Originally Posted by Goatkiller
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.



.243 ballistics are far superior to a ton of well known, and many lesser known calibers, most notably the .30-30 Winchester. Energy of a bullet is a specific calculation that has nothing to do with your perception of a rifle round.

While the .243 is not my favorite, or even a round I go to often, it remains an effective caliber for thin skinned game up to 300 yards and up to 200 lbs.

Would I use it on a South Texas brush country hunt? Probably not. Would I use on a pronghorn hunt in Wyoming? Absolutely.

Pine goats in Alabama? No problem.

And for a pure varmint cartridge, I personally prefer the .22-250