New hunting rifle

[K9kodi]

My hunting closet has rifles very capable

- christen arms ridgeline fft 300wm

-weatherby vanguard 338wm

-tikka t3 lite .270

- couple cva 50 muzzleloaders

- 3 marlin stamped 336 in 30-30

- Winchester 1894 in 30-30

I want to add another deer rifle.
I’m thinking 270 or 243.

What is everyone’s experience with the blr in 243. Was also thinking about the bar in 243 or 270. The only comp to that would be the benelli semi auto.

I love the new line of winchesters but the calibers are limited.

My father has a 308 blr and needs the trigger done and doesn’t shoot very well, but I think that may be mainly him.

[jeepnik]

My first deer was taken with a .243. It's a family rifle and now in the hands of my nephew for his kids to use. Very capable cartridge, less recoil than a .270 and you already have a .270.

[K9kodi]

Yea but I’m trying to get suggestions on platforms. Auto, how is the blr

[GunnyMack]

Everybody seems to overlook the 25s. I've always been a fan of .257s.
I have 3 25-20s, a custom 257 Roberts Ackley Improved.
The AI will sling 60gr bullets at 3800+ and up to 120gr bullets which will handle every deer or antelope or goat just fine.
The newest 25 bore is the 25 Creedmore and from what I've read it's a good cartridge.

I like the ol 6mm Remington too! Sorry I sold the one I built!

[AJMD429]

.
Looking at the collection you have already, I don't see any 25 or 24 caliber rifles, and you already have a 270, so it would make sense to expand your horizons with a 243 Winchester of some sort. Honestly, if you like lever guns you might consider the Henry Long Ranger, or even a BLR.

I have a 6mm Remington Ruger M77 that is a tack-driver, and with several decent bullets available can hit a coyote at 500 yards (from a solid rest) or a whitetail out half that distance easily, or a head-shot on a squirrel at 100 yards for that matter. The 243 Winchester is about the same, and isn't 'obsolete' like the 6mm unfortunately is becoming.

The Henry - https://www.henryusa.com/firearm/h14-long-ranger-rifle/
and https://www.guns.com/news/review/gun-re ... in-243-win

[K9kodi]

Diplicate

[K9kodi]

I don’t want another bolt for sure, eventually sure, next one, nah.

I would love a 25. But I’m not sure of a pump or lever or semi in that flavor.

Weatherby just came out w a 25rpm that looks awesome, but I want a lever, pump or semi auto.

I have a Christensen arms ridgeline, carbon fiber stock and barrel, muzzle break, 300wm. That’s my go to for bug big game or distances

Right now it looks like only options for 243 is bar or blr, I would go 30-06 like the benelli endurance

[GunnyMack]

25-35 Winchester in a 94
250-3000( 250 Savage) in a a 99

[TraderVic]

BLR, 243, don't look back......

[ndcowboy]

BLRs are beautiful rifles.....but I've never cared for the trigger. Owned five over the years and don't have any now. A few years ago I was carrying a BLR 308 and a group of mule deer stood up in front of me. I didn't want any of the deer in the group but I dry fired on one three times and every trigger pull took me off my target picture. I hadn't realized it shooting on target but in field conditions that trigger was way too heavy.

[Ray]

Immediately the Henry H14 Long Ranger in .243 win. came to mind......running that model through Davidson's search engine gives a quote from a local shop for $1185.22 inc. tax, shipping & transfer fee.....

[Tycer]

If I were going to buy a BLR I would make sure it’s a shooter and then send it off pronto to have the trigger done.

[t.r.]

I've downed mulies and pronghorn antelope at distances way out to approx. 250 yards with my Remington .243 rifle. This fast cartridge performs quite well, indeed! TR

[Paladin]

The 243 has a pretty stout muzzle blast, but is a GREAT deer rifle. The 270 reaches farther and is a bit more pleasant to shoot. My first rifle was a 25-06 bolt gun. I just gave my wife a 270 Rem 700 to hunt with last year.

[AJMD429]

Immediately the Henry H14 Long Ranger in .243 win. came to mind......running that model through Davidson's search engine gives a quote from a local shop for $1185.22 inc. tax, shipping & transfer fee.....

One of those just might be my next long gun (not that I need one, but my 6 mm Remington as my only 0.243” gun, and although I will use it for the rest of my lifetime, it’s probably not one of my kids or grandchildren would be able to use as much as a 243 Winchester chambered firearm, due to the huge difference in ammunition availability).

The Henry’s seem to be well-made and accurate, plus I have a strong tendency to prefer buying products made in the US. They aren’t a pretty gun by most standards, but I don’t buy guns to look at; I buy them to shoot things with.

“… but $1200 is an awful lot to pay for a gun…”

REALLY…??? I see a lot of complaining about gun and ammo prices the past few years, but most of us on this forum have been around a while, and as for myself, I started buying firearms and ammunition in the 1970s. Dollars are worth about 1/6 of what they were worth back then. I would not have felt that spending $200 on a high-quality rifle in 1975 was outrageous, in fact I bought a Ruger M77V in 6 mm Remington back then for just under $300. It was not a casual purchase, but I didn’t feel I was being ripped off. I still have that gun, and to get a new equivalent would probably be close to $1500.

So… a $1,200 rifle now sounds ‘expensive’ to those of us whose brains were learning the value of the dollar 50 years ago, when $3.00 was worth 12 gallons of gas instead of one or two gallons, but what is now a$1200 rifle would’ve been selling for $200 in 1975, so it’s not gotten more expensive, US currency is just worth less.

As an example, Rural King had very good Federal brand plated 22LR hollow point ammunition selling for I think $65 for 1100 round box.
That is six cents per round. I remember being elated to find Winchester wildcat plain lead, non-hollow point, $10 per 500 round brick when I was in high school; that was two cents per round. So although the emotional part of me sees that $65 price tag for what is slightly over two bricks of ammo, and I’m thinking that’s $30 a brick and a real rip off. But then I realize that the government has been printing money and making my money worth less, so it’s only worth about a sixth of what it used to be worth. The net result is that the 22 ammunition at Rural King is essentially half the price I was paying in high school.

Even that BHA 89 I bought a few years ago, at an ‘introductory’ price of around $2,700 (definitely the most expensive firearm I’ve ever bought), would really be a $450 firearm if adjusted for inflation. Definitely not a cheap gun to be bought on a whim (not that I would EVER do that… ), but certainly quite reasonable for a firearm that should last well over a century ( the 32-20 Marlin rifle I have was manufactured in 1890, and I am the fourth generation to enjoy shooting it).

[Tycer]

Good points Doc

[piller]

Using proper ammo, I would be happy to take a .243 after deer. I have used a 7mm08, and must say that they work well with a mild recoil. I have used .270 a few times with good results. For 200 yards or less, and nothing larger than Elk, I would pick the 7mm08. It is actually just fine to greater distance than I prefer to shoot. It will take Elk with a 130+ weight bullet and do it just fine. The number of 7mm bullets available for reloading is another plus. A 7mm tipped triple shock is my most accurate bullet in my reloads.

[Drawdown]

My brother got the new BAR last summer in 7mm08. Like always, he brought it to me to mount a new Vortex scope, Zeroed, several boxes of ammo. I got to say its first Auto that stole my heart! Beautiful rifle, plenty accurate, recoil less than a 30-30! Actually I consider it now, as fine a woods stalking rifle as could be had. It just comes to shoulder naturally as a good levergun, handles so well, even if a little heavier than I'd prefer, but its balanced to me so im sure it'd be easily accurate on quick shots! I absolutely love the rifle, even if it is an Auto! I have an old Rem 742 Woodsmaster in 30-06, and no contest! I love 270Win now, but in a BAR, I'd consider only a 7mm08 1st, 308W 2nd, either would have mild recoil in that rifle! I know the 243s reputation, but I wouldn't consider it over those cartridges in that rifle, just my honest opinion, and I shot it a lot then, and some since!
I have some pics I think, but can't send em now. Might tomorrow.
The 7mm08 is a sudden death cartridge inside 250yds, has proved it over a 100 years by its 7x57 clone!
No, not the best trigger in world, but its very tolerable, I shot it well. It's not a benchrest rifle anyways, so in the woods hunting, its plenty good!
Honestly, if was younger, still working had money to spare, I'd probably buy one myself, and definitely in 7mm08! If you do, try Hornady American Whitetail 140gr in it, it shot it almost Boltaction type groups! Best i remember 1.5" +- little at 100yds.

[geobru]

I bought a 308 BLR in 1978 that has accounted for a ton of venison and elk meat. I have several sub MOA rifles, but the BLR is the only one that I have ever had a 3 shot 1/2" group at 125 yards and the 4th shot hit the thumb tack that was holding the target. (Using shot bags.)

On game, most of the animals that were either not moving or walking slowly were neck or head shot at ranges from 20 to 300 yards. I had friends that shot it and some groused about the trigger because of the slack in it before you get it tight to the sear, but I guess I got used to it and it was never a handicap as far as accuracy goes.

I wouldn't hesitate to get a BLR in 243.

BLRandRacks.jpg

BLRandRacks_Side_view.jpg

These are the best blacktail racks that I have gotten. All were neck shots at 20, 80, and 155 yards in the timber.

[K9kodi]

Hahahhaa I love it. Only rifle to shoot sub moa for 3 then the 4th is a flyer. I don’t know if that’s horrid or that baby is so ugly it’s cute.

I wish I could go shoot a few before buying one.

[geobru]

It wasn't a flyer. I aimed at the tack and hit it.
That was the coolest shot I ever made at a target. At the crack of the rifle, the target floated down to the ground.
It was awesome!

[6pt-sika]

Everybody seems to overlook the 25s. I've always been a fan of .257s.
I have 3 25-20s, a custom 257 Roberts Ackley Improved.
The AI will sling 60gr bullets at 3800+ and up to 120gr bullets which will handle every deer or antelope or goat just fine.
The newest 25 bore is the 25 Creedmore and from what I've read it's a good cartridge.

I like the ol 6mm Remington too! Sorry I sold the one I built!

I was a 257 Bob fan for a long time having had a Ruger 77R tang safety a Remington 722 and finally a Ruger #1B . Anyway I was fine until I shot a deer with the 1B shooting handloaded Nosler 115 grain BT’s . I shot a buck at about forty yards angling towards me the angle I was taking should have taken both lungs and maybe clipped the heart . After the shot he came by closer with left front leg swinging and went over into a large gulley , got down looked for him for several hours never to be found , by rights that deer shoulda been dead within 75 yards of where I shot him . Don’t blame the bullet previously I’d killed half a dozen with that bullet handloaded in various 25-06’s and a 257 Weatherby Magnum . Since that day I’ve soured on old Bob . Only 25’s I’ve any use for anylonger are the 25-06 and the Weatherby .

[Lastmohecken]

I have a BLR in .308 that I bought new back in about 1989 or 90, and I have killed more deer with than any other rifle I own and I have a little of everything. Mine had always been about a 1 to 1-1/4" gun at 100 yards. It's the best running deer gun, that I have ever used. But in my opinion, It needs a couple of things. It needs a trigger job, and not just anybody can do a good trigger job. I had a trigger job done on mine, shortly after I purchased it by a fine gunsmith who has now aged out and doesn't do work anymore. And I have shot it so much that it has gotten better with age and use. The second thing it needs, is the stock shortened about 1/2", they just have too long a length of pull from the factory for fast lever work. Fix those two things and they make fine rifles for about anything, with the right glass on them. And in my opinion the best combination is a Leupold 2 x 7 or 2.5 x 8 scope mounted in a Leupold Junior mount with medium height rings.

I might add that I have never owned the later generations of the BLR with the lightweight frames. I don't particularly like the way they feel to me, when I shoulder one, but others may like them just fine.

[EdinCT]

Around 1977 I was working with a older Gentleman and mention how I was going to buy a 99 Savage in 308 before the next deer season. I then offered me a BLR he had bought years before and never shot for exactly what he paid for it. He said when he bought it he had bought two one in 243 and the .308 and after using the 243 he realized he would never need the 308.
So I bought the 308 and it shot 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards with factory Cor lokts. I used it ten years and the guys that I hunted with called it the Death Ray. I stopped using it because my Dad gave my his Husky 30-06 bolt with a Timney Trigger and after shooting that trigger the BLR seemed like it took all week to go off. I had been told the BLR trigger could not be worked on by the only gun smith around in my area so after a divorce and need of funds I sold it to a friend. He has hunted with it since with great satisfaction.