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Post by bigblue on Sept 18, 2008 17:48:20 GMT -6
I found this very interesting article and I thought someone here that favors his .243 might enjoy reading and commenting on it. By Test: The Best Drop Whitetail deer Dead in their Tracks Deer Caliber, Cartridge, & Bullet Combinations. www.udarrell.com/ultimate_deer_cartridge.htmI think I've taken more whitetail deer with a .243 than any other cartridge. Don |
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Post by juliang on Sept 19, 2008 7:56:35 GMT -6
I do not yet know how true this is. I am itching to find out though, I love my 243. It has been blooded on little piggies but needs a real animal to sort the men from the boys. I have 50 rounds of 85gr SGK loaded up to verify. I am not over confident of using all 50 this season, but I'll do my best.
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Post by psycho on Sept 19, 2008 8:21:41 GMT -6
Ill check out the link later, but I do love my 243 for whitetail deer. Heck I love it on wild boar as well...
Great all around cartridge IMHO
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Post by psycho on Sept 19, 2008 8:22:31 GMT -6
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Post by smokepolehall on Sept 20, 2008 4:09:31 GMT -6
.243 nice caliber, have shot mine abit over the years. its just a plain little rifle thats fun to shoot. Rem. Mohawk 600  |
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Post by bigblue on Sept 22, 2008 8:26:07 GMT -6
A good discussion with some good and bad advice. In my opinion the .243 is out of it's element for deer hunting past 300 yards, it just doesn't carry enough energy beyond that range. My personal self-imposed deer hunting limit would be 300 yards with any cartridge. I just don't feel that I'm capable of cleanly taking a deer beyond that range and I feel I owe it to a deer to take it cleanly. I'm not as picky when it comes to varmints. I also question a .243s ability to take deer cleanly with angled shots, either quartering away or quartering on, using lighter more frangible bullets. In that I prefer to use a 100gr. bullet which would have a higher sectional density for better penetration or a bullet of solid construction like the 85gr. Barnes TSX. Don |
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Post by smokepolehall on Sept 22, 2008 13:23:48 GMT -6
yup fer varmints it will stand tall with most any other cartridge of equal footing. i like good bullet weight as in 100 gr for bigger game. yardage its able to perform to depends on several factors. we have all heard the min foot lbs needed and many say 1000. if we followed the golden rule thar be many head of game out there still don't knowed its been killed. if a person knows his/her limits then its upon them how far they shoot game. most ppl that don't practice shouldn't shoot game past 100 yds. even with a rest. i don't shoot enough to try for game past 300 yds myself without a good rest. very few shots have i ever had that were past 75 yds. due to the area i hunt in.
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Post by bigblue on Sept 22, 2008 17:09:16 GMT -6
very few shots have i ever had that were past 75 yds. due to the area i hunt in. Most of my deer hunting has been at 50 yards or less due to the heavy woods and brush in the area. Snap shots are the norm and short rifles are the most handy. One of the very few times that the woods opened up and gave me a chance at a longer 250 yard shot on a great buck, I was carrying a 16" barreled .44mag. lever action carbine. While I think the .44mag. to be capable of taking a deer at that distance, I did not have the confidence to take that long of a shot with that rifle. I could just as easily have missed or wounded the deer. If my family and I were starving and depended on the meat to survive then the shot would have been attempted, but thankfully that wasn't the case. Don |
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statelinerut
newby
"When I die I hope my wife doesn't sell my stuff for what I told her I paid for it."
Posts: 14
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Post by statelinerut on Jan 21, 2009 19:34:14 GMT -6
Man I love this topic about the 243 being enough for whitetail. I have hunted exclusively with a 243 for the last 6 years and haven't lost or had to track a single deer out of the 30 I have taken. Most of my shots are under 200 yards. I have used only one bullet with my 243. The 95gr Fusion. It is the best I have used to date for whitetail. Oh yeah, and 29 of the 30 were taken with a little ol NEF Handi Rifle. The last one was with my new Stevens 200 in 243.
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Post by DocHolladay on Jan 21, 2009 23:52:01 GMT -6
I like a .243, used to have one. Traded it for a Rem. 700 in .270 Win. It shot terribly. Honestly, all I would have had to do was change out the busted scope and try different ammo, but I chaose to just swap it for a different rifle and it just happened to be a .270.
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