Possibilities .243Win caliber hunting.

[kristian55]

Possibilities .243Win caliber hunting.
Please share opportunities caliber .243Win on hunt, the minimum and maximum distance shots,
the minimum and maximum weight of the killed animal.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[matt_3479]

The 243. winchester is a fantastic caliber for most game when people dont even realize it. It continues to surprise me. I have a few stories to share about a 243. win.

A few years back my old man and his best friend went way up to northern Quebec to hunt caribou and a lady and her husband just got married and did this trip as there honeymoon. She successfully took two bull caribou with antlers larger then 42". Both shots were within 80 yards but both caribou dropped where they stood.

My neighbor went down to Montana to hunt Mule deer with some of this close buddies and my neighbor borrowed a 243. instead of bringing his 308. He and his guide spotted one at 378 yards. My neighbor set up and dropped the Large 320 lbs, 170" mule deer in its tracks. He aimed high and hit it in the spine. The next year he went down and took a 230 lbs, 173 5/8" mule deer at just over 100 yards and it ran 15 yards and folded up.

My uncle bought a 243. win in a parker hale for ground hogs years and years bag. 10 years ago he bought a 223. rem in a Browning A-bolt Medallion and he put the 243. win away and never touched it since last year. He took it out, mounted an old scope on it. Fired a few rounds to sight in and took both the 223. and the 243. win out coyote hunting with his son. He took a 260 some odd yard shot with the 243. win and just hammered the yote.

I personally would like to purchase a 243. win for strictly coyote hunting but im in debate with just buying a 22-250 instead. Those are my stories.

 

[kristian55]

The 243. winchester is a fantastic caliber for most game when people dont even realize it. It continues to surprise me. I have a few stories to share about a 243. win.

A few years back my old man and his best friend went way up to northern Quebec to hunt caribou and a lady and her husband just got married and did this trip as there honeymoon. She successfully took two bull caribou with antlers larger then 42". Both shots were within 80 yards but both caribou dropped where they stood.

My neighbor went down to Montana to hunt Mule deer with some of this close buddies and my neighbor borrowed a 243. instead of bringing his 308. He and his guide spotted one at 378 yards. My neighbor set up and dropped the Large 320 lbs, 170" mule deer in its tracks. He aimed high and hit it in the spine. The next year he went down and took a 230 lbs, 173 5/8" mule deer at just over 100 yards and it ran 15 yards and folded up.

My uncle bought a 243. win in a parker hale for ground hogs years and years bag. 10 years ago he bought a 223. rem in a Browning A-bolt Medallion and he put the 243. win away and never touched it since last year. He took it out, mounted an old scope on it. Fired a few rounds to sight in and took both the 223. and the 243. win out coyote hunting with his son. He took a 260 some odd yard shot with the 243. win and just hammered the yote.

I personally would like to purchase a 243. win for strictly coyote hunting but im in debate with just buying a 22-250 instead. Those are my stories.

Hi matt_3479.
Interesting information.
Thank you.

 

[trebark]

I personally would like to purchase a 243. win for strictly coyote hunting but im in debate with just buying a 22-250 instead. Those are my stories.

Within 400 yards the 22-250 is great. Once you start to get farther than that, the wind-drift is terrible. This is when the 243 with a heavier, higher BC bullets starts to take over. IMHO the 243 is the better Yote gun especially if you intend to shoot waaaay over there!

 

[kristian55]

Interestingly me as will work on a black bear bullet
Hornady 6mm .243 100 gr InterLock BTSP and
6mm .243 100gr InterLock SP.
This information interesting about work of this bullet and on other animals, is distance, maximal weight of animal, opening of bullets on different distances.

 

[bigngreen]

Watched a buddy lay the smack down on a 300 class bull elk with a 243 and a 105 Berger though the shoulder and spine, he hit the dirt so hard it broke his jaw at a couple hundred yards.
Excellent coyote gun as well, very versatile with good bullet selections!! You just need to load the right bullet and place it properly gun)

 

[COBrad]

while not my first choice for big game, it does work, with careful shot placement. I shot a 9" mountain goat last year at 305 yds. with one. through the shoulder and he went down as I was squeezing the trigger for the second shot. I sold that rifle to fund the Cooper .270 I am shooting now. today I took a marmot at 690 yds. with it. looking at buying another Cooper in .243. Sierra makes a 95 gr. Match King with a BC of .480, nearly identical to the .488 the 135 gr. MK's I'm shooting out of the 27, and they should be moving along just as fast. Lighter rifle, lighter recoil, same ballistics. Sounds good to me.

 

[RT2506]

I have killed a bunch of ground hogs and white tail deer with two different 243 rifles. One was a Rem 700 ADL and the other a Rem 700 BDL Varmint. I would shoot ground hogs with 75 gr Nosler solid base bullet and a few with the 70 gr ballistic tip that had just come out and replaced the solid base and the Rem 80 gr over IMR 4350. I killed some ground hogs at some pretty long ranges for the Mountains of TN. 300 to 400 yards. I have killed a lot of deer in the bean fields of NC with 100 gr Sierra and Rem CL bullets with a bit more Accurate Arms 3100 powder than they give as a max load these days. I would purposely hold my shots to under 350 yards because of bullet energy getting low after that. If they did not drop on the spot they did not go very far. It has been about 15 years since I last used a 243.

 

[out front]

A 243 is the optimum yote rifle where I usually hunt (NE, KS.) When the wind gets going the 22-250 can struggle and the heavier/higher BC 243 bullets make hits easier. I still use my 22-250 frequently, but the 243 gets the nod when the weather calls for it.

I love it so much I have two of them (light walking and long range rig)

 

[Rimfire]

6BR with 107 SMK 2850 FPS is a little less but some results.

Its a great G-hog gun with the longest being approx. 725 yards with dozens killed @ +- 500 a few got away but the ones hit solid were done.

It is also good on fox longest one last year was 670 DRT.

Also used as a crop damage rifle for deer. As with any cal they will kill well beyond what is a good idea if all things go right. In reality keep it to a reasonable distance and limit angles and they work fine.

 

[robbobsam]

I have taken many rabbits over 400yds with my .243 and a hare at over 700yds.

If you get your load sorted and the groups are tight then 800yds is very do able on the right day with the right conditions on rabbits, hares and foxes.

I find 87 grain V-Max are awesome but are a little inconsistent in length from base to O-Give. The 80 grain Berger varmint is far more consistent and gives me tighter groups, but has a lower BC.

Its a trade off, I tend to stick to the bergers now as most of my shooting is under 500yds and the bergers will give me 3.5" groups at 500yds, which is tight enough for rabbits, foxes and hares.

 

[Len Backus]

I killed an antelope at 650 yds. One shot kill.

115 Berger.

 

[tnshooter111]

YouTube - 1017 Yard Coyote Greybull Precision John Burns

 

[Outlaw6.0]

The 6mm bore is my favorite, my first hunting rifle was a Savage 110 in 243win... I can't remember how many mule deer fell to that rifle with the old 95grn Barnes X, then rechambered it to 243 ackley for yotes pushin a Sierra 80grn blitz @3450, then rebarreled & rechambered it to 6mm Ackley pushing a 85 grn partition to 3600 (current configuration). Now I have a DPMS LR-243 (sweet rifle) shooting the 87grn V-Max, and a full custom Rem700 LA chambered in 6mm-284 shootin 107 SMKs. My grandfather used the 243win for elk to great success (proper placement). Do yourself a favor, pick up the 243, handload good bullets and start the love affair many of us on LRH have for the 6mm bore.

You won't be sorry...