Bushwhacker
Beauty ram posted above there SRH... hey whats your opinion on the 243 for deer, would it be considered a little light for big mule deer etc? I'm thinking of getting one for my 11 year old son, I'm assuming the kick etc would be the easiest to manage for a centre-fire..
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ATHEIST HUNTER
i got the gun for my son which was recommended by a friend because of light kick i’m not up much on calibre knowledge but he did take a few deer with it. i can say nothing was shot over 150 yds. he was 10 at the time. nowadays i’m sure there’s other options but for an inexpensive rifle his 243 worked okOriginally Posted by HarryToolips
HuntingBC Champ
i shot a 30” wide mule deer with a giant body at 200y and he went tumbling down the hill on impact with a 85 grain fusion … awesome deer caliber
Philomath
I went through this process back in 2021 when picking a cartridge for my daughter (10 at the time) to shoot. The venerable .243 win was high on the list, heck, I even had (well, still have) a rem 700 mtn rifle sitting in the safe for this very purpose. After careful consideration I went with a Weatherby Vanguard compact in 7-08. The reasons: I didn't want to cut the stock on the 700 to shorten the LOP and the 7-08 rem is a much more versatile cartridge. One can load 100 gr varmint rounds for plinking/predators and on up to 150/160's if you want to for big game. It will kill a moose without much issue when using a stout bullet and crush coyotes/ground squirrels...Very similiar powder capacity as the .243 and 7-08 share the same parent cartridge so basically the same recoil when using 100 grain bullets.
I started her off shooting a Sierra 100 gr HP in front of a charge of BL-C(2), recoil wasn't a problem at all. She hunted with a 110 gr Barnes ttsx load that fall. I have since moved her hunting load up to a Barnes 120 gr TTSX BT with a stout load of H4895 behind it...The only thing I need to do this summer is put the spacer block back in to lengthen the LOP a bit!
'rifle
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Senior Member
.243 is a great deer cartridge. shot quite a few and seen quite a few taken with one. Also seen quite a few moose die to a .243
HuntingBC Champ
There’s been a couple threads on here about the 6arc and 6.5 Grendel. I think either would be good for any size mule deer at reasonable distances. I know of one moose shot with a Grendel. I have my sights set on a howa mini action in one of these cartridges whenever I can get to a store to handle a couple different models. I think the 243 win is a big case for a 6mm.
I ended up buying a browning youth model in 6mm creedmoor for my kid. It has a brake on it and stock spacers to add as he grows. I had to look all over Canada for this rifle and ended up with someone answering a wtb ad for a store with no website and the guy had seen it on the shelf the day before. Browning also issued a 50% off of a full sized stock that’s good for five years if I decide to change it up. As TODD BARTELL told me the 6 creed has similar performance as the 243, but usually has a faster twist for running the heavier bullets. 6 creed bullets were hard to find when I bought it, but they seem fairly mainstream now, or at least at the canadian tire downtown.
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HuntingBC Champ
I shot two Deer every year from 12 years old through my teens with a .243, 10 and 11 years old I used a .222 they work great
Bushwhacker
Hey thanks for the replies all on the 243 and sorry to derail the thread..
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