Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The 243Win for big-game

Didn't know about the 80 gr.TTSX as I haven't looked at 6mm boolits for awhile...copied down your recipe..
Thanks!
Ingwe

Another bullet you might want to try is the Speer 85 gr. BTSP. It kills deer & antelope deader than yesterday's puppy love with a single shot. For me it has held together quite nicely when impacting on deer @ near muzzle velocity (about 100 yards).

Some will try to tell you that the .243win is a worthless cartridge, as it's too 'big' for the little varmints, but too 'small' for deer and other bigger game ...

in today's world, the .243win is one of the most underrated cartridges for medium to big'ish game on down to ground hogs ... bullets from about 55g up to 115g ... you can use it on just about anything that walks, as well as using it for a long range target rig with stuff like the 105g Amax or 115g match bullets ... all the while, doing it on a modest powder diet and with very little recoil at all ...

it truly is a GREAT cartridge, and I'm glad to have a couple in my stable ...

If I had it to do all over, and knew I'd not hunt anything larger than deer, black bear, or hogs, I'd be hard pressed to find a better "one and done" rifle than a Kimber Montana in .243.

VAnimrod stated it quite nicely. If you put 85-100 gr. properly constructed bullets (Barnes offerings or Nosler Partitions) there aren't many four-legged critters in NA that I'd be concerned about killing with it short of big bears, maybe a big moose. But everything smaller than that is no match for it. I've killed big mule deer past 300 yds with a 100 gr. Partition and not recovered the bullet, just the deer. And it makes a GREAT dual-purpose cartridge if you want to chase chucks, yotes, or fox. I'd say p-dogs, but you can heat up a barrel FAST burning 50+ gr. of H380!
Selmer

Starting load development tomorrow on my .243

- Lapua Brass
- Fed 210 primers

Working with these two bullets:
- Nosler 70gr BTips
- Barnes 80gr TTSX

Have these 3 powders to play with:
- IMR 4350
- H4350
- Varget

We will see what combos it likes...

The .243 Win in My opinion is the absolute least I would consider deer hunting with, I've killed a few Virginia bucks with this caliber using factory ammo with 90 and 100 grain bullets with good results, In a perfect world though and you could get the rifle you want in any caliber and Id say that a .260 Rem or your favorite 7mm would be a better choice................Good luck.........547.

OutdoorAg ... start with ~44g H4350 under that 80g TTSX ... seat that bullet out into the lands, and work up from there ...

I've seen more elk wounded with a .243 Win that possibly (probably) all other cartridges combined. As a result I tend to think of it as a cartrige for experts when larger game is involved.

I have no experience with the 243. But I have a buddy who has used nothing else for the last 30 years, and he has nearly 100 deer to his credit as well as 14 elk (I've seen the heads). He states the 85gr BTHP loaded to 3200+fps is absolutely deadly,even when smashing through an elk's shoulder, scattering bone pieces "like schrapnel" throughout the chest cavity. He does warn against hitting large bones in deer at close range, however, saying that you will have bloodshot meat "from shoulder to hip".

I've also talked to a well-known Idaho elk guide and corresponded with another, both who love the 243. They say it's mostly because shooters aren't afraid of the kick and can place their shots well. Their basic advice is stay within 300 yards and put the bullet in the chest.

Of course, there's also Whiskey Chamberlin, an Idaho resident who was interviewed by Grits Gresham in 2001 and told of his many elk hunts, all with the 243.

I have a theory about those who put down the 243, and it's supported by absolutely no fact, just some observations over my last 35 years of hunting: first, the 243 draws inexperienced shooters, so a greater number of misses and woundings are a fact of life.

Second, occasionally an animal (especially a large animal like elk) will show almost no reaction at all to being shot, and will, with little or no blood trail will exit the country with no hope of being found. The hunter then blames the cartridge, saying something like, "If I only had my (insert your favorite magnum here), that animal would have been DRT!"

I've seen it happen, even to hunters who have used their favorite smokepole for 20+ years. After one or two failures to bring the animal down, they suddenly lose faith in their ability to drop any animal at all with the gun, and have to move up to a hotter, faster, heavier bullet.

Personally, I still think a heavier bullet (ie my 30-06 loaded with 165 gr TSX) is a better choice, but I know too much about the 243 to ever criticise someone who chooses it.

In my experience,the 243 is a step up in power over the 22 cenerfires,and a step down from the 270.

It will certainly kill any deer,but cup and core bullets often fail to exit even on smallish deer IME.

I can also tell you that the southern plantation with which I am associated has had more problems finding deer when the hunters use a 243 than when they use a larger gun.

If I were going to hunt with a 243,I would use partitions exclusively.

I have killed deer and hogs with the 243 but now use the 257 Roberts with a 120 grain partition when I want a light recoiling rifle.

It is just a little more gun and I feel a little more confident when hunting with it.

+1 if your a reloader get the Roberts to shoot 110's, 117's, and 120's.

That pretty much sums up my opinion concerning it as well.

Different story using properly constructed bullets, but WAY to many people using it just pick up the cheapest box of ammo for their gun the day before season and think they're good to go.

I've taken a 1/2 dozen deer or so with my .243. None of them went very far, but I can't recall any exit holes either. Those were using just 100g factory stuff.

Same philosophy for the .22 centerfires, I'd venture to say 8 outta 10 people using them grab the same box of ammo as they'd use to go shoot a coyote with not a second thought.

I took my 14-year-old nephew hunting last season and he killed a nice six-point with a .243. It was a Remington 700 ADL, blue/wood, with a Tasco Golden Antler scope and over-the-counter bullets. (That particular morning I was sitting in my stand with a custom rifle, high-end scope, and handloads, and didn't see, or shoot, a thing--the contrast between his equipment and mine sort of made me wonder). Shot it at about 30 yards and dropped it. This is south Georgia we're talking, and the deer aren't usually large by midwestern or Canadian standards, and the shots are usually relatively close. Lots of people around here use .243's. I'd say it's in the top five (with the others being 30.06, .270, .308, and 7MM Mag). It's a good youth caliber, and when the youth grows up, just replace the stock with a longer pull, and he/she can use it for the rest of their life. I plan for my daughter's first deer rifle to be a .243.

Personally I am content with 6mm BRs or 243 when loaded with 85 BTHP, 95 B Tips, and you HAVE to love the 85 Barnes- esp when you see how fast game drops (did a Dead Right There kill on a nice hog at 240 yds, 85 X at 3100 mv from a 20" #1 Ruger). The Sierras will do it but I'd not try busting real heavy bone from bad angles myself. I'd pop an elk w/in 100, maybe out to 200 yds with an 85 Barnes or 95 B tip thru the lungs. Same on a Black Bear, Caribou, etc.. I feel compelled to CHOOSE another round when going after game is larger than deer myself, but again, the Barnes truly in my mind makes this round a much bigger killer than you might believe.

A 6mm bore leaves less room for error I'd surmise than larger heavier slugs, but ALL rounds MUST be steered thru vitals for success to be had, so what for the energy drop, you gain shootability. Good shooters seem to do just fine with shot placement, at least thru deer sized game.

VA, for my area, about the last round I'd TRULY want to do w/o is a good fast twist (8") 6mmBR. 70 TNTs at 3400 will smoke crows and coyotes, 85/87s at 3000+, 95 BTs at 2900+ or 105s (Amax/Berger) at 2850 will take deer w/o trouble at most sane ranges. More than anything, the light blast/recoil makes it a honey to shoot, and accuracy is not only inherit, but easy for shooters to extract. At the range, nothing else has the shootability, consistency, and sufficient punch out to 400 yds as that little BR. 105s have 1000 lbs at 400 yds, and the gong gets hit with authority out of the midget round. A 243 will do the same, slower twist in factory guns, slightly less BC bullets at slightly faster speeds.....popular for a reason.

Was it Warren Page that had worked on the 243 and called it the 'dual purpose' round for varmints thru deer. Only better today with new tech bullets.

My granddaughter starts deer hunting this fall. I picked a Sav 99 lever in .243 for her. It's on it's way. Life is good.

I know I've posted this pic too often, but since a picture is worth a thousand words....and you DID ask....grin....

Drilled both shoulders. Shattered the near one, exited through the far one. He went 75 yards or so, and left a good blood trail. 243 with 85 grain TSX - just one.



My boys saw the whole thing...and had a blast in the process!


With the 80-85 TSX/TTSX, 100 Partition, and 85 grain BTHP, I've seen the little 243 do some impressive stuff. I've never seen a problem when the shot was placed properly - even saw an exit on a double lung shot on a sow that was near 200lbs at about 250 yards with the 85 BTHP - she blew blood all over the fence in the ditch along the road she ran down on the exit side - something to see, and pretty easy tracking.

It's a killing little round, made that much better by the quality of today's bullets.

DJ

Least you ain't stunt shooting stuff with a 223....

Not 'till this year...

Managed to snag a great shooting Montana 223 - will be spewing 62 TSX's at stuff way too big and tough to kill with it...Photos to follow, I expect...grin.

DJ

I'd not bet on the critter.