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??? for you 243 guys....

toad67
Never played with a 243, but I came across this gun on the auction side
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/876436193
and thought that his claim about 1000 yards was a bit on the far side, since I haven't done much research on the 243. I was looking up the info, and came across this article, and found out where he got his info.
https://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/243win/#:~:text=243%20rivals%20a%206.5%2D284,anchor%20a%20buck%20with%20authority.
Seems like it might be stretching it a bit, but don't know from experience. What do you 243 owners have to say on the subject?
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Comments

25 comments

Date Votes
  • medic07
    While I have not shot any 243 out to 1000 yards, I have seen videos of the guys taking the milk jug challenge where they hit a milk jug at 1000 yards.  I know of at least one person on the videos that did it with a 243.
    I have run a Remington 700 in the past for white tail and just recently picked up a Mossberg Patriot in 243 for coyotes.  Yeah I know...Mossberg...but for the price point and a detachable mag I won't cringe dragging it through Texas Hill Country brush.
    I really like the 243 cartridge.
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  • jimdeere
    I have a Ruger 77 mkII in .243. Yes, give me enough bullets and I will hit a milk jug out at 1000 yds.
    The rifle in the link is a nice gun at a good price. I wouldn’t mind owning it. I would, however, install lower scope bases.
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  • SCOUT5
    I've never tried 1000 yard shots with a .243.   A good rifle with the right ammo should be able to do it.  Wind would be a larger factor than with some other long range calibers/cartridges.   The longest shot I ever killed anything with a .243 was about 350 yards, but then that's the longest shot I've ever fired on game with one.
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  • Sam06
    243 is a good accurate cartridge.  I would say it is marginal for large deer/elk but it will kill them.  It would not be my 1st choice for Grizzly or Moose but I am sure it would kill one if you do your part.

    As far as a 100yd gun well just about any rifle will shoot to 1000yds the rub is will it do it accurately and is repeatable.  That gun is nice but its not what you would use to shoot stuff at 1K.
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  • SCOUT5
    There's not a lot of energy left on a 100gr  6mm bullet at 1000 yards fired from a .243.   Could it be used to kill deer that far?   Yes, but I wouldn't try it under any normal hunting situation.  If I was hungry enough and that was the best shot I could get I might.
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  • KenK/84Bravo

    Don't know about the 1000yd. claim. (But) I do know, the best shot I ever made in the field, was with my Uncles Remington (semi auto) scoped .243. A head shot on a groundhog at 400 yards easy. (With just the head out of the hole.) Everyone around me looked at me like "Holy Crap."

    Somewhere in my stuff, I have a photo of me with that rifle holding that groundhog up. (Maybe 15-16 years of age.)

    I have been suitably impressed with that cartridge every since.

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  • toad67
    The part about "anchoring a deer at 1000 yards" seemed far fetched to me..IMO, not enough medicine at that range...
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  • Sam06
    This would be a good start on a 1k gun.

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  • Sam06
    This would be a nice scope to top it off.

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  • Grasshopper
    Back in the day I used the 243 exclusively in my area for small varmints, coyote, ground hogs, crows and the like. I had Sakos, Ruger, Remington ect. had them all and IMO, 1K is way out of line. I would NEVER try to shoot an animal at that range. I think for me the longest clean kill was with my Sao with a fixed 12x Redfield at 400 with the groundhog taking the blunt. I hear stories of this and that but to me they are stories. 3000 feet for a 243 is to much for any accuracy, all imo.
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  • RobOz

    With 105-107 VLD bullets it's a great long range varmint killer. Twisted accordingly.

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  • Butchdog2
    A 243 with a Berger 115 VLD will undoubtedly do its part if the shooter will do theirs.
    I soot 55 grain ballistic tip over 4,000 fps, vermin load, 80 grain for deer and vermin. Not the same gun of course
    6mm BRX held a 10 shot record at 600 yards for some time.
    Plenty of components and light recoil make it deadly.
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  • gruntled2
    I would like to sell my Ruger #1 rifle in .243. I tried to get an idea of what to expect on the web site. No matter what I tried I got listings for just about every Ruger on sale. How do you restrict the listings to what you are looking for?
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  • toad67
    gruntled2 said:
    I would like to sell my Ruger #1 rifle in .243. I tried to get an idea of what to expect on the web site. No matter what I tried I got listings for just about every Ruger on sale. How do you restrict the listings to what you are looking for?
    Go advanced, and type in the words to include and exclude. Just a space between each word works.
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  • BobJudy
    I punched in Ruger 243 and selected the option for single shot rifles on the left side of the page and a bunch came up. Bob
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  • Okie
    He would do better selling a 243 if he would just list is as a 243 hunting rifle. (and I like 243's and own a few but I do not stretch the truth)
    Myself when I see somewhere doing heavy puffing (BS-ING), like Mr. Haney does on Green Acres I'm no longer interested in what they have for sale. 
    I reload and glass bed hunting rifles and I took my 243's along with some other calibers to a 600 yard field, set up some refrigerator sized cardboard targets a 400 yards as a starter, set up my portable shooting bench. My guns were 1 inch or less at 100 yards consistently.
    Little bit of erratic wind. After shooting several of the guns at 400 yards I seen after looking at the groups I did not need to move the targets out any further, I moved the targets to 300 yards and my groups looked lot better.
    Summary: Shooting at deer, especially a big buck or Elk over 350 yards with a non-magnum gun is a good way to get depression if you see them just get wounded.
    Shooting at varmits at long range with small caliber guns would be less depressing. (for me)
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  • KenK/84Bravo

    What was that famous quote by a former Member about shooting .243's at his range?

    "That's a Womens Caliber." His antagonizer said to him.

    "I'll rip your face off." (Said the 70 year old to the 35 year old.) The subsequent comments and derision got ".243" deleted as a word for a couple months here. 😂


    Funny stuff. Evey time I see ".243" I can't help but think 0f that.

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  • BobJudy
    I have shot a few thousand 243s at prairie dogs with 75gr Sierras. I settled on the 75 gr  because it was better at longer distances than the lighter bullets. Even then at 500 yards any wind makes it a tough shot on a pdog sized target. 300 yards is easy, 400 yards is challenging and 500 is darn difficult. Plenty of energy at 500 for varmints but not enough for a deer sized animal for me at that distance, let alone at a 1000. Just my 2 cents. Bob
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  • chme
    Assuming an 80 gr softpoint, zeroed at 200 yards, 1.5 inch sight height.  At 1000 yards, bullet drop is 24 .3 FEET below aim point.  Bullet has 263 ft pounds of energy.  A 10 mph wind would move bullet 121 inches. 
    If you "anchor" a deer with a .243 at 1000 yards, would suggest you also buy a lottery ticket 
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  • nononsense
    If you could have just one rifle to slay varmints, hunt white-tails, shoot paper at long range, and duel in tactical matches, it would be hard to beat the .243 Winchester. This versatile “little brother” of the .308 Winchester is a true triple-threat as a match cartridge, varmint cartridge, and game cartridge. With 115gr DTAC bullets, a .243 rivals a 6.5-284 ballistically out to 1000 yards. Shooting 80-100 grain hunting bullets, a .243 will anchor a buck with authority. Driving the light 55-75 grain pills, the .243 provides the flat trajectory and high impact energy varminters love. As a tactical round, the .243 is one of the best, offering excellent ballistics, moderate recoil, and stone-reliable feeding from a detachable magazine.
    The previous posts about hunting with the .243 Win. at 1,000 yards are apparently assumptions about the connection between the .243 Win. cartridge, long range targets and hunting. I have read the above quote from the linked article a couple more times and see what has happened is as a result of poor writing or editing. Nowhere is there a sentence connecting this cartridge with hunting at 1,000 yards. The statement is:
    "This versatile “little brother” of the .308 Winchester is a true triple-threat as a match cartridge, varmint cartridge, and game cartridge."
    The sentence states the three uses of the cartridge.
    Then:
    "With 115gr DTAC bullets, a .243 rivals a 6.5-284 ballistically out to 1000 yards."
    This simply compares ballistic information out to 1,000 yards without stating anything about hunting.
    Then the real problem:
    Shooting 80-100 grain hunting bullets, a .243 will anchor a buck with authority.
    There is no mention of the yardage, simply a statement regarding it's ability to anchor 'with authority'.
    So this is just a misunderstanding because of some poor writing by the author.

    John Whidden has used the standard .243 Win. to achieve several 1,000 yard titles. The current 1,000 yards benchrest titles are usually won by the 6mm Dasher or some variation of the 6mmBR cartridge which are smaller than the .243 Win.
    Best.


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  • Mobuck
    There's really not that much difference between the 243 and 6mm Creedmore. The big difference is the twist rates of the 6mmC favor bullets that hold their velocity and stability further than the common 243. It's mostly advertising hype but I wouldn't place any high dollar bets on 243 @ 1000 yards.
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  • danielgage
    I saw a guy shoot a deer's eye out with his 243
    he was very accurate with his 243
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  • toad67
    After reading the sellers info, and re reading the article, you are correct NN. There is no mention of a 243 anchoring a buck at 1,000 yards. However, as you mentioned, poor writing, and the yellow highlighting in the article made one think that was the writers point of view. Once I read the sellers info, I had it in my mind that was the message he was trying to get out. But hey, a gun topic in gbgd, with almost 25 replies sure is an abnormality....
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  • Horse Plains Drifter
    I had a Remington 600 in 243 once. I traded it off when I figured out I could turn it into two guns. Got a .22-250, and a .25-06. :p Now I have in my possession, a Winchester 670 in 243 that a dear and now gone friend of mine gave to my daughter in 2015.
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  • mohawk600
    I had a Remington 600 in 243 once. I traded it off when I figured out I could turn it into two guns. Got a .22-250, and a .25-06. :p Now I have in my possession, a Winchester 670 in 243 that a dear and now gone friend of mine gave to my daughter in 2015.
    I killed my first deer with my buddy's Remington Mohawk 600 in .243......................needless to say, I loved that rifle and subsequently bought my own in .308 with which I took a splendid 8 point buck .........field dressed at 215 lbs..

    I like that model so much, it is my online name..................Mohawk600
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