.243 Winchester

About .243 Winchester

.243 Winchester is the classic dual-purpose cartridge: light bullets make it a flat-shooting varmint round, heavier ones make it entirely adequate for deer and antelope. It is a necked-down .308 case, so it fits a short action and shares that cartridge's excellent availability.

Its real distinction is recoil, or the lack of it. .243 is one of the most common first centrefire rifles for young or recoil-sensitive hunters for exactly that reason, and a shooter who is not flinching places shots better than one who is. Check twist rate against bullet weight — older 1:10 barrels stabilise light varmint bullets and can struggle with the heavier deer loads.