Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 243 for deer

Texczech, the most accurate .243 load Iv'e come up with in all three of my .243s

105 Scenar
41.5 gr. H-4350
CCI-200
O.A.L. 2.795

For me this is a very good hunting load and It does very well on the range.

48.0 gr. of Retumbo shoots almost exactly the same for me.


side note all my .243s are 1x8 twist... Rio7

Thanks Rio
I'll give them a try.

I've killed deer using 6BR and 243, from 70gr TNT thru 105 Amax (BR at 400 yds).

Personally the 95 NBT is my fave, all around from near to far distances. Will blow thru both shoulders of a mature buck, plenty damage but no excess meat loss.

The 85 Barnes are wicked killers, but I would reserve for distances to 300 yds or under, for expansion of the mono. The TNTs, 85/87 Cup/Core, Amax and similar are best for necks and lungs.

Consider this:
Soft bullets - for soft targets
Hard bullets like Barnes hitting bone is not an issue.

Not used E-Tips or ABs but personally prefer the 95 BT to either. You WANT Expansion with the small diameter 6mm bullets, but you need integrity for penetration thru muscle and bone if not going for lung shots/or able to pick your shot. The Amax will blow up on close shots...200 yds on a spine they disintegrate from a BR at 2850, but at 400 they exit both lungs broadside, golf-ball sized. I'd expect a few Berger and Scenar to duplicate.

100 PTs work, but I prefer the 95 NBT, for any distance, any game, just me. Same for the 85. PTs are never a bad choice.

Too many needlessly worry about the 95 BT - it flat works, and I've had 1/2" groups at 200 yds from a 6BR.......

Place your shot, carry a sharp knife. Remember, soft bullets - save for necks or lungs, no shoulders unless shots are really long.

The 95 NBT is a outstanding bullet. Reliable enough to square up a high shoulder shot on a mature deer and “splashy” enough to make good ground hog shots. If only it had a BC of 0.531....

Huge sweet spot makes it a great choice, IMO. At that range I would reduce the load quite a bit and shoot the 95BT, or any decent soft point. Recoil will evaporate.

Hey, good information here, although the weight of UP, bucks is what makes them special, not so much in rack size, the average distance I shoot bucks up here is about 75 yards, or closer,,,, with that said, the 243 is just fine,,,,, good bullet and shot placement, using a gun your comfortable with, will transmit into a gun your confident with....
I hunt Iron, Baraga, ............................... good luck

Too bad they don't make the heavy round nose bullets any more. Wouldn't mind trying a 105 RN for woods distances.

How would a 105 RN would be better than the 80/85 Barnes, 95/100 Nosler or the 105 Hornady BTHP?



I'm not being a smart ass I'm just asking.



I've killed with RN, PSP and poly tipped bullets and I can tell no difference.

I'm loading these at a mild 3180 fps for my daughter and I've been very impressed with 6 kills between us so far. Recoil is very, very low. I would expect if you pushed them to 3300-3400 (easily doable with a 24" barrel), it would be even better.

Shooting to break bone or in the lungs??

My sons load is 3290 out of a 20”bbl
And yes we try to aim for shoulders.

Either. I've been trying to teach her to break shoulders, but several have been shot right behind the shoulder, through lungs and they ran 40 yards and fell dead with great blood trails.

Good deal as I am a shoulder shooter and had no doubt they would get through but just wondered how they did if bone wasn't encountered.

100 grain Hornady Interlocks. work very well, you can expect complete penetration on broadside shots

Still work well.
I shot a doe with a 6x45 last year at 60 yds, missed her shoulder and put it just behind her shoulder.
She ran maybe 55-60 yds and tipped over.
Bullet blew through and left plenty of blood.
80 grain ttsx at what velo I cant remember.
My notebook is in storage.

These would be from a vanilla 6mm Remington, as near to max velocity as accuracy allows.

From my dealings with Barnes the more velocity the better so the 6mm should sing a happy tune with them whether you hit bone or not.

Yup.
Like I said earlier my sons .243 is getting 3290 and he’s killed a couple, not all are shoulder shots.
His last buck was hard quartering entering just in front of the rear ham, traveling on to the opposite front shoulder.
We managed to find the slug under the skin.
It dropped right there.

This. My daughter took a nice 10 pt white tail at 200 yards in Missouri this past season with exactly this load. R-17 was the powder.

Great buck. And happy young lady ,