# 243. or 30-06.



## Gman08 (Dec 30, 2008)

I need help on deciding what to do. I'm saving up for my first rifle larger then a 22. and I have no idea what to do. A 243. is the ideal cal. but I have the feeling that I'm going to need something larger then that (30-06.) I'm looking at a Howa 30-06 that comes with two stock, youth (Youth is what fits me best for now) and an adult stock that I will need soon. Since I can't put off buying buying a rifle this year and I won't be able to buy two different rifles any time soon I need some help on what to do. Thanks.


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## Kelly Hannan (Jan 9, 2007)

what are you using it for? are you recoil sensitive?


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## Gman08 (Dec 30, 2008)

I'll be using it for deer and other big game in the future. and i can handle the recoil on the 30-06.


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## StretchNM (Dec 22, 2008)

Up until December 21, I was in the same boat. That's when my lovely wife said "Allright. Go ahead and buy it, bring it home, and I'll wrap it and put it away for you".

My budget was tight, see, so I found myself at WalMart. I had three rifles in mind:
- Remington 700ADL or 770
- Savage with Accutrigger
- in either .270 or 30-06 (I also gave a considerable amount of fretful cogitation to the .243)

In the end, I ruled out the .243. It's argueable (and I want to avoid that for this particular post), but it's not as versatile as the .270 or 30-06. So that left the two larger calibers. Flipping a coin in my head (there's lots of space there for flipping), I decided on the 30-06, probably the most popular rifle cartridge around. And, I went with the 700ADL.

There's my little story. Can you relate? The .243 is an all-around cartridge, but if someday you want to hunt elk, or maybe if carniverous dinosaurs return, you might wish you'd bought the 30-06.

Good luck!


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## Gman08 (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks for all the help! :beer:


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## duckslyr (Nov 27, 2008)

I have seen plenty of elk dropped with a 243 it is all in shot placement. if you are hunting primaraly deer i would go with that. i would also look at the 270 it is pretty much the same case as the 30 06 but a little lighter bullet and works awesome on any game. both the 243 and 270 will have alot better downrange trajectory over the 30 06 anyday.


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## Ruthless (Nov 6, 2008)

I'd go with the 30-06 because if you are going to have just one rifle it is probable the most versaitile caliber there is. Once you get more cash and start building your collection of rifles you can get yourself a whole slew of different calibers but a good 30-06 is hard to beat.

And as far as trajectory goes unless you are shooting over 300 yards the .243, .270, and 30-06 are all about even and the 30-06 has plenty of knock down power.


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## ODB (Nov 30, 2008)

I would pick the 30-06. Great choice of bullets to chose from compared to the 270 and alot more knockdown power than 243.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

If those are your two choices and you are going to use it primarily for medium/big game, the 06' wins hands down.

I've killed quite a few head with both calibers, and have long ago decided the 243 is a marginal deer caliber under any but perfect situations. Unfortunately, perfect situations tend to be fairly rare when deer hunting.

IMO, the 243 is one of, if not the best coyote calibers around and I love mine for that job. However, when it's time to hunt deer or goats I go with my 270, 308, 7MM Magnum, or even 45-70, depending on the situation & conditions.

I have to add that I'm a huge fan of the 270 and like that round best of all in the 30-06 class...


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Not even a split second of hesitation for me in choosing the 06 over the .243 for a single rifle owner. You have a large variety of bullets to chose from for reloading as well as factory ammo with premium bullets as well. Ammo will be easy to find and have one of the highest selections in stock.

Then down the road you can add the .243 as a speed goat rifle and coyote gun as well. NDT is much the same as me in looking at the .243 as marginal on deer size game. Out to 300 yards the difference in POI is minimal as well.

I have used a 30-06 for most of my hunting even though I own or have owned a bunch of other calibers. Just over Christmas I was wishing I had taken my 06 along as the coyotes where hanging up at ranges I do not like to shoot my .223 at.


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## Bernie P. (Sep 25, 2008)

The .280 has advantages over both the .270/30-06.


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## GUITARGABE (Nov 7, 2008)

I PERSONALLY SHOOT A .270. IT HAS LESS RECOIL THAN AN 06. I SHOOT AN 06 AS WELL, BUT THE .270 IS JUST AN ALL AROUND GOOD GUN FOR ME. MY 2 CENTS


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## mike landrich (Jul 5, 2008)

The 243 may have better trajectory, but the lighter bullets lack the energy of the heavier '06 bullets, so while you may not have as much hold over while aiming, you will not get the terminal ballistics.

I'd go with the '06. The 243 lacks the ability to shoot heavy bullets. The '06 is a real all around gun.


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## Uncle Mike (Jan 3, 2009)

An all around deer gun.... well if your looking at the .243,.270 and the ol' 30-06 IMHO I'd go with the 30-06. As was said earlier, the .243 is a marginal deer caliber. Now before I get kicked, I will say that the .243 has taken its share of deer sized game, albeit the operator must adhear to a higher level of accuracy and more particular shot placement.
The .270 and 06' being from the same case exhibet similar ballistics. I say similar. Lets take a brand of ammo.... say Hornady, I like this brand, it is one of the most accurate factory ammo made and Hornady also offers most calibers in their Light Magnum line... same caliber and bullets, just a tad bit faster velocity.
The .270 with a 140gr. bullet,leaving the muzzle at 2950 fps, sighted at 200yrds. is (approx.) 1.5" high at 100y, 0 at 200y, 7" low at 300y and 20" low at 400y.
The 30-06 with a 150gr. bullet, leaving the muzzle at 2910 fps, sighted at 200yrds. is (approx.) 1.7" high at 100y, 0 at 200y, 8" at 300y and 23" at 400y.
So you can see that both are within 1-3 inches of each other out to 400yrds.
Both make MORE than enough energy to fill the bill on deer, elk ,bear ect... out to 500yrds. Use the Light Magnum and you can shave a inch or so off of these trajectories and pick up a couple of hundred pounds of energy!
All this said, the 30-06 has a tad bit more authority in the energy department but gives up a little on the trajectory end of things.
For an all around deer gun, I'd go with the 30-06. Just my opinon.
Have fun, and remember, Good shot placement, ie... practice, practice, practice, makes for the kill. Not the amount of powder you burn!


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## Gman08 (Dec 30, 2008)

Well thanks for all the help, it realeay helped out. I decided on a 30-06. I bought a . Savage Model 111FCXP3 Of Course i'm going to replace the scope and I could give a rats as$ about accuTrigger but it seems like a good gun. (Plus, I got it for $120 less then the online price.) :homer:


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## StretchNM (Dec 22, 2008)

Good for you, Gman!

I'm wondering though, why don't you care about the accutrigger? That was one of the main reasons I was considering the Savage. In the end, I got the Remington, but after firing it 40+ rounds, I'm wanting to lighten the trigger pull. It seems the Savage would have an edge there.


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## Gman08 (Dec 30, 2008)

Because I've shot smaller cal. before and I never minded the trigger pull, and if I really have a problem with it being to strong I can always take it to a gun smith. accutrigger looks like a really good feature, but I can live with out it.


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Couple observations on the accutrigger from my perspective. To me it is similar to shooting a trigger with creep. I have it on my .17HMR and dislike it tremendously. When I purchased my Stevens .223 Rem which is basically the Savage without the accutrigger, it was a bit heavy. I had it polished by a gunsmith and now it is at 3lb of pull and is clean and crisp no creep at all. It feels like the trigger on my Win Mod 70 as well as the Rem 700 I shoot as well both set at 3lbs.

You should enjoy the rifle by the way and it most likely will shoot better than you expect or can, no offense intended with that statement!


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