Rifles

When Winchester introduced the .243 Winchester in 1955, the company made a winning decision to market it primarily as a deer and antelope caliber. Model 70 barrels chambered for .243 had a 1-in-10-inch twist to properly stabilize the 100-grain bullets that Winchester had designed for deer-size game and loaded in its factory ammo.

Remington introduced its .244 (now the 6mm Remington) the same year. The .244 had a slightly larger powder capacity, which translated into slightly higher muzzle velocity than the .243. Remington saw its new caliber primarily as a varmint caliber, so the company used a slower, 1-in-12-inch twist. This worked fine with the 70- to 90-grain bullets featured in Remington factory ammo but did not properly stabilize 100-grain and heavier bullets that were considered suitable for larger game.

As it turned out, hunters agreed with Winchester's concept, and the .243 became a popular caliber even though the .244 was its ballistic superior on paper. The .244 was eventually reincarnated as the 6mm Remington in rifles with 1-in-10 twist barrels. But the damage was done, and the 6mm never achieved the .243's popularity. Today, only a handful of manufacturers chamber rifles in 6mm Remington.

Because the .243's success is based on its usefulness on deer and antelope, it's easy to overlook the fact that it is also an excellent, wind-bucking varmint-getter.

Now, the term "varmint" covers a lot of ground--from pocket gophers to coyotes--but the .243 has the versatility to do it all. With 80- and 85-grain factory loads, the .243 is somewhat faster than a .223 Remington with a 55-grain bullet. Of course, the 85-grain .243 bullet has a higher sectional density than the 55-grain .223 bullet, so the bigger bullet has about the same velocity at 300 yards as the .223 has at 200.

But where the .243 begins to shine as a varminter is with ultralightweight bullets that have become available in the past few years. Two manufacturers, Nosler and Sierra, now offer .243-caliber polymer-tipped 55-grain bullets. And Hornady has a similar 58-grain projectile.

Several manuals now list loads for the .243 that nudge past 4,000 fps with these bullets. Oddly, published ballistic coefficients for the 55-grain .243 bullets are roughly the same as for almost all 55-grain .224 bullets, so the .243 shooting a 55-grain bullet at 4,000 fps shoots a trifle flatter than either the .22-250 or the .220 Swift. Although the .243 burns a good bit more powder than any .224 short of the .220 Swift, it is still a pleasant-to-shoot, low-recoil proposition. That, of course, is a subjective judgment. I recently read an article by an avid benchrest competitor who found that 20 rounds fired from a bench rest in a sporter-weight .243 was "punishing." Those who agree with him should probably take up needlepoint and give up shooting.

I used a Savage M116FLSS left-handed bolt action to test handloads. The 22-inch barrel and receiver are stainless steel fitted into a composite graphite/fiberglass stock. My scope was a Burris Signature 2.5-10X.

I wired the Savage for the Oehler Model 43 Personal Ballistic Laboratory via a strain gauge bonded to the barrel over the chamber. The Model 43 allows you to simultaneously obtain muzzle velocity and chamber pressure along with other interior ballistic and pressure data as well as exterior data including time of flight, velocity at the target, ballistic coefficient and standard deviation on all values.