All Calibres Sketches-02The 243 Winchester was first introduced in 1955. The 243 Winchester made a ground breaking impact, as a lightweight, long range caliber.  Ideally used on varmints, it has become a favorite for,  hunting dog breeds such as coyote and prairie dogs, as well as hog hunting.  The blacktail deer, whitetail deer, mule deer and pronghorn have also been hunted with much success using the 243 Winchester.

Armed with only a 100 grain projectile, this caliber is able to reach a velocity of 2 960 feet per second. Thereby confirming its ability to succeed as a great deer hunting caliber, despite the size of the cartridge, especially when used in combination with a good hunting rifle.  In many countries, however, the 243 Winchester is considered to be the minimum size required to hunt deer sized animals, due to its lightweight nature.

Why is the 243 Winchester a popular hunting caliber?

  • It achieves high velocities: The 243 Winchester packs a punch despite being light in nature.  It travels at a high velocity and therefor provides a high energy point of impact to the varmints/game hunted.
  • Highly effective at mid-range level: These hunting rifles have proven to be very effective at achieving hunting kill shots within the 250 to 400 yard range (mid-range level). However, it has achieved great success at hunting dog breeds at even greater distances.
  • Low recoil: Given its light weight, the 243 Winchester has very low recoil, and is considered ideal for beginners in the hunting arena.
  • Highly accurate: The 243 Winchester is considered to be a very accurate, and therefore deadly.
  • Flexible in use: When reloading bullets, 308 Winchester bullet cases can comfortably be resized and adapted in order to fit 243 bullet tips.
  • Works well with silencers: 243 Winchester hunting rifles can easily be fitted with a silencer, without detracting from its accuracy, velocity or performance.

Animals you can hunt with the 243 Winchester:

  • Hogs
  • Blacktail deer
  • Whitetail deer
  • Mule deer
  • Pronghorn

Hunting rifles that make use of the caliber:

  • Sako A7
  • Kimbre Model 84M Classic
  • Browning A-Bolt 11 Stainless Stalker
  • CZ 550
  • Remington SPS Stainless

Peregrine Bullets For The 243 Winchester

Peregrine BushMaster

The Peregrine BushMaster is ideal for any type of game hunting in thicket and is suitable for short to medium range applications. The Peregrine BushMaster is an expanding bullet with similar ballistics as the Peregrine Solid Copper bullet.

Peregrine PlainsMaster

The Peregrine PlainsMaster bullet is a spitzer hunting bullet designed for open terrain hunting with medium range application. The Peregrine PlainsMaster is also an expanding bullet, with a brass plunger that enhances nose expansion and mushrooming at high and low bullet velocities.

Peregrine Solid Copper

The Peregrine Solid Copper reloading bullet is designed to be used in conjunction with the Peregrine BushMaster range for sighting your hunting rifle.  Due to the solid construction there will be no bending or fragmenting.

Peregrine Match

The Peregrine Peregrine Match Reloading Bullet is a competition shooting bullet mainly used for medium range target shooting and is a practice shooting substitute for the Peregrine PlainsMaster bullet. The Peregrine Match bullet has increased velocity but less recoil compared to to lead-core bullets.