Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .243 Win. Factory Hunting Ammo Pecking Order

Was wondering the same thing?

this mirrors my experiance exactly. i have yet to recover a fussion from any deer i have shot with one. i have several deer now that the fussions either went through one shoulder then exited through the ribs or both shoulders and at close range and showed no signs of fragmentation when exiting. (i say that based on the exit hole)
i would npt hesitate to use any of the bullets listed though if one in particular shot well for a particular rifle. (at least for whitetail deer anyway)

They walk among us.
Jeez...


I think the OP is following a good line of reasoning. In smaller calibers, which most often are pushing higher velocities, with their lighter weights, at close range the chosen bullet performance is something to be concerned with.

Accurate for your stick first. Reliable performance second.
Nothing wrong with stacking the odds in one's favor.

Not really. I think you missed my poor attempt at sarcasm. My original post could have been more succinctly stated in this way: "What bullet will optimize the performance of a .243 Win on whitetail deer?"

What I got from Swampy was a lecture about how easy whitetail deer are to kill. That may be so, but it had nothing to do with my question.

Let's say Swampy asked a question about what .30 caliber bullet works best for whitetail deer, and I proceeded to chime in with a response that shooting a .30-'06 at a deer is a waste of powder because they are so easy to kill, and that he shouldn't be concerned with his choice of bullet. While that may or may not be the case, it would not answer his question.

I've been hunting for over 30 years and have harvested more than a few deer. I don't need Swampy (aka Mr. .30-'06) giving me a lecture about the ease of killing deer with a .243 caliber rifle.

I would put them just below the TSX/TTSX. I guess I'd call them a second tier premium - but I like them a lot on whitetails.

I have used a bunch of the 140's in my 7-08 because they are so crazy accurate and perform extremely well.

I've also used a bunch out of a 25-06 for the same reason.

I've only recovered one - a long shot double shoulders on a big doe with the 120 25-06.

I have great confidence in them at 7-08 velocities, but I haven't run them too light and fast, although on some fairly close shots with the quarter bore they have done just fine in the 120's.

I need to kill a bunch of stuff with 95 Fusions out of my 243 to see how they perk, but the lighter the bullet and the faster it is pushed, the more I like the TSX/TTSX's.

I'm guessing a guy could stop a 95 grain Fusion out of a 243 in a big buck - which is why I'd rank the TTSX's ahead of them in that cartridge.

All that said...I want to be clear - if cup and cores shot best and the better bullets just wouldn't shoot out of a 243, I'd happily hunt cup & cores. I just might pass a rare shot that I'd take with a better bullet.

DJ

All that said...I want to be clear - if cup and cores shot best and the better bullets just wouldn't shoot out of a 243, I'd happily hunt cup & cores. I just might pass a rare shot that I'd take with a better bullet.

DJ

[/quote]

Spoken like a man with some common sense. Bullet location trumps all.

Dave

The point I was trying to make was that almost all of the 6mm bullets are better than when the .243 was first introduced.

The premium bullets are more reliable for off angles and especially larger game. But they may not kill as quick on the broadside shots.

The Fusion and Accubond may be the best of both worlds, the newer X bullets are in a class of their own. I doubt I will kill enough game in the future to make any definitive statements on the best bullets. I have shot over 50 deer with the older style 6mm bullets and only lost one due to a bad hit, that and the folks I was hunting with forbid hunting or even tracking on Sundays. That incident made me question bullet choices and religion both.

Spoken like a man with some common sense. Bullet location trumps all.

Dave [/quote]

I couldn't agree more, which is why my original post specifically said that I would be looking for bullets that shot well from my rifle. Also, four out of the ten bullets that I listed are cup and core, albeit the last three are bonded versions.

We've used the 243&6mm since '93.....not that long compared to some I know. Anyway we've used everything from 70gr btips to 100gr stuff. Since I started handliading we've hunted 85 TSX. Everything has worked and worked well. The TSX does out dig in shoulders if that matters?

CoalCracker you have a nice well put together list. Can't imagine why you would have trouble with any of those. Seems sometimes we just like to disagree. If you started saying you wanted to use cup n cores you would have been told to shoot premiums....? I can't imagine if your gun likes the 80TTSX you would ever wish for a cup/core bullet?

That is what I would say.

I'll either start with Fusions or, at the very least, bump them way up on my list. By all accounts, they have worked well for DD on deer from a .243 Win.

I shot Fusions from my .270 this year, and they proved to be very accurate at the range. The venison in the freezer speaks highly of them as well.

it doesn't get better than this.

Except that Partitions in the small calibers leave small exit wounds which don't seem to bleed quite as well.

entrance federal fussion

exit hole same deer

nice--that's about what I've seen.

I think the 100 gr Partition is about perfect for the 243. My hunting pard feels the same about the 95 gr Fusion, and its also a good choice.