Recently picked up a little marlin xs7 for shooting coyotes and I like it so much I think I'm going to load something for western Kentucky white tail. Looking for suggestions on bullets that are capable of making a double shoulder shot on a big buck should one step out, but still perform on regular sized white tail out to 300 yards.

I'm considering the following.

1. 100gr nosler partitions.

2. 85gr Barnes tsx

Any other bullets meet these needs? What about factory loads?

Both of those will work, as will a 100 grain Hornady flat base.

I'd love to line up a double shoulder shot with the 95 BT I load.

Is that an Interlock or interbond?

80 grain TTSX. Why a double shoulder shot? Heavy cover? Put one of those behind the shoulders and you are guaranteed a good blood trail. But if you do accidentally hit both shoulders, it will come out the other side. Just might lose meat. The bullet holds together, but at 3300 fps, there will be damage from bone fragments, etc. when that little buzzsaw goes through.

Interlock. Unfortunately, the flat base is not shown in the '15 catalog or on the website. Only the BTSP in 100 gr. is shown.

So the 80 grain isn't too light then? They really penetrate as advertised?

I just want to be able to anchor one with authority should the need arise. If I can't make such a shot maybe I'll just bring more gun and leave this one for the coyotes.

I know lots of places where following a blood trail means crawling on your hands and knees thru cactus and thorns, with a decent chance of coming nose to nose with a coiled rattler. Sometimes you want them to go straight down.

Even without rattlers it's kinda handy to anchor them sometimes. The TSX's and the Nosler Partition will do the job, even on a big northern buck. My wife has double-shoulder a few big Montana whitetails with them over the years.

My son dropped a small buck with a lightly loaded 80 TTSX out of his 243 youth - it only busted one shoulder but I have no doubt it would have busted both if the buck would have been standing broadside. Muzzle velocity was probably around 3,000 fps.

I'll probably be hunting my buddies waterfowl property which is swamp, lake, and more swamp. Not exactly ideal tracking conditions, but lots of big deer and not much hunting pressure.

Front, or rear?

The 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tips will double shoulder them

THIS

. 85gr Barnes tsx AND THIS

Im gonna try to double shoulder an Axis with that bullet in a couple months....

Whttail,

Ah, yes, the old "rear shoulders" shot! I believe Swampman 700 specializes in those, especially from a moving golf cart.

The Speer bonded 90gr deep curl or hot core, if you can find them, will absolutely break both shoulders to at least 270, and exit. Nosler BTs, partitions, and other non-solids, will as well....if you don't want a mono.

I've seen the 100 gr. Partition penetrate whitetails from every angle and haven't recovered more than a couple. I've double shouldered a few and seem them go DRT. I'm sure the Barnes will do just as well. Let the rifle tell you which one it likes.

Yep, proprietary...

Swampy owns that one...

DF

We used the 90 gr. Accubond from both the .243 Win. and 6mm Rem. this year and I was very happy with the performance. Son got his first deer with an 85 yard shot using a reduced recoil load (25.5 grs. of SR4759), yet it still broke the near side front leg/shoulder and dropped the buck in just 10-15 yards. I took a nice buck the next morning with the 6mm at 255 yards with complete penetration. Shot was just behind the shoulder and the deer took three steps and fell over.

Will definitely be using them again next year.

Nosler 95 BT is one tough bullet

I've shot one sideways through a hog bigger than any deer I'll come across where I hunt.

I use the 80 gr TTSX in my 243 with a velocity of 3415 fps. I haven't caught a bullet to-date.

Needed to anchor this antelope doe as the fence was the property boundary. Shot distance was 228 yards. Right thru both front shoulders. She stumbled about two steps forward. Perfect execution.

I've not had a problem with the 80 TTSX going through, either. I was using the TSX, but my rifle likes the TTSX much better.

Either of those bullets will shoot completely, or almost completely lengthwise through a deer. No worries on shoulders.

Hornady 85 Interbond will also do it.

Good thing she didn't make it into that thick brush on the other side of the fence!

I shot two deer this season with 243 Win. 80 grain hornady gmx, a 130 lb doe and a 290 lb buck. Both deer were about 30-40 yards away, both shot just behind the shoulder and both ran about 50 yards with great blood trails. The blood trail with the buck was just plain stupid. He was pouring out both sides and from the nose.

Sample size of only 2, but I feel sure they'll punch thru double shoulders and I plan to find out this fall.

290lb buck? Got a picture of that bad boy? powdr

I like the 100 grain Hornady flat base interlock,but have also seen the same results with the 95 grain Hornady SST,which is one of the few SST bullets with a flat base not a boattail.

I saw our local game warden take a 180 pound wild boar with a double shoulder shot on our place not long ago.

Dead right there,half dollar size exit,and blood on the ground under the hog.

Believe the 95 gr BT to be IT...but gotta say I tried the 87 gr VLD this year in a 165 dressed buck and it broke both shoulders, no exit at 85 yrds.

Sold my 243, but planning on another and ill stick with the 87 VLD.

My favorite deer bullet in the 243 is the Swift 90 gr Scirocco. It will kill them close and far

I've read that the gmx needs a minimum of 2000fps on impact to initiate expansion, compared to 1800fps for the Barnes tsx, and 1600 for the nosler e-tip. I guess gilding metal is that much harder than copper. Seems like it would just be a solid unless it was a fairly close shot with a hot load in 243. I guess with the extra velocity of the hornady superformance ammo it's less of an issue.

Nosler lists 1800 fps minimum for the E-Tip, which is made of gilding metal like the GMX.

Thanks for clarifying.

I stand corrected.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/djwqknxm0pyceny/20141125_082358.jpg?dl=0

105gr Speer HC as another alternative. Won't cost ya and arm and a leg either.

Nice! 👍

Guys, I'd like to understand what I'm missing or if my one experience with the BT was a fluke or too small a sample. I drank the Kool Aid and used 120 BTs to develop a load for a 7-08. Book max of Varget, so 3000-ish fps. First and only shot on game was a ribcage shot on a whitetail at 50 yds. I'm assuming disintegration, as there was no exit. While the shot was lethal, the buck did run a ways. Not poo pooing on the bullet, but how can one expect it to hold together on a shoulder shot after seeing this performance? I'll hang up and listen.

It could be that your sample of one happened to lie out on the tail of the probability distribution of performance for this bullet.

I can get behind that.

I think I'm going to give the Barnes 80 ttsx a try See how the rifle likes them and go from there.

Not bad for a MS buck huh? It wasn't the biggest rack I've killed, but he was my personal best for weight.....by 5 lbs.

He definitely erased any doubts I had about using a .243.

The Barnes will be a good choice. Unless it was a distant shot, I would have to see the BT or SST go through both shoulders. I don't buy it. They are explosive.

The 95gr and 120gr Ballistic tips are tuff bullets for their caliber. I've found the 140gr Ballistic tip to be a more dependable bullet. powdr

Vic in Va recommend Barnes bullets in the 243 years ago. They impressed me and anyone who came to the skinning rack to look at one of my daughters kills. Barnes factory ammo shoots 1/2-3/4 MOA in my daughters stock 700.

The 80 gr TTSX has restored my faith in the .243. My son is now 3 for 3 on one shot kills with the same rifle I killed my first deer with and his little brother will follow in his footsteps shortly. There is no doubt about its ability to fully reach the vitals from any angle on a whitetail and double shoulders are no problem at reasonable ranges.

You mean the .243 will actually kill Texas whitetails?

Should we consult Don?

Perhaps.... Everyone in Texas I met used a 7mm mag or a 300WSM on those whitetails....

I sure hope a .243 works on Axis down there....

I wouldn't have a problem with the .243 Barnes on elk. Wouldn't be my first choice, but if that is the gun a woman or young person shot the best, the bullet would do the job.

Tom,

I double-shouldered (and spined) a Texas whitetail with a .243 in December. It was a doe, though, so maybe that doesn't count--and the bullet was a factory "blue box" Federal 100-grain, so maybe that doesn't count either.

The bullet also exited. Does that count?

Was the doe hurt in any way?

Seems to me a guy that goes by the handle DJTex might have slayed a few Texas critters with his .243. His stories are worth the read!

southtexas,

It was hard to tell. She just lay down and "relaxed."

Because jacket thickness of the 120gr. BT isn't always consistent.



Travis

No, unless it was a .243 'Magnum' of some sort.

Your 'sample of one' was obviously a fluke.

Yeah, and she was pretty close too, as I recall about 60 yards. As we all know, bullets tend to "pencil through" instead of expand when they're going fast.

Especially 7 mags.

Damn, those Texas whitetails must be some tough critters. My .243 kills the hell outta NY deer and it don't need any extra special bullets to do it neither.

I heard John whispering to the bullet, "You're a magnum," before he shot, so I think that counts.

Actually, everyone on that hunt was shooting a .308 or .243, and everyone killed four deer. So there's your sample. ;-)

John has one my poor little "blue box" bullets that struck the off shoulder of a buck, took a left turn, and ended up in two pieces -- jacket and core -- barely poking up through the skin forward of the shoulder.

The buck was DRT, but this was clearly another case of bullet failure... in the eyes of mono-projectile homeboys.

*rolling eyes*

I thought only Nosler Partitions did that......

You know...when they don't have enough time to open up if they are going so fast....

Been there, done that in some of that really thick, far south Texas brush country. I think I'd rather trail one through Hades. Everything in that stuff stings, stabs or bites.