Guys, I will admit I am hard headed, but I am not above being proven wrong. I just know that based on others I have been around when they hunted with their .243s, quite a few of them griped about the small blood trails and having a hard time finding the animals IF there was no bone hit. Granted: you hit a rib and the secondary projectiles will make an exit hole almost an inch in diameter. But hitting a rib is luck; there is at least the same chance you WON'T hit bone as you will. And to me, shooting deer in the shoulders destroys meat, as it throws bone fragments through the shoulder meat that have to be picked out and/or cut around.
And as far as the post above that said the .243 was not designed for varmints, I beg to differ. Like a lot of very successful commercial rounds, it began its life as a wildcat, used for varmints and with light bullets. Research the history of the .243. And the reason the 6MM lags in popularity is beyond me. It is a better caliber, both in accuracy and power.
Finally, it all depends on shooter ability, as it does with any round. But there are a whole lot of deer lost each year to the .243 because some folks don't understand you don't take 80-grain hollow point rounds to the woods for whitetails (I know: a friend of mine lost three deer one opening weekend because he did exactly that), and a lot of deer are lost because Dad hands Junior a .243, thinking it is plenty of rifle, and Junior promptly puts the bullet in the wrong place. I have seen that as well.
All I ever said is that there were better calibers suited for the task, and the OP has one. THAT is a proven fact. Why he would choose the smaller caliber and factor in less room for error is something I don't understand. But maybe he is recoil shy; thankfully, I am not. All I know after deer hunting for almost 50 years is that often the perfect shot is not available, and invariably it isn't there when the trophy of a lifetime shows up. I would rather have a bit more insurance when that happens.
And as far as the post above that said the .243 was not designed for varmints, I beg to differ. Like a lot of very successful commercial rounds, it began its life as a wildcat, used for varmints and with light bullets. Research the history of the .243. And the reason the 6MM lags in popularity is beyond me. It is a better caliber, both in accuracy and power.
Finally, it all depends on shooter ability, as it does with any round. But there are a whole lot of deer lost each year to the .243 because some folks don't understand you don't take 80-grain hollow point rounds to the woods for whitetails (I know: a friend of mine lost three deer one opening weekend because he did exactly that), and a lot of deer are lost because Dad hands Junior a .243, thinking it is plenty of rifle, and Junior promptly puts the bullet in the wrong place. I have seen that as well.
All I ever said is that there were better calibers suited for the task, and the OP has one. THAT is a proven fact. Why he would choose the smaller caliber and factor in less room for error is something I don't understand. But maybe he is recoil shy; thankfully, I am not. All I know after deer hunting for almost 50 years is that often the perfect shot is not available, and invariably it isn't there when the trophy of a lifetime shows up. I would rather have a bit more insurance when that happens.
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