Which would you pick? 300BLK vs .243

[buckpasser]

Zero. But I ahot bunch at paper out of one of the model 7s at a KD range… It just is what it is. A dog. A one trick
Pony with a kind of underwhelming trick- but One witha lot of GWOT era hype attached may as well send the kid witha muzzle loader.

Now if you absolutely positively need to shoot deer in the back yard in vinings, and not be detected and not have a pass though make it into the neighbors dining room- grab that sweet shooting rig and have at it.

Or say- god forbid a 2 year old buck jumps through the bay window in the dining room and you need to whack him without fear of sending a bullet into the wife’s sewing room, adjacent, better grab that black out.

We’ve shot into the double digits of big bucks with ours, including the one in my avatar. All shots have been pass throughs, big blood trails (that we didn’t need as they fell in sight), and just about zero recoil. We use supersonic copper bullets in a 16” AR. I think they make a fine deer round in the right hands.

 

[175rltw]

We’ve shot into the double digits of big bucks with ours, including the one in my avatar. All shots have been pass throughs, big blood trails (that we didn’t need as they fell in sight), and just about zero recoil. We use supersonic copper bullets in a 16” AR. I think they make a fine deer round in the right hands.

The recoil and the platform are the advantages over a muzzleloader - which has done all the things you described otherwise for a real real long time. Especially for the last 30 years shooting sabots and power belts with ballistic tips etc.

Innthe context of the thread here in which we are participating where there is an actual child who actually shoots a 243 on the reg- I don’t think swapping to muzzleloader ballsotc curves on the eve of the hunt is a great idea. It probably already has played out an successfullly hopefully.

So again here in context I’d say 300 blk is one of a handful of modern that are ballisticly dissimilar enough from most other modern cartridges that it can be problematic in the field within ranges that most accept as reasonable.

A chip shot at 150 with one is a guess or a dial with the other.

 

[killerv]

I went the 300bo route for a year with my son, used 110 barnes vortex, did the job but with supersonics definitely keep it 100 yards or less, with subs, I'd say 50 at most.

Personally, if you can find a youth 243 I'd go that route instead. My son was on a 260 compact by age 8.

 

[Baroque Brass]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I was thinking the 300 would give me more margin for error with the heavier bullet but it sounds like the consensus is the opposite. I'll stick with the 243

Pull up a ballistics calculator and plug in the numbers for both calibers. More velocity usually results in more energy delivered but I think the numbers between bullet weight and velocity have to cross at some point.

 

[menhadenman]

Pull up a ballistics calculator and plug in the numbers for both calibers. More velocity usually results in more energy delivered but I think the numbers between bullet weight and velocity have to cross at some point.

Velocity gets squared (mass is all alone) if I remember the few days I went to high school . The blackout (even supersonic) will never have as much energy or speed as 243 at the muzzle or any point afterwards. But I’ve also been convinced by others that bullet construction makes more of a difference than caliber. Guys kill some big bucks with blackout and I hunt with it sometimes too. But I’d still go with the 243 with a good bullet.

 

[furtaker]

Ive used them for years too. 140gr 6.5x55 and never had a reason to change.
Rarely had an exit but I didnt much care when the deer only take a step or two and fall down dead. I will say that I am very particular about the shots I will take so that probably plays a role too.

Interesting. That bullet has a high SD and moderate velocity so that's one Core Lokt that I would expect to exit. It doesn't matter though when they're dead right there.

 

[WaltL1]

Interesting. That bullet has a high SD and moderate velocity so that's one Core Lokt that I would expect to exit. It doesn't matter though when they're dead right there.

Yep.
And Im a short range (under 100 yds), heart/lung shooter only so its not like the bullet is going through shoulders etc.
Rarely an exit but the heart/lungs always looked like grape jelly when you gut the deer.