7mm-08 or .243?

[Onpoint]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

25-06 is a great dual purpose caliber as well. 7-08 is just a flat out deer killer.

Before u get the 243 think of this. Some have had great luck with it. Some have experienced poor blood trails. Noone with the 708 had any complaint of blood trails. I really loved deer hunting with thar gun until those 2 experiences I mentioned earlier. 243 is a very good caliber. my point is this, if she can handle a 20 gauge, then she can shoot a 708, 2506, hell even a 270.

I truly believe the 2506 is the best dual purpose gun on the planet. I wouldn't rule it out.

If your really wanting a short action don't overlook 260.

I would take the 260, 25/06, 270, 7/08, 308, 6.5 Creedmore, 257 Roberts, and 257 Weatherby all over the 243. That is just the opinion of an ol kentucky hillbilly.

I Neary lost this buck the last time I shot a 243

[J-Shaped]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

[Onpoint]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

I had good luck with the 80 grain Barnes. Thing is, it wasn't as accurate in my gun as fusions and corelokts. The corelokts will shoot clovers at 100. The fusions are pretty dang close. I had moved and couldn't find my bullets any dang where. Had a stock pile of corelokts. So I used the fusions.. both shots I mentioned were with federal fusions.

I'm not saying it's not enough gun. I'm just saying that there are guns that pack alot more punch that still have very manageable recoil..

[Spitten and drummen]

any caliber gun has a potential for losing a animal. I have shot whitetails with a 300 win mag and core lokt bullets that killed the deer but left a poor trail even though dying withen eyesight. I have killed many a deer with a 243 and core lokt bullets. best blood trails , not at all. most I have shot with it was drt. the few that ran , I found pretty easily. then again im a bowhunter so I consider myself a pretty good tracker. well placed shot with a proper bullet is the biggest factor. I agree that the 25-06 is a great caliber but it lacks in bloodtrails also. own one and have killed a few with it , but it was no more impressive than a 243. most drt , but ones that ran left a poor blood trail.

[FL-Boss]

it's all about placement.  And yes that 25-06 was always bad news when I hunted with it  - didn't need to blood trail any of the deer I shot with that gun because they were all dead where they stood. 

[Onpoint]

270 with 130 grain bullets or 2506 woth 117's.

In my personal opinion the 270 Is just magical. i have seen deer fold up with thst caliber from bad shots.

when I was young I took one of my old girlfriends deer hunting for the first time. buck showed up and she couldn't get steady where she was so nervous. I let her lay the gun across my shoulder and just covered my ears. By this time the buck was close to 200 yards. She hit him in the back hip. Worst shot I've ever seen. Folded him up in his tracks.

I killed a 180" buck in 2003 at close to 300 yards with a 270. hit a little further back than I like to go. it was about 6 inches behind the shoulder and about 2/3rds the way up. The deer just tensed up and stood there a couple seconds. Tried to take a step with his left foot and  fell over.

I told somebody that story not too long ago, it may have even been on this thread. If I repeated myself, I apologize. I haven't got used to this heat yet and climbing and trimming trees in it is making me a little loopy. I could've drug today out and got a full days pay but I went balls to the wall and finished my 3 jobs I had to do and I'm now sitting in a restaurant that's nice and cool enjoying a an ice cold bud light and about to eat a rum glazed salmon salad with walnuts, dried cranberries, tomatoes, onions and sautéed mushrooms. 

I'm not hating on a 243. For a while I was very impressed with it. It just so happened to be the gun I had in my hands when one of them "how is that deer not dead" moments that came along. I didn't give it a fair shake and I have no reason to. I have the the perfect gun for "me"

The point I'm trying to make is that I've seen a few not so perfect shots with a 270 and the deer still fell in their tracks.

good luck with your choice

The Tikka t3 lite with a meopta scope is a pretty dang good combo

[davisd9]

Pick a good bullet and none of the concerns are really concerns. 

[davisd9]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

I had good luck with the 80 grain Barnes. Thing is, it wasn't as accurate in my gun as fusions and corelokts. The corelokts will shoot clovers at 100. The fusions are pretty dang close. I had moved and couldn't find my bullets any dang where. Had a stock pile of corelokts. So I used the fusions.. both shots I mentioned were with federal fusions.

I'm not saying it's not enough gun. I'm just saying that there are guns that pack alot more punch that still have very manageable recoil..

Rifle accuracy is like the 10" circle if you are not shooting 400+ yards.  The kill area of a mature deer is like the size of a pie plate, you do not need extra tight groupings to kill a deer.  Focus on a great bullet that has good accuracy and you will kill way more of what you shoot than using a good bullet with great accuracy.

[Onpoint]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

I had good luck with the 80 grain Barnes. Thing is, it wasn't as accurate in my gun as fusions and corelokts. The corelokts will shoot clovers at 100. The fusions are pretty dang close. I had moved and couldn't find my bullets any dang where. Had a stock pile of corelokts. So I used the fusions.. both shots I mentioned were with federal fusions.

I'm not saying it's not enough gun. I'm just saying that there are guns that pack alot more punch that still have very manageable recoil..

Rifle accuracy is like the 10" circle if you are not shooting 400+ yards.  The kill area of a mature deer is like the size of a pie plate, you do not need extra tight groupings to kill a deer.  Focus on a great bullet that has good accuracy and you will kill way more of what you shoot than using a good bullet with great accuracy.

Good point

in your opinion, what are the 3 best deer bullets out there

[houser52]

Pick a good bullet and none of the concerns are really concerns.

This ^^^^^^^^^

I have and used a 7-08 for 30 years. Even though I've never owned a 243 I always wanted one. Both are good when using the right bullet.

Saying all that, for the last 5-6 years I've used an AR15 in 6.8 SPC for deer, coyotes and ground hogs. Short, light , low recoil, quick follow up shots and good for most things if you use the right bullet. Very similar ballistics to the 243.

[davisd9]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

I had good luck with the 80 grain Barnes. Thing is, it wasn't as accurate in my gun as fusions and corelokts. The corelokts will shoot clovers at 100. The fusions are pretty dang close. I had moved and couldn't find my bullets any dang where. Had a stock pile of corelokts. So I used the fusions.. both shots I mentioned were with federal fusions.

I'm not saying it's not enough gun. I'm just saying that there are guns that pack alot more punch that still have very manageable recoil..

Rifle accuracy is like the 10" circle if you are not shooting 400+ yards.  The kill area of a mature deer is like the size of a pie plate, you do not need extra tight groupings to kill a deer.  Focus on a great bullet that has good accuracy and you will kill way more of what you shoot than using a good bullet with great accuracy.

Good point

in your opinion, what are the 3 best deer bullets out there

Barnes TTSX/TSX (overall best bullet IMO and can turn small guns into big guns), Sierr@  GameKings (Awesome bullet and the best lead core bullet out there, was designed for deer), Sierr@  ProHunter

All of these bullets will usually have great accuracy to go along with their performance. Also, I am guilty as the next guy of trying to get the tightest groupings I can.

Sent from the Strut Zone

[Onpoint]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

I had good luck with the 80 grain Barnes. Thing is, it wasn't as accurate in my gun as fusions and corelokts. The corelokts will shoot clovers at 100. The fusions are pretty dang close. I had moved and couldn't find my bullets any dang where. Had a stock pile of corelokts. So I used the fusions.. both shots I mentioned were with federal fusions.

I'm not saying it's not enough gun. I'm just saying that there are guns that pack alot more punch that still have very manageable recoil..

Rifle accuracy is like the 10" circle if you are not shooting 400+ yards.  The kill area of a mature deer is like the size of a pie plate, you do not need extra tight groupings to kill a deer.  Focus on a great bullet that has good accuracy and you will kill way more of what you shoot than using a good bullet with great accuracy.

Good point

in your opinion, what are the 3 best deer bullets out there

Barnes TTSX/TSX (overall best bullet IMO and can turn small guns into big guns), Sierr@  GameKings (Awesome bullet and the best lead core bullet out there, was designed for deer), Sierr@  ProHunter

All of these bullets will usually have great accuracy to go along with their performance. Also, I am guilty as the next guy of trying to get the tightest groupings I can.

Sent from the Strut Zone

I shoot the 130 grain game kings out of my 270. well I did anyhow. I can't seem to find any more of the federal loaded game kings around me any more

[davisd9]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

I had good luck with the 80 grain Barnes. Thing is, it wasn't as accurate in my gun as fusions and corelokts. The corelokts will shoot clovers at 100. The fusions are pretty dang close. I had moved and couldn't find my bullets any dang where. Had a stock pile of corelokts. So I used the fusions.. both shots I mentioned were with federal fusions.

I'm not saying it's not enough gun. I'm just saying that there are guns that pack alot more punch that still have very manageable recoil..

Rifle accuracy is like the 10" circle if you are not shooting 400+ yards.  The kill area of a mature deer is like the size of a pie plate, you do not need extra tight groupings to kill a deer.  Focus on a great bullet that has good accuracy and you will kill way more of what you shoot than using a good bullet with great accuracy.

Good point

in your opinion, what are the 3 best deer bullets out there

Barnes TTSX/TSX (overall best bullet IMO and can turn small guns into big guns), Sierr@  GameKings (Awesome bullet and the best lead core bullet out there, was designed for deer), Sierr@  ProHunter

All of these bullets will usually have great accuracy to go along with their performance. Also, I am guilty as the next guy of trying to get the tightest groupings I can.

Sent from the Strut Zone

I shoot the 130 grain game kings out of my 270. well I did anyhow. I can't seem to find any more of the federal loaded game kings around me any more

The federals are a good load. I load my own. I am now shooting Barnes TTSX 130s on my 270 win and 80 gr in my 243 win.

I have some 130 grain GameKings that I need to load. My father in law still shoots them and thy are a bad bullet!

I tired the 110 grain barnes in my 270 and they did well but the 270 was made to shoot a 130 grain bullet so I had to go back, haha.

Sent from the Strut Zone

[Bowguy]

Leaning towards the .243. Figure I can use it for a coyote calling gun when it's not in my daughter's hands. 

You won't be sorry. The notion that the .243 is not enough gun for whitetails is comical. Use a well constructed bullet and shoot them in the vitals (same goes for the larger calibers mentioned) and you won't have any problems.

Bullets matter way more than than what's stamped on the opposite end of the case and people seem to be lost on that concept. Look at what HTL shot has done for the smaller gauge shotguns and turkey hunting. Put something like an 80 gr Barnes TTSX in the .243 and it will amaze you. Similar concept.

This is right on. I load 100 grain gamekings, accurate arms powder, in my daughters 243 n it may be one of the most accurate guns I own. It's devastating on deer too.,knocking no one but I wonder how many stories are just things guys read, or simply a result of a poorly placed shot n the unwillingness to admit it. 

[reynolds243]

all I've ever shot is a 7mm08 and you can't go wrong with it. I've been in camp and trailed way to many deer with a 243. i still shoot a 7mm08 and will continue too. If you can make the shot theres a good deal most of your deer will be right there or within 50 or 60 yards.  I've killed my share and id say over 75% have laid in their tracks. you will get those that say a 7mm08 is a kids gun but i mean with a 7mm bullet and a 308 casing whats kids about that. plus the recoil with the winchester power point 140 grain i shoot is hardly any.

Same here. I dont think 243 is enough gun for deer. I know there will be some disagreement but unless your shot is perfect your going to be out in the dark with flashlights. 7MM-08 great deer round.

Hahahahah come on man do some research. I've killed over 165 deer with a 243 and only had 1 take a step. 243 is more then enough fun for a 180lb animal and you don't need to be a sniper to shoot one.


Joshua 24:15
"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."


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