GR PROHUNTER. Back this with 34 gr's of IMR 4064 ( I know that is a little light but it gets the job done and has for the 20 years I have been loading for it) but I do a little something different I use MAGNUM PRIMERS and I love these, I have used regular lr primers and BR LR PRIMERS but the MAGNUMS seem to be the little added touch that is different.

As for stopping power and accuracy, I had a guy who was a true 270 fan swear off and bought a 243, now he has 2 in 243 and 1 in 6mm( was just a good geal when he bought it) We do occasionally shoot over 200 yards at a deer but most are within 100 yards. But WHISTLEPIGS are living dangerously out to 300 (long shot here in my home county land is too rolling). I would definintely recommend just necksizing though with this caliber as it seems to help tremendously with accuracy as well as case life expectancy.

The 75 grain hornady HP'S are extremely accurate in every gun I have loaded for but they do not like to be pushed fast, and they do a terrific job of opening up when hitting a GROUNDHOG, but wouldn't recommend nothing under 85grhp for deer, as the 85 GRHP is what the SIERRA BULLETSMITHS recommend for this calibe in deer sized game, ( when I reduced the load slightly for my son when he started shooting)

Ahab · « **Reply #45 on:** November 13, 2005, 06:10:10 AM »

Bought a .243 Win Howa Varminter earlier this year because it was cheap and I have a Vanguard which grouped great out of the box. This one was no exception. Using new Win cases, Win WLR primers, 100 gr Speer BTSP, and 40gr H4350 it shot clover leafs @ 100 yrds. Hope to do better after break in and more load developement. Will use it for long range coyote culling. :grin:

Ahab · « **Reply #46 on:** November 13, 2005, 06:18:30 AM »

Bought a .243 Win Howa Varminter earlier this year because it was cheap and I have a Vanguard which grouped great out of the box. This one was no exception. Using new Win cases, Win WLR primers, 100 gr Speer BTSP, and 40gr H4350 it shot clover leafs @ 100 yrds. Hope to do better after break in and more load developement. Will use it for long range coyote culling. :grin:

hunt4646 · « **Reply #47 on:** November 17, 2005, 02:58:12 AM »

I use Howa ultralite in 243 for deer hunting. Shoulder surgery has dictated mild recoil. The rifle is not a tack driver but handles very well. Groups at 100 yds average from 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" depending on bullet. Sierra 100 gr is most accurate but separates. Nosler partitions test well for penetration but accuracy in my rifle is not the best. Hornady interlock give acceptable hunting accuracy and great performance. 100 gr Hornady spire point (now called soft point) has been very good.
Last deer taken was at 175 yards quartering toward me. Bullet hit just left of center chest and exited opposite side. Four ribs were broken and lungs a mess. Deer ran 30 yards in a circle.
Two years ago took doe with head shot between the eyes and deer slowly went down. 1/2 " hole at back of skull and big mess. I am not sure I want to make another head shot. The results are not pretty.
Previous deer was shot at 75 yds broadside walking. Heart shot and deer ran 70 yards before going down.

Thebear_78 · « **Reply #48 on:** November 17, 2005, 11:45:36 AM »

This is my 15th deer with this rifle. Never lost an animal, and never had to look very far for one either. Shot was just over 100 yards. I always use the sierra 100gr gameking boat tail. Great bullet that has worked very well from 60-280 yards for me and my family. I mainly use the federal premium load and it clocks at 2850fps from my browning eurobolt's 20" barrel.

kenscot · « **Reply #49 on:** November 25, 2005, 04:13:02 PM »

Congrats on the buck ! Nice looking rifle. Is that a conventional recoil BOSS screwed on to the front?

Darrell Davis · « **Reply #50 on:** November 27, 2005, 05:31:45 AM »

Hey there shooters,

The following is just IMHO, but for game I think the 243 and other small cal. rifles, make a good case for the premium bullets.

First critter I took years ago with the 243 and 100gr Hornady brought me to that conclusion.

That first bullet came apart BUT as I said, that was years ago and long before the Hornady INTERLOCK which I have seen take a real beating in a 243 and still hold together.

However, after that first experience I went to the 95/100gr Nosler Partition and that, possibly along with some of the other currently made premium bullets is, in my opinion the way to go for deer size game.

In my Ol'flat bolt Ruger, they shoot very well. But then, most of what I have tried in that rifle shoots good.

Enjoy those 243s and keep em coming! :wink:

jakes10mm · « **Reply #51 on:** December 06, 2005, 09:25:57 PM »

I have a Ruger No1 and Winchester 70 Heavy Varmint...both are scary accurate and a joy to shoot. I primarily use the Winchester and it seems to group 70-90gr bullets best. The 60gr and 100gr bullets I've tested open up the pattern a bit. In all fairness though, the "favored" bullets were boattails while the light and heavy extremes were flat bottoms.