By Joshua Gillem
The 243 Winchester is a .24″ caliber centerfire rifle cartridge that is has a rimless, bottleneck case design. The 243 Winchester cartridge casing is reloadable after the cartridge has been fired or spent with various combinations of primer, powder, and .243″ diameter bullets.
243 Win History:
The popular 243 Winchester centerfire rifle cartridge originated as a wildcat based on the 308 Winchester case, necked down to accept .243″ diameter bullets. Warren Page developed the first prototype of this cartridge.
Warren Page, then shooting columnist for Field & Stream magazine, was an avid wildcatter, and had convinced many American hunters through his writings that his .24″ caliber wildcats would effectively harvest varmints and deer as a combination cartridge.
Winchester agreed, and this cartridge was made available to the public by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1955.
They put it in their new Model 70 Featherweight bolt action rifle using a 22 inch, 1 in 10 inch twist barrel and offered 80 and 100 grain bullet loads for its intended dual purpose use as a varminter and a deer cartridge.
243 Winchester Uses:
The 243 Winchester 80 grain bullet load was designed primarily for varmint and predator hunting and the 100 grain bullet loading was designed for use as a thin skinned big-game cartridge. Today there are many various weight bullets offered in factory produced ammunition, such as can be found on our sponsor’s page, here.
It was the first true dual purpose class of hunting rifle cartridges and it still ranks among the top ten most popular, and widely available, centerfire rifle cartridges in the world today.
The 243 Winchester rifle cartridge chambering is an excellent choice for varmint hunting. It is a powerful varmint cartridge and one that I consider for longer range varmint hunting.
Any decent rifle will need a good scope. Check out this one from Bushnell.
The heavier .243″ diameter bullet does better in the wind than any smaller caliber. Rifles with a 1 in 10″ twist rate will shoot, quite accurately, many different lightweight bullets.
243 is truly dual purpose
The 243 Winchester rifle cartridge chambering is also an excellent choice for deer and antelope hunting as it is a very flat shooting cartridge when loaded with heavier bullet weights.
Rifles with a 1 in 9″ rifling twist rate will accurately shoot many different heavier weight bullets including Berger VLD’s.
243 Winchester bullet weights less than 80 grains are better suited for use on varmints such as groundhogs and prairie dogs, as well as predators such as bobcats, coyotes, and wolves.
Bullet weights between 80 grain – 90 grain have been used quite successfully for dual purpose use on varmints, predators, and smaller thin-skinned big-game animals for years.
Bullet weights greater than 90 grain are better suited for use on big-game such as wild pigs and boar, javelina, blacktail deer, whitetail deer, mule deer, and black bear.
The popular 243 Winchester in most rifle configurations are very well known for their extreme accuracy. Bolt actions are very popular, which is partially due to the fact that little recoil is felt by the shooter therefore reducing recoil flinch when shooting.
The 243 Winchester offers very good hunting ballistics when hunting for any of the following animals:
- Bobcat
- Cougar
- Coyote
- Antelope
- Hogs
- Javelina
- Blacktail deer
- Mule deer
- Whitetail deer
243 Winchester Recoil:
The 243 Winchester offers lower recoil than many other rifle cartridges, and at a higher power, flat bullet trajectory level.
243 Winchester Ballistics
The below 243 Winchester ballistics chart shows 58 grain Hornady V-Max Superformance:
| Muzzle | 100 YDS | 200 YDS | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 3925 | 3465 | 3052 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 1984 | 1546 | 1200 |
| Drop (Inch) | / | 0 | -1.4 |
The next 243 Win ballistic chart shows 90 grain Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter Rounds:
| Muzzle | 100 YDS | 200 YDS | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 3150 | 2911 | 2685 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 1983 | 1693 | 1440 |
| Drop (Inch) | / | 0 | -2.6 |
Our next 243 Winchester ballistic chart shows 75 grain Federal Varmint & Predator ammo:
| Muzzle | 100 YDS | 200 YDS | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 3425 | 3111 | 2819 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 1953 | 1612 | 1323 |
| Drop (Inch) | / | 0 | -2.1 |
Our last 243 Win ballistics table shows 100 grain Winchester PowerMax Bonded Protected Hollow Point rounds:
| Muzzle | 100 YDS | 200 YDS | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 2960 | 2708 | 2470 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 1945 | 1628 | 1355 |
| Drop (Inch) | / | 0 | -3.3 |
You can see our more in depth rifle ballistics chart on many different calibers of cartridges, when you push that link.
About Joshua Gillem
Josh is a lifelong practitioner and student of the gun. He grew up shooting/hunting with his dad, and was given his first gun, a 12 gauge shotgun, when just a small boy. After high school, he joined the Marines where his love for firearms blossomed as he qualified with an M16A2, an M9, and a 240G. Josh has been writing about firearms and tactics for several years, is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, and believes that each individual person has the right to self-defense by any means necessary. Currently residing in gun-friendly North Carolina, he carries a concealed gun on a daily basis, even in his own house.
