I shot my first deer with a .243 when I was 13. That 7 point buck dropped in his tracks with a shot through the heart, and it's dropped many other deer and coyotes since then. That Rem. 700 in 243 remains one of my favorite guns today.

For the Texas whitetail I encounter, I'd say that the .243 is a superb hunting cartridge.

It's plenty of rifle to kill a deer. Accuracy is more important then caliber.

Yes, but if you want to appear more savvy to your hunting buds, get a .257 Roberts, .250 Savage, or 6.5x55 Swedish. Everybody except me has a .243 Win. Boring and not a very good selection of bullet weights suitable for deer or larger game.

It's great for deer sized game.

I know, as so eloquently pointed out already, legions of deer have fallen to the .243/6mm but I'm just not a fan, I prefer more bullet weight, therefore the lightest I prefer is the .257 Roberts.

Yes it is a very good deer rifle. It works very good for hunting in the Sandhills of Western Nebraska. I have killed many deer using this gun. Mostly any gun will kill a deer if you know where to shoot.

A friend of mine shot a deer this year with his .243 hitting it in the shoulder. The bullet did not penetrate the rib cage. The deer kept going on its other 3 legs and was finished off by his hunting partner about a quarter mile away. My .308 would have dropped it in its tracks (I speak from plenty of experience) with the same shot and would have caused no more damage to the meat. I agree with the point that accuracy is most important but knock down power is also a factor - especially in heavily hunted public lands where a deer could be shot by others if it does not go down right away. I have also heard complaints from hunters in heavy brush that the .243 can deflect easily but not having hunted with one myself, I am not sure if it was deflecting or just bad aiming...

I am always amazed that we think that a .243 is a gun for young and inexperienced beginning hunters . Just the opposite it should be a rifle for an experienced hunter that can place his shot at a very exact spot to cleanly kill the deer. The .243 is not a "rifle for young hunters and women" like we hear alot unless they are expert shots. Of course I will go on record as saying I don't think that it is a fine deer rifle at all.

Sarge, i believe it is good for women and young hunters because they won't be scared of it, allowing them to develop good shooting habits without a flinch. I do not believe it is a good caliber for anyone who is not selective about their shots, but few calibers are. I have watched a couple kids at our camp literally drill deer with the .243 and drop'em right in their footprints, but these kids are good hunters and riflemen. I have also seen the internal results from that speedy little pill and have though maybe it need not be so fast. It's no bonecrusher but in my experience it's very effective on average sized whitetails. Perhaps not a good choice in Maine or Saskatchewan.

I'm with Sarge, in my limited experience, shot placement is very important with the .243

Just this morning I found out that my brother-in-law lost a deer he shot Friday at dark using his grandson's .243 Handi-Rifle. My sis says there was lots of blood but the trail was lost in the dark. No luck on finding it the next day either. I don't know other details such as shot placement and load.

Last year my wife lost what would of been her first deer when she hit it with a Barnes 85 grain TSX bullet from her .243 Handi-Rifle. We were in a pop-up blind sitting on a Management Area food plot when a nice buck walked out at last light about 50 yards away. She took a steady rest, fired, and we both saw the buck go down right where he stood, just over a little rise from us. I told her to reload and quickly exit so that we could finish the job if needed. Much to our surprise, there was no deer, no blood, and no indication of which way he had escaped. I searched around for another hour and never found a blood trail. Because of work and warm weather, I didn't return the next day so we never found it. The coyotes probably got a good meal.

Our best guess is that she held too high and the bullet impacted the area between the top of the lungs and the spine. Being a smaller probably means less shock to transfer when missing the vitals. Before the end of the week we went to the range with a full deer paper target containing highlighted vitals. She practiced until comfortable in hitting the kill zone at 100 yards. A week later she made a perfect double lung shot on a small buck to claim her first 'recovered' deer.

I'm considering sending her receiver to H&R after this hunting season to have a 7mm-08 or .308 barrel fitted.

I'm not a big fan of them you step up to a .270 or 30-06 and you have so many more bullet choices if you ever want to shoot an elk or something bigger than a deer.

I just finished my 6th box of various grains and bullet styles in my new 243 Handi rifle. 4 cartridges left, shot them with 2 being 2 inches apart followed by 2 being 6" and 12" below the first 2. Tried different scope with little improvement. After the last 4 shots, I was off to the sporting goods store to return my cute little single shot.

I received store credit, bought an Axis Savage in 243 along with
another box of shells. I came home with a 3x9 scope. I shot it at 25 yards, adjusted it and moved back to 100 yards. Shot 6 times with some adjusting. My last 3 shots I could cover with a quarter. The trigger is really stiff, so I know that I am looking at a rifle that is capable of shooting 3 shots and cover
them with a dime.

A gentleman who sights most of the stores rifles in said to me;
see all of these thousand dollar and up rifles, your new rifle will compete with almost all of them. Smart buy.

I have heard many similar stories about the handi-rifle

I had a girlfriend like the Axis one time long ago. She was an expert cook, was fine in bed, but she was so ugly you had to tie a bone around her neck to get the dog to play with her. That was before I got my eyes checked. WAM you are right you can't wash off ugly you have to look at them all of the time and I can look at my Sako and Weatherby and smile.

Sorry for the double post, it looked like the first one didn't post.

Absolutely, I have taken three deer this season with a remington 700 in .243 win with a tasco 4x32 scope. After borrowing the gun I fired a few shots to check zero and went hunting. With no previous experience with high-powered rifles I took these deer at 200-300 yards. One other deer appeared to be hit(mule-kicked and ran like its tail was on fire) but was never recovered. Blame it the stupidity of the shooter not the power of the gun. It was almost dark at aprox. 300 yards with a rifle I had barely used from the sitting position. Deer probably died in a creek, log pile, or across the property lines wich weren't far away. The rest of the deer died on the spot or within a few yards. Oh,and none of my shots were perfect either. One-lungers mostly. Keep your shots under 300 yds., learn to shoot, and you will do fine. However, from my research I consider the 25-06 and 7mm-08 better deer guns for the low-recoil enthusiast.

I did look for the doe that got away, both that evening and the next day. I found some blood, but it rained right after I shot the deer making blood trailing almost impossible. The property line was only about 75 yards away downhill. The deer was running towards the preperty line when I last saw it. I was not able to mesasure the distance because of terrain and lack of a range finder. The distance is a guess, but I have measured similar distances by stepping them off. I only compared it to similar known distances. I was unclear in my last post. Under 300 yards a .243 is a great deer gun, if you know how to shoot it. However, if you can stand the slight increase in recoil the 25-06 and 7mm-08 make for better blood-letters.

yes its a good gun all around for big game to preadetors i love them and they put the animal down without to much tracking

No doubt the .257 is a great round as well as the .280. I love my .280 and have killed two elk with it. Having said that a deer is nothing compared to an elk. A .300 is way over kill, as I have yet to track an elk that I have shot with my .300. The .243 is a great round for deer. If shot is placed right you will not even track the deer. I have only taken a few deer with my .243 but one was a nice mule deer and the thing folded in its tracks at 400 yards according the the range finder. What I love about the .243 is the trajectory and the bullet selection. I prefer the 95 grain superformance hornady's. The .25-06 is another gun I love but just don't get it out much now that I have my new .243.

it will do especially with a well constructed bullet around 100 grains. personally i am a fan of .25 or even 6.5 to give you a better selection. the 25-06 has my heart.

I shot my first buck, a 148 lb 8 point with a .243 and the bullet performance was fine. I agree that it is a good rifle for a younger shooter/hunter because it has more to it than a .22 caliber center fire. also, if someone has hunted with that rifle since they were a kid, then I don't see why they cant use it later on in life

Like many of the folks here, i have heard hunters swear by their .243 and tell me how many deer they have killed. I am not as fond of the round as they are. Although it is quite capable of killing a deer and is just as good for men as it is for women and children, I would choose a .270, 7mm mag. or 30-06.

I still hear stories from other friends talking about the one that got away when their .243's couldn't bring down a big buck. Whitetail deer are thin skinned light boned animals and you don't always need a large caliber to bring them down. But remember that a sacrifice in power puts even more emphasis on making a great shot. I would not take anything but a broadside shot on a deer with .243 whereas a 30-06 for example has the power to blast through the shoulder. Plus the 30-06 or .270 are versatile rounds for most of North America's game species.

my 53 year old hunting partner has a 243 rem 700 and only one deer did not drop in its tracks and theat was a butt shot i have whitnessed hin drop several deer with it