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.243 Winchester

Not to be confused with .243 Winchester Super Short Magnum.
.243 Winchester
A .243 Winchester cartridge (middle) next to a .223 Remington (left) and .308 Winchester (right)
TypeRifle
Place of originUnited States
Production history
DesignerWinchester
Designed1952–1955
ManufacturerWinchester
Produced1955–present
Variants.243 Winchester Improved (Ackley)
Specifications
Parent case.308 Winchester
Case typeBottlenecked
Bullet diameter.243 in (6.2 mm)
Land diameter.237 in (6.0 mm)
Neck diameter.276 in (7.0 mm)
Shoulder diameter.454 in (11.5 mm)
Base diameter.471 in (12.0 mm)
Rim diameter.473 in (12.0 mm)
Case length2.045 in (51.9 mm)
Overall length2.7098 in (68.83 mm)
Case capacity53.7–54.8
Rifling twist1-10 in (250 mm) to 1-8 in (200 mm)
Primer typeLarge Rifle
Maximum pressure (C.I.P.)60,191 psi (415.00 MPa)
Maximum pressure (SAAMI)60,000 psi (410 MPa)
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy
58 gr (3.8 g) V-MAX 3,925 ft/s (1,196 m/s) 1,984 ft⋅lbf (2,690 J)
80 gr (5.2 g) TTSX 3,350 ft/s (1,020 m/s) 1,994 ft⋅lbf (2,704 J)
85 gr (5.5 g) TSX 3,200 ft/s (980 m/s) 1,933 ft⋅lbf (2,621 J)
95 gr (6.2 g) SP 2,980 ft/s (910 m/s) 1,873 ft⋅lbf (2,539 J)
100 gr (6.5 g) BTSP 2,960 ft/s (900 m/s) 1,945 ft⋅lbf (2,637 J)
Test barrel length: 24 in (610 mm)
Source(s): Barnes, Federal, Hornady factory specifications, AccurateShooter.com[1]

The .243 Winchester (6×52mm) is a popular sporting rifle cartridge. Developed as a versatile short action cartridge to hunt both medium game and small game alike, it "took whitetail hunting by storm"[2] when introduced in 1955, and remains one of the most popular whitetail deer cartridges. It is also commonly used for harvesting blacktail deer, pronghorns and mule deer with heavier rounds, and is equally suited to varmint hunting with lighter rounds. The .243 is based on a necked down .308 Winchester, introduced only three years earlier. Expanding monolithic copper bullets of approximately 80[3] to 85[4][5] grains or traditional lead rounds of 90 to 105 grains with controlled expansion designs are best suited for hunting medium game, while lighter rounds are intended for varmints.[6][7]

In at least ten U.S. states[8] and the United Kingdom,[9] the .243 or similar cartridges are the smallest bore cartridges that are legal for hunting deer; this has been revised in the UK to allow Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer to be taken with .22 (5.56mm) chambered weapons.[10] The cartridge can be extremely accurate to 300 yards (270 m) and beyond, but may not retain enough terminal energy to reliably drop medium game at that distance.[4][11][12] Highly experienced hunters use the .243 Winchester to routinely drop bucks up to 250 pounds (110 kg),[2] while less experienced hunters can be just as capable with the .243 because of its very low recoil yet high velocity.[7][11][13] Besides hunting applications, the cartridge is popular with target and metallic silhouette shooters for those same recoil and velocity properties, with superb accuracy.[12]

The .243 Winchester has regularly made the top five of rankings for "Best Whitetail Deer Hunting Cartridges" from sources such as Field and Stream[14] and Outdoor Life,[2][15] and its widespread popularity (called the "whitetail hunter's favorite" by the Browning Arms Company[16] and "American favorite" by American Rifleman[7]) assures chamberings in newly manufactured offerings of not only bolt-action rifles, but also semiautomatic rifles (e.g., Browning BAR and AR-10 platforms), lever action rifles (e.g., Henry Long Ranger and Browning BLR), and even pump action rifles (e.g., Remington 7600).[2] Gun Digest estimates that (as of the end of 2018) the .243 Winchester is the second-most popular of all hunting rifle chamberings (after the long action .30-06).[17]

  1. ^ ".243 Winchester Brass Weight and Capacity Tested". AccurateShooter.com, September 25, 2008. Accessed March 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Ron Spomer. "Whitetail Deer Cartridge Shoot-Out: .30-30 Win. vs. .243 Win. vs. .30-06 Springfield". Outdoor Life, October 28, 2019. Accessed March 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "6mm - Barnes TTSX". Terminal Ballistics Research. Accessed March 8, 2021
  4. ^ a b ".243 Winchester". Terminal Ballistics Research. Accessed March 2, 2021
  5. ^ ".243 Winchester 85gr. Controlled Chaos Solid Monolithic Hunting & Self Defense Ammo". Description. Underwood Ammo. Accessed March 6, 2021
  6. ^ Chuck Hawks. "The .243 Winchester". ChuckHawks.com. 2004. Accessed March 4, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c John Haviland. "An American Favorite: The .243 Winchester". American Rifleman, November 18, 2013. Accessed March 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "Which AR-15 Can You Hunt With?". Stag Arms. Accessed March 2, 2021.
  9. ^ "Deer Act 1963 Chapter 36". The National Archives. Schedule 2: "Prohibited Firearms and Ammunition". 1963. Accessed March 2, 2021.
  10. ^ "Deer Stalking Code of Practice".
  11. ^ a b Ron Spomer. "243 Winchester Versus 7mm-08 Remington". Ron Spomer Outdoors, November 25, 2019. Accessed March 3, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Gary Zinn. "The .243 Winchester: Its Capabilities as a Deer Cartridge". Chuckhawks.com. 2017. Accessed March 2, 2021.
  13. ^ William W (Bill) Goddard. "BEST CALIBER FOR DEER HUNTING". Mossy Oak, November 13, 2018. Accessed March 6, 2021.
  14. ^ Jeff Johnston. "11 Best Rifle Cartridges for Whitetail Deer". Field and Stream, August 22, 2019. Accessed March 3, 2021.
  15. ^ Bryce M. Towsley. "Top 10 Cartridges for Hunting Whitetail Deer". Outdoor Life, September 14, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2021.
  16. ^ "BAR Mark III Archived 2020-12-25 at the Wayback Machine". Browning Arms Company. Accessed March 4, 2021.
  17. ^ Gun Digest Editors. "Ammo Brief: The Versatile .243 Winchester". Gun Digest, December 26, 2018. Accessed March 6, 2021

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