Very informative article!! 243 vs 7mm-08 vs 308 Ballistics. The .243 Winchester has definite advantages in velocity, recoil, and trajectory while the 6.5 Creedmoor is more resistant to wind drift and carries significantly more energy downrange. A Bonnier Corporation Company. (L-R): .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, .308 Winchester. This compares favorably to 90 grain and 100 grain .243â³ bullets which have sectional densities of .218 and .242 respectively. Note: while the powder capacity figures listed below do give a good indication of the differences between the two cartridges, exact case capacities vary slightly according to the brand of brass used. What this cartridge offered was a long range hunting round that was able to take lighter bullets that were more suitable for target shooting and varmint hunting. Both are extremely common though, so finding a good deer rifle shouldnât be an issue at all regardless of which cartridge you choose. Guides, Outfitters, Hunts, Tags. The 6.5mm bore diameter is also in something of a sweet spot where it’s easier to manufacture very high BC bullets that’s aren’t especially heavy. Named the 6.5 Creedmoor (sometimes misspelled Creedmoore or Creedmore) in honor of the Creedmoor Matches and designed for use with a relatively fast 1:8″ rifling twist rate, Emary and DeMille were quite successful in their goal of building the ideal competition shooting cartridge. So, the 6.5 Creedmoor does not have eye popping ballistics, but it has moderate recoil, is very accurate, and uses high BC bullets that retain energy and resist wind drift exceptionally well. The table below compares the recoil produced by very similar loads to the ones compared above for each cartridge when fired from identical rifles. Among others, the .260 Remington, .338 Federal, and .358 Winchester are all descended from the legendary .308 Winchester as designers necked the case up or down as necessary to shoot smaller or larger 6.5mm, .33 caliber, or .35 caliber bullets respectively. For elk, it is the .7mm Remington and Oryx, is the .338 for range and stopping power. As you can see, the .243 Winchester pushes those lighter bullets at a significantly faster muzzle velocity than the 6.5 Creedmoor. The .243 has a flatter trajectory and much less recoil, but the 6.5 Creedmoor retains more kinetic energy and drifts less in the wind than the .243 Winchester at typical hunting ranges. Over the past 2 years of 4 nieces age 12-15 we had 5 shots and 5 deer. Both cartridges also have the same .473″ rim diameter. The .243 Winchester uses the same 6mm/.243″ bullet size as the 6mm Remington, the .240 Weatherby Magnum, and the 6mm Creedmoor. The 7 Best .223 Loads for Deer Hunting Yes, the .223 Remington is a suitable deer cartridge, and it is legal for deer in most states. Are you looking for a the better cartridge for long range hunting for game like mule deer or pronghorn in open country where you might need to take a shot at several hundred yards? Fifth Place: .308 Winchester, 26.0 Points. Hope to get it in the woods soon. As is the case with many good cartridges, wildcatters and gun designers started modifying the .308 Winchester to develop new and more specialized wildcat cartridges almost immediately after it hit the market. Data used to calculate recoil was obtained from the Hornady reloading manual. The .243 Winchester cartridge most often uses bullet weights in the 55-115 grain range, with 55, 87, 90, and 100 grain bullets being the most common. So, the high SD bullets used by the 6.5 Creedmoor assist with penetration to help the cartridge âpunch above its weightâ in a manner similar to the 7x57mm or 9.3x62mm Mauser cartridges. The differences are of course smaller at shorter range, but that’s a pretty big advantage in favor of the 6.5 Creedmoor at longer range. Additionally, I recorded an entire podcast episode on this exact subject. Thatâs not to say that the .243 isnât accurate or that there arenât a bunch of good quality bullets available for it. I obtained the data used to compare the trajectory of the cartridges from Hornady (here and here) and Nosler (here and here). All other things equal, a heavier projectile of a given caliber will be longer and therefore have a higher sectional density and consequently penetrate deeper than projectiles with a lower mass and sectional density. At the same time, since it utilizes .264â³ bullets, there is a bigger selection of high BC and high SD match grade hunting bullets available for the cartridge. Do you want the round that is best suited for target shooting out past 400 yards or so in a precision rifle? The same goes for the Browning X-Bolt, Kimber Hunter, Mossberg Patriot, Nosler M48, Remington Model 7, Ruger American, Ruger Hawkeye, Savage Axis, Savage 110, Tikka T3x, Weatherby Vanguard, and Winchester XPR. During normal times, it’s usually very easy to find ammo for both cartridges and almost any gun or sporting goods store will have a wide variety of .243 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor ammo in stock. Especially when combined with the fact that the 6.5 Creedmoor carries more kinetic energy downrange than the .243 Winchester, those larger diameter bullets are certainly helpful when hunting big game. Donât underestimate the impact that recoil has on the ability of a person to shoot accurately either. I think that ammo is great and makes the already sweet shooting .243 even easier on the shoulder. Even though they’re going really fast, those lighter and less aerodynamic bullets used by the .243 just get pushed around a little more than the 6.5 Creedmoor. All things considered, the two cartridges have different strengths and are optimized for different uses. The situation changes a little bit when shooting at long distances though. They have never lost a deer thru the years ( we do stress practice and good placement of shots). The .243 Win., with its 1:10” twist, can stabilize the 100 and 105-grain bullets, which the hunting public wanted for deer and other big game. This is illustrated in the table below comparing Hornady and Nosler factory ammunition. First, the 6.5 Creedmoor uses larger diameter bullets than the .243 Winchester. Copyright © 2021 Outdoor Life. You can see the similarities and differences between the 6.5 Creedmoor and the .243 Winchester in the photo below. The .243 is often referred to as the baby brother of the .308 Win. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Vs. .22-250 Rem. I used ShootersCalculator.com to compare trajectory and recoil for the cartridges. The 6.5 Creedmoor is also loaded to a higher pressure than the .243 Winchester (62,000psi vs 60,000psi). I consider both to be on the light side for hunting larger game, but the 6.5 Creedmoor is definitely better than the .243 Winchester for this sort of hunting because it shoots larger diameter bullets that carry more kinetic energy downrange, especially with heavy bullets. 308 vs 30-06 SPRINGFIELD vs 300 WIN MAG: WHICH SHOULD YOU HUNT WITH? Why the Gauge of Your Shotgun Doesn’t Matter on Upland Birds, The Best Machete to Cut, Slash, and Bash through Anything, Best Neck Gaiter: Protection from the Neck Up in Every Season, Huge Pennsylvania Crappie Nearly Breaks Record, The Browning Citori That Killed 100 Gobblers, Best Snowshoes: Backcountry Gear for Any Level, Want to Plant the Ultimate Survival Garden This Spring? At the same time, the 6.5 Creedmoor also has a slight edge over the .243 in bullet sectional density, especially with heavier bullets. Itâs just that the overall design of the 6.5 Creedmoor gives that cartridge an edge over the .243 Winchester in potential accuracy at extended range. They designed the cartridge in an effort to gain an advantage in high power rifle competition shooting, which had been long dominated by the .308 Winchester. Before we get started, I have two administrative notes: Some of the links below are affiliate links. Both of my children started out with .243 thanks to their grandfather passing down one as a gift. While the .243 Winchester is known to be ballistically inferior to the .25-06 Remington and many other cartridges of its caliber, it’s plenty fast, dangerously accurate and still adequate for up to deer-size game. 6.5 Creedmoor vs 308 Winchester Debate Settled. Get a good hunting rifle chambered in the cartridge that you think fits your needs the best, learn to shoot it well, use quality bullets, and youâll be all set for most hunting situations. Sectional density (SD) is a measure of the ratio of the diameter of a projectile to its mass. The .243 Winchester is certainly capable of outstanding accuracy (often sub-MOA) and the exceptionally mild recoil of the cartridge also helps immensely in that regard. Those aerodynamic projectiles don’t slow down as fast and are more resistant to wind drift. Mule Deer Hunting, Elk Hunting and Western Big Game Hunting. 180 gr. The best .243 Winchester load has almost exactly the same amount of wind drift as the 6.5 Creedmoor load with the most wind drift, but the best 6.5 Creedmoor load drifts nearly 5″ less than the best .243 Winchester load and a staggering 9.4″ less than the .243 Winchester load with the most drift. Similar to the difference between the .25-06 Remington and the .30-06 Springfield, by necking down the .308 case to shoot smaller caliber bullets, the designers of the .243 Winchester built a cartridge with a higher velocity, flatter trajectory, and less recoil than the .308 Winchester. A lot of North American deer have fallen to 6mm and 6.5mm projectiles in the century or more since Winchester, Marlin, and others began offering 6mm chamberings. Winchester unveiled the cartridge we now know as the .308 Winchester back in 1952 and the new cartridge quickly developed a reputation for accuracy, power, and efficiency with hunters and shooters. Copyright © 2021 Big Game Hunting Adventures LLC | All Rights Reserved, .25-06 Remington and the .30-06 Springfield, 6.5 CREEDMOOR vs 300 WIN MAG REVIEW AND COMPARISON. Vs. .243 Win. Not surprisingly, while each cartridge offers certain benefits to hunters, itâs still easy to get confused when trying to understand their actual strengths and weaknesses. That turns into a 25-95% advantage in favor of 6.5 Creedmoor at 500 yards. Make sure you subscribe to The Big Game Hunting Podcast and follow The Big Game Hunting Blog on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Handloaders will appreciate the fact that reloading components for both cartridges are also widely available and there’s an especially wide variety of bullet choices for each cartridge. As an example, 120 grain and 143 grain .264â³ bullets have sectional densities of .246 and .293 respectively. Whitetail Deer Cartridge Shoot-Out: .30-30 Win. Thatâs a very informative article about 243 vs 6.5 great information Even though the cartridges share the same roots, there is a pretty big difference in the ballistics of each cartridge that reflects the different priorities wildcatters had when designing the .243 and 7mm-08. vs. .30-06 Springfield Three of the most revered deer-hunting rounds in a head-to-head-to-head comparison By Ron Spomer Not that you can’t hunt deer with a 90-grain bullet, but the hunting market is what it is, and the .244 fell far behind the .243, with Remington renaming its cartridge the 6mm Remington. We are excited about this comparison as both of these cartridges show tremendous versatility in both the hunting and competitive shooting worlds and not a lot of information is out there taking a look at these two cartridges stacked up side by side. After all, the 6.5 Creedmoor was specifically designed as a competition shooting cartridge. AccuBond (.507 BC/.271 SD) at 2600 fps. The 6.5 Creedmoor shoots the same .264″ bullet size that’s also used by the 6.5×55 Swede, 6.5 Grendel, .260 Rem, and 6.5 PRC (among others). In this article, Iâm going to do a detailed comparison of the 6.5 Creedmoor vs 243 Winchester and discuss the pros and cons of each one to help provide some insight into which cartridge will work best for you. Thanks for your support. Forums, Articles, Photos, Tips, Information. You Better Start Planning Right Now, President Biden’s Order to Protect 30 Percent of the Nation’s Land Could Be a Massive Win for Fish and Wildlife—If Hunters, Anglers, Farmers, Tribes Have a Say, Best Shooting Gloves: Handle Your Gun and Trigger with Confidence, Scout Winter Deer Patterns and You Will Find More Shed Antlers, Man-Eating Crocodile Blamed In Attack On Missing Australian Fisherman. Just like the story of the 7mm-08 Remington and the 6.5 Creedmoor, the story of the .243 Winchester and the 6.5 Creedmoor really begins with the .308 Winchester. Three of the most revered deer-hunting rounds in a head-to-head-to-head comparison. Each cartridge uses different diameter bullets: .243″ (6mm) for the .243 Winchester and .264″ (6.5mm) for the Creedmoor. This cartridge is especially well suited to new, small framed, and or recoil shy hunters. The 6.5 Creedmoor also has a slightly less tapered case with a steeper 30 degree shoulder (the .243 has a 20 degree shoulder). There is also a significant difference in the most common bullet weights for each cartridge. Thank you. While the .243 Winchester has a long history of use as a great mild recoiling deer hunting cartridge, the 6.5 Creedmoor is much newer to the hunting game. After all, a well designed cartridge that’s the subject of a good marketing campaign has much better odds of commercial success. In December 1955, Guns Magazine writer, H. Jay Erfurth in an article titled Two Varmint-Big Game Rifles discussing the .244 Remington and .243 Winchester wrote "the Winchester bullet of 100 grains is the better one for deer and medium game than the 90-grain Remington pointed soft-point, though the differences seem mostly splitting hairs." Glad you enjoyed the article Bruce! The .243 Winchester has significantly less recoil than the 6.5 Creedmoor, especially in a lighter rifle. Good luck! Bullet size is one of the most obvious differences between the 6.5 Creedmoor vs 243 Winchester though. The 6.5 Creedmoor is a little more popular than the .243 Winchester, but they’re both widely used and ammo is easy to find for both. The .243 Win is a necked down version of the .308 Win and was introduced to the shooting world in 1955. So, I think it’s fair to say that the 6.5 Creedmoor hits significantly harder than the .243 Winchester, especially at longer range. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of hype and misinformation out there regarding the capabilities of these cartridges, especially with regards to the 6.5 Creedmoor. A pretty representative 6.5 Creedmoor load shoots a 140 grain bullet at about 2,700 fps (2,266 ft-lbs). The .243 Winchester and the 6.5 Creedmoor are both absolutely outstanding deer hunting cartridges and both cartridges will absolutely get the job done on medium sized game if you do your part and there isnât a gigantic difference between them ballistically inside of 300 yards. Experiments with necking down the .308 to shoot smaller, .243″ bullets yielded one of the first cartridges descended from the .308 Winchester in 1955: the .243 Winchester. Capable of shooting heavy as well as light bullets with very good accuracy, the .243 Winchester was also a great varmint hunting cartridge and successfully bridged the gap between traditional varmint cartridges of the day like the .22 Hornet and popular big game hunting cartridges like the .30-06 Springfield. Coyote Cartridges: .223 Rem. And despite its age, it’s a modern cartridge in every sense. Fortunately for the .243 Winchester, Field & Stream editor Warren Page extolled the virtues of the .243 in his columns in a manner similar to what Jack O’Connor did for the .270 Winchester at Outdoor Life. In fact, just about every really popular bolt-action hunting rifle in current production is available in both cartridges. As you can see, the 6.5 Creedmoor has more resistance to wind drift than the .243 Winchester. Originally designed for long-range varminting, the boattail-base, hollow-point, cup-and-core projectile nicely pulls double-duty for hunting deer-size game. Predator and varmint rounds like the Hornady V-Max and Nosler Varmageddon are also commonly available for both cartridges as factory loads, but they’re a little more common for the .243 Winchester. Are you sensitive to recoil and in need of a serious low recoil cartridge? First, the two cartridges are very similar in size and use a rimless bottlenecked case. Felt recoil will vary from shooter to shooter and rifle to rifle, but free recoil energy is still a useful way to compare cartridges. With these particular loads, the 6.5 Creedmoor has approximately 10-30% more muzzle energy than the .243 Winchester. Basically, they wanted a new cartridge that could fit in a short action magazine and was just as accurate as the .308, but with less recoil, less wind drift, and a flatter trajectory. I did just purchase my first 6.5 creed last week. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. vs. .243 Win. The .243 Winchester and the 6.5 Creedmoor are both extremely popular centerfire rifle cartridges. Landowners realised that rising deer numbers needed to be brought under control. The efforts of Page certainly helped the .243 Winchester get established in the hunting and shooting communities. Specifically, the larger diameter .264″ bullets used by the 6.5 Creedmoor have about 17% more frontal surface area (also known as cross sectional area) than the .243″ bullets used by the .243 Winchester (.0547 vs .0464 square inches). The .243 Winchester fires smaller diameter bullets at a significantly higher velocity than the 6.5 Creedmoor. So, the Creedmoor has more kinetic energy at all ranges and that gap significantly increases in size as range increases. BUY SOME EXCELLENT 243 WINCHESTER HUNTING AMMO HERE, BUY SOME GREAT 6.5 CREEDMOOR HUNTING AMMO HERE. If youâd like to learn more about some of the various hunting ammunition choices for the 6.5 Creedmoor, read this article: Best 6.5 Creedmoor Ammo For Hunting Elk, Deer, And Other Big Game. But you have to choose your ammo carefully. Both cartridges are extremely common in bolt-action rifles. Some people do handle recoil better than others, but all other things being equal, they will absolutely shoot more accurately with a milder recoiling cartridge. In addition to the great selection of ammunition available in .243 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor, there are also many quality rifles manufactured in these cartridges. That performance does come at a cost in terms of recoil though. Do you primarily hunt medium sized game like whitetail deer, feral hogs, or black bear at ranges within 200 yards? Just like with ammunition, 6.5 Creedmoor rifles are a little more common than .243 rifles.
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