.243 Winchester.

[driepootx]

I now have 2 rifles in 6mm. My old 243 Musgrave RSA single shot (now AI) and a new Ruger RPR that I won in a lucky draw on Jaracal forum. The Musgrave gave acceptable groupings of about 25mm, but improved after the Ackley conversion. Even the old 243 ammo gave better groups whilst being fireformed. The RPR seems to like 100gr bullets and both Hornady and PPU were under 1/2 inch whilst still using calculated charges to get to nodes. I also saw a good grouping with 55gr Noslers.

I have used copper bullets for most of my hunting with the Musgrave and they have given very good results. Not one beast lost due to wounding. From springbuck to kudu have been hunted with it. The majority of animals have however been springbuck up to impala and blesbuck. It boxes far above the small bullets that are used in it. Ammo and components are varied and easily obtainable. The hypes about the newer 6mm's dont make them so much better that they completely overshadow the 243W.

[Big John2]

I use PMP brass, bought 200 about 25 years ago, they have all been recycled 6 to 8 times without a single problem. bullets used Hornady 100g PMP 100g and Barns X 85g. no donuts no splits and I have never needed to trim them. Nothing wrong with PMP.

[Toxxyc]

I think the hype on modern calibers is very valid, but also very overrated. For the average shooter, be he a hunter or a ~500m gong shooter, there will be absolutely no practical difference between an old caliber like a .308 Win or .243 Win, or a new caliber like a 6.5 CM. Most of us, be he hunter or shooter, will never shoot in the ranges that the modern calibers are designed to excel in, and I think the sooner people realise that, the better. Honestly. I would much rather spend R15k on a half-decent scope for my old CZ .243 than spend that money on a new rifle in 6.5 CM with a R3k scope if I wanted a ~500m rifle that'll do hunting and shooting equally well.

[Koekie Monster]

1:10 twist should probably stabilize the 100gr, but he was going for Spitzer Boat Tails and they were probably just too long.

Thank you! I am also reading with interest

[SBB]

I used one more in my teens and early 20's than these days but hunted a lot more than the average Joe with it. I think they are better suited to 100grn bullets than the lighter stuff and punch well above their weight when used in this context. With body shots on larger animals entry wound and exit wound is generally small so blood trail will never be great. Stay away from PMP brass in this caliber and you should have no issues wrt reloading.

[Gert Odendaal]

I own a CZ 243 which I bought new 9 years ago. I don't reload. I used up a lot of money trying to find the right factory ammunition for the rifle. It just wouldn't group better than 2.5" at 100m. Eventually after checking everything on the rifle without finding any definitive fault, the gunsmith that I bought it from - to his credit - decided to made me a new barrel. Again, I spent a lot of time and money going through various brands and bullet weights until final I found that Hornady Custom 100gr SST would give me a 1" grouping at 100m. I bought about 5 boxes of that ammo and when I eventually ran out, I could not find that ammo on the shelves. Leading up to a hunt I again tried a few new brands and bullet weights that I had not previously tried but could not get a satisfactory grouping. In desperation, the week before my hunt, I bought 2 more boxes of ammo that I had not previously tried and prayed that one of them would group. But I had already decided that I would rather hunt with my bow as I was not confident with the .243. I took the .243 with anyway so that I could shoot at the range on my friend's farm. As expected the last 2 boxes of ammo did not group either. My friend, who also owns a .243, and who also had some problems finding the right combo for his rifle, suggested we try his handloads. Over the years I had given my friend all my Hornady cases as a gift and he had stored but never used them. We cleaned a few cases and replicated the rest of the load he currently uses. At the range we found that I could get a 1" grouping at 100m. We loaded 40 cartridges and so I had some hunting ammo for the next season.

I have shot +-50 animals with my .243 and have not wounded any. However:

1. Based on my experience and on the first-hand accounts I have heard from numerous other people I agree with the statement that the .243 is a finicky/temperamental calibre compared to many others.
2. If you have a temperamental .243, and you don't reload, you will be forced to shoot whatever factory ammo your gun likes. This is problematic because i) it could be the most expensive brand ii) it might be that your gun likes a bullet weight that is not ideal i.t.o. the application you had in mind iii) you will have to use the bullet type that your gun likes, whether you like it or not. In my case I was initially forced to use the Hornady SST's and I am now forced to use Sierra GameKings whereas I would have preferred to use a more strongly constructed bullet.
3. If I had to do the whole exercise over I would have bought a 6.5x55 Swede

Dimitri, I like the way you are thinking..yes, I read up a lot the past few weeks about the 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser and decided it is the best caliber for light recoil, shooting a very long /heavy for caliber bullet...it gives you great penetration, with light loads ..I think we are talking 38 gn to 40 gn a load..on a 140 gn bullet...not a barrel burner, 130 years old, designed by two of the most innovative armies of the world, is used in machine guns as well and other Scandinavian/European countries..which use to reload this caliber hot ...I already bought all the components to build my 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser.. will use it on springbok, impala , blesbok , ribbok ..and target practice...

Will use only Lapua brass, and Barnes TTSX bullets..

[Andrew Leigh]

You mean the 6.5 x 55mm Death Laser don't you .

[TStone]

Dimitri, I like the way you are thinking..yes, I read up a lot the past few weeks about the 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser and decided it is the best caliber for light recoil, shooting a very long /heavy for caliber bullet...it gives you great penetration, with light loads ..I think we are talking 38 gn to 40 gn a load..on a 140 gn bullet...not a barrel burner, 130 years old, designed by two of the most innovative armies of the world, is used in machine guns as well and other Scandinavian/European countries..which use to reload this caliber hot ...I already bought all the components to build my 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser.. will use it on springbok, impala , blesbok , ribbok ..and target practice...

Will use only Lapua brass, and Barnes TTSX bullets..

I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert as far as the 6.5x55 Swede is concerned, I hunted more than 1100 animals, ranging from steenbok to eland, with it in less than 4 years. Yes it is a good cartridge for small to medium sized antelope. It shoots a long for caliber bullet only if you load it with 160gr bullets. Penetration is, just like other calibers, dependent on bullet construction more than anything else.

However, the question I asked was about a cartridge that can deal effectively with the smaller antelope (up to blesbuck) AS WELL as serve as an effective varmint rifle. In my experience the Swede is not effective in this role. I do own a 6.5mm and several larger calibers, none of them are really suited to the role stated in the OP.

[Messor]

The problem with newfangled things is they are designed for a purpose, sometimes the design aids people in other puposes as well, sometimes it does not.

In factory rifles take the 243win in Howa, 1 in 10 twist, right?
Many of new buyers try 100gr ish bullets because that is what "target shooters" shoot, sold to them by the gunshops, and they cannot stabilize it properly. They then proceed to shoot out 20% of the barrel in hopeful load developments, and when that fails they fall back on a smaller weight bullet, now it's just a varminter again. You cannot even fully stabilize a hunting bullet like a 80gr Barnes TTSX, only marginally.

Take the exact caliber in a newfangled cartridge, the 6mm creed, comes in a 1 in 7.5 twist.
Suddenly you can varmint as much as you like.
AND, suddenly you can load any modern hunting bullet, if cup and core is your flavor you can load 103gr Hornady ELD-X bullets, or if like T-stone you shoot peregrine you can load 91gr VLR monolithics. And you guys know a 91gr monolithic is overkill for the antelope mentioned, a kudu won't know the difference either. Suddenly you don't need the 6.5creed, at all for that matter.

[Gert Odendaal]

You mean the 6.5 x 55mm Death Laser don't you .

Andrew, you are just brilliant, I can see you know your calibers, it is a great description ..will name my 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser "Death Ray"..man, you really know what you are talking about...

TStone, would you look at the 6.5 X 55 Swedish Mauser for medium to small game in the plain areas you are hunting around the Free state regions?? Will it be a relevant caliber to use in "voorsit jag" ??