Kind of a long story but I got talked into buying a gun that didn't fit my needs when I was 18, I wanted a .308 Savage model 10 or 11 package deal and the gun shop convinced me to get a Model 12 in .308 with the 26" fluted varmint profile barrel. While it shoots great it is heavy as sin and not something I would like to take out into the woods with me. Come about a month ago I decided to finally break down and make some changes, thought about just selling it but it was my first rifle and has some sentimental value there.

My new plan for it is to swap the barrel and get a Hogue overmold stock for it and kind of have my own version of the Model 16 weather warrior. Midway has Er Shaw barrels and I was looking to pick one up in .243 to give me a wider variety of game that I could take as well as being more enjoyable to shoot at the range for fun. I have a .30-30 as another deer rifle and i don't see myself hunting outside of FL, GA, AL for quite sometime, biggest thing I would be going for would be our white tails and hogs. Looking to make my Savage a good 'do all' gun and the .30-30 could be used when I'm worried about the smaller .243 going through the brush.

I'm mainly looking for confirmation in my caliber choice as I've never hunted with a .243 before, I looked at 7mm-08 but it seemed too big for varmints and such and not as commonly stocked on the shelves. My Wal-Mart had 58, 80, 90 and 100 grain options in .243. My wife and eventually kids I feel would do better with it until they were old enough and interested enough to get something of their own.

Any other calibers I should consider? Anything I'm missing in my decision?

.308 would be a better choice, IMHO.  

Can "do it all" on up to black bear (maybe browns too?) with the right bullet (and there are many, many bullet weights), range, and placement.  
It will achieve pretty much all it needs to in a 20 inch barrel as well.

It will also ultimately be cheaper to shoot, if that is a concern with the mil=spec stuff being cheap in comparison to many other cartridges.

I would stick with the .308 with a lighter barrel.

I would stick with the .308 with a lighter barrel.

This

Just get a new rifle.  For what your going to spend don't he current one you can have a Ruger American compact in .308.  And your going to hate that flimsy hogue stock.

x87

What stock would you recommend for use on a hunting rifle?

I know I'm looking to spend upwards of $400 on this and there are cheaper options, but that doesn't help that I'd still have a gun in my safe that serves no purpose to me so why waste the money? Plus I already have the scope.

I appreciate the responses for .308 and understand it will take larger game with ease, but I hardly hunt as it is and the biggest thing I go for are our white tail so it seems more than I want to deal with recoil wise and damage wise on smaller game. It's not 100% ruled out but it's not exactly a varmint cartridge.

Buy a .270.....

Trust me I've toyed with the idea, lol. "Get both" and all

Figure a .243 will do good on critters through deer, .30-30 will do good on deer and hogs in the brush, and if I ever go for something bigger I would have enough time to get a .270.

Cant shoot deer in Fla with a .223, so   .243 "might" be no go as well (correct me if im wrong). they say no .22 caliber, so dont know if .243 falls in that or not.

Id stick with .308, its the do-all caliber IMO.

Ruger GSR .308, Lightweight, lots of sighting options Iron, Scout scope Regular scope, red dots. I like to have iron sights available based on a recent experience with a rifle scope but thats me.

Go .358

.243 is a great caliber for the purposes you describe.

You might want to look at a stiffer stock such as this laminated one:  Stocky'sStocks

It's hard to beat a 270 for all around deer gun.  Flat and fast.  I've used one for the last 30 years and had no problem.

.243 is a .24 caliber, very much legal for deer

Is the Hogue that much more flimsy than the factory stock? The one I'm looking at us the full length aluminum bedding, not just the pillar bedding and has gotten good reviews everywhere else.

ETA: I thought .223 was deer legal here, thought the only requirement was that it had to be a centerfire cartridge.

This is correct.



 

Some people like them, but I despise Hogue stocks.  They are too grippy.  They grab your clothes and can get caught when you're shouldering the rifle.  I think the aluminum chassis Hogues are in the $200 range aren't they?  Get a Bell & Carlson Medalist instead.  Or a Boyd's.  Hell, get anything but a Hogue.
The non-aluminum chassis ones are very flimsy.

Just buy another rifle, even if you aren't going to sell the one you have. I have been hunting deer with a 243 for a long time in Tn, Ky, and NC, and it NEVER let me down- never had one run more than 100 yards while leaving a nice blood trail and ripping some nasty holes all the way through. FWIW, "shooting through brush" causes potential shenanighans with about any caliber.

I like old skool .30-06, but can't hunt deer with it in Ohio

Another recomendation for "keep your current rifle as-is and buy a new rifle for hunting".  Frankly, sometimes I feel like shooting paper and sometimes I feel like shooting deer.  Sounds like your original rifle is a great set up for shooting paper.  I'd keep it as-is for use at the range and as a reminder to not let gun shop guys influence your buying  Since you probably already have a bunch of .308 (and possibly are set up to reload for .308), then why not another .308?  Ruger GSR or Savage Hog Hunter would make for a nice handling woods rifle with irons for backup.

I would go with a mossberg MVP in .308.

Get a nice limbsaver butt pad for your rifles so you can negate recoil.

I don't reload for .308 and only have about 60 rounds for it.

I ordered an Er Shaw barrel from Midway USA in .243 the yesterday, backordered but hopefully will be here come January sometime.

I certainly did learn the lesson of buying what I want and not what the gun store is peddling me, I've always wanted to upgrade it because it has the cheap factory stock (pre Accu-Stock) and a few other things anyway, so switching barrels wasn't that far out of the realm of what I wanted to spend anyway.

If I do decide to get a paper puncher later on I'd be more inclined for the 6.5 Creedmoor

How effective are the limbsavers? They've never really been on my radar to be honest, and part of the deciding factor on .243 instead of .308 is the recoil. I don't mind a nice smack in the shoulder but when it gets to the point of being painful it's no longer fun and I know .308 is too much for my wife and or kids at this point.

243 isn't bad at all.  

If you reload, 7mm-08 is a good choice.  Factory ammo availability is limited, but there are a lot of good 140 gr. .284 bullets on the market.  I shot factory ammo in a Model 7 for 12 years, accumulated a ton of brass.  Broke down and bought a press and dies this year.

Limbsaver pad on my Encore makes for a nice pad.

243 is fine. I am a bit biased as i am a243 fanboy. You can kill a 200# Hog @300yds with a decent shot anytime. However, I do have a 338WM for other times.

Your 308 will serve you well ! With all the factory loadings availble you should be able to find one with reduced recoil that shoots more like 243 without a new gun.
I think someone makes a 125gn that comes out at around 3000f\s..?

IMO... Keep what you have. Changing to 243 from 308 for the purpose you described makes little sence... unless you are having a recoil issue due to injury or other ? Try a box of lighter grain bullets first before making a change.

good luck.

I understand the desire for a new gun.  A heavy gun is no fun unless you're watching fields.  I got spoiled over the years toting a lightweight Model 7.  When I switched to a 270 Pro Hunter for my main deer gun, I realized how nice the M7 was.

The Limbsaver works well, I installed one on my Tikka T3 lite in 270 WSM, recoil was brutal with the stock hard rubber pad, now it barely has any felt recoil, still has noticable movement but no Pain. for me this is a big plus as I have a rotator cuff problem that makes shooting Hard hitting rifles a week long recovery from the pain. with the limbsaver I'm fine in just a few minutes.

Jason

page 2 ownership LOL

I had kind of ruled out the 7mm-08 due to the fact Wal-Mart and such rarely have it, but the more I started to realize I can roll my own and only need a few boxes of hunting ammo I'm really starting to think about it too.

7-08 is a great round for a lightweight rifle, as is 243. I buy all my hunting ammo at wally world. Either option is good for the "pointability"/lightweight  factor when shooting offhand (which is usually the case hunting deer, at least for me) as well as the lesser recoil advantage. As far as reloading the 7-08 (or whatever you decide to hunt with) what do you seriously think your round count is going to be? I fire hundreds of match grade 308 a year at paper (mostly) but for my hunting rifles (243 and 30-30) I buy 1 or 2 boxes a year, using maybe 10 rounds pre-season to check zero and maybe sling a few offhand shots at 200 and 300 yards. If I reloaded these it would take years to get to the point where I would be saving any $ after the costs of dies, projectiles, etc. YMMV.

These are my two all prepuces, beat arounds.   A 308 AR10A2 Carbine clone and the other is a AR15A2-45acp carbine.   Usually the 45 stays on the three wheeler or in the truck.



Wolf

Honestly not much more than that, and not enough to make up the difference price wise in a hurry it's just something I'd consider for fun. I could always have a few boxes on hand for range trips. It's more that I'd like the option of going out and shooting paper with my hunting rifle without hurting my shoulder or wallet and 7mm-08 isn't at my Wal-Mart lately, always have Bass Pro and the LGS though.

243 is an excellent, versatile caliber.

I like how flat shooting it is and what a wide range of projectiles in can handle too.

One other consideration I had was the .260 Remington, how does it stack up to .243 and 7mm-08? I've heard that it is dying off but brass and 6.5mm bullets will,be around still for reloading.

I built  a psa .308 for this hunting season because I really like the AR platform.  However  after lugging it around  most of the season  one night I switched back to my GSR. I quickly remembered why I love that rifle.

I sincerely doubt .260 is dying off, but it is another, in my opinion, excellent caliber.  Heavier bullet selection with better long range bullet availability than the 6mm .243.  I know 7mm projectiles have come a ways in the last few years but I'm not really up to speed on them.

I think the .260 makes a better "all around" caliber than .243 but only just, and mainly if you reload.  You mention store availability as a concern, and if it is I think you're best bet is .243 in the 6 to 7mm range.

.260 Rem is a great caliber.  It won't die because it is one of the best options for long range target shooting.  OTOH you won't find ammo in most Walmarts.  I handload so I don't worry.  I took my deer this year with a .260.  125 Nosler Partition thru and thru and the deer fell in under 50 yards.

(I normally wouldn't use a premium bullet on deer but it's what I had loaded.)

I love mine and think it is an outstanding deer round; everyone I've killed with it has dropped in place or gone a very short distance. As has been stated, it's probably not a bad thing to be a reloader if you go with it as ammo is not quite as common.