.243 manufacturers, any recommendations?

[noharleyyet]

...have a boat load of magnums and one non mag that I love to operate but two long gone jolters are a mule kicking 300 Wby Fibermark and a Kimber Montana 7-08. Keeping that little Montana feather still and knowing what was coming when the trigger broke never did settle in.

 

[VikingsGuy]

You misunderstood my intentions. I'm dead serious about the "little girl" statement. It was merely a comparison for the OP. I suggested the 7mm-08 earlier and saw the light round comments. I still have a box of the hornady lites in my safe.

Fair enough - thought it was "back-handed" shot - sorry for my misread.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Fair enough - thought it was "back-handed" shot - sorry for my misread.

No sweat!

 

[mummel]

I couldn't agree with this more. Buy something with a threaded muzzle and add a quality muzzle brake that is self timing like the area 419 brake or APA little bastard brake. A muzzle brake is an absolute must in my opinion especially if you are worried about recoil. My first choice would be a tikka t3 in 6.5 creed since ammo has dropped to below .308 prices now.

How often do ammo prices fluctuate? Are they high now or pretty stable. I have no historical pricing info.

Also, what calibers are the 3 cheapest out there, other than the .22 and .223?

 

[nimrod_gn]

Browning X Bolt or Tikka

 

[Deleted member 38069]

How often do ammo prices fluctuate? Are they high now or pretty stable. I have no historical pricing info.

Also, what calibers are the 3 cheapest out there, other than the .22 and .223?

From what I've seen, you're most common rounds can be inexpensive.

 

[tzone]

All of the rifles you’re looking at are available in .270 and 30-06. But they have a noticeable recoil difference. I wouldn’t say theyre bad by any means. But you’ll notice.

I sure wouldn’t feel hamstrung with a .243.

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

Tikka t3x lite in 7mm08 is the standard rifle for a lot of aussies and kiwis.

Both countries are free from the notion of supporting your own brands i.e. americans favouring american makers, Europeans favouring euro makers.

The 7mm08 which is really just a modern copy of the 7x57 from the late 1800s is a great cal that even kids can comfortably shoot. Performs better than a 243 for very little noticeable increase in felt recoil. take from that what you will.

 

[VikingsGuy]

How often do ammo prices fluctuate? Are they high now or pretty stable. I have no historical pricing info.

Also, what calibers are the 3 cheapest out there, other than the .22 and .223?

Doesn't answer your fluctuation question, but a great resource for finding particular (and possibly uncommon) ammo and confirming best pricing is www.ammoseek.com

 

[Tikka06]

I have an older model 7 ss in 7-08 and a tikka superlite in 06. I recommend them both. Either in 243 would be a peach of a rifle. The Remington mountain rifle in 243 would be great also if they make that cal. For what it’s worth, I feel like the tikka will likely shoot better out of the box than the other 2. Maybe, maybe not, but my money would go that way if I had to bet.

 

[lr123]

How often do ammo prices fluctuate? Are they high now or pretty stable. I have no historical pricing info.

Also, what calibers are the 3 cheapest out there, other than the .22 and .223?

Ammo prices generally don't fluctuate that much but my go to .308 round is federal gold medal match for practice which is $1/round. Hornady has 6.5 creed for around .75/round.

 

[SticksMcKinley]

Based on your list, I'd go with the Tikka every time. I believe it's certainly worth twice the price of a Ruger American and reiterate that I would avoid the American line if at all possible - along with other rifles in its price range. I simply don't think you'll regret buying a Tikka and can't say the same for the Ruger, Savage, Mossberg, etc. You could spend more on a Browning Hell's Canyon and possibly be happy with it, but I don't know that it would shoot any better and I personally find them unattractive.

Regarding cartridges, I would consider something a little more than the .243 if you can. I bought a couple boxes of that Hornady Custom Lite load in .308 Win for my son to use on his first deer hunt (he was 9 yrs old) and now it's the same load I use for whitetail hunting in TN. It shoots great and in my opinion is worth buying - although it's not cheap. I've tried that same Hornady offering in a 7mm-08, although I've not hunted with it. The Custom Lite is simply an accurate, low recoil load and I've killed 4-5 deer with it at ranges under 100 yds with excellent results. There's a Custom Lite load for the .30-'06, but I don't have any experience with it.

I would seriously consider the 6.5 Creedmoor. They tend to exhibit mild recoil with great accuracy. Maybe not enough for elk, but without having any elk hunting experience, I can't say. I don't think you'd go wrong with a Tikka T3 Lite in .243, 6.5 CM or .308. Maybe .30-'06, too - but as others have said, might be more than you want right now.

I'm a little suspect of the 7mm-08 in the Tikka because the one I had didn't shoot as well as I wanted, but others may have different experiences with it. It may help to check the rifle's barrel twist rate against the load you plan to use before you buy and search for user experiences with that combination. I think that was my problem with the Tikka 7mm-08, but I sold it before spending more time with it.

 

[Rancho Loco]

The .243 is perfect for his parameters, he's identified it as so, yet here come the members pushing everything up to a .30-06. This place is just ridiculous sometimes..

 

[Deleted member 38069]

The .243 is perfect for his parameters, he's identified it as so, yet here come the members pushing everything up to a .30-06. This place is just ridiculous sometimes..

I believe the "push" is due to mummel saying he would like to elk hunt one day in one of his posts.

 

[SticksMcKinley]

The .243 is perfect for his parameters, he's identified it as so, yet here come the members pushing everything up to a .30-06. This place is just ridiculous sometimes..

Perhaps not so ridiculous if you would find the OP's posts where he inquires about the possibility of using a .30-'06, subsequently provides a recoil energy chart of approximately 15 different cartridges and pursues further discussion of low recoil load choices. Hence, the nature of my reply.

 

[Rancho Loco]

I believe the "push" is due to mummel saying he would like to elk hunt one day in one of his posts.

.243 will work fine for that.

 

[noharleyyet]

Whack a mole....

 

[mtmuley]

77 posts to pick a .243. Suddenly, I agree with Rancho. mtmuley

 

[1_pointer]

In your shoes, I'd look at the Tikka and the Ruger American. Similar, but not the same. Pick which one you like then start to narrow down cartridge choices. For a non-reloader who's a bit recoil concious I'd suggest you look at 243, 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 Win, and 308 Win. Any and all, with the right bullets, will take the game you are after. With "right bullets" being the important part.

 

[mummel]

Browning X Bolt or Tikka

I'm strongly leaning towards the Tikka T3x. It's interesting to see what the collective power of the internet thinks about the Tikka vs others (and in what order). Looks like the Tikkat3x vs the Browning X Bolt is what most folks are having a tough time with.