Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .243 for Mule Deer

Last year I got tired of humping my .308 Remington M700 Police, and in a break between hunting, went out and bought a Thompson Center in .243.

Does anyone here have experience using a .243 on muleys? I bought 95 gr Ballistic Silvertips, as the store was out of heavier bullets.

Is that an adequate bullet/load combination for shots out to 200 yds?

Thanks.

BH63

yup, it sure is.
I haven't used that combo on mulies for a while, but it worked on elk and LOTS of big WT deer. it's my go to load minus the silvertip part of it, I prefer the vanilla BT's

If you shoot 'em through the lungs, any current production factory loads with 95 or 100 grain bullets will do.

I'm impressed by how accurate the 95 grain Winchester/Olin Deer Season XP and Federal Fusion are in both my Marlin XS7 and RAR-Predator.

Thanks. I've always been a big fan of shoulder shots, but with the .243 maybe I should slip them in, just behind the shoulder.

BH63

The .243 is quite capable for any deer. Dad used his for Elk many times. I got tired of lugging around my Win mod 70 .243 varmint bbl around, grabbed my Savage 99 in .308 (was my grandfathers) been carrying it ever since.

If you want to make shoulder shots on deer, any of the cup and core 100 gr. load should work fine.
I've been very impressed with the 95-100 gr. Nosler Partitions out the .243 and the .240 Wby. They lack nothing on penetration at any angle on the mulies I've seen them used on. E

If I ever went back to the .243 for deer I would use the Barnes TTSX.

I've seen a lot of muleys go a long ways if not hit well with a 243. IMO there's less margin for error. It's not my first choice, but if you put it where you should you'll be fine.

A 243 loaded with 100 grain Partitions is what John's (Mule Deer) wife uses. I don't think she has any complaints.

Lots of good bullets out there for the .243 these days. I can't see a mule deer shaking off a GOOD shot with any quality 90 to 105 gr bullet from a .243 inside 200yds.

Thanks for all the great info. I can't wait until I get out in the field (provided I get a tag).

BH63

If you just can't break the shoulder punching habit, these might be better than the silvertips.
http://rmrbullets.com/product-category/bullets-for-reloading/bullets-for-reloading-243-6mm-19/

I've never been a big 243 guy....with that being said, when I used 95 grain vld for two white-tails I'm now a 243 guy. I was amazed at the performance and accuracy is very impressive. shooting out of a 75 finnlight at less than 1/2". One bug hole 5 shot groups is not uncommon when I do my part.

I have to confess I bought the .243, primarily because of weight issues. Even the bullets save quite a bit of weight, which is really a big deal, if you suffer from arthritis of the hip. More weight equates to more pain.

I get fairly good accuracy with my .243 Ballistic Silvertips with MOA at 200 yds without any fliers, but I will look into some of the other bullet recommendations.

Cheers,

BH63

Carry that rifle/load and go kill deer.

The landowner's 8 yr old son killed this nice buck with a .243 a couple of years ago.

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They have been known to work:

hint...










They even work on Axis Deer!

Snake River Marksman,

The 95-grain Ballistic Silivertips are simply black-coated Ballistic Tips with silver plastic tips, NOT the original Winchester Silvertip. The 95-grain Ballistic Tip is a tough bullet, and in fact the retired Nosler ballisician/engineer who designed it, Gail Root, used it to take a number of elk, including more than one big 6-point bull. I sincerely doubt there would be any problem punching mule deer shoulders with one.

JB, is the 90 grain BT 'about' as tough as the 95 or does it have a different jacket?


My latest scheme involves an attempt at getting the 90 BT's to match up with 95 grain Partitions.


The 90 grain Scenar experiment is over.

A buddy of mine has killed a boatload of mulies with a Remington pump in 6mm using 100 grain Nosler Partitions. You will really like that TC Venture. Good luck.