Speaking from a reloading perspective, which would most prefer, the .243 Win ot the .244/6mm Remington? cottontop
The same, sort of. The 6MMs are normally chambered with slower twist barrels, thus limiting the use of heavier bullets. The .243s barrels normally have faster twist and will handle heavier bullets. With the same, lighter weight, bullets they both have generally the same capabilities. I have always favored the 6MM but feel the .243 has more versatility. This one falls in the category of personnel preference in bullets weights for a given use.
I do not believe that is correct. The original designation was .244 Remington and was introduced with a slower twist barrel. They changed the designation to 6mm and sped up the twist. The 6mm is capable of slightly higher velocities. The neck is also longer than the .243 and holds the bullets better. I vote 6mm!
'robo' may well be correct. Maybe I should have kept that 6MM back then. I still favor the 6MM over the .243, but then, I sold/traded all I had off. I stand corrected. These are old numbers but give some info. 243 Winchester - 1 in 9" . . . . . . .Remington 660, 700, 788 (1969); 243 Winchester - 1 in 9 1/8" . . .Remington 700, 7400, 7600, 7; 243 Winchester - 1 in 9 1/4" . . .Savage (present) 243 Winchester - 1 in 10" Browning; Colt; FN; Harrington and Richardson models 300, 308, 360; Husqvarna; Mannlicher Schoenauer; Musketeer; Mossberg 800; Remington 700, 40-XB; Savage 99, 110, 111, 112-V, 116 (old); Sako Bolt and Lever Actions; Schultz and Larsen; Stevens 110; Winchester 70, 88,100,670,770; J.C. Higgins 51-L; Ruger 1, 77; Wichita;Weatherby Vanguard; Thompson/Center Rifle 243 Winchester - 1 in 12" . . . . .Steyr SSG-PII 244 Remington - 1 in 10" . . . . . .Remington 700 244 Remington - 1 in 12" . . . . . .Remington 722, 760, 740, 725, 40-XB; Sako 6mm Remington - 1 in 9" . . . . . .Remington 600, 700, 742, 760, 660; Browning B-78; Ruger 6mm Remington - 1 in 9" . . . . . .Remington 700, 4, 6, 7, 7400,7600 6mm Remington - 1 in 10" . . . . .Remington 40-XB; Schultz and Larsen; Ruger 1, 77; Browning
I chose the 6mm rem it has a velocity edge between the two cartridges,I also like the longer neck for seating bullets.
I've had, and reloaded both. The 6MM has a longer neck, and IMHO is therefore much easier to reload. It also has about a 100 FPS velocity Advantage with equal bullet weights. The .243 bass is easier to find. Bottom line, I liked the 6MM better.( but the differnce is small. Both are great cartridges.)
Heard a story once about Jack O'Conner. He had little use for the guy that designed the .243, but had even less for Remington, so he got around it by just promoting Winchester rifles. I throw this pic around on here a lot, but it's just so damn good! This was with my wife's Tikka .243 and a nice load I worked up. 95 gr SST, 44 grains IMR 7828, CCI BR-2 primer and Hornady brass.
If you take your 6mm out to the field on a hunt 500 miles away and forget the ammo, you might be screwed. The 243 is a lot more common and shelf ready. Everybody has a 243 right? Here is some ammo in camp, it's my back up gun.
I prefer the .243 in my Sako A11 heavy barrel. With my loads, it shoots one hole groups at 100 yards when I do my part. It is also very easy to load for anything from small varmints to deer size game. Jim.........
Got a real nice old 700V in 6mm......and a lovely 700 in .243. The former has been a very solid varmint rig,still wearing its original 6-18 Burris.It shows a marked preference for Sierra 100 g'ers,be that match or gamekings.Loads and shoots very easy with IMR 4350.Case life is alittle better than the .243's. Our 700,.243 loves the Sierra 85 g BTHP's to the degree that you can call it a one load gun.Its now wearing one of our stocks and a period correct('69),Weaver 3-9.Although it performs on paper and varmints with the 85's.......it has been an amazing performer with Speer 100's(plain base) on small to med. Deer.The case life isn't quite good as the 6. If I was building from scratch would go with the 6mm. Edit to add......just refilled my coffee,theres 4 Deer standiing in the yard behind house.They're does........IF,it were hunting season,the .243 would've been the go-to rifle to drop one of them.Thats how we've always seen the .243.......handy,efficient,get the job done calibre.The 6 always seemed to be a little more purpose driven.
I would love to get up to Wyoming more, only been there once or twice. Lots of game to hunt and open spaces, I can see the need for the flat shooting rounds. I have hunted from TX for hogs to SD for pheasant and pdogs. We usually stop at WM or a small shop for supplies forgotten and I always check to see what ammo they keep on shelf, most places seem very basic calibers 223, 243, 30-30, 30-06, 270, 7mm-08, and 7 mag. It is hard to find 16 ga shells anymore for my dads Browning.
On a side note, .243 can be made from .308 brass and 6mm can be made from 7mm Mauser or .257 Roberts cases.
.244 That is interesting. In one of the older Speer reloading manuals, Jack O'Conner talks about once having had a custom .244 built on a Mexican Mauser action by one of the leading custom gunsmiths of the time. He states how he could not get it to group well at all with factory loads. He then loaded up some 90 grain Speer bullets and the gun shot sub MOA groups. Either Speer paid him a lot of money to say that or he really did not mind the .244 caliber. cottontop
What the heck is the diff., but like c3 said .243 cases & ammo will be easier to find.................
