Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game advice for potential 243 hunting

I'm looking seriously at a .243 savage for both myself and
young boys, and have considered other choices for a few months.
I like the mild recoil, and the control of shot placement that
comes with this manageable caliber.
I also have the 30-06 in both 165 and 180gr for bigger beasts,
and would like one "go to" bullet for everything from varmits
to deer and the occasional elk at close range properly placed
in the boiler of course.
Considering the hornady 100gr btsp, as I've used the 165gr btsp with superb accuracy and performance. The S.D. and B.C. are quite good for the little round, and I'm wondering for those who use the 243 for game, will this 100gr penetrate and hold together better with a standard velocity than the light mag?
Since I've read some posts that suggest that a little slower velocity may give better results than a hotter load, though interlocks seem to hold together better than most standard soft point.

Earl.

i've used a 243 for a while and found a 100gr partition easily kills deer and hogs. never used one for elk cause i have a couple larger caliber rifles. if a 243 was all i had, i'd use it on elk, but only for broadside, double-lung shots, at 250yds or closer. but that's just me.

If you handload, the 85 grn TSX is the bomb. 100 grn Partitions are great for a factory load. Have used both.

I shot a lot of mule deer with the 100g BTSP when I was younger. It was with my 6mm at a MV of around 3050 fps. The deer almost always dropped at the shot but I rarely got complete penetration and usually only found about half the bullet or just a few fragments. It worked great on deer but I'd go to the Partition if I were going after elk.

Bb

I have killed deer with the 85 grain sierra hollowpoint, or the 95 grain ballistic tip! Just put the bullet in the right place and don't worry about it.

We tried a bunch of bullets in our .243s for deer (this was before TSXs) and the 100 grain Partition was by far the most dependable. I don't use this chambering any more (except for a walkabout coyote and whatever rifle with 95 grain partitions), so have no experience with the Barnes offerings. Our experiences with the 95 grain BT were just OK.

I would not choose any .243 bullet for elk, although I am sure that experienced hunters probably have shot dump truck loads with them. The 7mm-08 with proper handloads doesn't recoil much more than the .243 and my kids and grand-kids use them very effectively.

I think that whatever shoots best is the one to use. FWIW, I have killed far more whitetails with the .222 Rem Mag and various 55-grain bullets than anything else, but I would not recommend it for a starting hunter...

Take a look at the 90 grain swift scirocco. Awsome bullet with awsome BC.

A .260 or 7-08 would be a better choice. IMO

Yep. I use it in my sons' 243WIN and 6mmREM. I am usually carrying my 7mm-08. I like it better than either but I've never had to use it to follow up on any of their shots. The 85TSX just plain works.

RH

You're asking quite a lot there.

You obviously need to load for the heaviest you expect to encounter, and deal with that on the lighter stuff.

FWIW, I like the 100 gr Partition a lot for deer (never thought of using a 243 for much bigger), and love either the Sierra 70 gr MatchKing or Nosler 70 gr Ballistic Tip for groundhogs.

The old Sierra 100 SMP (semi-pointed) Pro-Hunter was a fine bullet which might have been close to what you're looking for. The Winchester Power-Point in the 100 grain .243 version is another. I think, however, for what you propose, that I'd opt for the 95 or 100 Partition just for heavier game insurance purposes. Better still would be the more resounding thump you'll get from a fatter bullet in the same case. A 7mm-08 is notably more effective.

85gr TSX

7-08 or .308 would be a better choice IMO it you were planning on chasing elk with them.

Thanks for all the advise on the 243, and I have thoroughly considered other slightly bigger calibers for months such as
25-06, 260 and 7mm-08. Having the 30-06 for deer to moose, I
wanted a mild recoil that would be accurate and easy to place
shots, and still have good S.D. So the 243 would mainly be used
for longer range target shooting, gophers and varmits and medium
game, and mostly for my young boys. I thought the 100gr btsp
would be the best all round weight, since it shoots just as flat
as the 85-95gr and has more S.D. for bigger game.

I've killed more game with a .243 win than any other caliber, its my go-to choice for deer and antelope. bang flopped several deer, with only a couple that moved any distance and then all died within view.

85 grain soft points have worked great for me, also the 95 grain SST's
I have the 100 grain partitions loaded, but haven't had a chance to try them yet

Great bullet, yes.

But I'd be leery of sending one from prone at a very low angle across an open field at a groundhog. Nice stout bullet, which translates into ricochet.

I know, it can while deer hunting as well, but I'd much rather be launching one down out of a treestand, or into a hillside, hopefully to be absorbed by 200 pounds of deer rather than a few pounds of groundhog, with a nice backdrop of trees behind it, than skimming across the ground.

Just another reason that I've yet to be persuaded that there is one "magic" bullet in the so-called dual purpose cartridges.

I definitely agree with you. I would never choose just one bullet for varmint hunting as well as medium-game hunting. I use the 100gr GK for varmints and targets, and the 100gr TTSX for larger game in my .25-06. If it had the same POI, I'd use the 75gr VMax instead of the 100gr GK.

BUT, if I were hard-pressed and had to use just one bullet, it would be the middle-weight (for caliber) TSX/TTSX.

I wish nosler made an accubond in 6mm
I'm sure they don't for good reason, but I would think they would be great

What about the E-Tip, nosler makes a etip in 6mm I believe?

We, my sons and I, have used the Hornady 100 BTSP with great success for a number of years. For us they have produced very good results on both mule deer and antelope (lots of rabbits and more than a few coyotes too). Recently I have started to use the plain SP Hornady but not because of any fault in the BTSP, just had a bunch to use. They too, have worked very well, and in two of our .243's are more accurate... they work.

Oh yes, we have loads that run 2,800 to 3,100 fps and haven't noticed any difference in the end results. In the deer we have taken the only one that did not penetrate completely was the faster load.