In this video I put the 6mm Remington and the .243 Winchester head-to-head and answer a question I’ve had for a long time: how does a cartridge that’s fast, flat, light recoiling, and absolutely capable on deer end up nearly obsolete? In my opinion, it’s bad marketing—plain and simple. The 6mm Remington got pigeonholed early as more of a varmint cartridge (and often paired with slower twist barrels), while the .243 was pushed harder as a legit 100-grain deer round. And that branding stuck. I break down the cartridge “family tree” (7x57 Mauser → .257 Roberts → 6mm Rem, versus .30-06 → .308 → .243) and then compare what they actually do. The reality is the 6mm Rem basically does what the .243 does, just with a little more speed—think a couple hundred feet per second depending on the load. I also shoot an old-school Remington 700 that’s smooth as butter, has a ridiculously crisp trigger, and shows why these classic rifles still make a ton of sense for public land deer hunting. My takeaway: if you already own a 6mm Rem, it’s an awesome small-bore deer rifle and I’d hunt with it happily. If you’re buying your first low-recoil hunting rifle today, I’d steer you toward .243 simply because ammo is easier to find.