223 vs 243 - Lithgow

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223 vs 243 - Lithgow

Post by Jared.c » 28 Aug 2018, 3:41 pm

Hi guys
i have just applied for my firearm license in Queensland and i cant decide what caliber to get.
I will eventually get both but in the beginning i can only afford one.
I will be doing as much hunting as i can as-well as targets at the range i have been told that you can take anything up to pigs with the .223 with good shot placement.
i have had experience shooting and really just need help deciding. Should i just go with the .223 and then in a month or two upgrade to the 243 or should i just start with a 243 and go up to a 308.
any advice would help as i don't want to make the wrong choice because the La102 is a rather expensive rifle
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by SCJ429 » 28 Aug 2018, 8:37 pm

My vote is for the 223 as the first centre fire. It is puny but cheap to shoot and you will learn a lot and after 4000 rounds you can trade up to the 243.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by SCJ429 » 28 Aug 2018, 8:40 pm

I shot a 60 kilo pig with a 223, head shot at 150 metres. Does the job on a range of game as long as they are high percentage shots.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by SCJ429 » 28 Aug 2018, 8:47 pm

I have a 223 and a 243 in Tikka T3. I would recommend both calibers and rifles. The 243 is very capable on game up to about 80 kilos but it is a bit hard on barrels. The 223 barrels last forever and it is great fun, using 80 grain Bergers I have shot respectable three inch groups at 500.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by JimTom » 28 Aug 2018, 9:28 pm

.243 if you’re only getting one initially. Can do most things with it, pretty versatile caliber.
.223 later on down the track. My 2c worth.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Member-Deleted » 28 Aug 2018, 9:58 pm

Both good calibres but the 223 is cheaper to feed with factory ammo.

I think a better question to ask yourself is why a Lithgow specifically? You could get a Howa 223 and a 243 for about the same money as one Lithgow, and the Howas will shoot the lights out all day
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by MontyShooter » 29 Aug 2018, 6:32 am

You'll be waiting a long time for a lithgow 223.
Probably into next year.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Archie » 29 Aug 2018, 6:44 am

Don't think of getting a 223 and then "upgrading" to a 243. They are both optimized for different things, one is not better than the other. Also don't assume you'll go 243 and then 308. My first centrefire was a 243 and I ended up going down in size to a 223 for my next one, then the one after that was a 308. And although that 308 is my favourite rifle to hunt with, but often I'll take the 223 - and when I'm taking a new shooter to a centrefire range I'll always take the 223 because its so much easier to start with.

I would suggest that the 243 is more flexible for hunting but the 223 will handle most things properly used; with the 223 you will shoot more (because the rounds are half the cost) and that's the most important part to becoming a good shot, also the recoil is slightly less so easier to get used to in the beginning.

Lastly, Lithgow are very nice rifles but they are quite heavy. Depending on whether you are walking a lot when you hunt you may want to look at some other makes.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Daddybang » 29 Aug 2018, 6:44 am

Either chambering will do. But if ya want it for hunting larger game having the choice of heavier projies would make me choose the .243. :thumbsup: :drinks:
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Metalmik84 » 29 Aug 2018, 7:32 am

Given all the .223s have been recalled and i havent hrard of anyone getting one back yet you might be forced to start with the .243!
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by marksman » 29 Aug 2018, 8:31 am

because you said you would be shooting pigs IMO
for smaller pigs the 223 can be ok, shot placement is a good idea but mostly they will be running away from you so it wont be that easy
my choice for the pigs would be the 243, if it were not for the pigs I would say 223
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Jared.c » 29 Aug 2018, 9:11 am

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply.
Most of you are saying the 243 would be the best choice and since I will be getting into hand loading the coast of ammo should not be to bad in the beginning.
All I have to do now is wait for my licence and PTA so I hope to see you out at the range one day I'll be a regular sight at the Belmont rifle range in Brisbane
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Cooper » 29 Aug 2018, 10:02 pm

I saw on Facebook today the the Lithgow 243 has been added to recall list. Not good.
Makes me think it will be more of their barrels now. Also given that none of their 223s appear to have been returned yet? No wonder they upgraded their warranty to 10years. Looks like it will bit a long process.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by JimTom » 29 Aug 2018, 11:04 pm

Cooper wrote:I saw on Facebook today the the Lithgow 243 has been added to recall list. Not good.
Makes me think it will be more of their barrels now. Also given that none of their 223s appear to have been returned yet? No wonder they upgraded their warranty to 10years. Looks like it will bit a long process.



Was that on the Lithgow facetube page mate?
I hope it's not true. Never get my Lithgow Creedmoor at this rate.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Medic » 30 Aug 2018, 2:37 am

Honestly right now given the dramas is having with my 308 I would stay away from lithgow. I’m breaking extractors, recalls are happening, it’s not good.

A tikka, ruger or howa 243 is a solid first rifle. Check the ballistics on a 55 grain pill at 4050 FPS out of that 243 loaded to adi spec and thank me later. ;) If I had to have one gun...
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Rod_outbak » 30 Aug 2018, 6:37 am

As far as caliber is concerned, either cartridge will take pigs down. My overseer uses a .223 all of the time (he has access to both a .223 and a .243) and prefers the .223 for the lightness and lower recoil. He regularly nails pigs out beyond 100 yards. We almost exclusively use 55Gn Ballistic Tips or Vmax projectiles on pigs, grasshoppers and dingoes, with great effect.

If you were going to be doing more distance shooting, the .243 might be a better choice, as they will travel further with more accuracy.
As Medic has mentioned, the 55/58gn .243 pills depart the barrel at some ungodly speed up around 4000fps, and shoot like lasers out to ~200 yards or so.

Another great pill for the .243 is the 87Gn Vmax; hits REALLY hard, and very good ballistics as well. I nailed a medium sized (~45kgs) sow at ~180 metres with the .243 using 87 Vmax's the other afternoon, and she ran a whole 15 metres before falling over dead.
If I'd been more confident with my shooting skills, I'd have head-shot her.

If I was choosing one caliber above the other(with the intention of buying the other in the near future), I'd probably go the .243 for the longer legs on it, but be aware the slightly heavier recoil will get tiring quicker (than the .223).
.223 would be awesome if you are likely to be doing a lot of varmint shooting, though a .243 will also do a spectacular job on a rabbit/crow/fox/etc, only use more powder doing so.

As far as the Lightgow choice, you'll likely have to consider how confident you are that they will resolve the different quality-control issues that seem to be appearing with the Lithgow rifles. I'd suggest you might find a Tikka T3x for similar money, and whilst Tikka have also had QC issues with barrels in the past, my understanding is they jumped onto resolving the issue ASAP. From what I'm reading, Lithgow seem to be struggling to respond in the time-frame they assured customers they could achieve. I'd been admiring the looks of the Lithgows myself, and thinking how one might look good in my gunsafe here. However, the more of these QC issues come to light, I'm glad I didnt take the plunge.
I have a Tikka T3 hunter Stainless fluted in 7mm-08, and while I wouldnt buy the wood stock again , I find the rifle fantastic to use.
(I ended up sourcing a Polymer Varmint stock).

And now; back to prepping some more cases for my Ruger Precision Rifle .308. The Pokk awaits no man...

Cheers,

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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Cooper » 30 Aug 2018, 1:50 pm

JimTom wrote:
Cooper wrote:I saw on Facebook today the the Lithgow 243 has been added to recall list. Not good.
Makes me think it will be more of their barrels now. Also given that none of their 223s appear to have been returned yet? No wonder they upgraded their warranty to 10years. Looks like it will bit a long process.



Was that on the Lithgow facetube page mate?
I hope it's not true. Never get my Lithgow Creedmoor at this rate.


It was just on one of the Lithgow owners pages. Could be a joke!

I don't think Lithgow are handling it well at all. First they indicated rifles 223s would be returned in a two week time frame. But so far I don't think anybody has received their rifle back? Also they don't seem to be able make any of their product release dates and miss them by large margins.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Gwion » 30 Aug 2018, 7:33 pm

Start with a 223rem and then get a 308win or 7mm08rem.
As for what rifle brand... what ever feels best to you within your budget.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Oldbloke » 30 Aug 2018, 7:51 pm

Gwion wrote:Start with a 223rem and then get a 308win or 7mm08rem.
As for what rifle brand... what ever feels best to you within your budget.



Spot on.. I would go 223 then 308 and skip the 243, you won't need it
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Gwion » 30 Aug 2018, 8:38 pm

I'd go for the 7mm08 because that's ehat i did! :lol:

I just think the 7-08 is a bit more versitile. 100gn bullets up to 180gn if you really want, though 162gn is enough and a good balance of velocity and WHACK. Better windage and elevation ballistics if you want to play at longer range as well.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Oldbloke » 31 Aug 2018, 5:33 am

Yeh, G is right but 308 bullets are generally cheaper and a bit more variety. It's horses for courses.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Rod_outbak » 31 Aug 2018, 6:32 am

I'd agree with Oldbloke; the 7mm-08 might be a better 'fit' overall, but the .308 cant be beaten for the huge range (and availability) of projectiles.
And .308 isnt exactly a poor performer, either.

Plenty of times I've been in a gunshop, where they stock 5 or 6 varieties of factory .308 ammo, and usually 8-10 variants of .308 projectiles.
In the same shop, I'll be lucky to find one flavour of factory ammo for 7mm-08, and 1-2 variants of projectiles; if I'm lucky.

I love my 7mm-08; It's evolved into an absolute pearler of a rifle. I mostly use 120Gn Vmax pills in it, though a recent testing of the 100gn Speer HP's showed really good results. But I'm finding the latest .308 rifle shows me that I'd need to be wringing the most out of my 7mm-08 to appreciate the benefit of the 7mm pill(over the 7.62).
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by bladeracer » 31 Aug 2018, 3:19 pm

Rod_outbak wrote:I'd agree with Oldbloke; the 7mm-08 might be a better 'fit' overall, but the .308 cant be beaten for the huge range (and availability) of projectiles.
And .308 isnt exactly a poor performer, either.

Plenty of times I've been in a gunshop, where they stock 5 or 6 varieties of factory .308 ammo, and usually 8-10 variants of .308 projectiles.
In the same shop, I'll be lucky to find one flavour of factory ammo for 7mm-08, and 1-2 variants of projectiles; if I'm lucky.

I love my 7mm-08; It's evolved into an absolute pearler of a rifle. I mostly use 120Gn Vmax pills in it, though a recent testing of the 100gn Speer HP's showed really good results. But I'm finding the latest .308 rifle shows me that I'd need to be wringing the most out of my 7mm-08 to appreciate the benefit of the 7mm pill(over the 7.62).


I don't go to gun shops hoping they have the bullets I want on the shelf. I order the bullets I want, and well before I'm going to need them.
Last edited by bladeracer on 01 Sep 2018, 3:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by Rod_outbak » 01 Sep 2018, 6:02 am

[quote="bladeracer"][quote="Rod_outbak"]I'd agree with Oldbloke; the 7mm-08 might be a better 'fit' overall, but the .308 cant be beaten for the huge range (and availability) of projectiles.
And .308 isnt exactly a poor performer, either.

Plenty of times I've been in a gunshop, where they stock 5 or 6 varieties of factory .308 ammo, and usually 8-10 variants of .308 projectiles.
In the same shop, I'll be lucky to find one flavour of factory ammo for 7mm-08, and 1-2 variants of projectiles; if I'm lucky.

I love my 7mm-08; It's evolved into an absolute pearler of a rifle. I mostly use 120Gn Vmax pills in it, though a recent testing of the 100gn Speer HP's showed really good results. But I'm finding the latest .308 rifle shows me that I'd need to be wringing the most out of my 7mm-08 to appreciate the benefit of the 7mm pill(over the 7.62).[/quote]

I don't go to gun shops hoping that have the bullets I want on the shelf. I order the bullets I want, and well before I'm going to need them.[/quote]

I wish my world worked like that all the time, but it doesnt.
I do order a lot of my projectiles online in advance of what I think I'll need, but I also order a lot through my local businesses, to support them.
SOME times, my need for more projectiles/ammo is governed by whats going on outside, rather than what I've planned in advance.

However, I get back to why I'd reccommend one cartridge over another.
Performance is one factor, but commonality/availability is another, and 7mm is less common than .30 cal (in outback QLD at any rate..)
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Re: Lythgow .223 or .243

Post by bladeracer » 01 Sep 2018, 3:48 pm

Rod_outbak wrote:I wish my world worked like that all the time, but it doesn't.
I do order a lot of my projectiles online in advance of what I think I'll need, but I also order a lot through my local businesses, to support them.
SOME times, my need for more projectiles/ammo is governed by whats going on outside, rather than what I've planned in advance.

However, I get back to why I'd recommend one cartridge over another.
Performance is one factor, but commonality/availability is another, and 7mm is less common than .30 cal (in outback QLD at any rate..)


I absolutely agree that common availability is an important consideration when choosing a cartridge for the majority of shooters. I understand that people are different, and lots of shooters will finish off a box of bullets and go shoot them without considering taking one minute or less to order more of them (nowadays we can order bullets via smartphone while walking up to shoot the ones we just made), but that sort of thing would drive me crazy :-) For the sort of shooter than only realises he needs ammunition when he arrives at the shoot then yes, being able to buy ammo easily is important.

But nowadays with online ordering, it's fairly easy to get anything but the strangest brass and bullets, and within a few days, delivered to your door. It's usually cheaper and quicker than going into town to pick them up after ordering them via your dealer's distributor. I have ordered what I would not consider strange bullets (and die sets) via my dealer several times, waited for them, ordered more online, received them, and tested them before my dealer finally has them in hand. I like to support my dealer, but locking himself into those archaic distribution systems is not supporting his customers - it works both ways. Same thing with rimfire ammunition occasionally. I understand that dealers prefer to place large orders to save on shipping costs, and when I don't want to wait I'm happy to pay the cost of immediate shipment. When I find I'm down to one or two boxes after a loading session I immediately order more to refill the shelf. I keep at least a thousand bullets on hand for each caliber I load, and am always ordering new ones I've spotted for testing. Another problem that does occur is that when I've done my research to determine the bullet I want, the dealer has not and may be totally unfamiliar with a new or unusual bullet. He may not know that Hornady do three different 140gn bullets in that caliber, so he, or his distributor, just orders the first one he scrolls to in his list instead of selecting the SST version. This is not just a problem with components, it happens with magazines, scope mounts, scopes, and probably even with rifles. This does occasionally happen with online ordering as well though.

Because I love the milsurps, ammunition and component availability is irrelevant to me. If I absolutely had no option then I would turn up the required brass on the lathe myself, anneal it and shoot it. Similar with bullets, I'll turn them on the lathe if I want something special, otherwise I'll cast, size, and powdercoat them to fit what I want to shoot.

I'm waiting on some unusual brass from AV Ballistics, that he is making specially for me. That is taking some months, and costing some money, but 6.5x58mm is not available anywhere else in the world (although it is fairly easy to make from 8x57mm/.30-06 brass - without the correct head stamp). But when I have it, I'll have enough to ensure I never need go searching for more of it. My Type38 Arisaka Carbine is fairly shot out so I'm trying some cast larger-diameter bullets (powdercoated .267" jacketed bullets improved it marginally, the bore slugs at .270" although it is still rifled). So large that the neck of the case won't fit in the chamber when loaded conventionally. So I'm having to essentially make healed bullets, with a narrow base that fits the case, but a much wider bullet to fit the bore. If I can make it work I'll throw hundreds of them so I won't have to find any more in a hurry, at least not until I've found another rifle or barrel.
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Re: 223 vs 243 - Lithgow

Post by WookyMysta » 16 Oct 2019, 6:20 pm

Just drop the coin and buy all 3. and then another 5. No point in having an 8 gun safe with only 3 bang sticks. hehehe
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