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Hunting & Fishing Solid 243 hunting rifle for a new hunter
- Thread starter witchazel
- Start date
The above rifles are good choices. They are available in 6.5mm CM which would be a great choice as well.
I personally don't like .243 for deer. It'll work well with good shot placement and a good bullet. But I just feel it's too light of a round for deer and see it more as a varminter. For a startup, I'd go with a 6.5 creedmoor and maybe get the Ruger American Predator. It's low on cost and performs well as a hunting rifle. Good out of box accuracy and good factory ammo selection which can be found almost everywhere. A .308 would be another good option. Again, not bashing on the. 243 but I simply see it more as a varminter.
I like a fast twist barrel for deer. 1:9 if you can swing it. 1:8 is even better. One of my hunting rifles is a 243Win, 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip inside a couple hundred yards is hard to beat. The 1:9.5 twist in my rifle shoots the Win 100gr soft points well too, but I handload for all my rifles and tailor the load to my hunt. For me, it gives me a little extra satisfaction.
I'm sure a lighter bullet at ludicrous speed will work well too, but I have no experience with that.
I'm sure a lighter bullet at ludicrous speed will work well too, but I have no experience with that.
If he is a beginner I wouldn't start him off with a 243. Shot placement has to be dead on. We started my buddies son off last year with a youth TC in 308 and bought the Hornady custom lite ammo that they sale and it recoils like a 243
So if he is recoil shy I would suggest a Tikka in 308 and get him some of that ammo.
So if he is recoil shy I would suggest a Tikka in 308 and get him some of that ammo.
I bought a Ruger American Predator on Feb and like I mentioned in my previous post, it's a great rifle for what you pay. But I'm busting myself every day for not having bought a Savage 10 FCP SR. I now wish I would have bought that one chambered in 6.5 creedmoor. Grabagun.com has them and are another good option that perhaps should be considered. It is within the specified budget.
I have an old 788 Remington in .243, even in the used section of Gunbroker you will still find them for a reasonable price. .243 is a fine load for southern deer, I have used mine since the 80s. There are lots of different rounds to hunt varmint, deer and even long range shooting. If I were going to get a new rifle today I would definitely look at the 6.5 creedmore.
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/243win/
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/243win/
I think its well on its way to being mainstream, most rifle makers are making some form of 6.5 and the ammo companies are putting rounds on the shelf. Its a very versatile round,
http://www.outdoorlife.com/evolution-65-creedmoor
I've seen it on Dick's sporting goods, academy, and to my surprise, I've seen 6.5 creedmoor ammo at Wal-Mart.
The .243 Win may be the perfect beginner round...maybe the perfect whitetail round in any hands actually. If I never hunted anything bigger than whitetail/Miley, I'd be perfectly happy with nothing larger.
Ive killed deer with .243 using 100g Nosler Partition, old CorLokt, Sierra ProHunter, and SGK. Never messed with the lighter stuff, but will probably develop a load for my current .243 Win (Tikka with a 1:10 twist) using the 85 grain SGK-HP.
I think at normal ranges it is more than you need with even remotely decent shot placement. Killed probably 12 of my first 20 deer with a .243 and I was far from an expert. In fact I was a shakey mess every time I even saw a deer for the first few years.
Ive killed deer with .243 using 100g Nosler Partition, old CorLokt, Sierra ProHunter, and SGK. Never messed with the lighter stuff, but will probably develop a load for my current .243 Win (Tikka with a 1:10 twist) using the 85 grain SGK-HP.
I think at normal ranges it is more than you need with even remotely decent shot placement. Killed probably 12 of my first 20 deer with a .243 and I was far from an expert. In fact I was a shakey mess every time I even saw a deer for the first few years.
There are still some Tikka T3 rifles around at great prices. 243 will defiantly put deer in the dirt. 7-08, 260, 6.5 swed do not have much more recoil and a bit more versatile for one rifle hunting. The T3 is a rifle you can use out of the box. Adjust the trigger down, clean and shoot. The only thing I buy are good rings, Tally makes a nice pair for the Tikka at a good price.
http://www.eurooptic.com/tikka-t3-rifles.aspx
http://www.eurooptic.com/tikka-t3-rifles.aspx
I'm a huge fan of the 243 for deer/antelope size animals. I dont have one since I use a 257 Roberts in a Win Featherweight but I built one for my wife.
She broke her back and has three rods between her shoulder blades and cant take a lot of recoil. I had to find her a rifle. I had a Model 70 action laying around so I built her 243. Extremely accurate and effective on deer size animals.
Dont let any one tell you they are too light for deer/antelope. Just select the proper bullet. Bergers work, we used the 87 gr VLD -Hunting but found they tear up too much meat. We went to the Hornady 85 Gr. InterBonds and never looked back. I used a 1:10 twist barrel on her rifle, I think I should have went to a faster twist, but the success she has with the Hornady, I cant justify a barrel swap.
Shot at about 275 yards:
This guy was taken at 540 yards:
I since bought her a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 CM for elk hunting. I fell in love with the 6.5 CM so I bought a Ruger American Predator in 6.5. Then bought the wife a RAP in 204 Ruger because I was impressed with the out of the box accuracy of the Predator.
Check out the YouTube videos on the RAP, they are that good. For the price ($400) you'd be hard pressed to find a better moderately priced, accurate rifle.
The RAP in 243 comes with a 1:9 twist barrel so you can go with the better 105 gr bullets.
She broke her back and has three rods between her shoulder blades and cant take a lot of recoil. I had to find her a rifle. I had a Model 70 action laying around so I built her 243. Extremely accurate and effective on deer size animals.
Dont let any one tell you they are too light for deer/antelope. Just select the proper bullet. Bergers work, we used the 87 gr VLD -Hunting but found they tear up too much meat. We went to the Hornady 85 Gr. InterBonds and never looked back. I used a 1:10 twist barrel on her rifle, I think I should have went to a faster twist, but the success she has with the Hornady, I cant justify a barrel swap.
Shot at about 275 yards:
This guy was taken at 540 yards:
I since bought her a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 CM for elk hunting. I fell in love with the 6.5 CM so I bought a Ruger American Predator in 6.5. Then bought the wife a RAP in 204 Ruger because I was impressed with the out of the box accuracy of the Predator.
Check out the YouTube videos on the RAP, they are that good. For the price ($400) you'd be hard pressed to find a better moderately priced, accurate rifle.
The RAP in 243 comes with a 1:9 twist barrel so you can go with the better 105 gr bullets.
I picked up a Ruger American Predator in 6mm Creedmoor for my daughter... I'm not impressed with the quality of the magazines, but the rifle is extremely accurate. She will be headed out to hunt deer and antelope with it the first of next month. I have full confidence in the rifle. Definitely worth the money...
I pieced together a cheap little low recoiling rifle for my son, I went the 260 route since I already have everything for it. Bought almost everything used second hand here on the hide, I think the whole rifle cost me about 500$ plus the optic which I got for a steal. Jr. killed both his first elk and deer with it last year:
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/i63.tinypic.com\/28u6uxd.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/i63.tinypic.com\/28u6uxd.jpg"}[/IMG2]
I'm a huge fan of the 243 for deer/antelope size animals. I dont have one since I use a 257 Roberts in a Win Featherweight but I built one for my wife.
She broke her back and has three rods between her shoulder blades and cant take a lot of recoil. I had to find her a rifle. I had a Model 70 action laying around so I built her 243. Extremely accurate and effective on deer size animals.
Dont let any one tell you they are too light for deer/antelope. Just select the proper bullet. Bergers work, we used the 87 gr VLD -Hunting but found they tear up too much meat. We went to the Hornady 85 Gr. InterBonds and never looked back. I used a 1:10 twist barrel on her rifle, I think I should have went to a faster twist, but the success she has with the Hornady, I cant justify a barrel swap.
Shot at about 275 yards:
This guy was taken at 540 yards:
I since bought her a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 CM for elk hunting. I fell in love with the 6.5 CM so I bought a Ruger American Predator in 6.5. Then bought the wife a RAP in 204 Ruger because I was impressed with the out of the box accuracy of the Predator.
Check out the YouTube videos on the RAP, they are that good. For the price ($400) you'd be hard pressed to find a better moderately priced, accurate rifle.
The RAP in 243 comes with a 1:9 twist barrel so you can go with the better 105 gr bullets.
Your wife has great taste in football teams!! #horseshoe
