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re: 243 for young first time hunter, did I make a mistake?
Posted on 10/17/26 at 7:59 pm to GREENHEAD22
Posted on 10/17/26 at 7:59 pm to GREENHEAD22
quote:
Little nervous it will lack the needed power or not expand sufficiently at 100yrd.
That rifle has enough oomph to take any deer in Louisiana from 500 yards in.
I've never shot a deer in Louisiana with anything larger than a .243
And I've never had a deer run more than 10ft.
Hell, my favorite caliber to hunt with is a .223
Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:16 pm to X123F45
Perfect round for a first time hunter OR an experienced one who doesn’t want unnecessary recoil.
My oldest son I bought a Ruger M77 Compact in .260. Ammo isn’t super easy to find but is a great performer.
If I had it to do over again I’d buy a young person a .308 in a short (but preferably heavy) rifle. You can buy reduced recoil loads for .308 and move them to full power loads as they grow up.
My oldest son I bought a Ruger M77 Compact in .260. Ammo isn’t super easy to find but is a great performer.
If I had it to do over again I’d buy a young person a .308 in a short (but preferably heavy) rifle. You can buy reduced recoil loads for .308 and move them to full power loads as they grow up.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:30 pm to GREENHEAD22
A wounding machine in my experience. I dont allow them on my property. I always suggest waiting until the youth can shoot a higher clover. 7-08, 308,etc…the 243 doesn’t have explosion impact and goes straight through…..im sure all the “marksmen’ will claim their manhood, but, most kids aren’t that accurate…
Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:36 pm to GREENHEAD22
quote:
Little nervous it will lack the needed power or not expand sufficiently at 100yrd.
quote:
243
I absolutely wax deer at 100yds with a 6.5 Grendel, which is essentially equal to a .243 when it comes to kinetic energy.
.243 is a slightly smaller, faster moving bullet. 6.5 Grendel is a slightly heavier, slower moving bullet.
Just make sure to have good shot placement and use a quality hunting bullet. For what it’s worth, I chuckle at people who take a 30-06, 300 win mag, 7mm mag, etc, to hunt whitetail in the south east. You don’t need anything bigger than a .243/6.5 Grendel.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:36 pm to GREENHEAD22
quote:
Got 3 different boxes of 100g
Which ones? Theres lots of good bullets out there these days.
Im a pretty ardent .243 hater from back when we were working a tracking dog a bunch before everybody got their own dogs. No blood is bad news where we hunt and a .243 with core locts was a high level offender of good shot, no exit, no blood. Dead deer at the end is fine as long as you can find it before the buzzards do.
Im trying to test out a .223 with match bullets and if I like the results, its what my kid will be using in lieu of the 6.5x55 I grew up using, so I really cant be on the .243 bashing wagon anymore till I try this out. Really leaning into the fragmenting bullet thing instead of more horsepower and a hard bullet with limited expansion that goes very straight very far. Most if not all of my bad experiences with small calibers were with traditional hunting bullets like corelocts. I suspect theres a lot of credibility to the fragmenting match bullet thing people are getting into. Look up the poster Faxis from here, that guy loved a 120gr ballistic tip from a .270 going extremely fast. All .243 loads are really fast and something similar should work.
quote:
lack the needed power or not expand sufficiently at 100yrd.
What i usually saw was the opposite. The bullets usually open up well and if there is any problem its penetration. Its a very high velocity caliber and especially at close range you shouldnt ever have expansion issues. We used to find fully expanded bullets under the offside hide often.
As long as you pick the right bullet and more importantly the kid can shoot, deer are gonna die. Find a way to let him practice and get a silencer if you can.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:39 pm to Bayou_Tiger_225
quote:
chuckle at people who take a 30-06, 300 win mag, 7mm mag, etc, to hunt whitetail in the south east
I use a .338 win mag
Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:46 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
do any of them ever take another step? Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:48 pm to Out da box
quote:Just curious. Would you let someone hunt with a 6.5 Grendel?
I dont allow them on my property.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 8:56 pm to Bayou_Tiger_225
243 and 6.5 Grendel will kill anything in North America (except the giant predator bears) and any African plains game at any ethical hunting distance.
Have seen kudu and eiland and moose killed with a 243.
Mark Larue of Larue tactical killed an elk with a 6.5 Grendel at over 400 yards.
243 and 6.5 Grendel are similar in performance with an advantage to the 243. Not allowing one on your property is misguided.... but its your sandbox.
Have seen kudu and eiland and moose killed with a 243.
Mark Larue of Larue tactical killed an elk with a 6.5 Grendel at over 400 yards.
243 and 6.5 Grendel are similar in performance with an advantage to the 243. Not allowing one on your property is misguided.... but its your sandbox.
This post was edited on 10/17/26 at 9:05 pm
Posted on 10/17/26 at 9:08 pm to Bayou_Tiger_225
quote:
I chuckle at people who take a 30-06, 300 win mag, 7mm mag, etc, to hunt whitetail in the south east.
Chuckle all you want but I have a hard time remembering how much my 6.5 Grendel drops when that deer steps out at the second power pole 350 yards away. Any of the calibers you mentioned take the guesswork out of that, and typically leave easier blood trails to follow once he hits the treeline.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 9:09 pm to Out da box
quote:
the 243 doesn’t have explosion impact and goes straight through…..i
Bullet too fast to expand....
Son put one of these anywhere in a pie pan sized area behind the front shoulder.
The deer won't run and you will personally curse me when you have to clean it. Lungs and heart are going to be shredded.
This post was edited on 10/17/26 at 9:26 pm
Posted on 10/17/26 at 9:23 pm to Theduckhunter
quote:
I have a hard time remembering how much my 6.5 Grendel drops when that deer steps out at the second power pole 350 yards away.
If your scope has a 1.5 moa and 4 moa hash mark below center, sight the rifle in 1in high at 200.
2nd lower mark will be dead on at 350. First upper will be 1in high at 100.
Makes that one pretty easy.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 9:30 pm to GREENHEAD22
Nope, .243 is plenty
Posted on 10/17/26 at 9:52 pm to Theduckhunter
Ruger American Ranch with a SilencerCo Schthe. Didn't plan on getting the can but said screw it and got it all at once.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 10:09 pm to Bayou_Tiger_225
quote:
I chuckle at people who take a 30-06, 300 win mag, 7mm mag, etc, to hunt whitetail in the south east
I know guys who let their kids use a .243 and they use a 300 Weatherby to hunt the same stand
Posted on 10/17/26 at 10:30 pm to Theduckhunter
quote:well if you’re shooting deer at 350 yds that makes sense. That’s just a pretty uncommon shot down here, and one most hunters down here would struggle to make.
when that deer steps out at the second power pole 350 yards away.
I meant it more for the baw who takes his 300 win mag to roll a 90 pound doe at 100 yds, because that’s more of the standard shot
This post was edited on 10/17/26 at 10:36 pm
Posted on 10/17/26 at 10:31 pm to X123F45
You missed the point
Posted on 10/17/26 at 10:46 pm to Bayou_Tiger_225
Yes. Most of the time if you shoot them through the ribs with it they will run 20-30 yards. Ray Charles could follow the blood trail. You can shoot them through both shoulders and flatten them. The damage is not bad at all, nowhere near as nasty as higher speed stuff.
I use it purely for fun factor, but it does work super well.
I use it purely for fun factor, but it does work super well.
Posted on 10/17/26 at 11:49 pm to GREENHEAD22
My son dropped a 215 pound 11 point with his 243 and killed an 8 once at 100 yards jogging through the woods through brush with a neck shot. It was so ridiculous shot they waived the fine. Both dropped like a rock. I used fusion bullets.
Posted on 10/18/26 at 12:01 am to Out da box
quote:
A wounding machine in my experience. I dont allow them on my property. I always suggest waiting until the youth can shoot a higher clover. 7-08, 308,etc…the 243 doesn’t have explosion impact and goes straight through…..im sure all the “marksmen’ will claim their manhood, but, most kids aren’t that accurate…
What kinda retards you got running around your place?
You should probably ban anyone under 25 from carrying a gun just to be safe. I don’t value the deer on my place that much I guess.
I will not allow someone to shoot a Nilgai Bull with a smaller caliber but let them shoot the cows with reasonable calibers.
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