[meichele]

The effective range would obviously 1st and foremost depend greatly on the shooter. 2nd would depend on the bullets used and if they would still open up and expand on impact at the ranges you wish to shoot them. I have found that for a 243 a good hunting bullet is a must. You dont have alot of weight or mass so you need a bullet that will hold together well on impact. You would want 100 grains minimum and you would not want to use varmint type bullets. Spire point boat tails work well. Barnes X bullets work well and other well construted hunting bullets. Dall sheep are not particularly tough to dispatch so a well placed shot from a 243 will do its job very well so long as the proper bullet is used. As far as max effective range, you would have to do some tests with various bullets at different ranges to determine bullet expansion capabilities. With dall sheep, as long as there is enough energy to expand a good hunting bullet, there is enough energy to cleanly harves a ram. I personly with the 243's I have owned in the past with the Hornaday bullets I used to shoot I wouldnt have hesitated to take a ram at 600+ yards with the equipment I was using at that time. I also feel that had I been into handloading back then and with the bullet selections we have today, I am sure I could have stretched that distance to 1/2 mile. Obviously though, that would be greatly dependant on the right bullet at the right velocity. What are you using?

I hope that helps some. It is hard to tell you the effective range of a 243 due to all the variables but with the info above, that should help you decide.