Introduced in 1955 by Winchester, the .243 Winchester is one of the most popular and versatile cartridges available.  Derived from the .308 Winchester, the .243’s low recoil and flat trajectory make it an excellent all around cartridge.  Due to a wide bullet selection being readily available, the .243 can be applied just as well on the shooting bench looking over prairie dog town as it can waiting for a whitetail from 15’ up a tree.  The 243’s accuracy potential is excellent making it a popular choice of competitive shooters.

**WARNING** In firearms that use a floating firing pin (such as the AR-15 and its variants), dropping the bolt on a chambered round could lead to a slam fire. It is important that these firearms are loaded from the magazine so that the bolt loses inertia when it strips a round from the magazine. It is also important NOT to use sensitive primers that aren’t designed for use in an AR, as this increases the chance of a slam fire.