New hunting rifle, .233 trainer, or upgrade current .308?

[TaperPin]

My advice is always a 243 as a trainer - it’s easy to shoot all day, but has a moderate pop to it so your brain keeps remembering what recoil is. A rifle with minimal recoil may be more pleasant to shoot, but it doesn’t keep up a recoil tolerance as well. The 243 seems to be the sweet spot for many new and experienced shooters, so they can plink with it 11 months out of the year, and pick up a larger caliber during hunting season and be able to shoot just as accurately with higher recoiling guns.

243s are also plentiful - I used to run 1,000 to 1,500 rounds through one, sell it for its purchase price before accuracy goes to crap, buy another, rinse and repeat. Now the hassle of buying and selling isn’t worth the savings and I’ll simply replace the barrel.

A CM with light bullets doesn’t have a lot more recoil, so that’s not a terrible option, but it’s more and not doing you any favors either. I have both and still recommend the 243.

 

[WCT3]

What factory 243 ammo does everyone like? Preferably something heavy for caliber and cheap enough for training but still effective for hunting

 

[mtnbound]

New scope is in order no matter what I do, if I get the 223 I'll put a drop tested scope on the 308 and my current scope on the 223.

The only reason I wasn't considering the 243 is that I can't find any factory ammo loaded with heavy 6mm bullets. I don't reload and I'm not really interested in starting any time soon.

It varies year to year. This year was probably about 400 rounds of 308, 400 of 223 from my AR, and a pile of 22 just plinking.

I almost exclusively traipse so as light as reasonable will be the goal.

If it was available in a factory Tikka I would definitely consider it

Fixing your flinch would be much easier with the 223. While there is recoil difference between a 308 and 6.5, I don’t know if that is enough to help fix the flinch. Another option would be to go with a different platform and go with 6 ARC. The 6 ARC gives you reduced recoil, cheaper practice ammo, long barrel life and has good terminal ballistics for most hunters needs. The Howa Mini seems to be popular and even comes with a threaded barrel, it’s worth a serious look.