243 winchester cartridge for all your hunting

[Walks with Fire]

I am quite certain that I would own a 257 Roberts if our gun/ammo manufacturers would make them and they became more popular. They don't so it won't. IMO it would be the perfect chambering for me; I live in Pennsylvania and the biggest thing I target is whitetail deer. I can pick up a box of .243 almost anywhere and rifles in that round are equally easy to find; not so with the Bob.
I really think the 25-08 should be a factory chambering; the ammo could exhibit a bit more pressure and be safe in the rifles of new manufacture, plus;  it would probably sell better than the 260 Remington. It would probably limit the future of the .257 Roberts a bit though. Just my opinion of course.

[pastorp]

You know Fire, I would  love a 25/08. I believe it would be the perfect rifle for what I need a rifle for. Short action, light rifle could be built for that round. I just don't understand why it's not chambered in commercial rifles. I reload but with the 243 you don't need to since there are plenty of reasonably priced ammo produced. 

Regards,

[Ranch13]

 25-08 is nothing more than a 257 Roberts or a 250 savage. Why try and reinvent the wheel? Both cartridges have been around closing in on a century now. Both also got sent to the obscolecense bin by the 243.....

[tdoor]

I have a 243 that i got new in 1972, Rem 788 and it has never failed to do the job. My gun safe has just about everything , 223 to 45-70, but it seems like only two make the trip to the woods ( my 243 and my 8x57 mauser )  so I WOULD SAY (TO EACH HIS OWN) on what  you use, just be able to shoot it well when it counts

[smokehouserex]

 
 
  Hello pastorp:
 
  Enjoying your comments. I have had the same idea for years and  after reading Parker Ackley's books on various wildcats I bought a 25-06 77V and it was every bit and more than the 25 super was, it  may be spelled souper, but it was just not what I wanted. I don't know why but I could never warm up to the 25-06. The 25 still interested me. Then a Revelation,,,, the 260 rem. as I have always had a love affair with the 264WM, the only affair my wife would approve of, so I built a 260 on a mauser chez. 24 action, tim. trigger a syn stock and a 3x9 redfield, I had my 25+ a lot better bullet choice of weight and structure. .257 vs .264 extremely close to being the same size.
  I know that almost any modern center fire cartridge will dispatch deer-size game, with proper placement and design but some guns/calibers just seem to warm the cockels of our heart, I'm sure you know what I mean after  reading so many of your helpful comments on these threads. The 264 does it for me , most of the time!
  I enjoy reading the posts, please keep them coming. BTW I have had a little Browning Safari Grade 243 since 1971 and the BBL is shot out now, My favorite fun-gun for crows, NC ground hogs ect. but not my favorite deer-gun. Just one aside, I LOVE GUNS!    God First, My Girls next then guns and Gibson Guitars
  safety first,
  HM

[Walks with Fire]

I like the .243 because it is a common and thus you can get cheaper factory ammo. Mine will stay sighted in with 95-100 grain deer sized factory ammo. If the .25/.26 calibers were more common/cheaper I would own one and the .243 could be moved down to the 55-70 grain bullets for varmints and the others would be my deer cartridge; I like the case and .308 is more bullet weight than I need or want.
 I also own the 7mm-08 but it's not broken in yet and it really seems to be picky about factory ammo so far. I only have about 50 rounds thru the Browning rifles. I have an A-bolt Micro Hunter and the X-bolt Hunter. Neither one is much of a shooter so far; but like I say they don't have enough rounds thru them to get excited about it. The Micro does shoot good with Nosler ballistic tip factory stuff. I am sure the 7-08 is great for deer but I only find accurate rifles to hold my interest for long. If they don't shoot to my standards they get sold/traded.
 

[Walks with Fire]

Ranch13 and Pastorp;
I would be happy with a .257 Roberts +P if the danged rifle makers would chamber them (one year doesn't cut it because by the time anyone figures out they are available they drop the chambering again). I  don't want to reload and there are so many old Roberts out there that the ammo makers won't sell a high velocity round.
A 25 Souper would be built to the higher pressure from the get go so the former problem would be solved. The 260 would probably sell if it kept chambering rifles and making ammo. I think if Browning would have not done the WSSM rifles and did a simple 25 souper they would have sold more rifles. Not everyone wants or need the super dooper speed they try to sell. I like modest recoil, muzzle blast and noise. Enough power for the job, good blood trails and no more. It's not that I can't handle more it's just that I just don't want more.
 

[Ranch13]

 There are literally thousands of 257's and 250's out there.
Evens since they went obsolete, Winchester, Remington, Savage and Ruger have made them. Browning currently chambers the blr in 257.
 To get the full potential from te 257 you will have to roll your own. none of the factory ammo, not even the +p stuff will do what carefully crafted handloads will.

[pastorp]

Guys, the 257 roberts is a wonderfull round but dosen't work as well in a short action rifle. You can make it work if you only load 100gr or lighter bullets but the 117s & 120s must be loaded too deep in the case for best results. Thats where the 25-08 or souper as some call it would shine. In a short action bolt gun.  Of course the 250 savage works great in a short action as well and really is probably my favorite of the 25s. With the 100gr bullet it easy to get 2800fps with a 22" barrell. IMO perfect for a whitetail load. 

Regards,

[Lloyd Smale]

ive shot a ton of deer with 243s 6mms 250sav 257 roberts and they do work but most have been short range shots in the woods here in mich. If i knew 300 yards shooting was on the agenda id opt for something bigger. theyd probably get the job done with perfect bullet placement way out there too but i like something that puts them down with a bit more athority when the range gets long. that been said ive got 5 grandsons and ive boughten each of them a 243. Reasoning is there low enough in recoil to allow them to learn to shoot well. At the ranges we normaly hunt around here they knock the stuffing out of deer and i wanted all of them to shoot the same caliber so loading for them would be easier. I figured that when the grew older and if they felt a need to step up in power by that time they could buy there own or id be so old that id could give them another gun out of the safe.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ps moose wouldnt be on the agenda for me with a 243!!

[Drilling Man]

6mm Remington ??

 
yep.
 
anybody ever shot the barrel out of a .243?  one guy here said he got the ol dry lake bed from a .243 AI.

  Yup, mines pretty much shot out, but it's still accurate enough for deer hunting.
 
  I've considered having it rebored to 25/243, but i just don't shoot it enough to be worth it, (i do have other .243's) besides i've moved on to MUCH better whitetail medicine.
 
  DM

[T.R.]

 
Winchester originally designed the 243 as a combination cartridge.  That is, a cartridge for deer and varmints.  Within this arena, the 243 remains a TOP choice for thousands of hunters each year.  Its fairly popular in Europe, too.
 
But for animals larger than deer, I personally choose to step up in bore size. 
 
This older Remington model 760 in .243 has been in our family since 1969.  A genuine KEEPER!
 
TR

[woodchukhntr]

If I only could have one rifle for all my hunting, a .243 would work very well.  With bullet choices from 55 gr. up to 105 gr., it more than covers all my needs.

[Savage .250]

 Deer are the biggest game animal I hunt so the 243 is great for me. I`ve used an old Sav model 110 since the mid 60`s. It`s light in weight and shoots the same today as it did in the begining.   It`s put a lot of deer on the ground over the years.   

[Ron/Pa.]

  My go to Whitetail Rifle is a Tikka in .243. Knocks them down. This year i`m going to go with my 7600 Remmy pump, in .257 Roberts. I tried the Winchester 117 grains in it and it shot a 2 inch 100 yd. group. I reloaded some 100 gr. Sierra Pro- Hunters, in front of 44grs. of IMR 4350, and it will do under an inch at 100yds. I am going to go with the  factory 117 grainers for this Pa. Bear Season. So, hopefully I will have the same performance as he .243.

[Drilling Man]

Who here uses a 243 for all your hunting?  I have always been inclined to use larger bores but as old age creeps up on me handling the recoil from the larger bores has become harder, so I've been scaling down. A friend gave me a new Browning low wall, in 243, a couple years ago. It's a shooter and I know he has killed deer & at least 1 moose with it. I'm thinking about just using it as my go to hunting rifle...
 
What ya think? Good choice or bad move? I know it sure is comfortable to shoot. 
 
Regards,

  I started out pretty young, useing one gun for everything and it was a .243Win...  I did shoot quite a few deer with it, and also a huge blk. bear.  Thing is, i always made really good shots on those animals to anchor them.  Anything less than a heart/lung shot, and you better shoot again!  In very short order, i figured out that 100NP's made the 6mm bullet perform MUCH better and that was the bullet i used from them on.
 
  These days, some 40 years later, that same 243 is still here, but when i stopped useing it all those years ago, i had already decided that something that penetrates a bit more for those "less than perfect" shots would be a MUCH better all around big game round, so i choose to use something better than a .243Win. for my big game round.
 
  DM

[pastorp]

Well DM, the suspense is killing us.... What did you decide to use that is the best big game round? 

Regards,

[STUMPJMPR]

I killed a 155lb white tail with one last year shooting 100gr core-lokt.  The deer ran about 50 yards.  His insides were shreaded. 

[Drilling Man]

Well DM, the suspense is killing us.... What did you decide to use that is the best big game round? 

Regards,

  For everything that i hunt in the lower 48, light weight 280 Rem....
 
  DM

[nomosendero]

Well DM, the suspense is killing us.... What did you decide to use that is the best big game round? 

Regards,

  For everything that i hunt in the lower 48, light weight 280 Rem....
 
  DM

Nice round

[pastorp]

I agree, that should do it....

Regards,

[BBF]

If I had a minimum target range further then 100 yards I would consider it.

[nomosendero]

If I had a minimum target range further then 100 yards I would consider it.

I am afraid you lost me on that one. During my college days & a couple of years later, (early to late 70's) I had a M77 7mmRM, 22LR, 12ga. & a 22 handgun & a 44mag handgun, that's it. I shot Varmits to AR big game with the 7, Varmits in th esummer with the 115 Speer or 120 Horn & Big Game with the 160SBT. I had no issues if the Deer happened to be close, none at all. So I don't know what you mean by minimum range?
 

[BBF]

Ps moose wouldnt be on the agenda for me with a 243!!

It wouldn't be my first choice either although I have done so.
For a recoil shy person that needs something that has a 150+  yard capacity a .243 with a good bullet
( 90 gr+) or a partition is doable.I draw the line on big bears of the type that would take revenge if you poked them.