Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting First Year with 243

R#26 with the 100g, cci 250 re defines the 243. Barrels will differ in velocity and loads they like. I have seen a 26" barrel get 3200 with amazing accuray.

100g Hornady flat base and the BTSP are fantastic bullets

95g partitions are what we used on large Nebraska bucks at some yardage. I shot several walking to us as I grunted them in at 200-300 yards, with the partition breaking a front shoulder and exiting the rib cage on the opposite side. I used IMR 4831 with Rem 9 /2's at a velocity of 3100.

When we started hunting in Kansas, the 100g Hornady BTSP dumped those 200-260 lb bucks hard at 250-350 yards.

Friend in New Zealand that used to live close to me, says that the 95g SST is all they use on those large deer they have that run 450 lbs, and they do take shots from mountain side to mountain side.

I did try the 85g barnes NON tipped tripple shock on one doe. She was walking away from me, and I shot her sqaure in the butt. She flopped on the spot. When we were skinning her, I found the bullet under the hide about to exit a shoulder!!!

Friend in Tx has killed several truck loads of hogs, deer, and exotics with the 105g Berger hunting vld without any bullet failures at all.

If you hunt in a jungle and like shooting through the shoulders, 95g Partitions will NEVER fail you, even at 20 yards!

Old School, 85g Speer btsp deserves amention, this is NOT a varmint bullet, and expect the same performance on deer as the 95g ballistic tip at less than half the price. The speer does well on hogs. My remingtons like a very hot load of R#19, with a fed 215 primer at 3300 fps.

I was raised shooting deer with 7 remington mags, really hard to tell the difference in how deer die between the 7 RM and the 243, 300 yards and under. Greybull has made some incredible shots with the 243.

R#26 with the 100g, cci 250 re defines the 243. Barrels will differ in velocity and loads they like. I have seen a 26" barrel get 3200 with amazing accuray.

100g Hornady flat base and the BTSP are fantastic bullets

95g partitions are what we used on large Nebraska bucks at some yardage. I shot several walking to us as I grunted them in at 200-300 yards, with the partition breaking a front shoulder and exiting the rib cage on the opposite side. I used IMR 4831 with Rem 9 /2's at a velocity of 3100.

When we started hunting in Kansas, the 100g Hornady BTSP dumped those 200-260 lb bucks hard at 250-350 yards.

Friend in New Zealand that used to live close to me, says that the 95g SST is all they use on those large deer they have that run 450 lbs, and they do take shots from mountain side to mountain side.

I did try the 85g barnes NON tipped tripple shock on one doe. She was walking away from me, and I shot her sqaure in the butt. She flopped on the spot. When we were skinning her, I found the bullet under the hide about to exit a shoulder!!!

Friend in Tx has killed several truck loads of hogs, deer, and exotics with the 105g Berger hunting vld without any bullet failures at all.

If you hunt in a jungle and like shooting through the shoulders, 95g Partitions will NEVER fail you, even at 20 yards!

Old School, 85g Speer btsp deserves amention, this is NOT a varmint bullet, and expect the same performance on deer as the 95g ballistic tip at less than half the price. The speer does well on hogs. My remingtons like a very hot load of R#19, with a fed 215 primer at 3300 fps.

I was raised shooting deer with 7 remington mags, really hard to tell the difference in how deer die between the 7 RM and the 243, 300 yards and under. Greybull has made some incredible shots with the 243. There is a video of his daughter shooting a very large cow elk at 667 yards, flopped hard. I rode mules and got close to elk, with the 243 and 100g Partitions, cow elk never went over 10'.


There are so many good bullets. With the 243 being so easy to shoot well, it is no wonder that more people do not use it. Habits and traditions are hard to change.

I have been using 243 for deer for over 30 years. Best bullet for reloading in my experience is Sierra 100 gr ProHunter. Damage to organs is reliable yet the bullet holds together enough to exit even on shoulder hits. For early years I used Remington 100 gr Corelok in factory ammo with no complaints. In current rifles (T/C Venture and Weatherby Vanguard), I am using Hornady 95 SST because of terminal performance and good accuracy. Very good bullet for deer. The Hornady SST factory ammo is not accurate in my Remington 700 rifle. I have not had a factory or a handload that was dependable for good blood trails. A 243 does not usually make a large hole. In the area where I am permitted to hunt, a deer traveling over 100 yards may be on private land where owner is against hunters. A dead deer down within 40 yards is a very good situation.

The SIerra 100gr Pro Hunter is a very good deer bullet from the 243 as is the Speer 90gr Hot Cor.

I think my favourites are the 85gr Interbonds and 90gr ballistic tip which gets more velocity than you would expect compared to the 95gr.

I've killed with 105gr speer spitzer (ok not great), 100gr partitions (great), 100gr hornady RN (ok), 95gr ballistic tip (great), 87gr hornady sp (good) 87gr Hornaday bthp (great for small deer/neck shots) 85gr speer btsp (great for small deer but not as tough in my experience as reported above).

My experience has been that a 243 needs expansion to work well and that if you place such a bullet well its a great cartridge. Apply weight and toughness and shot reaction can be poor (105gr speer and 100gr PPU factory). An accurate 243 with a good bullet and a good shot is hard to beat.

I am thinking a BLR in 243 would be handy carrying deer/yote rifle.

Been hunting deer hunting for 50 years now. Have not used the 243 for deer until the last 5 years, and still hunt with the 308 and 270 quite a lot. But have managed to take 3 deer in those 5 years with the 243. 2 medium size and last season, the biggest buck I have taken to date.

3 deer, 3 different slugs. Federal blue box on one, Speer GS on one and Hornady BTSP on the big guy, all 100 gr slugs. Handloaded the Speer and Hornady, Fed was a factory load. 1 higher shoulder shot, required a finisher, others just behind front leg about 1/4 up from bottom of deer.

My observations,. All deer died within 75 yards. Did not see any of them drop. Much smaller blood trails and none at impact site, about 25 yards before they started leaking. All 3 bullets exited, none exhibited the size holes I get with larger rounds. I do my own butchering and the internal damage is simply less, as I would expect.

I have dropped many deer in their tracks or very short distance with rounds like 270, 308 etc. My sample of 3 is indeed small, but the results are exactly what I expected. That said I like the round and will continue to use it, but it simply does not provide the effect the larger rounds do.

My wife uses 90 grain Nosler E tip.

Here is my Sierra 100 PH story, copied from previous thread:
Re: 100 gr Sierra Pro Hunter in 243. [Re: driftless]
AnsonRogers Online Content
Campfire Regular

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 971
NW Missouri
Shot a nice 8 pt buck last evening with the Sierra 100 Pro Hunter from a 243. Shot was at 60 yards, almost broadside. Aimed right behind left leg. Deer turned and ran down a trail in the woods at full speed. He disappeared from sight after about 50 yards. With the help of my tracker wife and our neighbor, we finally found the deer. He had gone about 150 yards leaving no blood trail. Bullet did not exit. I had brought our dog down to track, which she did, but the neighbor saw the white of the deer's belly about the same time that the dog was dragging my wife in that direction.

I know all of the Nosler BT users will be along to say that's the bullet I should have used and you may be right. But the time I used the 95BT, the deer went about 75 yards, in sight the whole time. Bullet did exit but very small hole. That was a 100 yard shot. Shot one with a 90 Accubond at about 50 yards and it went about 75 yards with very little if any blood. Very small exit hole. The heart was disconnected so that may account for lack of blood.

I will be using my 7mm08 or 308 next year. The 243 will be for coyotes.

Flame away!


Update, I plan to use the 243 again this year loaded with Nosler 100 grain partitions. According to all the reports, it should work. We'll see.

Thank you everyone for your replies, I have read all the info provided. And as is there is a lot of different experiences with the 243. As i would expect. Two Trax has about the observations that could see happening to me. Keep the thoughts coming its a good read.

I had a similar incident with 100 gr sierra gameking on a large doe many years ago. Shelved the 243 for several years. Got the bright idea to try the 90 and 95 gr ballistic tips and its been game on since. I probably picked the worst bullet of the bunch to start with but Ive killed a slew of them since I started using it again. The 2 ballistic tips and the partitions are my favs.

I wish posters would reveal their location so a person could get an idea of the deer size. I used a 243 on Texas deer a lot when I lived there. It worked super with just about any bullet but the small hill country deer don't compare to the size they are here in Missouri. It makes a big difference.

What does a run of the mill Mizzou buck weigh?

Central Canada, bush bucks, big fat bodies, small racks - nuff said !

A lung shot deer is going to run a bit,the ones that I shoot with a 300 magnum run if I don't hit bone. I was not a fan of the 243 until I saw a friend having good results with his 243 with 95 grain Hornady SST bullets. I saw him kill a big wild boar with that bullet and it went through the chest and exited. Made me a believer with that bullet in the 243.

Our oldest bucks weigh 240-250 pounds,our hogs can be a lot bigger,a 243 works with good bullets and good shot placement,I don't think critters in Missouri are bigger or tougher than ours in the Alabama Blackbelt.


I will say that just about any 150 grain bullet from a 308 or 30-06 will be fine,in the 243 it pays to pick your bullet carefully.Since the 30 caliber bullets have 50% more mass and momentum as well as a larger frontal area when expanded,they tend to create larger wound channels.Bigger wound channels may lead to lung shot deer traveling shorter distances.

But a good bullet with proper shot placement from a 243 will kill quicker than a bigger bullet with less than optimal bullet placement from a bigger cartridge.

I don't know, I've never weighed one. I used to bone out most Texas deer and take the meat to a German sausage maker. Usual yield, if my memory is correct, was 26 to 28 pounds. Here in MO, I've gotten as much as 74 pounds from a large buck. Even a normal doe is usually 50 pounds or more.

Average of the last 5 bucks was 64 pounds.

Shot many with various 243s and 6BR. BR took a deer at 400 yds, ranged. Used a 105 Amax....

That said, my fave all around, near and far is the 95 Nosler BT...also in the WW Factory Silvertip load.
Many bullets work, I have even used a 70 TNT successfully in both of the above...as well as others like the 85 BTHP SIerra, 100 NPT and 100 Sierra BTSP.

The 80 TTSX and 85 XBT are Wicked, and Deadly but lower in BC, so would limit to around 300 yds myself. Good hunting!

Simply KNOW what your limits are of the bullet you are using...Soft Bullets go into Soft targets, harder ones like Barnes Mono and Nosler Partition can drive thru bone much better when needed. SHOT PLACEMENT is Key as with any other round/bullet.

We have shot big Kansas deer bucks, 200 pound plus at ranges of 350 yards with 100g Hornady btsp and flat base with a load of 41.0-*41.5g of 4350.

No deer went over 10 yards.


95g nosler partition was what we were using on Nebraska corn fed bucks that went 200 lbs at some yardage of 200-300. Close to max load of IMR 4831 works very well with a 9 1/2 with the 95's.

I killed 19 out of a box of 20 shells using Winchester soft point reloads with IMR 4064, close range shots in SC and Ga.

A friend moved to New Zealand, claims that the 95g SST is the bullet for the 243 on those long shots with the big deer they have.

On average, a Mizzou buck (north of hwy 44 and anywhere north along 70) will always be a noticeable bigger buck than an Ozark buck (south of 44) . A decent buck in the southern half might go 165 lb on the hoof. A decent buck in north central will always go well over 200 on the hoof. I’ve hunted the rough ozark ridges and valleys most of my life and I have gotten the pleasure of hunting in the agricultural belt north of 70 and it was a pleasure.

No flame, just a thought or two, based on my own limited experience.

"Right behind the leg", depending on the vertical placement, can have widely varying effects, and to my mind the most important one has to do with the blood trail. Hits above the center line, even pass-throughs, can result in little or no blood trail for a good many yards because there's not enough blood to reach the hole(s), and what does come out has to trickle down through the hair unless the deer rubs against something or it gets blown out by the deer's breathing. Pass-throughs usually cause some spatter and hair sign, but that isn't always easy to find without snow. I always try to keep my shots right about at the top of the heart so either the heart and/or the big blood vessels get mashed and the blood trail starts almost immediately. My lone experience with the SPH was an adult doe shot in the heart at 100 yards. The bullet didn't exit, but she only went about 20 yards, and leaked pretty good. An almost identical hit on a small buck with a 100gr NP blew on through, and he went maybe 35 yards. I prefer the NP because broadsides aren't always offered. The PH is just a bit too soft to suit me as an all-around deer bullet, at least in .243.

A hit "right behind the leg" at 40 yards with a 130gr Hornady FB .270, at just about half-way up the chest, failed to exit, and I found no blood at all, only a dead buck after trailing it by the disturbance in the leaves for 100-150 yards. It was raining pretty steadily, and the only sign of a hit was some hair knocked off the far side of his chest where the bullet hit but failed to exit. The only reason I stuck it out was that I couldn't believe I'd missed him that close. Perfect mushroom, total destruction of the lungs, but no blood till he fell in a little pool of water.