Nobody is talking about a magnum.

And a .243's ballistics are not superior to anything. I have a beautiful pre '64 Win heavy barrel varmint that's chambered in .243. I love the round. Best varmint cartridge ever made. That was one of my first guns I ever bought on my own, however I didn't buy it for a deer rifle. Because I knew it was too light for deer even back then. Y'all want to put all your stock into a magical bullet that either doesn't blow up or maybe it does.... doesn't seem like y'all can ever decide on that.

WHY? Why would you put yourself in that situation on purpose?

There is really no good argument to choose .243 for a deer rifle. You are really at the top of the cartridge's capability loaded with 100 gainers. To me that's a very poor choice over 7mm-08, 6.5 Creed, .308, etc.

BTW.... My shoulder is already hurting thinking about that 6.5 Creed recoil.