Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Learn me about the .243

I've got test loads with 4350/95gr nosler bt and rl17/80gr ttsx ready for the range. Just waiting for the storm to pass and some good weather to shoot. Maybe Monday....

I go with humdinger on this one. I don't like to find bullets. I like a blood trail Hellen Keller could follow.
I don't want to follow my deer onto the neighbors property or find some body else tagging it.
I did have a big buck do the high ho silver and go to the bottom of a big ravine. He was a huge 9 pt buck and dragging him up hill by myself was something that could kill me at my age.
I was using a 200 gr bullet. I prefer 225 or 250 gr in my 35 Whelen now.

Well, I have more than a passing interest in this thread, as I acquired not one but TWO .243's last year... for the young'un's, I said, until I ended up killing two nice bucks with the Browning X-bolt .243, using Winchester 100 gr factory ammo. Power Point bullets, I believe.

So I tallied the "votes" on this thread, and this is the unscientific conclusion:

95 NBT 13
80 TTSX 5
85 TSX 4
100 HI-loc 4
85 SGK 2
100 NBT 1
NPT (no wt. specified) 1

Looks like everything works like the Hammer of Thor. Unless you're Whelenut, in which case a 225 gr bullet in a 35 Whelen is minimum caliber for deer.

That sure clears things up for me.

Doc,

Can't remember if I've already replied here or not !!

Must be all the whisky.

We've been slaying 'em with factory fodder for years.

100gr power points
100gr blue box federals
95gr federal fusions
& more that don't come readily to mind.

Have also kilt 'em with:

85gr TSX
80gr TTSX
95gr SST
et, al

The premiums all work too, however, do not kill any faster, nor any deader, than the C&C !!!!

It all works, as long as the nut behind the bolt, does his/her part.

Damn AMAZING, isn't it ?

Doc;

85TSX, with 87VMax as dupe loads for smaller than deer and practice.

I've found 3 bullets from an 06 and 2 from .280Rem. There goes that theory.

The only bullet I ever found from my 3006 was perfectly mushroomed... at least on the jacket portion. The cup & core 180 grain bullet ejected the lead out of it and the jacket rested just under the skin on the far side of a angle shot.

I wish I had kept that bullet to see how little mass was left to compare to the picture of that nicely expanded 243 bullet to see how initial entry mass and final entry mass compare for the same result.

I'm sure a copper 243 bullet will always exit because they work well in my 3006. The only reason I use them in the 3006 is to avoid the lead fragments in my meat. A little less velocity may not give the dramatic bang flop, but it certainly doesn't fragment lead everywhere.

^ truth.

My son recovered one from a whitetail buck he shot in the chest, straight on. It was recovered way back in the rear-end of the critter. Killed it instantly.

Not much of a bullet recovered. That's one of several deer he's shot with the 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip - and the first bullet recovered.

All the deer were recovered, right where they'd been standing. I think it's a great bullet. Accurate and lethal.

Regards, Guy

My little daughter (now 23 yrs. old) has killed 22 deer with 22 shots with her little Savage 110 .243. Not to mention hogs, one of which was pushing 500 lbs. We started out using Federal premium 100 gr. Nosler Partitions, and then duplicated the performance with a max handload of IMR 4350. The NP goes about 2980-3000 MV and usually exits. Kills very dead and very accurate for an off the shelf rifle. About 5/8 to 3/4 minute of angle shooting off a bag of corn on the S-10 picku-up hood.

pretty much my exact experiences as well.

I shot a nice Axis buck last spring and the 95NBT stayed in him. Killed him dead though.....

I've recovered several bullets from deer.
From the 243, I've stopped the 90 grain Speer HotCor and the 95 Grain Nosler Partition.

From the 6mm, a 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip.

From the 260, a 129 grain Hornady Spire Point.

From the 270 Winchester, a 130 grain Remington Corelokt.

From the 7mm/08, a 130 grain Speer BTSP and a 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip.

From the 280 Remington, a 139 grain Hornady Interbond.

From the 308, a 150 grain Hornady Spire Point.

None of those were removed from live deer.

I'm a 2 holes for more blood trail guy. Here is a 200gr RN from a .35 Rem at about 35yds, heavy bullets don't always mean exits. Quartering away, through the ribs and into the rear of the off shoulder.




Here is a picture of all the .243 Win bullets I've recovered:









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I recognize that knife! Mine is still in my hunting pack.

Yep, that's an MRK special. Absolutely awesome knife. I'm glad I held onto it. Your knife is the same pattern correct?

Yep, except mins is made from A2 steel.

I have never recovered a bullet from deer. High Brass recovered two 100gr Corelokts. Both deer were DRT. One buck was a head on shot just under the neck and was in the pauch but not messy. The other went through both shoulders at close range. I load 100gr Corelokts and he did to.

90 gr deep curl did it for my brother this year.

I'd say anything 85gr and up for deer, and anything 85 gr and down for varmints.

If yours is like mine I think it was a hinge on the gates of hell right before it was quenched for heat treating. I've only made the mistake of allowing mine to get dull once, won't be doing that again. When kept sharp and taken care of mine is scary.