Which would you pick? 300BLK vs .243

ssramage

ssramage

Senior Member
On vacation right now, but putting together a plan for getting my 6 year old on his first deer when we get back home. We've done a few range sessions with our single shot .243 and he's ready. Thinking through things, I have a nearly identical gun in 300BLK that's suppressed with a much better scope. His primary complaint with the .243 was the lack of eye relief in the scope (it's got a junk Kahles on it still and I don't have time to swap it out this season).

Do I switch the 2 on game day and let him use the 300BLK?

Shooting 150gr Deer Season XP suppressed In the 300BLK vs 100gr Core Lokts in the .243.
 
B. White

B. White

Senior Member
Out of your two choices, I'd work on scoping the 243 for him. I'm different than most and would want the max energy I could get for an inexperienced hunter. 243 and 300blk are not even in the same category. I know deer are easy to kill, but I wouldn't expect perfect shot placement from a youngster.
 
transfixer

transfixer

Senior Member
B. White said:
Out of your two choices, I'd work on scoping the 243 for him. I'm different than most and would want the max energy I could get for an inexperienced hunter. 243 and 300blk are not even in the same category. I know deer are easy to kill, but I wouldn't expect perfect shot placement from a youngster.
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Having killed deer with both calibers, I agree with above , 300blk can do the job, but shot placement is critical with it, if they hit a shoulder bone with the 300 it will likely not penetrate very far, .243 is the better choice, I no longer hunt with my .300blk, and I am a stickler for perfect shot placement, the .300blk was designed as a people stopper , and deer are much tougher than we are ! at least half the deer I've taken in my lifetime of 40+ yrs of hunting have been with a .243, and if I could only have one rifle for hunting whitetails in the southeast it would be a .243 , I have multiple other calibers, but .243 is my favorite for putting meat in the freezer
 
B. White

B. White

Senior Member
transfixer said:
Having killed deer with both calibers, I agree with above , 300blk can do the job, but shot placement is critical with it, if they hit a shoulder bone with the 300 it will likely not penetrate very far, .243 is the better choice, I no longer hunt with my .300blk, and I am a stickler for perfect shot placement, the .300blk was designed as a people stopper , and deer are much tougher than we are ! at least half the deer I've taken in my lifetime of 40+ yrs of hunting have been with a .243, and if I could only have one rifle for hunting whitetails in the southeast it would be a .243 , I have multiple other calibers, but .243 is my favorite for putting meat in the freezer
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I wish I had my first one back from when I was a teenager. Rem. 788 I sold to a LGS somewhere around Arabi, if my memory is correct, around 1983. I remember some older folks hunting with a 30-30 calling it a pop gun back then. My first buck had a wound from where one of them made a bad shot two weeks before. I was loading a Speer round nose, I think 105 gr. Gave a handful to some folks hunting peanut fields around Camilla and they said it hit like a hammer. I still have a few loaded from back in the box the new Winchester brass came in that I ran across earlier in the year.
 
transfixer

transfixer

Senior Member
B. White said:
I wish I had my first one back from when I was a teenager. Rem. 788 I sold to a LGS somewhere around Arabi, if my memory is correct, around 1983. I remember some older folks hunting with a 30-30 calling it a pop gun back then. My first buck had a wound from where one of them made a bad shot two weeks before. I was loading a Speer round nose, I think 105 gr. Gave a handful to some folks hunting peanut fields around Camilla and they said it hit like a hammer. I still have a few loaded from back in the box the new Winchester brass came in that I ran across earlier in the year.
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When I first bought my .243 back in the early 80's i started out using factory load 100gr rounds, then bought the dies and started loading, I chose the 87gr or 85gr, btsp's or bthp's , I liked the extra speed as I was shooting over clearcuts back then, I've stuck with those same weight bullets even though I was mainly hunting woods the last 10 or so years, last buck I killed was an 8pt at 40yds, using a 87gr bthp, high slightly behind the shoulder shot, clipped the top of his lungs, and severed his spine about halfway through, he dropped in his tracks, never even kicked.
 
R

Robust Redhorse

Senior Member
300 BO, under 100 yards.

I've had way too many deer run way too far after being hit perfectly with a .243.

To each his own, but a .243 is marginal for deer (IMO).


But, I will say, that my opinion this is based on old-timey "cup & core" bullets.

If you want to pay $50/box for .243, then you can get some good loads.

IMO, have a kid shoot at least a .25 caliber.



Just MO...
 
buckpasser

buckpasser

Senior Member
Either will roll em up as far as a kid needs to attempt it. Copper bullets are the way with both calibers, but .243 offers more traditional bullet options that will be effective. Have fun!
 
B

basshappy

BANNED
Shot placement is critical. I don't know if I would change instruments the day of the hunt unless I was confident my boy was as close to 100% good with the swap as he could be. IE plenty of hands on time. I would want to minimize every variable that could result in having to track a wounded deer or a slow dying deer. The instrument, the load, the distance, etc.
 
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