[Trailcamologist]

this should be a decent matchup of one very popular round and one up and comer!!

243 Winchester vs. 6.5x.284 Norma

The .243 is based on a necked down .308 cartridge case and is known for its accuracy, flat trajectory, and relatively mild recoil. This cartridge was first introduced in 1955 for Winchester's Model 70 bolt-action sporting rifle and quickly gained popularity among sportsmen worldwide. The .243 has gained substantial worldwide popularity, and commercially loaded ammunition is easy to find on every continent. Along with the .270 Winchester, the .308 Winchester, .223 Remington, and .30-'06, it is among the most popular and widely available of all centrefire cartridges. at home in the beanfield or the deer woods the .243 is an excellent choice od calibers.

The 6.5-284 is a wildcat cartridge based on the .284 Winchester cartridge necked down to 6.5 mm. The .284 Winchester was created around 1963, but never really caught on, except as a parent case for the wildcat 6.5mm-284. The 6.5 caliber allowed for the use of long, aerodynamic bullets. In 1999, Norma submitted it to CIP. It has since been standardized as the 6.5mm-284 Norma. It has been used extensively in benchrest competitions and is known as an extremely accurate long range round. Using an improved version of the 6.5/284, Rich DeSimone set a 1,000-yard world record at 1.564". I have yet to tinker with a 6.5x.284 but have not heard anyhting but good reviews from those who have!!

 

[*Moose]

The .243 is a great little whitetail cartridge I've learned through the years. It would not have been my pick years ago as when I was younger I had seen several deer wounded and lost by guys using this caliber where I hunted. I had a stigma for years with this cartridge but as they say live and learn. I learned it's not always the cartridges fault.

 

[mackgee]

Just another great cartridge. There are a few that fall into everyone's list and this happens to be one of mine. Killed lots of game without getting punched in the face, it was nice....

 

[hunt/fish365]

243 for me too. Like mike said, I started out too with a bit of a stigma with it. I used it because it was all I had, and it has proved deadly on every deer I've shot with it. I never had a problem with mine, but in my earlier years I had family members that tried to instill magnumitis into my head. Not required. The magnums rairly see the light of day.

I'm sure the 6.5x.284 is a fine round. Probably better in many ways than the 243, but I could tell you where every deer was hit at the time of the shot with my 243 as the recoil is all but nill.

 

[CampHollow]

I just wouldn't feel right picking very many rounds over the .243. There's just too much right with it.

 

[Big Ken]

I would have really liked to have had Remington or Savage chamber the 6.5x284 in one of their bolt actions....Might have been more successful than the 260 Rem..........Ken

 

[Penn'sWoods]

The .243 is a great little whitetail cartridge I've learned through the years. It would not have been my pick years ago as when I was younger I had seen several deer wounded and lost by guys using this caliber where I hunted. I had a stigma for years with this cartridge but as they say live and learn. I learned it's not always the cartridges fault.

I used to think the same way for the same reasons. However, I have seen a lot of deer get wounded by a 300 mag too.

 

[killer.tactics]

243 great round

 

[Cold Bore]

For my style of hunting, a 243 would (and has) work great.

I've always liked it, it was one of my first centerfires, and I still shoot one every now and then.

I will admit that when I was competing in long range matches, I came close to building a 6.5x284, solely for the purpose of competition shooting. It is an excellent round for that. But, once I started to wind down from that game, the urge went away.

My vote went to the 243 here for a few reasons... fine PA deer round, can double up as a groundhog rifle, easy to load for or find factory ammo, lots of quality 6mm bullets for practically any purpose you'd use the 243 for, and it just has a certain classicness to it that I've always loved.

 

[barebow]

243 all the way!

 

[Moss]

I've used a 243 for ten years for deer hunting and never had a deer get away from me. I always made a lung shot, they went 40 yards tops. Like someone else said they made a good groundhog gun plus they were good for fall turkey hunting. I never used one for the fall turkey season but a friend of mine did for 20 years. He always shot them in the wing pit, never any meat damage. I don't know what the 6.5x284 is like never shot that.

 

[Smokey in PHX]

The .243 has always been a versatile round from prairie dogs on windy days to deer and black bear. This is a round most everyone can shoot very well.

 

[HeviShot!]

I would hunt anything in the country with a .243!

 

[308Havoc]

since there is a "VS" in the thread title i am understanding it as an overall comparison not a "i have one, i killed deer with it comparison".

longrange accuracy (not that 200 yard g-hog) = 6.5-284
price to shoot = 243
ballistics = 6.5-284 (BY FAR)

im not even sure how these 2 chambers can even be compared to one another. they are nothing alike. the 6.5-284 is by far superior in the ballistics category and can do everything a .243 can do, but better and further.

sure the .243 has proven itself as a fine chamber, but it has been around for 30 extra years. just because you shot deer, bear, and elk with a .243 doesnt make it better. hundreds of different chambers have done the same thing. once again, this is like comparing apples to oranges.

 

[JasonN]

I would hunt anything in the country with a .243!

Grizzly? Buffalo? Moose? Or did you just mean the country-side where you live?

I don't see the vs. point either. The 6.5-284 is simply 'better' at pretty much everything than the 243. Not that a 243 isn't fine for some things like varmint and deer, but it can't even hold a candle to the 6.5-284 at long range or bigger game.

 

[BrownTrout]

The .243 is sweet and I recently bought one. But I agree there isn't a long range comparison between the two. The 6.5-284 owns that category. Personaly, I wouldn't hunt anything bigger than our Pa. deer with my .243. But thats me.

 

[Grey Dog]

A gun nut friend of mind used a 6.5/06( basically a 6./284) for Elk, deer, antelope, grounhog, coyotes and moose. Used the 125gr Nosler Partition. Then the 120gr bt. Never had a problem with the caliber/cartridge combination. Still the 6.5/284 is not offered in a light rifle hunting configuration. Only a Long Range hunter by savage. Good caliber on a good case.

 

[vapor trail]

i've seen the 6.5/284 in action and it's amazing... the 243 can't come close to the ballistic advantages that .264 bullets have, especially sitting ontop of a 284 case

 

[mus42tang]

The only suggestion I'd make young shooters is how rare is the caliber.

How rare is it now; in five years; in ten or more years.

The rarer the cartridge the more expensive it becomes; if even available after awhile.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to "fall in love", so to say, with any cartridge.

 

[Trailcamologist]

im not even sure how these 2 chambers can even be compared to one another. they are nothing alike. the 6.5-284 is by far superior in the ballistics category and can do everything a .243 can do, but better and further.

This was a fun little thing that we did here over a year ago. It wasn't so much of a ballistic comparison as it was a preference for one. If you had 2 identical rifles on a table and could pick one, which caliber would it be and why?? there were quite a few comparisons and in the end the 243, 30-06, 308, etc... wound up on top