Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 243 for deer

You went and ruined it for him. He may never shoot a bigger one. Bet you're on his Christmas card list for life though! Good on you.

I like Ballistic Tips for deer. Billy’s comment is exactly why I became a lung buster. I never eat the ribs and there isn’t much there to lose. They run a little, but I hadn’t lost one yet after the lungs are trashed.

The 130 NBT from a 270 has done some horrific shoulder damage up close. Oddly enough, that combo is also one of favorites for busting lungs. It puts them down fast, really fast!

I’m a big 243 fan too. Lots of good bullets mentioned. Pick anything above and fill your freezer.

I like the 80gr TTSX in my .243

So is the black 95 CT the same as a BT, except for the coating?

Yep, I shoot the coated ones out of my .243, they hammer deer.

White tails can’t be that tough can they? My Wife has killed a number of elk with her 243 and 100gr nosler partitions.

Yet I've not seen that once I went to barnes for the most part and never looked back....And I appreciate that fact so far too.

I could have killed at least 50% if likely almost all our whitetails with a 22lr...

I like the Speer 100 BTSP for deer out of 243 for generic, cheap bullets. Also hammers are the 95gr SST's from Hornady. Sure, 95 BT's and 95/100 Pt's work, as do every other premium. I've never seen a 243 bullet fail, actually, on deer. No need to push them hard if your shots will max out at 200. Figure out something in the mid- to upper- 2000's for speed and sight in for 175 yd zero. Bullets will perform at their best and and the brass will last longer.

I"ve shot a few with 80 ballistic tip varmint bullets and blue dot at about 1700 fps.... rib shots like normal or a head shot. Out to 200 so far or right at it IIRC, not beyond, no issues there either. I totally forgot about the mild quiet loads.

Have you tried the 107 grain Sierras? I had mixed results with SMK in other calibers and gave up on them. But I have a 6mm AI in the works that was built for the 105 & 107 grain bullets. Have plenty of 95 BT but would like to wring out the Scenar, Bergers and maybe the SMK and ELD-X.

Back to the original question. I know the OP already bought the 95 BT good choice. But an 85 or 87 will have slightly less recoil especially if held to around 3,000 fps. A past strap on shoulder pad could help too. Keep in mind if you screw up your shoulder it may hurt for the rest of your life or set you up for more surgery in the future. Take care.

For starters I am going to alternate between the 95BT and Partition to see which I like better. Probably be a difficult choice.

I have several of the 95 grain SST bullets.

I keep hearing how great they are, may give a few a try this fall.

I would pick one of the bullets recommended, and see how it groups! If they shoot good in your rifle, that's what I would use. If they don't shoot bug holes try another, until you find one that groups! Then your good. Every .243 I have owned has been a good shooter! My third favorite cartridge. Just behind the 30-06 and the 7 RM!

I load 100 grn Sierra prohunters behind 46 grns H4831. very accurate and fully penetrates bucks.

The easy answer is a 105 hornady BTHP assuming you reload and in my experience a 1-9.25” will stabilize em. Fret not their “match” label and square up a shoulder shot. They’re truly excellent in flight, price, and terminal performance.

If you don’t reload just buy anything. Deer aren’t hard to kill with a 243.

Took a doe at 237 yds last year with factory superformance/95g sst. Complete pass through
Broad side shot, broke L shoulder, passed through chest cavity and broke R upper leg bone(don't know the proper name)
Deer was dead before it hit the ground.

80gr TTSX over some H4350 and it'll tip em over like a truck hit em.

good ol 100gr corelokts handle business if you don't reload. Id pick my shots a little better though than with the barnes. Ive got some 100gr partitions but I haven't loaded them yet

Rio,would you mind sharing your plain 243 load for the 105 scenar. I have 2 new 243s to load for. For the first time we are going to have some 300 yard shots. Thanks