Question on .243

[JustinN]

My wife is starting to show some interest in possibly taking up hunting (her family is from California, she has never fired a gun in her life). I plan on taking her shooting as soon as we have a good weekend, starting with a .22, etc. Now, moving on to the actual hunting...I've got a 30-30 Lever gun she could use to get a taste for it, but I wold like to get her a bolt gun if she finds she does enjoy hunting.

My question is, for those that have shot it, how is the recoil of a 243? I'm thinking she wouldn't enjoy my 30-06. I want to get her a gun that would be good white tails, maybe pigs, etc. Anything Elk sized or so I know she'd need to step up, but I am thinking for the intended targets .243 would get the job done, yet still recoil to where she can get a lot of practice in without getting sore. It's also relatively easy to get your hands on around here. I have friends that have used .223 before, but I just don't like the idea of it for Whitetails....I may be way off course with that, but it just seems small to me.

Anyone have any opinions?

[Bawanna]

I think your right on track and agree with your assessment. The 243 is a good shooter, it recoils but it's manageable. My aunt, my mom and several others were all issued 243's for hunting. I strongly suggest you include your wife in the selection process as that's a big part of the fun of hunting and she shouldn't be denied.

I'd not try to find the lightest one out there either, stick with some bulk. She may think it's heavy to pack around but it will be rewarding during trigger time.

A model 70 Winchester if you can find one works great. A Ruger 77 or a Savage would be excellent choices too. Actually lots to choose from now days.

The little 30-30 will bust her harder than the average weight 243. That's what I started out with as a lad and it hit me hard. Pretty light gun the 94 but I still love em and show no signs of traumatization after all the beating.

[jeepster09]

I lived in Laramie Wyoming years ago, many of the local guides swore by the 243 as being the best all around calibers available.

[JustinN]

Well, It would come down to whatever she wanted, but she really knows nothing about guns in general, besides what i've shown her about making any of the ones in our house safe. The thing she's most disappointed in when walking around Bass Pro is how they don't have any "adult" guns in bright pink...

I'm happy to hear the .243 would be a good choice....plus I figured it might be good to have one, incase I ever needed it for varmint hunting or anything! Only problem I might run into is she is left handed....but isn't sure of which eye is dominant so theres still hope she won't need a lefty gun.

[Longitude Zero]

My son loves his .243. Recoil is easily manageable. However the report is soemthing to behold. Make sure you have top flight ear protection. I recommend a double up and use ear plugs and muffs with a .243, .308 also.

[Bawanna]

Well, It would come down to whatever she wanted, but she really knows nothing about guns in general, besides what i've shown her about making any of the ones in our house safe. The thing she's most disappointed in when walking around Bass Pro is how they don't have any "adult" guns in bright pink...

I'm happy to hear the .243 would be a good choice....plus I figured it might be good to have one, incase I ever needed it for varmint hunting or anything! Only problem I might run into is she is left handed....but isn't sure of which eye is dominant so theres still hope she won't need a lefty gun.

Somehow my spidey senses detected there was gonna be a left hand issue here, how did I know that.

Actually a left hand gun isn't a game changer really, especially varmint hunting. You can lift your head, run the bolt and not move your grip on the trigger hand. It does make it more challenging to find one but of late there are more and more rifle makers catering to handicapped, I mean left handed shooters.

I think Ruger is out, Savage I think has lefties, Remington has lefties off and on although I'm not a Remington guy. One of the detectives is hunting for a Browning BLR in 243, stainless. A pricey devil that one but it might be a good option too. Heavy, lever like the 30-30 but in 243. And you both can shoot it with ease.

[JustinN]

I am Remington guy. Ever since I was old enough to hunt I've had a 700 in '06, just like my dad, who got his around the time I was born. On of the guns I was considering for her was the Remington 770. Can be had for under $300 with a scope. The only bad thing on those is they have synthetic stocks, with check bumps....so you really can't trade right and left on them imo.

[mr surveyor]

I have a Ruger M77 MKII in .243 and love it. The Rugers can be a bit finicky if you don't know the secret to "tuning" them. Unlike the Rem 700 and Win 70, the Ruger's have to be tightened to about 90 inch pounds on the fron action screw to get the best performance/accuracy. Mine will consistantly shoot sub 3/4" three shot groups at 100 yards. As far as recoil, compared to the large bores the .243 is fairly mild, but keep in mind you're still sending 80 to 100 grain rounds downrange at 2500-3000 fps out of a necked down .308 casing. The .243 will handle most any medium game animal, which is anything in NE Texas. I can attest to several 250-300 pound feral hogs dropped DRT at near 300 yards with a single round of .243. I also agree that the .243, in a heavier platform, will have no more, or even slightly less felt recoil than a 30-30 lever gun, but they also "fit" different. There's also a very wide range of bullet weights and styles to choose from, with some of the lighter "varmint" rounds topping out near 4000 fps.

I do like the .243:)

[Ken_K]

I'm a Remington guy myself but I would steer clear of the 770. I'd go with a 700 sps 308. My gf is 5'5" and can shoot my 700 ADL 308 with no problems. Install a really nice butt pad and your good to go.

[JustinN]

Ken,

Why do you say to steer clear of the 770? I prefer the 700, but we're talking about half the price or so...

[jeepster09]

You want pink....or any color or pattern for that matter? These guys are awesome! Send them your stock. Reasonably priced.

http://campbellcustomcoatings.com/


http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/jeepster09/44lever2.jpg


This one done in "carbon fiber look"


http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/jeepster09/IMG_1295.jpg

[JustinN]

yeah....I don't think i'm going to open up that possibility....

[Bawanna]

yeah....I don't think i'm going to open up that possibility....

I think you'd look cute hunting varmints with your wifes pretty pink rifle. Who cares what other think. Blaze your own trail, leave the closet door wide open.

[JustinN]

Thanks for that Bawanna. LOL. I just mean too many choices and even at a reasonable rate, a bit too much money I'm guessing.

[Bawanna]

If you go pink, I'll chip in and I bet a few others would too. What say you fellow Kahrtalk members?

[Ken_K]

Ken,

Why do you say to steer clear of the 770? I prefer the 700, but we're talking about half the price or so...

The 770 feels cheap (to me anyway). When cycling the bolt it "drags" along and feels like it's trying to hang up, the stocks are on the flimsy side, and the trigger leaves much to be desired. Keep in mind I'm not some gun snob that thinks if your not spending wads and wads of cash on a rifle it's junk. I almost bought one but when compared side by side to my 700 ADL the price difference seemed well worth it then, and still does now. :)

[chipD]

Man those look really nice, I have always liked wood furniture just old school that way. I have to say that those are some of the best looking synthetics I have seen.

[Ikeo74]

No one has mentioned these 2 facts. 1) .223 is not legal for deer in a lot of states. 2) .243 will take deer consistantly only if you use premium ammo. Don't use cheap ammo for deer, 3) your wife will love the .243.

[JustinN]

I guess I should state, I am in Missouri, where .223 is legal (but it's not really something I'd want to use). Also, I'd say ammo choice is just as important as shot placement with many rifles. You can get to the point of overkill for caliber on the game where any round will kill it, but even the 125 grains I shot out of my 30-06, once, left a lot to be desired on the whitetail I killed. I switched back to 165 or 180s quite promptly after that.

[JFootin]

Justin, you can nix the pink thing by pointing out that, for hunting, the gun needs to be unnoticeable amongst the trees. :)

[JustinN]

I can already hear the "Aren't deer color blind?" and "What about this bright orange vest?"

[Bawanna]

Justin, you can nix the pink thing by pointing out that, for hunting, the gun needs to be unnoticeable amongst the trees. :)

Like his wife is gonna be unnoticeable amongst the trees? Oh you probably haven't see pictures of his wife. Very very pretty.

It's actually amazing what will blend into the woods especially if it's not moving. A Pink rifle I'm sure would go completely unnoticed. Come on Jfootin we're going to bat for the missus here. Get on the train.

[JFootin]

Like his wife is gonna be unnoticeable amongst the trees? Oh you probably haven't see pictures of his wife. Very very pretty.

It's actually amazing what will blend into the woods especially if it's not moving. A Pink rifle I'm sure would go completely unnoticed. Come on Jfootin we're going to bat for the missus here. Get on the train.

Ok. Hows this? Kind of a pink camo. :p

http://www.mossberg.com/images/Mossberg_Guns/930/NEW/37088.jpg

[Bawanna]

perfect

[AJBert]

I'll throw my two cents in, though I concur with everyone here. The .243 is a fantastic deer round. My mom hunted with hers for many years and my wife used it for a few years. My son took his first deer with it, too. Now my neice will be using it.

One of the flattest shooting calibers out there. Recoil is next to nothing compared to my .270's. Great selection of factory ammo out there, too.

And, yes, stay away from the 770, particularly if it comes with a scope. You'll wish you went with a 700 AND you'd be changing out the scope soon rather than later. In fact, stay away from any gun/scope combo unless the scope is a name brand you have faith in. Most of those scope combos are complete pieces of crap.

[muggsy]

I have a .243 built on a Mauser Mark X action with a Douglas barrel. It has a Leupold Vari-X II 3X9 scope. You can load it with heavy bullets for whitetail deer or with light bullets for chuck hunting. The .243 is a great rifle round for a women and/or new shooter. Good choice on your part.

[paperpuncher]

https://picasaweb.google.com/102065127341118768962/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCOqag6DmruvcXw#5681321975010 926466

Not sure if I can get this to post since I'm mobile, but my Savage .243 is as easy a shooter as there is. I downsized from a 7mm mag in my old age, and it's a tack driver.

[CJB]

Ive got a 6mm rem and 243... Both very easy in the shoulder if firef and held correctly.

[Gliderguy]

.243 or 7mm-08 if you want to step it up a teensie bit in caliber or bullet weights for slightly larger game. .243 is a very flat shooting round and has taken a LOT of deer, and still appropriate as a varmit round with the lighter bullet weights. My dad hunted whitetails with a Sako .243 for ages before finally kicking it up a notch to a 7mm then eventually a 30 WSM.

Loads and rifles for the .243 will be easier to find, but the 7mm-08 may be a better all-around caliber if larger than deer are going to be on the agenda.

I have found in my rifles that a composite stock helps reduce felt recoil. I have a .300 Win Mag that I swear kicks less than a .308 of the same weight, the .308 is a hardwood stock, the .300 is composite. I have done 100 round range sessions with the .300 in the summer in a t-shirt, and I am not particularly recoil tolerant, just average.

[jeepster09]

My favorite rifle calibers are:

.243, .270 and .308 those calibers are all flat shooting and will work on almost any game out there.

[Bawanna]

My favorites were 338 Win Mag, 375 H&H and 416 Rigby.

I guess I was on Elmer Keith's team and liked everything bigger.

I've now fallen back to the Jack O'Connor school and like that don't hurt so bad on both ends.

Probably shot more 30-06 than all others combined. Never did hurt anything but myself with the big boys either. Had a lot of fun wandering around the woods with them though.

[yote]

My favorites are 308 and 243. Hard to beat a Remington 700.

Picked up a Weatherby Vanguard carbine w/ 20 inch barrel in 243 recently. Found a good deal at Buds. Recoil is mild. Ammo is realtively cheap. Easy to carry all day long.
Excellent "brush rifle", yet accurate enough for long range shots.

[SpecK]

I cant weigh in on the caliber, as Im a 30-30 deer hunter. But...

http://www.ozarkshydrographics.com/

Those guys are in Highlandville and only charge $0.50 per sq. inch!! However, they do have a shop minimum of $250 so be prepared to get a few items dipped at once.

[DKD]

If I am not mistaken, the heaviest slug avaialble commercially for the .43 is about 105 grains...even so that is a bit light. You can also opt out for a 260 Remmington ith its 120 grain bullets at 6.5 mm which is a far better performer and penetrates better and still has very modest recoil. Thats what I got for my wife ina youth model Ruger model 77 and she loves it. I started her out with a Swedish Mauser in 6.5mmx55 mm which is ballistically very similar if not identical with a slightly smaller case length. She has taken several deer with it in the past five years with great effect even out past 300 yards. Just a thought...and the youth length of pull just might fit her really well.

[DKD]

Personally for deer sized game the 7mm-08 is about perfect and the 308 is also very good. I personally prefer the power and versatility of the grand old 30-06 for hunting. It will take most any typical North American big game cleanly and has a vast array of bullet weight from 110 grainers all the way up to 200 grain bullets. That cn not be said of any of the other previously mentioned calibers. I also have a 300 Win mag as well, so I am not what you might call recoil sensative. I do have a freind who for a short while had a 45-70 Marlyn CowBoy with the steel butt which was brutal to shoot with the 405 grain loads and it was sold for a magna ported Guide Gun....I digress....sorry.

[wyntrout]

I thought I needed to buy a 7mm Remington Magnum, but after reading that it would be better to get something that wasn't so punishing and something that you were more likely to want to shoot often, I got the cheapie Remington 788... back in 1973. I only really shot it at the range, though, never had a shot at a deer or pig in the limited "big game" hunting that I did out in California while stationed at Sacramento for USAF Navigator training. They had a good Hunting and shooting club and shotgun hunting on base at Mather.

Wynn:)

[JustinN]

I have considered a youth size gun for the size. Not sure she'd like shooting a 30-06, nor anything of comparable kick (plus I already have one of those). I don't see her using it on anything bigger than a white tail, and where we hunt, we're either in brush, or across a field...the place I've hunted my whole life I've made shots from about 10 yards or so up to about 220 yards, and the '06 has always served me well, but again, she is brand new to shooting and needs A LOT of range time before I'd let her fire at an animal, so I need something that won't make her gun shy to shoot, as well as has relatively easy to find ammo...maybe this would be a good excuse to finally buy a reloading press and learn the trade?

[Ken_K]

The Ruger American Rifle in .243 only weighs 6.25 lbs and is supposed to be extremely accurate. A friend of a friend said he couldn't believe how nice it was for the money. Not what the LOP is on it though.

[Gliderguy]

A little extra weight is your friend, in this case, particularly if we are talking about recoil sensitive. In the deep south, beanfield rifles are all the rage and set up to shoot to the next 40 acre section line 440 yards out. Since people using these usually park themselves in an elevated stand there isnt a lot of hauling the rifle around. 8-10 lbs outfitted with a large scope and sling is pretty typical. Some of the youth guns are down around 6 lbs and kick a lot more. If she isn't going to be hauling it up, down and all around the mountains, think on not going too light on gun weight.
.243, 7mm-08, .308 all based on same case and can do a medium length action, but go up progessively in recoil as each up the line can handle heavier bullet weights. the .308 is so close to 30-06 it is almost not worth talking about the difference between them.

That is the one bane of youth style guns is they manage to pare so much weight that you end up paying a noticeable price in recoil.

[DKD]

Recoilguy I would beg to differ alittle on the statement that the 308 and aught six are on par. the 308 with the same weight bullet generally yield about 150 fps second difference in the 150 grain class bullet and it goes considerably more with 165 grainers and 180 grainers for sure. It is primarily due to the lack of adequate case capasity of the 308 shell casing which utilize heavier chagre weights of slower burning propellants. I know about this due my past +36 years of reloading all calibers and have the manuals that would back up this statement. I also have done alot of chrongraphing loads over the years. Thats the only reason I use the 30-06 over the 308 because of its versatility with a wider selection of bullet weight. The 308 all in all is still a very good choice for most folks and will a pretty good job overall and it is easy to get ammo anywhere.

[CJB]

My favorite rifle calibers are:

.243, .270 and .308 those calibers are all flat shooting and will work on almost any game out there.

The 24cals are good shooters. I'd take the 06 over the 308 - only because of my own preference. After that... forget the 270, if you can't do it with an 06 or 24 like the 6mm rem (or 243), its not gonna get done with a 270. So, move up to something manly like the 375H&H - my personal favorite for everything weighing over 100lbs. Old bud Darryl, whacked a whitey in the shoulder with a 375, it knocked the old beard sideways into a pine tree so hard its rack became embedded to the degree it could not be removed.

[Dirt doc]

I have taken 5 deer in Missouri, 4 with .243's and 1 with an 06. The only one to drop in his tracks was taken with the .243. I have 2 .243's and Bawanna is spot on as usual. One of mine is a Ruger 77 ultra light. It is very light and if you don't have it firmly in your shoulder it can smart. No it's not as bad as the 06 or a 45-70 but it is there especially from a shooting bench. I'd still highly recommend it for the purpose intended but get the standard weight and not a light weight.

[Wiski]

As some others have stated, the 7mm-08 is also an excellent choice. Developed off of the same .308 case, if I remember my history, but with a slightly bigger dia. Maybe a bigger choice of bullet weights too, but with todays premium bullet offerings, probablly not that big an issue any more, as the .243 is more than capable for "most" NA game.

I have modified two Rem 700 "Mountain" rifles for my daughters when they were 12 yrs old, and getting into hunting. Both in 7mm-08 cal. One thing that I don't know if was mentioned yet was shortening the length of pull of the rifle to fit your wife. I ended cutting off 2" off the stock and adding a Limb-Saver recoil pad for my girls. Those changes along with reduced loads (either your re-loads or comercial) worked well for me/us. Neither of my girls had shot anything more powerful than .22s or .223 AR type rifles before, and did just fine.

I also like the idea of double hearing protection... ear plugs as well as the electronic type muffs. Seems to take away some of the bark, and for some shooters, the blast is the worst part.

[rvanpelt]

My wife and son, when in junior high, used a .243 Remington 700 bolt for deer and found it to be a great choice. My grandsons have both shot deer with a .223 modified 700, shortened stock and barrel. Might be a little light unless she is a very good shot and you might want to check to see if it's legal in your state. My grandson was only 7 this last fall but a very good shot and got a 5X6 Mule buck with one shot at 125 yds. The buck field dressed over 200 lbs. You're right, I'm real proud of both my grandsons and they can out shoot me. LOL
Happy hunting!:D
Rod
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad154/vanpeltrk/20111112063512.jpg
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad154/vanpeltrk/20111112065531.jpg
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad154/vanpeltrk/20111113104733.jpg

[rvanpelt]

I might add that a caliber with a flat trajectory makes shooting much easier for a beginner or anyone that has trouble estimating distances. A lot of deer have been shot with the old 30-30 which has a rainbow trajectory compared to the .243. I started out with a Win. .32 special (similar to the 30-30) lever and missed a lot of deer until I learned how to judge distances better.
A .243 is a great caliber for a young person or someone that is a small frame. I've seen several shots needed with a 7mm mag. cause the shots weren't placed where they should have been and have seen deer drop like a ton of bricks with a .223
Just my 2 cents.
Rod

[JustinN]

Those are some nice deer for sure! Our whitetails around here don't get anywhere near that big, or even as big as they do if you go up north in Missouri. I'd like to hunt a Mule deer one of these, along with several others. My #1 top choice would be a nice old Red Stag, a nice elk, and a Fallow Deer, just to name a few...

Sounds like .243 kind of has the overwhelming support. I appreciate all the feedback.