.243 Lethality

[Hillbilly stalker]

I shoot the core locks in mine. No complaints. My buddy has a young son shooting a .243 with those Winchester shells, he says the damage is unbelievable. I went to a .243 because I was tired of loosing so much meat, good clean shot, dead deer with minimum meat loss.

 

[kmaxwell3]

My daughter shot buck with her 243 and he was DRT!! She shot a doe with 223 and we never found her. But I think it was a low leg shot.

 

[Al White]

Shot placement and good bullets. I have a .243 and a 6MM. Throw some Hornady SSTs in and you will be just fine. Not my gun of choice on either when hunting, but I have shot deer with both.

 

[Tight Lines]

The .243 is just fine for hunting. More than just fine, it is great. I am building one right now in the 6MM ARC variety for an AR-15 platform. My son hunts with a 5.56 right now (.223). No issues. Deer pile up.

You don't need a massive magnum and significant damage to take a deer down. You need (1) good shot placement (2) well designed rounds and (3) sufficient damage.

My son hunts with 62 grain 5.56. Never had a deer go more than 30 yards. Last one went 20.

My favorite deer rounds are 6.5CM, .25-06 and will soon be the 6MM ARC. Love my .270, and my 7MM-08, and of course my .30-06 and .308 but I don't need them to kill GA deer.

The whole .243 is a ladies gun, can't kill a deer, is just nonsense. Just like some guys have to have a 6" lift, a Cummins diesel to haul the SxS, and 39" tires, some guys have to have a round that will beat them to death to prove they are manly...

If I can kill 'em with one of my 3 Mathews compounds, then I better be able to with a .243...

 

[Ohoopee Tusker]

I've got a friend in, Montana his family has been killing elk with a .243 for decades.

 

[fireman32]

Haven’t had a DRT yet, my boy has shot 3 with his .243. All were well placed shots behind the shoulder, two were with a federal 90 grain and one was with a 100 grain Hornady. They all died within 50-60 yds though. If I had to complain, it would be about no pass throughs resulting in no blood trial. May have to try the Barnes next.

 

[Waddams]

Haven’t had a DRT yet, my boy has shot 3 with his .243. All were well placed shots behind the shoulder, two were with a federal 90 grain and one was with a 100 grain Hornady. They all died within 50-60 yds though. If I had to complain, it would be about no pass throughs resulting in no blood trial. May have to try the Barnes next.

The Winchester Extreme Tips and the Ballistic Tips I've used all passed through and made quit a blood pool. Except this one neck shot - was almost hard to find the entry hole. Exit was a gash, not a hole. Very, very little bleeding. But it blew the spine apart in the neck. I haven't had to track one yet, keep getting DRT with just a few leg kicks and then going still. I keep hitting the central nervous system, though. I'm sure at some point I'll not get a CNS hit and will be tracking one.

 

[Silver Britches]

Been using this exact combo for 46 years plus. Never lost a deer, most DRT.

Yes, sir! I love mine! I have the Remington Model 7. It's an awesome little gun.

 

[Dan DeBord]

I've hunted with a red pad, tang safety flat bolt 243 Ruger for years . Few years ago i decided i needed to upgrade my little 2x7 compact Leupold . Went to Sportsmans Whse got 4.5 x 14 3i Leupold and a Tikka 3 Lite 243 .

 

[furtaker]

I'll always have a soft spot for the 243 because it's what I killed my first deer with when I was 11 years old. I still have that rifle that my dad bought me. I don't hunt with it anymore but I'll never get rid of it.

The 243 is a fine deer killer. And the multitude of bullet choices available now make it all the better. There wasn't a whole lot to choose from when I started out.

 

[buckpasser]

Ok

I'll always have a soft spot for the 243 because it's what I killed my first deer with when I was 11 years old. I still have that rifle that my dad bought me. I don't hunt with it anymore but I'll never get rid of it.

The 243 is a fine deer killer. And the multitude of bullet choices available now make it all the better. There wasn't a whole lot to choose from when I started out.

Same story here. I haven’t considered using mine for over twenty years. It dawned on me that it would be cool to possibly take my first pronghorn with it in Wyoming this year with my Dad. He bought me the gun as a kid and unfortunately for him, I wound up killing my first deer sitting by myself while on a hunting trip with my stepdad. I put a new Vortex on her and she did great! We were together when I stalked up and took the pronghorn. 100 g corelokt at 209 yards and couldn’t have been happier.

 

[antharper]

Put it in the right spot and any caliber will do the job . But I love my 7 mag

 

[YankeeRedneck]

I wish I could post the video of the blood trail. I nor my brother have ever seen one where they bled that much! took her heart out with the Ruger American in .243

 

[Barfolomew]

I have a 6mm which is basically a slightly hotter 243. The only issue I have with it is that it's doesn't DRT the deer as well as some of the other calibers. At extremely close range it can over penetrate more if it doesn't hit anything solid as the bullet cross section is smaller. This can be fixed by using faster expanding bullets. It can be a little wind sensitive as well, which is basically mute in GA where I hunt because the ranges are so close.

Just like any round, shot placement plays a bigger role than just about any other factor.

 

[Geezer Ray]

Haven’t had a DRT yet, my boy has shot 3 with his .243. All were well placed shots behind the shoulder, two were with a federal 90 grain and one was with a 100 grain Hornady. They all died within 50-60 yds though. If I had to complain, it would be about no pass throughs resulting in no blood trial. May have to try the Barnes next.

Try them and you will be happy I think. I load mine using IMR 4064 with 41grs producing an average of 3442.75 FPS.

 

[mattb78]

The problem with .243 is that many bullets don't meet the sectional density requirements you want for deer. Conversely you cannot find a bullet for a .270 or larger that is insufficient for deer.

90 to 100 grain gives you a sectional density of .22 to .24 which is sufficient for deer.
58, 75 and 80 grain are .14 to .19, which according to experts is insufficient.

I leave it to Chuck Hawks for things of this nature. Sectional density is a great read for those unfamiliar.
https://www.chuckhawks.com/sd.htm

 

[Buckhead]

I have two .243s. In my experience, the round benefits from mono copper bullets more than other calibers. Higher velocities and 95+% weight retention create more hydrostatic shock and greater penetration. In years past, used traditional 100 grain factory loads. They generally worked ok at close ranges, but often didn’t get an exit and the bullets didn’t hold together well.

Been using various mono copper loads for the last 7 years or so. Have not recovered a bullet yet, all exits. Also seem to be more accurate in my rifles. Anyway, a fan of the .243 for sure.

 

[Nimrod71]

I just had to put my 2 cents in. The 243 Win. is a deer killing machine. In 1974 my best friend killed 32 deer with one. I know that was to many but we ate all of them an others as well. He had a Rem. 742 in 243 and I saw him make several 300 yd. shots. He had a Weaver 3 X scope with Post reticle. He was a carpenter and hunted every day before he went in to work and every day they were off. I had a public job and I only got to work on the weekends. I do not advise any one to exceed the legal limits, not only are you breaking the law but you are taking deer from your fellow hunters.

 

[Blackston]

Well the 243 looses another one !!! Nah I’m just kiddin I don’t think my brother cut a hair tonight , for some reason he tried a neck shot twice ??‍...Some lessons are learned the hard way ... The 243 Hits em like a hammer when it hits em right

 

[1982ace]

The problem with .243 is that many bullets don't meet the sectional density requirements you want for deer. Conversely you cannot find a bullet for a .270 or larger that is insufficient for deer.

90 to 100 grain gives you a sectional density of .22 to .24 which is sufficient for deer.
58, 75 and 80 grain are .14 to .19, which according to experts is insufficient.

I leave it to Chuck Hawks for things of this nature. Sectional density is a great read for those unfamiliar.
https://www.chuckhawks.com/sd.htm

Great info on his website.