|
Well, based on the results on six deer with a .243, that one would be the very last one on my list. The difference betwen the .260 Rem. and 6.5x55 is negligable when you think about it, although the short action might not be the best choice for reloading 160 gr. bullet as they are mighty long. The 6.5x55 would need a medium length action to have a proper magazine box length as would the 7x57, a very big favorite of mine. The 7mm-08 is just a modern 7x57 stuck in a short action with precluded the proper loading of 175 gr. bullets.
As factory loaded, the 7x57 is a mild mannered round, and if you can find a Winchester M70 Featherweight chambered for that rounds, you will have a jewel beyond comparison. Of all the bullets I have tried in mine, only the bulk Winchester 150 gr. Power points don't shoot worth a damn. Every thing else is less than one inch, with several weights from the 140 gr. Nosler Ballistic tip to the Hornady 175 gr. running .375" groups. The rifle is quite light weight, looks really neat, and is one of the rifles I don't ever plan to part with. If you're lucky, you might find one in either 6.5x55 or 7x57. My ex-son-in-law has one as well in .257 Roberts. I'd talk him out of it if I could.
FWIW, I also have a .243 Model 70 made around 1968-9. back then, all the short rounds were loaded in long actions, take it or leave it. I have a spare M70 Featherweight stock and I have diofficulty in describing how much light the rifle feels in that stock. I have to do some bedding work to make it more accurate, that one will be a winner as well.
As to why the .243 is last on my list? Well, I've seen six deer taken with the cartridge. The very first one dropped like it was poleaxed. Very impressive. Maybe there is something to the round, I'm thinking. The next five deer were a horse of a different color, with the deer running anywhere from 50 to 250 yards before expiring. The good news is we were hunting on a private rance in open meadows sectioned off by low narrow washes lined with willows. After each shot, we could see the deer running and the final drop. Looking for blood for trailing, I could find little or no blood trail at all. None of the bullets exited. If that had been a heavy brushed area, those deer could have been easily lost. My head instructor in the Hunter Ed group I teach with thinks the .243 walks on water and is quite open about it. For 31 years he's used the round with 31 bang-flops. Last year, he shot a deer that took him and his hunting partner almost half a day to find due to little or no blood for a trail. He' still trying to figure out what went wrong.
I have to agree with Rocky, the .243 is an experts rifle.
I have a /257 Roberts, but have only shot it on paper. It's a Ruger #1B and is too dang heavy for this old geezer to pack out in the hills. Very accurate though.
I'm going more towards the 7x57 every day. I don't know if all the shooting I've done with some seriously hard kicking rifles was the cause or just old age, but my right shoulder has some serious arthritis and shooting the big ones just isn't the fun it used to be. I still shoot them once in a while, but it is getting to be less and less.
Paul B.
|