The .243 is a wonderful cartridge in my humble estimation. I do feel that it is maybe a bit more of an expert's cartridge though, from the perspective that it is a very light caliber / light bullet and demands the utmost in shot placement and shot angle selection. The recoil will be light and that makes it excellent for the recoil shy or newer shooter. For pronghorn and the really light weight deer like the runty coues deer, it is lovely and has lots of power to do the job.

Am I correct in assuming that the WR rifle is the attraction and the caliber just happens to suit the desire for a low recoiling round?

For many years I would be very fussy over the caliber and would bypass wonderful rifles because they weren't specifically chambered in a cartridge that I thought was the "new revelation". I have long since learned that most calibers within a given caliber range are pretty much similar to each other with minor nits for differences. I think you would not go wrong with any of the short action cartridges in the .308 Winchester based family of cartridges. The 7mm-08 is one of my favourites in this group. Recoil is still light and bullets around 140 grains are well suited to all around use. You can even go heavier if you wish, as experience grows and recoil tolerance grows with it, but you then invite a bit more recoil. The long action cartridges burn more powder and generate more recoil along with it, i.e., 30-06 based cartridges such as the .25-06