Thread: First gun

Originally Posted by Dylan Pearson

What are .243's like?

If you haven't figured it out yet mate people just tell you what they like and the only people who are wrong are the ones who run down what others said.
Personally I think anything would work great but my opinion would be to go with either a tikka t3, sako A7, howa 1500 or an underrated gun in my books the marlin XS7.
Caliber - really its just what takes your fancy. Personally given the game you're chasing and the fact that you're new to big game hunting I would err on the side of caution and get something bigger (not monstorous). Now 223, 22-250 and 243 will do the job well if you put in a good shot but if you don't you'll end up losing a lot more deer. Go with a 30-06, 300wsm or even a 7wsm and you've got a bit of assurance and they definately aren't over kill. In fact in aus the 7mm is just over the legal minimum for deer.

people will tell you smaller calibres kill just as easy with correct placement and yes that's true but if you look at it like that way a .22 will do the same. I personally prefer bigger calibers because I realise as hard as I try I fuck up and won't always hit things right. And I won't cause an animal pain for the sake of an ego I.e. the argument for smaller calibres as they do the job big ones do if you hit them right everytime. I know a bloke who hunts reds with a 22-250 (illegally yes) and doesn't believe that I have only ever lost one deer. Its because when you miss hit a deer (which is inevitable for everyone including you mate) with a bigger calibre its hits so much harder and can still put it down. And its not like we're talking about 458 or 505 Gibbs here haha just a good 30 cal.

I've shot deer with a 243, 223 and 270. But there is no way id go back from my 300wm for red stags in the rut and sambar now.

Anyway mate this is just my opinion, make sure you consider your own before getting something