.243 losing popularity?

[M-Tecs]

Well that settles it. If the slob hunters next door had just used a 243 instead of the 300 mag or what ever they would have drt instead of losing them.

I believe a good hunter can harvest deer easily with a 22lr especially if drive hunting or shooting them in the garden. The deer that rob my garden could be shot at ten yards with just about anything if one can hit a pop can at 15 feet. People that can't hit their rear with either hand probably shouldn't be hunting at all. However I think a larger round with a proper bullet would help them lose fewer animals.

I also don't think most folks should use a 243 for hunting deer on Kodiak island. Lots of deer that would go down fairly easily
with the 243 but there are also lots of griz that think a gun shot is a dinner bell.

Both the 243 and the 300 Mag will kill deer effectively with proper bullets and placement.

Deer drives and 22 LR???? Deer drives are mostly running shots and hardly the place for 22LR. Also not legal anywhere that I am aware of.

As to people that have marginal hits improving the odds with large calibers I've never really observed much of a difference until you get outside of normal combinations. A poor hit with a 243, 7mm Mag or a 300 Mag is still a poor hit.

The one prime example is the land owners bother-in-law. He flew in from NY every year. He used a 300 Weatherby Magnum and lost lots of deer using 165 grain bullets. He switched to 125 grain Nosler Ballistic tips at a little over a chronographed 3,600 FPS. He stopped losing deer mostly but the best way to describe a deer hit with that combo was to compare it to a fox hit with an explosive 220 Swift bullet. It would literally blow most of the off quarter away and it didn't matter if it was the front shoulder or the hindquarter. Gut shots left cantaloupe sized holes that they did run away from. Not much useable meat with that combo. The 125 grain was way more destructive and explosive than the 165 grain. You still could shoot a leg off or a nose off and still lose the deer. Yes he was a slob hunter but he was family and I wasn't. The landowner didn't care he just wanted every deer gone.

Didn't realize we were talking about grizzly bear. I have one of those coming up. If it's a spring hunt I haven't decided if I will take my 375 H&H or my new yet unfired 416 Rigby. Thinking my 416 Rigby with Barnes 350 grain TTSX BT at about 2,550 should do the job nicely. If it's a fall hunt I may use my bow. Either way the .243 is staying home.

That being a said a very good friend is the owner and operator of a Grizzly bear and Salmon Guide service in Alaska. He did have one client use a 6.5 Creedmoor to take a 9 foot Grizzly. He carries a 375H&H as a stopper rifle. It was not needed. On fall hunts he does allow archery from tree stands. He has stopped several bear charges in the 35 years he has been guiding.

Back to the subject at hand if I strictly go by numbers of almost lost deer and or challenging recoveries that I personally experienced the .270, 30-06, 338 Win Mag and the 375 H&H would be found lacking. Nothing is further from the truth. Total number that I've killed with the 270, 338 Win Mag and 375 H&H is only about a dozen and half yet each one of the calibers produced my most challenging recovers due to using bullets designed for much larger game. If I would have been using my 243 none of those three would have made it 30 yards.

With the 30-06 I mostly used that from 12 years old to 16 years old and shot selection wasn't the best. That rifle got traded for a Browning Sako 243 that killed a lot of deer without a loss and it made a lot of money killing coyotes in the mid-70 through the mid 80's. I tried a FMJ's loaded down to limit fur damage but in the end I lost more money to not recovered coyotes verse additional hide damage. Lost to many with FMJs and varmint bullets did way to much fur damage. The same 100 soft points anchored them well and fur damage was mostly repairable.

1976 was the first year I used the 243 for deer. It didn't start well. We had been hunting that land since 1970 and while you had to look for mule deer in the hills no one had ever killed a mule deer in the heavy wood. I had my whitetail buck tag, permission to fill my dad's whitetail buck tag and permission to fill one more whitetail buck tag. I saw three very nice bucks coming my way. Mule deer required a mule deer tag which none of us had. Three shots and three deer on the ground all mulies. I didn't have a clue until I started gutting the first one. The largest was 26" inside spread. None of the 25 or so other hunters had a tag for mule deer but two of the adjacent land owners had gratis tags that could be used for anything however that was for their land only. They actually wanted mule deer since they are larger bodies and they just went into the fall sausage making. The bigger the better. The third I had to drive about 10 miles to get some who would tag it and yes none of that was legal.

Party hunting was also not legal in that state but if you wanted to hunt on that land you party hunted. The land owner hated deer and want them all gone. If was a noon opener on Friday and all day for the following two weeks. We would set in the stands all Friday and until 9:30 in the mornings. After that is was 100% deer drives. I killed the three mulies on Friday and nothing on Saturday. On Saturday they had a drive and one of the posters missed a bunch of deer. On Sunday they put me in that tree stand. Five shots with my 243 and 4 bucks and one doe on the ground. Eight shots and 8 deer on the ground in three days but I guess if I would have been using a bigger rifle I would have done better.

The 243 will be around for as long as the politicians allow it.

To the OP's question yes the .243 is losing popularity simply because there are a many more choices currently. The 243/6mm caliber is graining greatly in popularity for both competition and hunting. Most of that is coming from 30 caliber shooters. Other than Palma not many using 30 calibers for long range competition anymore. Most are using 6mm, 6,5 or 7mm. For the ultra-long range 338, 375 and 416 calibers of choice. Same is happening in hunting.

Just like the .243 the various 30 cals. are not going away any time soon for hunting and they still are just as effective as they always were.

[lksmith]

I shot my first buck, a black tail, with a .243 at 200 yards so it will always be popular with me. Dropped like an anchor on the spot.

While the 6.5 CM is a good cartridge, I see it as just a fad. It won't do anything that a 260 Rem or 6.5x55 Swede will do. The Swede was invented about 100 years ago. Just seems like re-inventing the wheel to me.

Part of the popularity could be cost as well. An old guy in my area was getting out of loading so he cut me a deal on all his supplies and tools, he loaded for 260rem, so I was going to build an AR10 in 260rem, but it was going to cost me about $300 more than building it in 6.5CM, which is essentially the same only different brass (but can be formed from 260) and different sizing die. so I put the extra money towards components

[1hole]

The only way .243 will be popular in 20 years,, is if someone figures out how to chamber it in an AR15 ,,,,,,,,,,,

I believe the current craze over ugly black rifles will fade before the .243 does.

Magazine writers follow whoever gives/lends them new tools to play with and make a living doing it. Noob gunners follow the "gun magazine experts" and the gun makers know it.

Thus, we have fads that hit the market with a mighty splash. But have you seen any new rifles in any of the previously fabulous .300 Super Short Super Fat Super Magnums lately?

The old stand-by hunting cartridges remain safe in the firm grip of fad proof hunters. For me, that includes my .243, .308, .30-06 and .35 Remington. And my .22-250 and assorted .22 RF. And my .357 and .44 Mags. And my iron sighted 1911 ACP for night time varmint hunting.

There are no black poodle shooters or "double tap" crunchin' tickers in my gun safe.

[Winger Ed.]

The only way .243 will be popular in 20 years,, is if someone figures out how to chamber it in an AR15 ,,,,,,,,,,,

Are ya making the same prediction for the .30-30?

[lksmith]

I believe the current craze over ugly black rifles will fade before the .243 does.

Ya know they make 243 in "Ugly Black Rifles" right?

[M-Tecs]

The "Ugly Black Rifles" are Barbie dolls for men or erector sets for adults. The only way they are going away is through legislation. With a good trigger and quality barrel on the AR15 platform they will give bench guns a run for their money. Mostly due to receiver flex it takes a fair amount more effort to get the AR10 platform to shoot too near bench rest accuracy but sub 1/2" MOA isn't that big of challenge in the AR10's.

[Memphis]

I believe the current craze over ugly black rifles will fade before the .243 does.

We're in year 56 of the AR15 "fad." It is the longest serving rifle in US military history and the most dominant civillian rifle of any era. Hipster 6mm/6.5/6.8 rounds may come and go. The AR and .223/5.56 will live forever.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I have had a .243 and found it difficult to shoot cast bullets well because of it's short neck. I have a 6mm Remington which I like better because of it's long neck. I do have a .243 now but it needs to be fitted to a stock and I can't bring myself to do the job. Another project. I am not sure but I think the flint lock musket was our longest serving military rifle.

[M-Tecs]

https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsessi...pose-cartridge

"It represents the lower-end threshold of killing effectiveness for deer, antelope, and black bear, yet is entirely adequate for these uses as long as appropriate bullets are selected and shots are well-placed. While doing a little reading and online research on this topic, I came across a comment by one older shooter who said he had started with a .243 as a youngster over 50 years ago and had never found a need for another rifle caliber. That pretty much sums it up. If your quarry is the elk-size game or bigger, get a bigger rifle…use enough gun. But if your hunting is limited to varmints up through the deer-sized game, the .243 Winchester may well be all you’ll ever need – a perfect setup for the gamekeeper wanting a true dual-purpose rifle."