The 243 Winchester for Australian Game

[F. Vaccaro]

@F. Vaccaro
If you are using a 243 you will probably need the knife to finish the animal off.

We’re gonna have to agree to disagree here, I’ve seen the .243 preform great on deer & antelope, WITH PROPER bullets & shot placement! Shoot one in the guts with a .458 & get set to track!

 

[KAROO WILD Safaris]

@rdog
You make some valid points BUT I personally have seen to much game wounded with the 243 to deem it worth while as a hunting round.
Here are some examples
243, 87gn federal blue box ammo. Bullet passed straight thru a big western grey kangaroo zero expansion.
Hand loaded 87gn VMAX, 3 chest shots to dispatch a mature Billy.
Hand loaded 95gn nosler balistic tip. Pig 1, 30kg weight bullet pass thru zero expansion, pig 2 same bullet exploded on the hide of a 50kg pig not mud encrusted large superficial wound. Pig 3 same bullet actually worked.

The problem with the 243 in Australia is most people select the wrong bullet for the game hunted. Most like the 87 grainers for general use on every thing and suffer failures. Loaded with a good 95gn SST or 100gn round nose it would probably be a fine cartridge within 200 yards for medium game but the majority of people don't see this.

When it first came out in a blaze of glory with Winchesters advertising it was supose to be the best thing to come down the turnpike since buttonup boots and sliced bread. It didn't live up to the velocity chain that Winchester made for it and they lowered the velocity.
I have loaded for a couple of 243s for friends working up to max charges and in no case could I get anywhere near the book velocity
87 grainers managed 2,900 fps in a tikka t3 light and just a tad over 3,000 in another rifle. The 100 grainers were struggling to get 2,800fps out of either rifle,closer to 2,700fps.
Book velocity for the 87s was 3,300 and the 100s were supposed to be 3,000 fps, a big difference.
I was at the range and a gent was trying out his new Sako 243 with factory Winchester 87 grainers and Hand loaded 87s. The factory loads chronoed at a bit over 2,800 and the Hand loads were only fractionally better.
My case is why would anyone want to use a cartridge that can't live up to its claims and advertising hype as a hunting cartridge with projectile that just don't work on their chosen game.
The little 250 Savage and mild mannered 257 Roberts have been around for a lot longer than the 243 and have been doing a better job than it for years but Winchester advertising killed them off and people started using the inferior cartridge because Winchester convinced people this is what they needed.
If you want to use a 243 by all means use it just stop asking me to finish off your wounded animals, I have done it to many time for hunters that are great shots.

One person I used to hunt with had a nice Tikka T3 lite in 243 that would shoot tiny little groups. He was give an old M17 converted to 25/06 that he asked me to look at. I glass bedded it, fitted a Timney trigger set at 2 pounds. That rifle grouped 2 inches at 200 yards. It was over 2 pound heavier than his beloved 243. After using the 25/06 he left the 243 at home and stated the 25 was far superior and killed how he was led to believe the 243 should. He has shot a 14 point red stag and a mountain brumby with it using federal 117grain blue box ammo and said if he had the 243 at the time he wouldn't have taken a shot at either.
Now you can understand my strong dislike for the 243, I just don't trust it and why I love my 25s for use in Australia, the 25s just seem to make Moe sense to me.
Bob

V Max bullets aren’t at all suitable for normal hunting applications. Here in SA, we use them only for jackal and head shots culling only. I know kangaroo are likely considered vermin in OZ but I’m not sure the manufacture had kangaroo in mind, more coyote, jackal and smaller vermin.

I love a 243, shot my first kudu with one and shot lots more with it. Although not ideal size fr kudu, shot properly with a robust bullet - they’re dead. It’s a perfect rifle to kids to transition from plinking to game hunting small to medium antelope.

 

[rdog]

@Scrumbag
We ll know everything is smaller in England due to the people's view being scewed
by the consumption of warm beer. So red deer are probably the size of rabbits not real deer. So the 243 may work on your game.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Bob

I think may be the Bundy, has some what effected Bobs sense of reality

 

[Dr Ray]

@F. Vaccaro
If you are using a 243 you will probably need the knife to finish the animal off.

I have have a tiny scar from an angry hog in June 1979

 

[rdog]

I have have a tiny scar from an angry hog in June 1979

I had a pissed off sow run between my legs lifting me off the ground i thought i was going to loose my nuts, my kids have a video of it & roar with laughter when they watch it, that was about 20 years ago my nuts probably do not matter that much that now .

 

[Dr Ray]

I had a pissed off sow run between my legs lifting me off the ground i thought i was going to loose my nuts, my kids have a video of it & roar with laughter when they watch it, that was about 20 years ago my nuts probably do not matter that much that now .

Lol

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I think may be the Bundy, has some what effected Bobs sense of reality

@rdog
The Bundy brings me back to reality..

 

[Forrest Halley]

@F. Vaccaro
If you are using a 243 you will probably need the knife to finish the animal off.

@Scrumbag I think I have figured out this varying Australian acceptance of the .243: The size of his knife.
The normal Ozzie goes around the bush with something akin to a small sword.

Our friend @Bob Nelson 35Whelen had to pawn his manly knife off for a nip of Bundy during the pandemic so he's stuck with a tiny knife for a bit and compensating by loading his Whelen up to proof level.

It is all much clearer to me now...

 

[CBH Australia]

@rdog
The Bundy brings me back to reality..

Something has too,

 

[hawkeyesatx]

We’re gonna have to agree to disagree here, I’ve seen the .243 preform great on deer & antelope, WITH PROPER bullets & shot placement! Shoot one in the guts with a .458 & get set to track!

I’ve witnessed a greenhorn using a .338 Win Mag on an antelope hunt shoot an antelope straight in the paunch, and almost completely disembowel it, and have the darn thing run off, and run for close to a mile before we caught back up with it, and then, after much scolding, and it being a huge teaching moment, and learning where to actually shoot a game animal in the vitals, was it put out of its misery, and mine.
Then, a couple of weeks later, I went antelope hunting with a friend, and his young son, which he had his own .243, and took a shot that was a little longish for the .243, hit it directly in the heart and lungs, and it walked, maybe 4 or 5 steps, and then fall over dead!
Take what you will from my accounts.
But, even the most powerful magnum rifle shooting a game animal in the guts, isn’t going to immediately kill it.
Now, even a well placed .22 LR bullet, which isn’t legal in the states, will put an antelope down faster than a poorly placed magnum rifle round.

Hawk

 

[rdog]

@Scrumbag I think I have figured out this varying Australian acceptance of the .243: The size of his knife.
The normal Ozzie goes around the bush with something akin to a small sword. View attachment 459281

Our friend @Bob Nelson 35Whelen had to pawn his manly knife off for a nip of Bundy during the pandemic so he's stuck with a tiny knife for a bit and compensating by loading his Whelen up to proof level. View attachment 459282
It is all much clearer to me now...

I’ve witnessed a greenhorn using a .338 Win Mag on an antelope hunt shoot an antelope straight in the paunch, and almost completely disembowel it, and have the darn thing run off, and run for close to a mile before we caught back up with it, and then, after much scolding, and it being a huge teaching moment, and learning where to actually shoot a game animal in the vitals, was it put out of its misery, and mine.
Then, a couple of weeks later, I went antelope hunting with a friend, and his young son, which he had his own .243, and took a shot that was a little longish for the .243, hit it directly in the heart and lungs, and it walked, maybe 4 or 5 steps, and then fall over dead!
Take what you will from my accounts.
But, even the most powerful magnum rifle shooting a game animal in the guts, isn’t going to immediately kill it.
Now, even a well placed .22 LR bullet, which isn’t legal in the states, will put an antelope down faster than a poorly placed magnum rifle round.

Hawk

100 % correct

 

[CoElkHunter]

@rdog
The Bundy brings me back to reality..

From the psychoactive effects of having eaten bad Vegemite?

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

From the psychoactive effects of having eaten bad Vegemite?

@CoElkHunter
No such thing as bad Vegemite my friend as Vegemite hasn't been known to go off in the last 100 years.
Bob

 

[Scrumbag]

@Scrumbag
We ll know everything is smaller in England due to the people's view being scewed
by the consumption of warm beer. So red deer are probably the size of rabbits not real deer. So the 243 may work on your game.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Bob

Well Bob, come up here and I'll shoot a few and you can carry them for me - Should be no trouble for a big strong, cold beer hydrated, red blooded Ozzie bloke as yourself

 

[Scrumbag]

From the psychoactive effects of having eaten bad Vegemite?

I would ask if there is good Vegemite...

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I would ask if there is good Vegemite...

@Scrumbag
I would say YES.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

Reading all of these post what I see is a common denominator causing failure for the .243 is poor bullet choice and or improper shot placement! I think what we really are seeing in failures is a bullet & or shot placement failure, not really a cartridge failure?

 

[CoElkHunter]

@Scrumbag
I would say YES.

The spicy jalapeno flavor is the best!

 

[rdog]

Reading all of these post what I see is a common denominator causing failure for the .243 is poor bullet choice and or improper shot placement! I think what we really are seeing in failures is a bullet & or shot placement failure, not really a cartridge failure?

100% correct with 75 to 87 grain bullets great for small game, wild dogs, cats, foxes, ect at up to 350 meters it wrecks them, & 95 to 100 grain bullets on larger game with correct bullet placement it does a good job, its mild to shoot just do not try to shoot pigs with 75 grain bullets its a education thing. Unfortunately we seem to have a bunch young hunters that think with a 223, or a 300 black out, you can hunt dinosaurs.

 

[CBH Australia]

100% correct with 75 to 87 grain bullets great for small game, wild dogs, cats, foxes, ect at up to 350 meters it wrecks them, & 95 to 100 grain bullets on larger game with correct bullet placement it does a good job, its mild to shoot just do not try to shoot pigs with 75 grain bullets its a education thing. Unfortunately we seem to have a bunch young hunters that think with a 223, or a 300 black out, you can hunt dinosaurs.

I met one of those recently.
I got the old you can kill a pig with a .22 routine.
I didn't mention I used to trap pigs professionally or lay out what my cartridge choices are.
This fella has a .223 I think he's done some bush work bought a .223, going to get a .25-06 and start reloading I was going to offer some help but I'm sitting back. I know his mate and he's yet to learn he doesn't have any real world experience either.