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

I'm picking one up tomorrow, Remington model seven .243, blued synthetic. It'll be used for deer mainly, and the occasional groundhog for practice. Will 95gr nosler ballistic tips do the trick? What about the 90 grainers? Any difference in toughness? What powder is best?

Good bullets, won't matter which one you use. Imr4350, varget, and imr4064 are good ones to try first. Bump the lands and rock on.

95 grain Ballistic Tips and 4350 powder are pure poison on deer.

I like bullets a bit tougher than the BT. Killed several deer with them, but sometimes did not get the penetration I wanted. Have never had anything but good results from the Partition in the 6mm chamberings.

I used to run 100gr btips in my 25-06 and never had one not make it through a deer from 20 yards to 350. Was hoping the 90 or 95 in .243 would be the same. What about 90gr accubonds?

I have yet to see a 95 grain NBT stay inside a deer near or far.

85g TSX is crazy wicked. I'm pushing them at almost 3,500 FPS out of my .243AI. 3,250+ should be easy out of a vanilla .243, which is still smokin'.

Here's one I recovered on a near full-length body shot at a distance ...



If I recall, this bullet weighed about 84.2g after impact/expansion. Traveled over 24" through the deer as well.

Deer bullets: 95 grain NBT Shoot great, give deer an instant dirt nap.

I killed a deer this year at a range of 20 yards, with a .243 and the 95 NBT.

Complete penetration, usually at that range the TTSX and TSX are the only ones I've used that will do that.

Very accurate.

An 80 grain TTSX can be made to smoke out of a vanilla 243 using good old IMR 4064.

95 grain NBT and RL22 are your best friends. killed a pile of critters with this combo including elk

My experience as well. I've killed deer with 100 SGKs, 95 NPTs 85 NPTs, 85 TSXs and 95 NBTs. They all worked great over the powders mjbgalt mentions. I would add that VV N160 has also given me good results for accuracy in my rifles. The 95 NBTs over IMR4064 are my favorite as they are most accurate, but are hard to find for me. I'm out right now and thinking about trying the Combined Technology 95.

I get right at 3230 out of my 24" vanilla .243 and have yet to recover one, even with breaking shoulders on deer. Stuff dies.

^^^^^^


This.

H414 and 85 TSXs don't suck, either.

I've recovered a hand full of 95gr. NBTs. They work well on deer sized game, a better coyote bullet has never been made.

I have heard on this board the 95 NBT is a tough deer bullet. My daughter shot two with the 100gr Hornady interlock and it worked just fine.

Ive got 85 grain Sierra BTHP Gamekngs loaded up. I hope to kill a javelina or two with it this year.

One of the kids that lives in my house has shot all his deer with a .243 Win, hornady interlocks in 100gr, and none of them have gone more than 30 yards. Most have dropped at the shot.

Tiny kids, or huge nose?

W.T.F.?

80/85 (T)TSX and 4350 or 4831 turn the .243 into a giant killer.

Sometimes its best to just not ask.....

Lost my coffee!

No further data needed. LOL

lol! I have called him a little booger before.

The 100 grain Hornady Interlock has never let us down.

A excellent cartridge. I have killed a truck load of ground hogs and crows with the 243 and a couple of deer all with excellent results. While I have killed a few groundhogs with 100 gr bullets I really like the 75-85 gr varmint bullets for varmints and feel the 90- 105 gr bullets are preferable for deer. Both deer I killed were with remington core loct 100 gr. both were DRT. I found that with 100 gri got highest velocities easier with slow powders like 4831.

Started using a .243 about 15 years ago, it has done easily 90% of my hunting.The 95 gr. NBT is as good as it gets, although I have a lot of affection for the 85 gr TSX if "bigger" game is on the table.

I've killed countless deer with the 243 and 99% were with the 100 gr. Hornady or the old Nosler solid base. I've used the 95 gr NBT in a pinch 4 or 5 times and it worked fine. One and done.

I've got some nosler brass, 95gr btips and 80gr ttsx on the way. Just need to pick a powder. I have varget and rl17 on hand for starters.

RL17 with the TTSX was a very accurate combo in my Howa .243.

They don't work so good anymore, it became a .308, so the bullets don't fit as good as they used to.

As has been said..... 95gr BT over 4350 is magic. My tikka shoots this combo very very well. So does my Remington. Can't go wrong with this combo

Casey I forgot to mention that those 85 GK get a bad rap pretty often, but I used that bullet on about 20 or so corsican (and the like) rams and hogs over a year or so while guiding on a high fence outfit. Most were finishers so most were amped up at the shot. More often then not the animals dropped where they stood, shot through the lungs. I ran out so I went back to my solid bases and Hornadys. Just a little added info.

Nice, but I shoot heavier calibers because I never want to find my bullet. I want two holes for more blood trail.

Considering all the testimony to bang flops and me seeing them more often than not, I would argue the opposite point saying I'd rather shoot a lighter faster bullet so I don't have to blood trail. I hate it when a deer makes a death dash down a ravine or canyon. I prefer to have them drop where I want. ymmv

FWIW I've had a lot of them flop without a high shoulder shot. the impact in the ribs must have been enough to jar them and plant them there where they expire. and that is exactly why I use the 95 gr NBT

I guess it's a long winded version of speed kills and shot placement counts.

I think you can find many other gun combinations with heavier bullets that will produce a good hydrodynamic shock.

I asked my gunsmith about how he liked his 243 and sucess and he said its good, but he had one situation where he was in a tall deer stand and his deer came in close and he shot at a steep angle. Shouldnt be an issue but the bullet never exited and he tracked that deer a 1/4 mile with little blood because the chest cavity had to fill to the top.

You can say bullet placement and performance, but the story would have been different if he was shooting copper bullets or a heavier caliber bullet.

Imagine if your a new hunter and your picking a rifle and you have a choice of having to buy expensive limited choice copper bullets to make a 243 perform or get a bigger gun where any $18 box of shells (think 308) will do the job... why under size yourself?

Having said that... my 35 rem and 300 savage has dropped more deer in their tracks and they are not speed queens.

Your mileage may vary. I never want to recover my bullets. That means they didn't have enough gas left in the tank to do the job when shot angles get tough or distances get long.

I would add 4350 and 95 nosler partition.

I have to add my support for the 80 gr TTSX. Results have been impressive.

Had good groups with 45 and 46 gns RL-17 with the 80gn ttsx.
46 was smaller of the two groups but only slightly.

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:









.

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.

Yep.

I've recovered 40 or so bullets of various calibers over the years. Only 1 was a 243, it's was a Nosler solid base 100 gr. Bullet enter front right shoulder ball and stopped on the near side of the opposite rear quarter.

As a side note I have recovered more Sierra bullets by far than any other. I belive the cause to be the stiff jackets that double in diameter and often core seperation. Next would be nosler AB`s then hornadys. I shoot Hornadys 75% of the time.

Over the last 5 years my son has killed around 12 deer with a .243.

A couple with 100 grain federal blue box.
One with a Hornady 100 gr btsp, and the rest with 95 grain Fusions.

All the factory ammo that we have tried has been accurate enough for any hunting that we would do so I haven't handloaded for it yet.

I do have a box each of 105 Amax and 105 HPBT and my first loads with the Amax look promising. We will be trying those out next year.

I've only recovered four .243 bullets. 2 fusions, one federal power shok that I don't have a pic of, and one Hornady BTSP.

the fusions


the Hornady


Bob.

Dang, those Hornadys look perfect. powdr

85 grn. partition is my favorite.

I have 2 go-to loads for my 243:

85 gr Partition pushed by IMR4064 around 3250fps
90 gr Accubond pushed by IMR4350 around 3190 fps

The Accubonds took the deer I shot this year, both 1 shot DRT's.

Both shoot to the same POI out to 200 yards. Past that, they start to separate. Both shoot nice, itty-bitty bug holes.

I've been running Nosler 70gr BT and 4350 for chucks the last 20 or so years.

Shot great in my Model 7 stainless (HS stock), 600, '74 700 BDL, two 700 ADL's.

Still have one ADL and a Ruger #1 in .243win. Dunno what load I'll try for deer if our IN law changes.

I have a 6mm Remington and used many old faithfuls including the 85hpbt. I am trying some 95 Partitions out with IMR 4350. Anyone have a pet load?