Best All Rounder Caliber for Pest Hunting?

[GQshayne]

I love the .243, so no surprises I think it is a good choice. No issues with big pigs either in my experience.

Seeing as your focus at this point is on having one rifle, as bladeracer mentions, reloading opens up your options. It is not difficult as you suggest, so as long as you approach it as a precision exercise you will have no problems. It will also allow you to have two loads that with some experimenting, you can use in the one rifle without changing you scope point of aim. I have a 70gn load, and also a 90gn load that do a good job at this in my rifle. It is sighted in spot on with the 70's for small targets, and I know that for a large target like a pig I can put a 90 Speer in it and not have to worry about any differences.

As mentioned, a .243 on a small target will make a mess of it, but for pest control purposes the result will be the same.

[straightshooter]

TheFirearmEnthusiast
Considering your stated parameters I would suggest that a 223 might be a better fit to your OVERALL requirements.
As you don't plan to reload then cost and availability of ammunition is an important factor.
In the dark mists of time the original Australian "all round rifle" was a 303/25.
As we are great imbibers of hype (particularly American hype) from the late 60's we accepted the 243 as the new "all round rifle" and let's face it, it is a very useful caliber but I get the feeling it is now becoming a little unloved judging by the bargain prices asked for used versions.

[Col]

Ditto to what GQshayne says.

I have been shooting one for over 30 years now as it was my first centrefire rifle. I have since bought a 223 and 308 and shoot all of the listed vermin. It is still the rifle I always reach for or carry in the ute.
I have 2 pet loads, an 80gn SPBT (sierra) and a 95gn SST (Hornady) and these 2 will do the job on anything from rabbits (pretty obvious) to pigs or deer. Shot placement is key for the deer, pigs I am not so fussy on as long as you get 1 into the boiler room then you can finish them off later.
The 223 can be a blown about a bit in a breeze and shot placement on roos is paramount and the 308 on roos is devastating but the buggers dont realise they are dead and can hop about a bit.

The 243 is a "forgiving" calibre in that it shoots flat, hits hard and is good to reload. I have Winchester brass that is currently on it's 13th reload, although these are light loads and mainly neck resized. So I recommend buy a good quality rifle and scope and spend the next X+ years having a ball.

Col

[sungazer]

I think the second hand market for 243's is soft because like many of the fast heavy weight for calibre offerings it is hard on barrel life. This unknown of barrel life is a big consideration in determining value. I and I think a lot of people would nearly factor in a replacement barrel into the cost of the rifle. The same could be said for the second hand market with a lot of Howas why would you buy second hand when you could buy new for nearly the same price or less. In general the second hand market for guns is way overpriced in reality. There are many guns you could buy cheaper new than the advertised prices that people want just because they paid too much at the wrong store or wrong time. Then there are custom builds again in a lot of cases the rifle could be built for less than what is being asked. but it is the sellers prerogative to ask what they consider a fair price and what they think they will get for the rifle.

[Am88]

Everyone's pretty much covered it, but I'll throw in 2 bobs haha, personally I think .223, I have a .22mag, .222 .25-06 .30-30 .308 blah blah blah. the calibre used most of the time to take anything from rabbits to pigs, my .22 or .222, it's what I have with me the most. Biggest boar I got with the .22 was roughly 80-90kg's I spose. 40gr round nose through the ear hole at 20m, its all I had with me. Second would be the .222, have had no dramas with anything from the littlest to Chital Deer, it fact the .222 is my chital calibre, head or base of neck. Have had to take a couple with broadside chest shots and they have dropped on the spot or within 10-20m. But... I reload my .222 and can choose the bullet I use.

[Oldbloke]

Minimum calibres for deer in Vic.

Minimim Deer calibres.jpg (369.89 KiB) Viewed 4967 times

[Stix]

Strsightdhooter & sungazer...just to follow on from your line there...
I think the drop off is slso due to the 6.5 craze...
Now that 6.5cm brass is cheap...lots of people are also hunting with them as well as target stuff...
And you're right about the used market sungazer...its a bit like resl estate i rekon...over inflated prices for sure...!!!
I wouldn't risk buying a used 243 with unknown barrel condition given the cost of a variety of new ones...

[sungazer]

I agree Stix the 6.5 market has gone through the roof and I can understand why. It has to be at the expense to some degree of the other caibres both bigger and smaller. Really I thin that DEWLP could ease the restriction on Sambar to 6.5 these days. There is so little difference between a 270 and the big 3 6.5's It is probably wiser though to err on the side of caution. There are sadly a lot of unskilled hunters and shooters. It could be taken up to 30 cal really to be on the safe side a lot of hunters using the old 8mm or larger.

Its not really the fault of the shooters they really dont have a lot of opportunity to get time behind a gun. With more urban shooters rather than country the demands of family life and the lack of ranges.

[Potatoes]

I chose .223 for my all rounder. I chose it for small to medium game and given that it was used as the basis of round for killing viet cong its enough for modest pigs and goats. Im loading 55gr and 70gr options. I considered 243win and decided against for several reasons;

I wanted cheaper ammo and components so i could get my round count up. 13.5c per round of superoo is good value.
The 243 is a bit louder
243 barrel life was a concern

I do like how the 243 has a better selection of good game projectiles though, but for my next im going 30 cal. I guess you could always make up a batch premium rounds for the 223 as well, like barnes or something but i havent tried them. I’m glad i went 223 in the end.

[bigrich]

Hey potatoes, you can get a 60 grain Nosler Partition for the 223, whilst not cheap, these premium projectiles would lift the penetration potential of the 223 on medium game . Just a thought

[straightshooter]

Once you have witnessed the effectiveness of ADI 62 grain (SS109) projectiles on game you won't bother with anything else.

[SCJ429]

I chose .223 for my all rounder. I chose it for small to medium game and given that it was used as the basis of round for killing viet cong its enough for modest pigs and goats. Im loading 55gr and 70gr options. I considered 243win and decided against for several reasons;

The US Infantry soldier was firing 10,000 rounds for every enemy hit it Vietnam. If they carried more ammo they could hit more things according to the spray and pray techniques they employed. That is why they wanted to use the 223, not because it was more effective than the 308.

[Oldbloke]

223 if just one.

[sungazer]

The SS109 with take your sub MOA gun and turn it into a 2MOA gun. I have 2000 of the these and have done a heap of testing with them. I could shrink the groups but to about 1moa but it required seating longer than magazine length. So I thought it better to have 2 223 one a pure magazine SAMI type setup and another that could shoot heavier longer bullets and perhaps still be magazine feed just from a different type of mag.

[SCJ429]

Once you have witnessed the effectiveness of ADI 62 grain (SS109) projectiles on game you won't bother with anything else.

What is the SS109 most effective at shooting?

Have you found them more destructive on a fox than a 50 grain Vmax or TNT?

[sungazer]

They are most effective at shooting thin mild steel. I haven't tried them on animals they dont meet the accuracy requirements for head shooting Kangaroos.

[Potatoes]

The US Infantry soldier was firing 10,000 rounds for every enemy hit it Vietnam. If they carried more ammo they could hit more things according to the spray and pray techniques they employed. That is why they wanted to use the 223, not because it was more effective than the 308.

I agree it isn’t more effective than a 308 but we are talking about why i chose 223 as an all rounder here. For my reason why I didn’t go 308 see points 1 and 2 of my initial comment ie noise and cost.

[SCJ429]

I agree it isn’t more effective than a 308 but we are talking about why i chose 223 as an all rounder here. For my reason why I didn’t go 308 see points 1 and 2 of my initial comment ie noise and cost.

I agree that the 223 is cheap to shoot and a great practice platform. It is also a good hunting caliber at closer ranges and with excellent shot placement. The 243 is loud especially with shorter barrels but you probably won't see a deteriation of hunting accuracy until about 2500 to 3000 rounds. Many hunters wouldn't shoot that in a lifetime.

I do think that the 243 is more capable and more flexible but most people will end up with a 223 at some point.. Why not start out with one.

[bladeracer]

I chose .223 for my all rounder. I chose it for small to medium game and given that it was used as the basis of round for killing viet cong its enough for modest pigs and goats. Im loading 55gr and 70gr options. I considered 243win and decided against for several reasons;

I wanted cheaper ammo and components so i could get my round count up. 13.5c per round of superoo is good value.
The 243 is a bit louder
243 barrel life was a concern

I do like how the 243 has a better selection of good game projectiles though, but for my next im going 30 cal. I guess you could always make up a batch premium rounds for the 223 as well, like barnes or something but i havent tried them. I’m glad i went 223 in the end.

I think the vast majority of enemy combatants are killed by artillary, aircraft, explosive ordnance, and machineguns, 5.56x45mm probably contributed a small percentage of the total, and most would've died from injuries rather than the bullet, militaries have little interest in clean ethical one-shot kills that hunters require. The VC in particular would've died from wounds that GI's regularly survived due to immediate evacuation to excellent surgery facilities.

[Ferrisweil]

Maybe the question that needs to be asked to the OP is “how often are you likely to see pigs?”.
If you take pigs out of your list, then a 223 is probably the go.
Does the OP know for a fact you’ll be getting all these ferals, or is it more of a wish list?
These questions might make the decision a bit easier?

[bigrich]

Maybe the question that needs to be asked to the OP is “how often are you likely to see pigs?”.
If you take pigs out of your list, then a 223 is probably the go.
Does the OP know for a fact you’ll be getting all these ferals, or is it more of a wish list?
These questions might make the decision a bit easier?

a very sound and logical statement

[SCJ429]

They are most effective at shooting thin mild steel. I haven't tried them on animals they dont meet the accuracy requirements for head shooting Kangaroos.

I have never used them but ex mil bullets are usually very hard and do not expand well. Perhaps these are differant. They would be hard pressed to shoot better and have a better terminal performance at the Speer TNT price point.

[Member-Deleted]

Yes good point Ferrisweil I have a bloke near me just bought several rifles one for every job he says and hoping to break into shooting ferals for the farmers his first problem is access to farms then the second is he's had a tin on a post out at 175 yds for 5mths and yet to put a hole in it his excuses wrong ammo, I moved ,too windy, dirty barrel so Ferrisweil you're close to the money what is the caliber we really need for what we can actually shoot we've all walked up on larger animals than we are catering for so get closer and shoot accurately it doesn't take much to bring an animal down if shot in the right place so buy what you fancy use it to your best ability and all should be good

[Blr243]

My 243 does all those tasks. With care I have taken red deer and Himalayan thar too. Can’t bring myself to shoot hares and rabbits I never see them in problem numbers ,,, just sitting there minding their own business so I leave them alone and carry on looking for something more stimulating

[bladeracer]

My 243 does all those tasks. With care I have taken red deer and Himalayan thar too. Can’t bring myself to shoot hares and rabbits I never see them in problem numbers ,,, just sitting there minding their own business so I leave them alone and carry on looking for something more stimulating

I was at a property yesterday where we're having hay cut and baled, the owners don't live on-site and we buy their hay so it's easier for us to organize it. There were two hares in the paddock. I like hares, they seem almost regal compared to rabbits. I have shot and eaten them in the past but I prefer to leave them alone.

[Ferrisweil]

I’m lucky that I have access to a dozen different properties ranging from 50acres to 100,000acres. We can choose from hares all the way through to deer, so my “golf bag” needs more than 1 club. Hahaha
Having said that, if one rifle would do it all, it would prolly be a 243 with different loads, hence my original suggestion as the “all-rounder”, but I guess horses for courses here and it all depends on an individuals “options” are as far as quarry and locations.

[straightshooter]

They are most effective at shooting thin mild steel. I haven't tried them on animals they dont meet the accuracy requirements for head shooting Kangaroos.

Who said anything about head shooting?
Accuracy is comparable to any average non competition grade projectile most of which struggle to achieve true sub MOA standards with rigorous testing rather than in a fortuitous 3 shot group.
If a rifle 'likes' some projectiles and doesn't 'like' others then what does that tell you about where the problem may lay.
In my case I have a 'tight' custom 20" 1 in 9 barrel with a dimensionally appropriate ball seat and probably won't experience those kind of issues until round count reaches perhaps 5000 to 10000.
Try reading through this older thread to get a handle on effectiveness on medium game of what might be called usual and appropriate bullet placement.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8317

[SCJ429]

That is great Straightshooter, you are saying that they are inaccurate and pencil through game and if you have a match grade barrel on your 223 you can get them to shoot acceptably. I do find this amazing. What sort of hunting have you done with this projectile and what was the results?

If you cannot get some Speer TNT to shoot 1/2 MOA is a good factory barrel after some basic load development, then you aren't trying. On top of this they perform extremely well on foxes and the like.

[sungazer]

The SS109 bullets have a steel pin placed in the core of the lead. That steel pin in not always in the same position it may be off centre so the bullets have more wobble as they spin. The weight distribution is not always symmetrical

All the other non match grade bullets that you are referring to have solid lead cores this is much more consistent in weight and weight distribution within the bullet.

I bought them too test as there was a lot of talk about them some years back and they were cheap so I thought ok also a good plinking round. But I dont really think they are a good plinking round unless you are talking about cars and 44 gal drums which is still fun with a good group of friends.