Yes we can include other 6mm rounds.

Tell us about your field results - list details, load info, and pics if want.

Since many feel these are SMALLISH hunting rounds, let's see the Reality.

Over the years myself, my dad, and my late uncle have killed a BUNCH (200 +)of deer with the .243, 6mm Remington, and .240 Gibbs (my uncle's) with several different bullets with fine results.

My current .243 deer load is the 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, 41.0 grains of H4350 @ 2954 fps from a Tikka T3 and around 2800 fps out of a Remington Model 7

In my experience those who pooo-poo the 6mm's have either never used one much or put way too much weight on what they read from some gunwriters, internet forums, and reloading manuals.

first handful of deer i killed were with a Browning BLR 243. shot factory ammo 80gr powerpoints. i think the furthest one ran was 30 yards. a couple were nice size bucks. picked up a 700 in 243 a cpl months ago itll see some time in the woods this fall

I had good performance from the Hornady 100 grain Interlock flatbase, very accurate. But, it's discontinued and none are to be found. I still have a couple hundred, so if need be, I can get a couple seasons out of my stash.

I've shot several with the 85 TSX, with the usual results. All died, and I never found a bullet. It seemed to me that the blood trail was sparse, though. I didn't have a problem finding any of the deer, they usually went down within sight, but I could tell that it would be a semi-fun tracking job if they didn't. Still, a very dependable bullet, especially for up-close shots that really stress bullets, but this bullet is not as accurate as I'd like.

So, last year, I tried the Sierra 100 grain Pro-hunter. On a smallish 4-pointer, I got a close-range raking shot that I put under the last rib on the right, angled towards the left shoulder. That deer ran 80 yards in some of the thickest brush without a drop of blood hitting the ground. The insides were absolute soup, and the shoulder had not been touched. It was simply asking too much of this bullet to stay together at the range I shot that deer, though I don't doubt it would be a dandy bullet once it had put 100 yards or so behind it.

This year, I have loaded the 80 TTSX, and it is accurate, much more so than the TSX. I have no doubt about the bullet perfomance, either.

I have 95 grain BTs and 95 grain Partitions to try out, I haven't even loaded any yet, but I think I'll try the Ballistic Tips first.

Sounds like my experience. I tried all kinds of bullets in the .243 shot lots of deer, a few antelope and a couple elk, plus a bear with it. The easy favorite was 100 gr. Flat base Hornady, filled by 100 NPT ( Never could tell a difference in performance...)
And likewise, Im stoked to go with 95 Gr. NBTs right now, but haven't sunk any into meat yet.....

Started in with a 6mm Remington back in 1974. For the past 10 years or so my youngest son uses it for mule deer and whitetail. It's a great little cartridge!

Favorite load for it is the superb 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip over enough RE-22 to get about 3,000 fps from the 22" well worn, 40 year old barrel. He dropped another whitetail with it last season:



This one was straight into the chest as the buck faced him, from a quickly assumed kneeling position at about 70 yards. We did recover the bullet, from the hip. It had gone through the chest, hit the spine, then angled down and into the hip, caught by the skin. 49 grains, and expanded to about .5" or so.


Typical kill we've come to expect from the 6mm Remington. Instant. Also the only time we've ever recovered a 6mm bullet from deer... We've also used the 100 gr Nosler Solid Base bullets with pretty much the same results. Pass-throughs can be expected on broadside shots.

Same young fellow, ten years ago with his first deer, a muley doe at about 275 yards. We had the rifle in a Rem youth stock then. Broadside shot. Bullet exited through the off-side leg, shattering it, after destroying her heart. Instant drop and death.


So that's it in a nutshell. Accurate. Lethal. Easy to shoot. Deadly effective on varmints, coyotes & deer size game. I used that rifle for a long time and now my youngest son has used it for ten years. We know it will do what we ask of it.

Guy

Guy, it looks like the young man has confidence in his rifle. He apparently hasn't wanted to change.

Poobs, my routine for starting with a new rifle was to try the Hornady Interlock, and the Speer Hotcor, then pick the most accurate one from there.

More often than not, the Hornady was more accurate.

I have an old 6mm Rem 700 BDL that I picked up from the 60's. I have not used it yet this season, but will do so in short order. Using 95 gr BT's over 47 grs of R-22 and getting 3070 fps. It shoots 3/4" @ 100 yards.

I have an 03-A3 w/ Sako barrel chambered to 6-250 that shoots about anything I feed it.

My buddy borrowed it last deer season. Load was a 90 gr NBT pushed to almost exactly 3k using RL15 (insanely low EDs on that load!!). He had a doe some in close (50-ish yards) quartering toward him. He hit her in her left shoulder & bullet exited just behind right shoulder. She didn't run 50 yds, bled heavily, and dropped dead.

Someday I'll give my 25s a break and take this one into the field after deer!! Certainly wouldn't hesitate.

Witnessed a mule deer kill at a bit over 350yds with a .243 last Friday. 95gr Berger went through him and made a splash in the dirt behind him that looked like a miss....until the buck kicked, took a few steps and tumbled down the mtn. I've always been a 30-06 guy and curious about .243 performance - after witnessing that, I would like to pick up a M70 Featherweight in .243. Looked like a very capable cartridge to me.

A couple from back in the .243 days...( which are still going on to some extent...)













Its capable.

^ When did John Cleese take up deer hunting?

My first 6mm deer was running wide open at about 100 yards. Bang flop right there with 80 grain corelokt factory loads.

He does reach for the old .30-06 when we're after bear or elk. But yes, for deer, whitetail or mule deer, he prefers the 6mm Rem.

Shortly after I gave it to him, I was really missing it. Replaced it with a .25-06 I've gone bonkers over, but tell you the truth, I can't see any difference between the two in the field. He's shooting a 95 or 100 gr bullet at 3,000 fps and I'm shooting a 115 gr bullet at 3120 fps... Not really much difference there.

Good deer cartridges, those 6mm's.

NICE bucks Ingwe!

Regards, Guy

Really like the 243 and 95 BT. Would use that combo for elk as well under the right circumstance without reservation.

The last victim.

Tell me he's not a two point!


I would LOVE to kill one of those monster two points!

He is the second one.

The other one is larger, I'll try to dig up a pic.

YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

Good posts and pics. What I see as a theme is when good bullets are deployed, and shot placement is handled, enhanced by low recoil and flat trajectory, results are solid. Re: blood trails, I wonder how many 'lost' deer were dead in a reasonable distance and not recovered?

Vic, the Sierra is a killer, but a Barnes, 95 NBT, or say an Interlock would surely give you a better exit. Odds are the fast expanding highly destructive 85 BTHP will put them on the ground quicker than a 100 BTSP SGK, and if you are not getting a blood trail w/100s, I would choose a different bullet myself. I did lose a deer once, and it was a 100 SGK, shot placement was why as it was facing me, and my POI in the frigid temps was lower than when I sighted in, I never got that slug into the boiler room, and admit I lost confidence. My then Brother in law later told me he saw a deer limping. I saw hair fly on shot/impact, but no blood. I think from my tall tower stand I grazed it near it's armpit if you will. That was in the 80s, thankfully my skills and knowledge have improved since, as has my confidence in 6mm's, having used the BR and 243 successfully on several head of deer and a hog.

No, JR sucks.

Yes he's bigger than me.

Awesome buck, my first mulie was a 27" forkie. Dad told me if I wanted to shoot a big buck I couldn't be shooting fork horns, I did both!

243 Win with the 80 GMX @ 3050fps on a decent doe around 60yds shooting slightly uphill. That's the exit in the pic and I will certainly be using the 80 GMX again.

A 243 will work if you get close enough...

A few 6mm kills from over the years. I like the 100 gr Speer BTSP. Never a tracking issue for me when put through the lungs.

Shrapnel - that looks like a real goat - rope, so to speak!

Dog Hunter - that's one heck of a muley! Congrats!

Guy

I have all three of those bullets, in addition to the 95 Partition, and after the season is over, I intend to find out more about them. I will use the 80 TTSX this year, and have complete confidence in it's ability to exit.

I see so many endorsements of the 95 NBT that it is next on the list for live testing. I still have time before the firearms season here in Va. to compare to the TTSX for accuracy.

I know the Partition will work, I just wonder if it's accuracy would compare with the TTSX, and based on reputation, the NBT.

Over the years I've made three one shot kills all does. Not a lot to tell two were under 50 yds one head on center of the chest one right behind the shoulder both drt . The 3 rd was probably 180 -200 yds. Thru the shoulder again drt. This shot resulted in the only bullet I have recovered. A perfect mushroom under the hide on the offside again drt. All bullets were hand loads using 100 gr Remington corelokt bullets.
Last year went with a friend that was always a big rifle sort of guy but due to a shoulder problem couldn't use his normal 30-06. I convinced him to take a 243 and he was skeptical of his chances. However when he got a chance at about 250 yds he made a nice shot behind the shoulder. I asked what happened and he said it was like someone pulled the rug out from under the deer. I believe he was using 100 gr fusion ammo.

I shoot a deer or two off and on with a .243, have done so since the fifties. I really like the 80 grain TTSX and the 85 TSX. Very accurate and kill very well.

I shot one with a Howa 1500 .243 that was the nicest job any .243 has ever done for me. I was looking for a nice fat fawn on the last day of the season for one last tasty one in the freezer. Almost at the end of shooting light one walked out and immediately turned and just walked straight away. It just kept going until it got to about 150 yards then it froze looking at something about 500 yards across the field. The rifle was really accurate, no wind, so I settled the crosshairs at the base of the skull and he did one of those slow motion tip overs.

I've never stopped a Barnes of any caliber, including .223s, in a deer. From the holes in the deer, there's no way I'd even consider guessing what caliber did it. They all look the same to me. Some bleed, some don't. I have seen poor blood trails with 250 grain 45 caliber Barnes and with .223 and 53 grain TSXs. What I do see is uniformly destroyed chest contents, big calibers and small. I look at it like if I drop blood pressure to zero instantly, I shouldn't be expecting a blood trail and Bambi isn't going to make it past 50 yards 95% of the time and never past 100 if he does run. So far none have violated that rule.

Nearly mirrors my setup except I use Varget. My model 7 is actually my Daughters and is the older 18 1/2 inch barrel model. She, I and others have killed a pretty good pile of deer with it, and I don't recall one ever being hard to find. I do not hunt with it much but do not feel handicapped when I do. miles

I took a small 3x3 white tail in WY in 2013, using a Tikka T3 Lite .243 Win shooting factory 95 gr Fusions at 295 yards. Shortly afterwards I took a mule deer doe at 185 yards. Both were one shot kills, with the bullets passing through.

Eric

243 Win worked fine on an antelope doe this year.
95gr Ballistic Tip/41.5gr H4350 @ ~3070 out of a 700 ADL.
At 242 yards the bullet entered the right side of the quartering away antelope. It broke a near side rib, clipped the bottom of the backbone and punched through the left side shoulder blade. It appeared to exit in one piece.
I have no complaints.

100 gr. NPT at 3,250 fps out of a .240 is good WT and Pronghorn medicine. Good entrance and exit holes, lots of messed up stuff in between. Hits hard. They don't go far, mostly DRT.

DF

Hunted with the 243 Win for years. Never had bad results, even with Winchester power points on deer. The closest thing to a 'problem' I had was a big doe that I hit perfectly through the lower heart but missed bone. That deer ran 70 yards, but was easily tracked.

More recently, I've used the 95 Partition and lately, the 85 TSX. Boringly positive results on deer. I have not used the 243 for anything larger than Antelope or deer, but I would not hesitate to use it on black bears, goats etc. at reasonable (~300 yards) distance with good bullets.

Meat on the ground! Good to know. I currently am using the 85 TSX, but have a box of GMX 80s to load and try.

Damn nice bucks!

Lee....thats long before you met me, about 60 pounds ago...and I had hair!

And it was brown!

243 win 95 gr ballistic tip. One shot in the heart and he went down like a sack of taters.

Not ALOT of hair...

That top Mulie is uber. All are nice bucks! 270 win?

Nice!

That is a Grand buck

Nice bucks for an OLD man.

He wasn't old when he shot them.....

I don't know. He looked pretty long in the tooth even way back then.

42 grains of H4350 and a 95NBT is an accurate and safe load in our rifles. That combo zergs deer disproportionate to its size/speed. Makes no sense but I swear it to be true. Seems to be a perfect combination of expansion and penetration. Granted that's with a standard 243 and not a hot rod.

All 243Win

95gr NBT 35'ish yards, DRT





95gr NBT 190 yards, both DRT's






95gr NBT 285 yards buddies wife, DRT





95gr NBT 285 yards, DRT





95gr NBT 240 yards, DRT





95gr NBT 427 yards by a friend, DRT







95gr NBT 240 yards, DRT

[img]http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Vereor1/Charles8pt2007240yds95grNBT.jpg[/img]




115gr DTAC 594 yards I believe, 70 yards

[img]http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Vereor1/PC300510-1.jpg[/img]

Have killed with just about every bullet thus far mentioned and the 95gr NBT is without equal for deer. A properly setup 243 slinging 95gr NBT's is a MONSTER.

I'll take an 80-85gr TSX or simple 100gr SGK over any ballistic tip type bullet for deer.

Of course it really doesn't matter. They die quickly with everything my 243s have shot.

In fairness, I have heard some of the jackets are now thicker on various NBT specimens. I wouldn't know. I gave up on them years ago because they were bombs and made a mess of things.

Question for you 95 NBT users. How would you compare them to an 87 V-Max on critters?

Completely different than the V-Max. The designer of the 95gr NBT was a 243 fanatic and Nosler let him make a bullet just for it. He made it to be in his mind the perfect big game bullet for the 243Win.... And by big game I mean elk and he apparently crushed a bunch of big 6x6's with it. I've shot well over a 100 deer with it and have only seen one caught- the 10pt at 427yards above. Caught forward edge of on side shoulder, spine, nicked off side shoulder and caught in offside skin.

The buck in the picture with the doe caught one through both shoulders, spine and out the other side, as have a bunch of others.

The 85gr TSX and 80gr TTSX are good, but we've gotten a lot more runners with them. I also caught two in normal sized does in the first 4 that I shot with them. I think we've caught 4 TSX's in around 20 deer, and only one 95gr NBT on a couple hundred.



Ps- interesting to note all but one of those was with a Leupold scope. grin.

It sounds as if the jackets must be thicker now, as I've read several times.

We took a bunch of deer with them when they first came out. Simple shots on light bone blew up a lot of meat. Even neck shots that normally penciled through and broke the neck with other bullets, did same, but destroyed what could have been some nice neck roasts.

My bud and his dad used to laugh at the damage they did. I just looked at it as wasted meat.

I asked of the 87 Vmax because they seemed to act very similarly. I haven't used the NBTs in quite some time now, but a bud took a deer with a 70 grainer and it penetrated further with less mess than I expected.....

Ballistic Tips in general, or the .243" 95 grain in particular?

6mm 95gr

7mm 140gr

.277 130gr

You know, come to think of it, were the first 6mm NBTs 95gr?

Or did they have 90gr. or 100gr? I honestly cannot recall.....

I thought the 95 grain was supposed to have been good from the outset, being designed as a game bullet by Gail Root. Not having been a 243 user in the early days for that bullet, I don't have any evidence from those times.

I can say it has been a great deer bullet for a few years now though.

I remember reading an ad about the NBT that said something like "over 25 years of continual improvement". Meaning some changes have most likely occurred.

It may well have been 90 gr we used. It just never dawned on me until now....

My first deer was with a 30 carbine. Dad figured he had a hunter on his hands and that Christmas I got a Remington 600 in 243. With that little rifle and a later Mod. 99 in 243, I took more than 150 white tails over 10 years, off of a ranch here in Texas that had permission to do a herd reduction.
Many very happy memories are associated with that little rifle. I'm patiently waiting (ok, NOT so patiently) for my 4.5 year old grandson to get old enough to take over the 600. I have loaded up 50 of the Nosler 95gr CTBT's (it's all I could find at the time) and worked up a load with some IMR 4064 that should work just fine for him. Maybe I'll test it out this year, just for old times sake.

im gonna pick up a box of federal premium NBT 95gr tomorow. u guys have got me wanting to try these

A nice 24hour member gave a friendly heads up a few weeks back that Midway had 95NBTs in stock. (Which has been hard to find for many moons). I bought several hundred to stock up. Between my friends and family, I load for five 243s. Point being, stock up while you can because for whatever reason they dry up for extended periods of time.

This might get kind of long but I will do my best to keep it short as possible. Sorry but I dont remember all the exact loads in detail but I can get close.

I have been using a 243 win for deer hunting since the early 90's. I used to shoot a Rem 700 BDL varmint in 243 loaded with 90gr Ballistic Tips over a charge of IMR 4350. Great shooting load and bullet worked great beyond 100 yards. Shot several deer with this combo out to 400yds and always got a large exit hole and DRT.

Started using the same load in a Model 7 243 I had. Made a broad side heart and lung shot on a scrub buck at 30yds. 90gr BT went in about 6" and blew up due to high impact speeds. This started me on a quest for a new bullet for all my 243's.

Fast forward a couple years and my oldest daughter decided she wanted to start deer hunting. She uses a Rem 700 in a Ti stock and a 22" barrel.

I have always like Sierra bullets so I loaded up 100gr BTSP sierras with the same charge of IMR 4350. She shot her first buck, a nice 4 pointer at 103 yards. Broadside heart and lung shot. No exit hole and deer ran about 20 yards and fell over dead. We found a little bit of the base of the jacket on the off side under the hide. Time to try another bullet.

I had a box of Speer 100gr round nose on my loading bench. Loaded her up some of them with the same powder charge thinking the round nose would be prefect for her since her shots are normaly close to within 200yds.

Shot a real nice 8 pointer broadside at 53 yards. No blood trail and he ran about 50 yards in a big thicket. Finally found him and there was about a 3" long trace of blood coming out of the entrance hole and no exit hole. Time to try another bullet.

Worked up a load with the 100gr partition. It has been bang flop ever since. Always nice exit holes on any angle shot from 25yards to 215 yards.

I have heard and read alot about the 95 gr BT and I have a few hundred I have been wanting to try so I cant speak for the 95 but the 90's do not work inside 100yds. There jacket is to thin.

6mm BR.
Youngest daughter decided she wanted to start deer hunting. I built her a 6 mm BR off the Model 7 243 I had. 22" 1/8 twist Benchmark barrel. Found a load using 95gr Berger VLD's and pushing them at 2800 fps per my chrono.

She has dropped 2 deer so far and both have been bang flops. Attached is a pic of the bullets we recovered from her deer. Both are 95gr VLD's and were recovered from the off side under the hide. The one on the left was recovered in the off side shoulder and the shot was 112 yards. Right bullet was under the hide and shot was 126 yards.

I have been tempted to change bullets in the BR due to not getting an exit hole so far but as you can see by the pic, they are holding together and working good so far so im going to stick with them for now.

Sorry for the long post. This is my readers digest version of deer hunting with a 243 over the last 24 years or so.

The 90gr version was first, and is completely different than the 95gr. I believe that the 95gr was one of, if not the first NBT that was built stouter. It was made correct from the start, always having a thicker jacket. Would have zero qualms popping an elk with one.

I the earlier post there is a pic of a long range whitetail at over 400 yards with what appears to be a handi rifle. Props to that shooter. I had a .243 handi rifle and never was satisfied with its accuracy. That was pre-handloading for me so maybe I could do better now. I am loading a marlin XS7Y for my son and nephew to use and I have great results with 100 grain federal blue box and the federal 85 grain tsx load. I have tried a few 90 grain nosler e-tips with sub par accuracy results. I now have some 100 grain hornady interlock BTSP and some 85 grain nosler partitions. I am hoping to find a good load for those partitions. They should work well on the whitetails and groundhogs they will be hunting.

One thing I never argue with is results.

I am now quite certain I was using 90s and not 95s. As I really haven't kept up with the NBTs as I don't use them. I still load some .277 130gr for a bud. Don't like it, though. And some 100gr SGKs for another bud. Which I do like and has produced some extemely fast kills for me.

Heck, I still have a big pile of 85gr Barnes XLCs here........

Good post/info. Thanks....

I hit a deer and had a huge trauma in and out via an early 130 NBT from a 700 MR in 270.

Later switched to the 150 NBT and they shot much better and always killed well without the grenade effect. I suppose that 150 then was tougher and a tad slower.

Glad I stocked up long ago on the 95s. Not sure why one would need any other bullet. It's my go to bullet and all the great feedback on it should give ample evidence of field performance.

just picked up a box of 95gr BT. rifle season cant get here soon enough

Actually, the 95 was the first 6mm BT, followed by the 70gr. varmint bullet. The 90 and 80 BT followed and came along in the late 90's/early 2000's.

My boys used a 18.5 inch Remington Model 7 youth in 6mm to kill a bunch of deer. I loaded it in Remington brass, 100 gr Partitions over 43 Grains of Win 760. The deer were from 35 to 300 yards with most around 250 yards across a corn field.
Most were DRT maybe 3 ran 20-50 yards. I shot one spike buck around 105 yards with a 85 gr TSX over 46 gr of Reloader 19. He reared up and fell on his back. There was blood 6 feet up in the trees near him. I will give the TSX another try!

My 13 year old got her first deer today with the 100gr Hornady Interlock factory load in .243. 65 yards quartering towards us (maybe 20 degrees away from head on). One shot into the neck/lungs. Bang/flop, no exit and I didn't bother trying to dig around and catch the bullet. Works for me, and I could not be prouder of her.

It was a public land/national forest deer and we put in the miles together to earn him. She spend hours on the range working on positions, and it payed off as she had to take a sitting shot. We got to watch the deer approach behind a screen of brush, and we had plenty of time to get the jitters. She did great!

Neat story, congrats to both of you for a job well done!

Thanks, she is an incredible young lady and I am very fortunate to have her as my daughter. The deer Gods were smiling on us today for sure.

One of my twin little sisters with her biggest buck to date. 243 kill naturally.

95NBT doe zerg

95NBT doe zerg

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv%3B574%3Dot%3E33%3A5%3D829%3D346%3DXROQDF%3E264%3C9748%3A8255ot1lsi

My son Chas, 12 yrs old with his .243 WIn H&R lightweight. About 60 yds with a Speer 100 gr . It went about 20 yds.

I've hunted antelope in western South Dakota several times with my older .243 Remington rifle. It's a slide action model 760 with Simmons AETAC scope which is a tack driving combination for me. Most of my shots average about 275 yards or so. I've had very good luck with Black Hills Ammo featuring the 95 grain ballistic tip bullet. This is also a very good outfit for mule deer and whitetails. No problems with killing power.

Sherwood

Cool rifle Sherwood.