.243 or 25-06 ??

[springfisher]

Looking at buying one in a stevens 200 and i cant decide on what caliber to go with. This gun will be used mostly for coyote,wolf and some range time with the girlfriend as i want to start her off with a light kicker... any advise??
Thanks
R

[AB2506]

For what you just described, the 243. If your primary focus was deer etc, I would strongly advise you to go with the 25-06 which much superior to the 243 on deer, antelope, sheep etc.

[slopeshunter]

.243

[Pioneer2]

A kid can handle a 25-06 mine do and it will plant elk ,black bear and moose.Harold

[Cowtown guy]

I recently purchased a Stevens .243 and it is a great little gun. The recoil is laughable and the gun is quite light and manageable.

The recoil is so light that I have a buddy that will be teaching his daughter to shoot with this gun over the summer.

The total price was 600 bones. That was the gun, rings and bases, 50 brass, 50 bullets and a bushnell 3200 3-9x40 scope. I thought that was pretty hard to beat.

[Bobby B.]

Go with the .243 due to its lighter recoil. Years ago, a hunter with the last name of Froma, dropped a gagger whitetail buck as it was running across a field at 300 yds. The story was printed in the Big Buck magazine. Froma told me the true story in person at the Evergreen club in Drayton Valley. His name was either Gerry or Jerry.

From my experience, most female hunters tend to limit the distance of their shots more so than their male counterparts. That being said, I'd relish the opportunity to field test some .243 Berger VLD's on deer. Can't see why they wouldn't drop a good sized buck out to 250-300 yds. On coyotes and wolves, the .243 loaded with 70-85 grainers would be an excellent choice.

Bobby B.

Did you guys notice the Stevens is down to $310 at wholesale? They were up to $330 there for a bit, i paid $319 2 years ago now. I just realized that, i am going to go see if they have a 25-06 asap, what a heck of a deal. Would that be due to the weak US dollar per chance? Makes a guy wonder.
Quick question in relation to this post, how significant is the recoil of a 25-06 vs 243 vs 223? If a 12 year old can handle a 223 just fine will the 243 or 25-06 seem like much of a step up? I haven't shot either the 25-06 or 223 so I'm curious.

Originally Posted by springfisher

Looking at buying one in a stevens 200 and i cant decide on what caliber to go with. This gun will be used mostly for coyote,wolf and some range time with the girlfriend as i want to start her off with a light kicker... any advise??
Thanks
R

love the 243 cal.

[ARCTIC CAT]

Just bought the 25-06 in stevens from russels. so far so good.

[Wrongside]

I'm a big fan of the 25-06. With 100 grain bullets it doesn't recoil much more than a 243 on steroids. With 120s it acts like a little 270. 75Vmax would make a nice low recoil target or varmint load if you handload.

The 243 has a wider variety of factory loads more easily available if you're not a handloader.

Neither would be a mistake.

[Donny Bear]

Bought my son a 243 Bought the wife 25-06

The son uses the 25-06 I use it and the wife took 7 animals with it.
it has taken Elk, Moose, Sheep and lots of Deer. The 243 will take a bear this spring with meas the son only wants it for yotes and vermin the 243 is slightly the better shooter but everyone loves the 25 what can I say.

[springfisher]

thanks for the info, i think i may go for the .243 as i do have other guns if i chose to go for bigger than a deer,i am not a handloader and the price and availabilty of .243 ammo is much better.....85 % sure but who knows i might end up with both

[buckfever]

buy both lol

[Rusty P. Bucket]

I would flip a coin on that one, you can't lose either way. I happen to have a 25 and it doesn't kick at all but it is a heavy barrelled Ruger. No. 1 and I suppose the weight soaks up some of the recoil.

[Grizzly Adams]

i have a .243, which I use strictly for coyotes and down. If I was looking for something a little less specialized, I'd settle on the 25/06. As for wolf, I'd be using bigger artillery.
Grizz

[catnthehat]

25'06 all the way!
Cat

[25-06rem.model700]

my 25-06 was my 1st gun and my only centerfire aside form my hornet ive used that gun on deer, coyotes, and a wolf. Only thing that i shoot twice was the wolf and i didnt really need to cause he was done. I ve shot .243 and their a great gun but i dont see much difference in recoil and i was only about 115 pounds when i started shooting my 25 and the recoil didnt bug me at all. If i was only going for yotes the .243 with 58 vmax would be my pic but since your hunting deer and wolves (which can be tough to kill) id go with the 25-06 which is also do able for moose and elk

[roger]

ive owned neither but i would lean towards the 2506 ifn the choice were mine...
now if you said 243 shortfat that would have made me go hmmmmm