Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Anyone shoot a 243 for elk?

Anyone using a 243 for elk? If so what bullet/load you using and what is the max distance you would shoot an elk with your 243?
My buddy's GF has an elk hunt this year and wants to use her pink 243. We are against it, but in any event I figured I would see who is using a 243 for elk and what bullet/load and max distance.


Thanks,
Kique

growing up in CO my best friend used a 243 with 100 NPT's to kill a couple elk. all one shot affairs. If i were to do it i'd go with the TSX and i'd limit myself to 300 MAX and it'd have to be a nice broadside shot!

Qualifier, smallest rifle i've personally used has been a 270 with 130 TSX's and shot a cow at 450.

Thanks Paul. I was thinking the TSX or NPT's would be a good starting point point. 300 max is good to hear since I feel that is her max. We are hoping more like 200 yards to be realistic.

as long as you have enough energy to penetrate and expand the bullet some you'll be good to go. I'm sure someone will come on and say you can shoot them at 6-700 yards with one but MY max for the 243 would be 300-350 if it's just perfect! i would load up the TSX personally. i'm sure with patience you'll be able to get within 200!

I have used the .243 on a lot of game. Someday I am going to take an elk with it because I get tired of people saying you have to have one of the big belchfire magnums to kill elk.

My personal limit would be 250 yards or less though. Ditto on the TSX's.

Here is what one of the old Barnes X 85gr molycoated did to a deers heart last season. Range was about 125 yards. I do like the .243!

85gr TSX and the max range is the distance where the velocity falls below the threshold to properly expand the bullet.

What about the bergers, interbond,interlock, or AMax?
Figure we are gonna try a few different bullets. I already know the Partitions shoot very well out of that 243. Because its what I shot with it when I owned it.
Thinking we wanna see how the TSX's work and maybe another bullet. Then from the 3 decide which is most accurate.

Thanks again for all the help

Ive done it...a couple times...once with a hornady 100 grainer and once with a Nosler Partition...both worked just fine...
If I were to do it again, I'd use a TSX.....just cause I like them!

Yes, 95 and 100 grain Partitions and Hornady 100's. First and several more elk I shot was with the 250 Savage, not much more than a 243. The 243 grew on me, at one time I had not even considered it, now it is the cartridge I shoot the most for just about everything. Place the bullet in a kill zone and they will fall over.

I've seen .243's. a .240 Wby, and a couple of .25-06's kill elk class stuff very dead. The little 6mm Nosler Partitions will reliably take out a near shoulder blade and penetrate the lungs. A surprisingly effective round.
I recall some comments by Les Bowman way back when that the 6mm rds., the .243 and the .244 had a better record on elk than the then new .338 WM. Not because of energy or brute power but because nobody had any trouble hitting what they needed to hit with them. E

I would lean away from an AM or Berger in this case, and toward the TSX, or the PT at a minimum. The .243 is getting on the small side for elk, so I'd want a bullet that can dig deep and still mess up the vitals. Other bullets can do the job, but I'd feel more confident if the rifle was stoked with a TSX. I've been VERY impressed with the penetration capabilities of the 85gr TSX when launched from a .243...

Jordan,

If someone gave you the choice of shooting a .243" bullet through an elk or inserting a small grenade into the elk's chest, which would you choose?

That .243" entrance hole might not bleed much, and the maybe half inch diameter exit hole might not bleed much either -certainly no guarantees that one would get a good blood trail.

I would be interested in hearing from people who have actually inserted a small .243" grenade into an elk's chest. From what John Barsness has written about testing Berger VLDs in New Zealand, it appears he didn't see much difference in the results for .25-caliber and .30-caliber VLDs on the game they shot, and I've read on this forum accounts of people putting VLDs through elk shoulders (and don't remember reading about anyone who had a VLD fail to penetrate a shoulder).

I completely understand the desire to get adequate penetration - after all the bullet has to get to the vitals to do its job, but once one gets adequate penetration, then what? I don't think most people are going to deliberately try to shoot an elk from stern to bow with a .243, so how much penetration does one need? Do you want adequate penetration with massive and maximum damage to the lungs and heart or do you want a .243" bullet flying off into space through the other side of the elk? Different people have different priorities and different opinions. I'm glad we have bullets for different priorities.

Elk have been taken with 243's quite often. It's usually younsters hunting with their dad. There was a picture in an outdoor magazine maybe 2 years ago, of a 12 year old girl from Bozeman Mt and a nice 6x6 she took with her 243 (I don't think the 243 was pink). That said, the shot taken has to be a good one, preferably taken at a relaxed animal at relatively short distance. So if you buddy's girl friend goes, the rifle should get a paint job, and your buddy needs to make sure he doesn't let her take any risky shots.

why does it need to be painted? does Pink scare Elks?


I wouldn't be scared of the Berger 105's in an elk... they ain't made of steel! I would Prefer a TSX cause i like them....

When I had that 243 it had a wood stock. Then my buddy bought for her and added all kinds of pink stuff to it. Placed an ad on here looking for a stock, found one, took it to the auto body shop and had it painted pink. Hot pink at that. Now he is looking to get her a pink leupold 3-9x40 for it.
If it wasn't for her dad and the fact that the gun is pink the 243 for elk would never have been asked because she'd be using a 270.
Dam gun is ugly now!lol

As long as she's going, who cares what color the friggen gun is?

(Laughing) yeah probably. They like chrome plating though...

On second thought..they might stop to stare...

This is the issue that concerns me when shooting a .243 and the potential for heavy bones exists. The TSX ain't a .243" drill bit, and the VLD ain't a hand grenade. Let's not exaggerate here. I've shot and seen shot a TON of game with the TSX, and 9 out of every 10 animals falls down within 5 steps after the shot, and most often it's much quicker than that. I'm not seeing the need for a VLD when animals drop that quickly. I just said what I would feel most confident with, and that includes busting bone with a TSX if I'm using a .243 on elk.

I have no problems if you would prefer a VLD, though! Different strokes for different folks. As long as you understand what your bullet will and won't do, and hunt accordingly, it's all good. I have a suspicion that you would have no trouble dropping elk with the 105 VLD, and I can tell you that I have no trouble dropping just about anything with an 85gr TSX

Well opinions are going to vary on this stuff, and since I've seen 180 gr Partitions stopped in the off side of elk(that died on the spot),....and even had a friend show me a Barnes 375 bullet stopped by a Kudu....

So I would not put a ton of faith in any 6mm bullet exiting,even a Barnes X.

If turning a 6mm of any type loose on an elk, my last choice would be some tin foil jacketed bullet of any make and design;I'd go with what Jordan recommends and get the insurance of a little more penetration from the Barnes and the Partition.

This "bullet blow up" stuff is over played and over hyped;and may be helpful in very long range shooting but I will ere on the side of penetration every time.To suggest that a Barnes or Partition will not inflict a lethal wound just because it also penetrates well is completely erroneous.