Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 100 gr Sierra Pro Hunter in 243.

Anyone used these for deer successfully or had bad experiences with them? Looks to be a good bullet and is extremely accurate with IMR4831 in both of my 243's. Load runs in the 2860-2880 range. I may try them a day or two and see how they do was just wondering how everyone else's experience with them ran.

I have. They will kill deer. My biggest blacktail buck fell to a 100gr Pro Hunter out of a 6mm Remington. I know many here on the fire bad mouth them but they've always worked for me. I say go for it because deer are not armor plated. Thank me later.

I hope they work. That's the bullet I'm using this year in a 243. MV is 2880. Load is 40.0 of H414. Paul Box at Sierra recommended the 85 BTHP over the 100 grain. But said they probably won't exit where the 100 probably will. He uses the 85 and has for many years. They are both very accurate in my two 243s.

Deer season starts tomorrow. Good luck.

I've never had a bad experience with a Pro Hunter in any caliber I've used one. Sierra's the one company that have left their product ALONE and haven't fallen for all the useless hype the others have. I seem to be reaching for a box of Sierra more and more. I think you will be pleased.

The Alliant website shows 3200fps with that bullet and RL26. I may have to try that with my RL26 that just arrived.

I've taken deer with that bullet with MVs as varied as 2000 fps at the Muzzle,
to 3250 fps at the Muzzle...

it worked perfectly, and dropped them where they stood each time...

I wouldn't doubt its ability at all...

I have used them and the 85 g. HPBT.. Both kill deer very well..

I've used them.

Found them to be very accurate, but not likely to fully penetrate on a close-in shot. After the velocity drops a little, they bore right through.

I prefer two holes, but the ones that only had one didn't get away.

The Nosler 95 BT is just as accurate and penetrates better, in my experience. But, that's just my preference for penetration.

If you have a load already put together and ready to use, I wouldn't think twice. They'll work.

Those 85 grain HPBT game kings have a thicker jacket than many other offerings and are deadly little suckers. I would not hesitate to hunt mule deer or elk with em.

They have smoked a good number of coyotes too.

I just got back from a west Texas whitetail hunt and shot a nice 7 point buck with a 95 gr ballistic tip from my 6mm Remington. MV was 3,100 fps, shot was 100 yds quartering towards me on the deer's left side, he took the bullet right behind the left shoulder mid body, it exited near the right hip, and the deer went about 50 yards. The 100 gr Sierra shot just as well from my rifle, but I opted for the Nosler with the higher MV. In a .243 MV 2,800-2900 fps MV, the Sierra may do as well.

Intentional?

Sample of one:

Adult doe at almost exactly 100 yards. Heart destroyed along with a lot of the lungs. No exit. No "bullet" recovered, just a few bits in the soup. Deer went about 20 yards after the hit in obvious distress.

Wouldn`t be my choice for big deer or Elmer's raking shots, but certainly up to the job on broadside shots. Bought 400 blems from Graf's, so I'm gonna do something with them! BTW, in one bag of the blems was an empty jacket. I sectioned it and, as advertised, it was tapered inside, actually quite thick towards the base.

This is good info. I have used the 90 and 95 gr NBT as well as the 80 gr TTSX. All worked extremely well I just like to try different stuff and this bullet shoots amazingly well. Thanks everyone!! BTW This is with a 1/10 twist barrel. The length is shorter than the 90 gr NBT. Sierra has gotten a bum rap over the years but for every complaint theres usually 500 or more success stories I figure.

The 85 grain Sierra BTHP Gamekings have always been very accurate in every 243 I've ever owned. My son has killed several deer with them, including a couple of big bucks. I prefer something along the lines of a 90-95 Nosler BT for my use in the 243 If I'm using it for deer. For some reason, I've never been able to get the accuracy out of the 100 grain bullets that I can with the lighter weights. My 243's are all Remington's with the 1-9.25 twist.

He looked perfectly broadside from my vantage point, but obviously wasn't unless the bullet changed direction inside the animal. It's hard to say. The bullet did hit where I was aiming, I had a pretty solid rest. I had thought to use a stouter bullet, having tried the 100 gr Partition, 90 gr E-Tip and 80 gr TTSX. I was told my longest shot would be 100 yards and with MV over 3,000 fps, thought the ballistic tip not ideal for less than a perfect body presentation.

Doeslayer,

The Nosler guy who developed the 6mm 95-grain Ballistic Tip, Gail Root, took several big bull elk with them, so the penetration you saw isn't surprising.

That said, I've taken plenty of animals with Sierras, even (gasp!) GameKings, both in North America and Africa. The Pro-Hunters often out-penetrate GameKings, but not always.

The reason I asked was the "hit them behind the shoulder" idea is so ingrained in some members of my camp that they go on autopilot and hit them behind the shoulder before they analyze the actual shot presentation. But if he looked broadside then he looked broadside. I've seen bullets take interesting paths and I've been fooled myself.

I watched this deer for awhile and waited until he was more or less standing sideways to me. I like to aim for the center of the chest if presented because it provides me with the most margin for error if my shot isn't perfectly placed. Later that evening, I shot a doe with my .260 loaded with 125 gr partitions. She was also broadside @ about 100 yards. My rest wasn't as stable and thought I aimed center of chest, it ended up lower to the left and I luckily took out her heart. Entry and exit holes were much bigger than the 95 gr NBT and there was lots of blood to follow.

Haven't used the 243 ,but, have used the 100 gr 257 pro hunter. The wife and each have a 250 savage. We have sho a dozen or so deer with that bullet at around 2850. Range has been 40 to 125 yards. All broadsides were pass throughs. Nearly straight on shots ended up at the back of the ribs and weighed about 70 gr.

Some years ago a good friend used a .243 a lot and was not happy with the performance on deer. Suspecting that it was probably more a question of his not knowing enough to choose the right factory load/bullet for the job than anything I worked up a load for him with 100 grain Sierra Pro Hunters. First time he used it was a bang flop and he was tickled pink. Next time he used it he killed a big old buck, biggest he'd shot at that point, maybe still. He was happy for a lot of years with that, but has since gone to bigger rifles. I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I were going to use something bigger than a .223 for deer.