Couldn't take it anymore and broke down and bought a .243 Winchester. It's a Remington model 700 adl. Synthetic stock with a 24 inch barrel. Never owned a 243 and have heard interesting things about them. From folks saying it's a young hunters cartridge to others telling me that a little more skill is required to properly harvest game with them. (due to the smaller caliber and it being less forgiving on marginal shots) what's your take?
Couple questions.
What scope should I put on it? I mainly bought it for predator/varmit huntin. Should I put a high power scope for long shots? What would you suspect the max range for the cartridge is for huntin song dogs?
What are yall's methods for proper break in of the rifle? It is new out of the box.
My brother bought me a box of hornady's new superformance ammunition. 80 grain GMX. Does anyone have experience with this ammunition ? Do you think it's too light for deer hunting. The ballistics are impressive. 3400 fps at muzzle and still holds a little over 1000 ft.lbs at 300 yards with only 5.6 inches of drop. After that it dies significantly due to it's low weight.
All input is appreciated. Just lookin for advice and conversation.
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I have the same exact gun. I shoot the 85 grain Barnes TSX bullet. The GMX is very similar in construction to the Barnes. Barnes is 100% copper, the GMX is 95% copper, 5% alloy. I can tell you in the 2 seasons I have had this rifle, I have yet to have an animal take a step. I was skeptical as well, but now am thoroughly convinced it is a fine deer caliber. Last year Thanksgiving morning I killed a big 7pt with it. I hit him a tad far back. Ended up it blew his liver out, and the exit hole was bigger than a silver dollar. Liver was hanging on bushes behind the deer
Don't let anyone tell you its not a good caliber. I know some of them GA boys have shot them out past 200 yards
I bought a .243 for a lady that had never shot before and wanted a light recoil rifle. I took her to the range, taught her to shoot, sighted in the rifle to a 1" pattern and 3 weeks later she went hog hunting. Results 2 sows 150+lbs, 1 ran 40 yards the other dropped in its tracks. Conclusion: Excellent round and caliber (standard Rem ammo 90-100 grain). Excellent for any game in FL
243 has worked well for me. Nikon pro staff scope and 100 grain bullets, its all about shot placement,ribbs, chest, neck. I try and stay away from shoulder insteed i aim rite hehind it. Also head shot works well to.
I have a Rem 700 CDL in .243 and it is probably one of my better shooting rifles. As far as folks saying it's a young hunters cartridge is because it has very low recoil caliber. As far as folks telling you that a little more skill is required to properly harvest game is because they obviously don't shoot or practice enough to become competent shooting a center fire rifle IMHO.
The 90-100 grain bullet range is plenty of HP to take down a deer. My last hunt in Kentucky in 2007 I shot two does and a 4 pt on a windy day at about 60 yards, 5 shots, 3 deer. I was 40 ft up a tree and the wind was blowing me back and forth a foot or two while I was shooting. I shoot 95GR Winchester Silver Tips out of mine and she performs beautifully. My wife loves to shoot it and so does my 13 year old step son. We normally have to take dibs on who gets to carry it if we're all hunting at the same time. A real pleasure to shoot.
As far as a scope/optics go I believe the perfect scope for that gun, for the money on the market today is a Leupold VX II 3-9x40 which can be had brand new and delivered from Optics Planet for $299.00. The .243 in the 24" barrel on the 700 is easily capable of killing out to 200-300 yard, IMHO. I currently have a Leupold Rifleman 3-9x40 on mine which will be getting replaced next season with the VX II. The VX II is just a tad clearer than the rifleman scope and about $90-$100 more expensive than the Rifleman.
I also have a Rem 700 BDL Mountain rifle with Detachable Mag in 7MM-08 and a Ruger M77 in .25-06 with Sporter barrel. I like and prefer the smaller center fire calibers since you can get/reload lighter bullets for Varmits and heavier bullets for Deer and get exceptional bullet performance/FPS. I also perfer the smaller caliber center fire rifles because I can actually enjoy shooting them without have to think about excessive recoil, flintching, and managing recoil while engaging targets, sighting them in, or hunting...
My two cents. Congrats on a great rifle...
