Is the .243 a dying cartridge? (bullet, prices, target, make)

[Magnum Mike]

The .243 Winchester will never die out. If you can't find ammo for it, that doesn't mean anything, stores only stock up on rounds that are more common with shooters, like the .223 Remington, 30-06 Springfield, .308 Winchester, and others. Also, most shooters nowadays are loading/reloading their own ammo to save on the cost, so that could be one reason you're not able to find .243 ammo in stores. Retail stores don't want to keep inventory on the shelves for too long, they want to sell inventory in the shortest amount of time possible in order to make a good profit margin, so with less people buying factory ammo, it wouldn't make sense to stock up on calibers like the .243 Winchester. I shop at Cabella's and they keep their reloading components (gun powder, bullets, primers, and brass cases) well-stocked, at least here in the Phoenix area.

I have a customized Remington model 700 BDL in the 6mm Remington caliber, which is a 24 caliber, with a regular barrel. I load/reload my ammo for it and I get very accurate groups with it.

[Montana Griz]

As others have stated, IMHO it will be a very long time before the .243 becomes obsolete.

I have a .243 Sako Forester that I bought new in 1961 when they were imported into the U.S. by Firearms International located in Washington D.C.

I bought two boxes of Norma 100gr ammo for it and also began handloading for it with that Norma brass.
I put a B&L 2 1/2 to 8 scope on it and to date have probably put 3000 rounds through it (probably 175 rounds to take down my annual deer and antelope) --- and the other 2825 rounds at the "bench" developing & chronographing different loads with bullet weights ranging from 80gr up to 112gr*. Early on I found that it really liked 43.5gr of IMR 4350 under the 100gr Nosler Partition (seated out to almost touching the lands) and touched off with a Federal Mag Primer. To this day I still can get 100 yard - 3shot - groups averaging 5/8" at a muzzle vel of 3100 fps. As is true with my other hunting rifles, it is sighted in to be 3 inches high at 100 yards.....IMHO it is one of the top 3 calibers for deer and antelope....* If anybody is wondering, the 112gr bullets were given to me by FRED BARNES in 1962 (original developer of Barnes Bullets -- pure copper jacket and they worked fine on deer and antelope).

The 6mm Rem has a very small edge in muzzle vel (about 64 fps) with all other factors being equal
and is a little more suited to precise bullet seating due to it's longer neck....(many years ago I had a 6mm Rem in a Model 700 -- it however was not as accurate as my Sako and ended up selling it.

As has been stated the parent case for the Win .243 is the 7.62x51 Nato (Win .308), where as the parent case for the 6mm Rem is the 7x57 Mauser -- which also is the parent case for the .257 Roberts.

Had the Rem rifles (and others) in 6mm Rem come out with a twist of 1 in 10 instead of 1 in 9, I think it would have stayed right up with the Win .243 in popularity..........just my opinion.

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by Montana Griz

As others have stated, IMHO it will be a very long time before the .243 becomes obsolete.

I have a .243 Sako Forester that I bought new in 1961 when they were imported into the U.S. by Firearms International located in Washington D.C.

I bought two boxes of Norma 100gr ammo for it and also began handloading for it with that Norma brass.
I put a B&L 2 1/2 to 8 scope on it and to date have probably put 3000 rounds through it (probably 175 rounds to take down my annual deer and antelope) --- and the other 2825 rounds at the "bench" developing & chronographing different loads with bullet weights ranging from 80gr up to 112gr*. Early on I found that it really liked 43.5gr of IMR 4350 under the 100gr Nosler Partition (seated out to almost touching the lands) and touched off with a Federal Mag Primer. To this day I still can get 100 yard - 3shot - groups averaging 5/8" at a muzzle vel of 3100 fps. As is true with my other hunting rifles, it is sighted in to be 3 inches high at 100 yards.....IMHO it is one of the top 3 calibers for deer and antelope....* If anybody is wondering, the 112gr bullets were given to me by FRED BARNES in 1962 (original developer of Barnes Bullets -- pure copper jacket and they worked fine on deer and antelope).

The 6mm Rem has a very small edge in muzzle vel (about 64 fps) with all other factors being equal
and is a little more suited to precise bullet seating due to it's longer neck....(many years ago I had a 6mm Rem in a Model 700 -- it however was not as accurate as my Sako and ended up selling it.

As has been stated the parent case for the Win .243 is the 7.62x51 Nato (Win .308), where as the parent case for the 6mm Rem is the 7x57 Mauser -- which also is the parent case for the .257 Roberts.

Had the Rem rifles (and others) in 6mm Rem come out with a twist of 1 in 10 instead of 1 in 9, I think it would have stayed right up with the Win .243 in popularity..........just my opinion.

Actually, when the 6mm Rem was first developed, it was originally called the .244 Remington, and yes it didn't do as well with 100-grain bullets as the .243 Winchester because the .244 was designed with a 1 in 10 twist, it was only good for bullets up to 85 grains. Realizing the short-comings of the .244 cartridge, they redesigned their 7xx rifles with a 1 in 9 twist to accommodate 100-grain bullets and they renamed the cartridge to the 6mm Remington.

Both cartridges are about equal now, and they both can be loaded for precise accuracy. I know my Remington 700 6mm can do a 5-shot group with an average of 1/3-inch at 100 yards, and I'm sure the .243 would do just as well.

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

Actually, when the 6mm Rem was first developed, it was originally called the .244 Remington, and yes it didn't do as well with 100-grain bullets as the .243 Winchester because the .244 was designed with a 1 in 10 twist, it was only good for bullets up to 85 grains. Realizing the short-comings of the .244 cartridge, they redesigned their 7xx rifles with a 1 in 9 twist to accommodate 100-grain bullets and they renamed the cartridge to the 6mm Remington.

Both cartridges are about equal now, and they both can be loaded for precise accuracy. I know my Remington 700 6mm can do a 5-shot group with an average of 1/3-inch at 100 yards, and I'm sure the .243 would do just as well.

.....Hey Mike......

Thanks for calling my attention to some miss-information in my post.........................
I dug out some reference books that I've had for years and found the following info describing the situation:..

Original rifles called .244 Rem came out with a 1 in 12 twist............................
A few years later they changed the twist to 1 in 9 and renamed it: 6mm Remington.

The one I had was in fact a Rem Model 722 and it had the 1 in 12 twist.

I guess with approaching my 82nd birthday next month, I shouldn't think my memory is as good as it was when I was "a few years younger".

Thanks again.....................

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by Montana Griz

.....Hey Mike......

Thanks for calling my attention to some miss-information in my post.........................
I dug out some reference books that I've had for years and found the following info describing the situation:..

Original rifles called .244 Rem came out with a 1 in 12 twist............................
A few years later they changed the twist to 1 in 9 and renamed it: 6mm Remington.

The one I had was in fact a Rem Model 722 and it had the 1 in 12 twist.

I guess with approaching my 82nd birthday next month, I shouldn't think my memory is as good as it was when I was "a few years younger".

Thanks again.....................

Thanks MG, and I stand corrected on the misinformation I posted about the twist rate in the original Remington .244 caliber, with the Remington 722 rifles. I just looked up the information about the Remington 6mm caliber and it came about in 1955, around the same time Winchester came out with their .243, but the barrel twist rate of 1 and 12 in the .244 made it unpopular for shooters using bullets heavier than 85-90 grains. Remington redesigned the 722 rifle and changed the twist rate to 1 in 9, but that didn't help because the cartridge's reputation had already been ruined, so in 1963 Remington changed the design of the cartridge slightly and they renamed it the 6mm Remington and it did well ever since then, and it certainly gave the .243 Winchester some competition.

[justanokie]

I don't think the .243 is dying. Seems pretty popular around here also. That said, I prefer 6.5 x 55 over it.

While I do mostly stick with the traditional military cartridges for the most part, I do dabble in a few odd rounds. Namely .204 and .458 Socom. Those 2 in an AR-15 platform are ideal varmint and hog killing machines. Its almost not fair when you call up 2 or 3 yotes and you have a zero recoil rifle with 30 rounds of one of the hottest loads available.

[saxondale351]

Originally Posted by iknowftbll

Those may be valid suggestions for someone with their own reloading equipment. I'll have my own eventually, but right now it can't be the priority. As for loading up a .223, it still won't be legal to hunt deer because the minimum caliber for deer and bear here in VA is .23. I don't know of any calibers of .23 but the .243 is a good deer cartridge. I'm bringing my .30-06 if I go after a bear.

In the states I hunted in any center fire rifle is fine. I have seen deer taken in Alaska with 22 long rifle. Those Indians or Inuits have a health respect for the 22lr. I used 223 once on deer and after that BS I decided I did not want to chase em every time so i went with the 06

[iknowftbll]

I just picked up my .243 today. Stole away from my office for a few minutes and picked it up at my FFL. It's a good looking gun. I'll get a picture up when I get a chance.

[LLN]

I kind of screwed up and got the perfect rifle, 25-06. I can't go lower or higher since for what I need, nothing does it better. If I was starting from scratch, I think I would tend toward the 6.5's. Then going lower could be justified, or rationalized.

The benefit of the 25-06 is you can crank out cases from 30-06 and 270s, both of which are range darlings.

[iknowftbll]

I finally got around to getting a photo of the new gun. It's not a very good photo, but it's good enough for now. The next one will be leaning up against a freshly killed deer and have my wife's gorgeous smiling face in it!