.243 calibre for target shooting

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.243 calibre for target shooting

Post by batter » 26 Mar 2014, 8:10 am

G'day,

I'm looking at some target rifles and see for heaps of them the same calibres come up over and over.

.223 and .308 obviously, 6.5 Creedmoor has a bit of a cult following it looks like, and 300 win mag.

More than anything else .223 and .308.

No love for the .243 though?

On paper seems the .243 seems like a good balance of heavier than the .223 and faster than the .308.

I always sort of had it begged as a long range varmint cartridge. Why not a target cartridge?
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Re: .243 calibre for target shooting

Post by Chronos » 26 Mar 2014, 8:40 am

Depends where you look, there are a few .243 and .243AI rifles getting around.

One reason the .243 may be less popular is the shorter barrel life compared with say .308 and .243

.260 and its AI cousin are gaining popularity as are the BR cartridges like 6BR, 6Dasher etc

I'm sure with the right twist rate for the heavier 6mm bullets the .243 would be a good choice out to 1000y

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Re: .243 calibre for target shooting

Post by Apollo » 26 Mar 2014, 9:30 am

The .243W is a quite adequate and competitive target cartridge but as Chronos has pointed out it has a shorter barrel / accuracy life than some other 6mm calibres.

However, it is a very accurate dual purpose calibre for Hunting/Varminting and Target.

Have a read here .... http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/243win/

I have always had a soft spot for the .243W and with a suitable target bullet it is very accurate.
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Re: .243 calibre for target shooting

Post by Warrigul » 26 Mar 2014, 3:09 pm

I have a T3 in .243 and it is a fine cartridge, there was a Musgrave in .243 kicking around a few years ago and he was only getting just on 1000 rounds out of a barrel before rechambering or barrel changing, but it was a fine rifle in good hands. I shot it and it was far better than I was able to use.

When you consider that on average most people on the range would do 2 mounds a week that is say 24 cartridges which is less than a year of barrel life versus two years for a .308.

Some people get substantially more than this if loaded sensibly of course. But in the life of a hunter 1500 rounds is a lot of shooting.
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Re: .243 calibre for target shooting

Post by Hercl » 27 Mar 2014, 12:00 pm

A life time for some.

If you're only taking a shot if/when a deer walks by you might only put out a few a year.
What is this "too many rifles" you speak of?
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Re: .243 calibre for target shooting

Post by batter » 27 Mar 2014, 12:03 pm

Well barrel life makes sense.

Thanks to all.

I'm thinking about one in a varmint setup as a dual target / long range rifle.

Will read up :)
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Re: .243 calibre for target shooting

Post by Chronos » 27 Mar 2014, 12:08 pm

Hercl wrote:A life time for some.

If you're only taking a shot if/when a deer walks by you might only put out a few a year.


True but the op is asking about a target caliber, so if you figured an f open match every two weeks that's around 600 rounds a year plus load development and practice a .243 could be beyond 1 moa shooting in two years. Factor in the price of a rebarrel at say $800 it could make a $1200 rifle in .243 a fair bit more expensive to shoot than the same rifle in .260, 7-08 or .308 which should have significantly longer barrel life

Not trying to put the op off the .243 just something that should be considered

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Re: .243 calibre for target shooting

Post by Apollo » 27 Mar 2014, 1:22 pm

$800 for a new barrel is cheap, My last one cost over $900 delivered.

There is just something about a .243W that makes it all worth the expected barrel life and a lot milder than the bigger calibres.
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