Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting First Year with 243

Little nervous with ammo choice with this caliper, will be shooting factory ammo at less than 250 yards. What loads have you had good success with? Thanks

https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Ballistic-Silvertip/SBST243A

This is basically the factory version of my 95 grain Ballistic Tip handloads.

Federal Fusion factory shoots great out of my Tikka. 1/2" 3 shot fairly consistent and killed a large bodied buck at 200+ two years ago.

HeavyBarrel

mathman, I watched a vid of that ammo shot through gel. It left a lot of bullet debris through out the wound channel. Has this been your experience? I guess what I'm looking for is the most bullet weight retention i can get.

I've killed several truckloads of antelope and a bunch of deer with my .243 shooting 95 grain factory Fusion ammo, its works fine.

For me the wound channel has primarily been the wrecked chest cavity contents and I didn't go looking for the debris.

Are you looking for weight retention for its own sake?

mathman, I guess yes. I don't like long tracking jobs and not having any experience with such a small caliper bullet. I would like to use the best bullet for knock down power that i can. Maybe over think it but i hate wounded game. Thanks

WW or RP factory ammo will kill very efficiently and it does not need to be the expensive stuff.
Use 85 to 100 gr. cup and core and shoot em in the chest.
You want the innards to look like a small bomb went of in there.
You want a dead animal, not a blood trail.

Just my 2 cents.

I bought a Ruger M77 Compact Carbine back in the mid 80's. Been loaned out a bunch of times over the years to youth hunters and adults to. Originally sighted it in with 100gr CoreLokts. Switched to 100gr Federals quite a few years back. Never any complaints. Last deer taken was decent 6pt at 246 steps by my granddaughter.

What MichiganRoadkill said. I use 100 gr Hornadys or Noslers, (handloads) shoot them in the chest, behind the shoulder, not in the shoulder. SHot one big buck in the shoulder and had a hard time finding him, Shot several behind the shoulder and if they moved, it was a tracking job Stevie Wonder could follow.

Nothing shoulder fired will actually knock one down. Cause them to fall down, yes. Unless you hit the central nervous system it's wrecked innards causing them to expire. A 95 grain Ballistic Tip wrecks deer innards nicely, as does the 95 grain SST in my experience. My nephew has downed a few with the 95 SST and we haven't caught a bullet yet.

There are others on these boards who have a lot more 243 experience. I was a late comer to the cartridge, for years it was too small for my taste.

I'm with mathman, if you want quick expiration without hitting the CNS, then I opt for less retention and more expansion within the animal. What goes out the opposite side doesn't impact any more damage to the vitals. Just my opinion though.

Yep, we've been using Hornady Superformance 95gr SST for quite a while now.

Stay off bone (except ribs), broadside & you'll have a very dead deer, a maximum of 40 yards away.

Also used;
Federal blue box 100gr
Federal Fusion 95gr
Barnes Vortx 95gr TSX

Like the TSX the least, but they all work.

Like stated, I want as much energy expended, within the chest cavity, whilst maintaining an exit !

The best value in factory ammo is the Federal Fusion 95 grain. It works great on deer and is accurate in most everything.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


THIS


Have had a great deal of success over the years with a .243...a near perfect deer cartridge IMHO

Used Remington Core lokt for years and they worked well. The current core lokt has a thinner jacket so they can come apart sometimes but usually do well. Just about any Hardware store around here carries the Remington loads so a plus if you ever forget your ammo.

The Federals are a good option and the electroplating process bonds the jacket and core. They can still fragment but usually stay in one piece and exit. As others have said the fragmenting is usually in the chest cavity so doesn't affect the meat and it also creates more devastation for faster kills.

For reloading I am using mostly the 95 grain Ballistic tip and the Partitions. These both perform really well, but not enough better to justify paying for premium ammunition. I have also used the Barnes 85 X and the Blue version too. These were the champs for penetration but I don't think they are needed on Deer but they were just right for on the shoulder shots on big hogs.

I would keep it simple and cheap and get a box of Remington and one of Federal and see which one the rifle liked better. If the accuracy is equal then I think I would go Federal Fusion because of the bonded effect.

Which ammo are you nervous about at that range?

You'll have no issues if you do your part.

Here is my son with a Mulie in SD last fall. .223 rem with 55gr bullets. 90 yards. Deer ran 40 yards with blood squirting out.


.




Believe it or not...This is the entrance. .223 Rem. Barnes 55gr TTSX, 90 yards.


Exit. Through the heart and lungs. We should have taken a pic of the heart. It was a "heart Slinky." Unwound. I've never seen anything like it.


My daughter with the same rifle, same bullet, same result, last fall on BIG WI doe...


Deer took zero steps. In the shoulder, out the shoulder. Not sure what else you'd want from a .300 Mag let alone a .223 Rem.

Watched a girl shoot a 220+lb mulie, it never got out of it's bed, then a nice antelope buck, blew out the top of the heart, buck stumbled 2 steps and fell on it's nose.

.243 work

Killed a whole bunch of deer, and other smaller critters, with a .243 Win, works great! If you're worried about bullet retention, shoot any of the all copper bullets. IMO, the 85gr. Barnes TSX is an excellent bullet in a 243 Win.

243 was my first, steady deer rifle. Savage 99. Used mainly the 100 gr Cor-lokt to take most of the deer. I've used the Federal Fusions as well. If I did my part in putting the bullet in the right spot, the deer died. I don't remember having one go more than 30 yards from any solid hit in the shoulders/chest area.
If I had to go back to factory stuff now and didn't want to spend an arm and a leg, I'd go to the Fusion.

I have not owned a 243 or a 6MM Remington in many years, but I did own both at one time and I killed deer with them. I have seen a lot of deer, antelope a handful of elk and one moose killed with 243s and having been a hunter as well as a guide on and off for the last 40 + years I can say with certainty that a 253 with a good bullet is a wonderful deer and antelope rifle. In the hands of an expert hunter and a good marksman, it's antiquity killed most game in North America.

Because I no longer have a 6MM bore rifle I am a bit out of touch with what is available in factory loads but one I have seen used in the last 8-10 years with excellent results is the Federal Fusion.
If I ever get another I will probably simply load the old 100 grain Nosler Partition that I used 30 years ago. Or I may try a Barnes X or GMX by Hornady or any of the good bonded core bullets made today.

Others here may have better and more timely info for you, but as far as feeling nervous about the caliber, you have no reason to.
Be assured, a good 243 is just fine as a deer rifle. What is available today is even better then most ammo and bullets available in the 70s-80 when I used the 243 and 6MM Remington, and they were both good then.

They are better today then ever.

We have killed a barn full of Whitetails with 100 grain Sierra Pro Hunters.

Thanks everyone, like i said I'm prolly over thinking this. Lots of good info given and i will follow through with some of the suggestions. After shooting larger calibers for a lot of years and looking at how small the bullet is on a 243 i was just worried, needlessly i guess.

Many years ago I shot a couple of does with the 70 grain BT, bang flops. They were broadside shots.

This is for the nice people who haven't seen this.
243 getting it done.

WOW, good stuff.

Recent kill with a .243...





And an older one from back in the day.....

1977, Remington green box, 100gr PSPCL.

Below are my only three experiences with the .243—my sons’ deer kills over the last 18 months. The .243 worked perfectly.

Nov. 2017: Barnes VOR-TX 80gr TTSX out of a 20” bbl: per chrono, roughly 2,920 fps impact velocity (at 50 yds). Deer dropped where it was hit and died within about 20 seconds. Bullet went through about 2-feet of deer, including rib bones and exited.



September 2018 (Youth-only season): Hornady 95gr SST out of a 24” bbl: per chrono, roughly 3,010 fps impact velocity (at 30 yds). Deer dropped where hit, and was dead when approached seconds later. Bullet went through about 2-feet of deer front-to-back and stopped under the hide on the far side.



This is the recovered bullet, next to a 225gr TTSX from my .340 I recovered from the moose in my avatar after going through about 4-feet of moose, including rib bones and a shoulder.



40 minutes later, my younger son got his first deer with shooting sticks at a deer 140 yds away with the .243 Hornady Lite load with an 87gr SST with a MV (per chrono) of 2,577 fps out of a 20” bbl. Impact velocity was about 2,270 fps (less than 1,000 ft-lbs)—i.e., about like a .223. Bullet exited after going laterally through the deer and destroying both lungs. The deer died where shot (could tell by the blood spatter right next to where it lay), and was dead by the 30 seconds or so it took us to get there.







I hunt deer and larger things with bigger calibers, because I can, but I was impressed with the .243’s performance. The .223-level reduced .243 Hornady load was devastating, even at 140 yards.

The cup-and-core SSTs actually seemed to produce better results even though one of them didn’t exit. However, given that there are large black bears (including a reported 600-lb one) and mountain lions in the same place, I might prefer the TTSX loads for my boys—not because they are better on deer, but because they might be better for self-defense on scarier critters around there.

That’s why my older son carries a potent pistol as a backup in case I’m not nearby.



He knows what to do.

Barnes Vortex 80ttsx

Winchester with the 95 ballistic tip

Federal Fusion 95gr


I’ve used the Barnes and Ballistic Tips in handloads and they’re excellent.


A friend has used the Fusion on a dozen or more deer and performance has been fantastic.

plain ol' 100 grain federal blue box. works and cheap at Walmart

Yeah, and its actually an excellent performer.

I have killed about everything but a grizzly bear with a 243 over the last 30 years, and it is about all I shoot. Truck loads of critters. Shoot it with confidence.

My daughters have shot several Alberta deer with the Federal Premium Barnes 85 gr TSX. It has impressed me.

We have also used a reduced load with 70 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips (the varmint version). Started at about 2400, we've never recovered one even when shot through both front shoulders. They did deep and don't "blow up" at that low velocity.

A friend shoots a lot of deer on his farm and swears by Federal Fusion ammo. His son uses it in 243 caliber.

I load Rem 100gr corelokts. The just plain work.

80 gr TTSX or GMX
I'm hand loading the TTSX for my daughter's rifle, but we have used the factory loaded Hornady GMX with same results.
11 dead deer and I have been thoroughly impressed.

Killed a lot of deer with Remington 100gr. Core-Lokts in the 243win before I started reloading the Barnes 80gr. TTSX.

buckman- you do not say where you are; or what you are shooting at. the whitetails here weigh 60-80 pounds. the ones in Canada sask weigh 300 pounds and cost 7K to hunt. I have shot antelope, whitetail , 20 mule deer , a couple elk and 130 coyote with a .243. they work real well. a 100 grain Hornady or a 95 nolser partition for deer. awesome.

I have opted this year to go old school with the Speer 100 gr BTSP. It has a really good BC for the price point and I've found a great load with it and H4350 where ES was single digits. I'll be deer hunting with it out to 400 yards.

Speer has been pretty optimistic in their BC claims.

Our "The 243 is a magic death ray" thread is early this year. Usually it's not here till August.

Yeah...but the deer don't really seem to care...

Put me in that group as well. We’ve killed over a dozen or so with that round over the last 10 yrs or so as my kids got into deer hunting. Other rounds will work too I just haven’t had any excuse to try anything else. Never recovered a single bullet on any of the deer we shot but the exit hole says it performed very well every time.

Factory 95 or 100 grain 243 loads are all more than adequate for deer. Some of the ones I've used: 100 grain Federal Blue Box, 95 grain Federal Fusion, Federal Premium 95 grain ballistic tips, and Hornady Whitetail 100 grainers.

They all worked well on whitetail, hogs and antelope. There's no reason to be nervous.

This is all good to see, if such a thing as this thread could have been posted 50 years ago it would be full of " the .243 is too light for deer" comments...

This one has pretty well been a glowing recommendation for the .243


As it should be.

And I believed that too - growing up hearing from grandpa, uncles and friends that .30-06 was the minimum deer cartridge and 7mm Mag or .300 Mag was mo' better.
Funny thing though, since I started shooting 'em with a .243 and .223 they die just as dead.
Here's my wife's buck shot with a .243 and 95 grain Hornady SSTs at, if I recall, 135 yards, or so. Right side entry and blew up inside with massive internal damage. The buck didn't take a step, but went right down.
That is the biggest bodied buck I've ever seen killed. Though we didn't weigh it, I weigh about 300lbs and she's about 100lbs. It was much closer in size and weight to me than her. Matter of fact, we couldn't drag it and had to call our son to come help.

I can remember 50yrs ago, there was only 2 guys in town that even had a .243. Funny things is, right about that time or a bit later, the 6mm Remington really took off! this was in East, Texas, well, our part of it. 100gr Remington factory corlokts. The only rifle it was "desired in" though was the Mod 742! MY BIL had a nice Mod 788 that took him years to sell! I think the biggest issue was not the 6mm but that the 788 was a bolt gun. They were not that popular there at that time. leverguns or autos. But the 6mm users sounded a lot like the 6.5 Creedmoor users today, ha.

We have always hunted thick woods where 70 or 80 was a very long shot. Most shots have been 40 yards or so and quick. My personal longest was a lasered 65 yards.


Our family has killed around 20 deer with the 100 gr federal blue box. They have been from 70 +/- yards to 12 feet, and from 60 lb yearlings to a 130 lb buck at 12.feet. only bullet I have recovered, that I can remember from this load was a perfect mushroom that went through both shoulders and poking out the hide on the far side of the 130 lb buck.


Shooting this load in 5 or 6 243s, we have decided if the gun wont shoot it well it may not shoot anything well. We love the Federal 100 grain blue box ammo.

Federal blue box 100gr has never let me down.If you lack confidence,Barnes Vor-Tx 80gr will make you a believer...

I had never fired a 243 until about 3 weeks ago. I bought a Savage 99 in 243. I have loaded a bunch for grandkids. They have no problem with pigs and deer with a 80 grain TTSX. I’m gonna try it myself this hunting season.

Like so many others have posted, I like the Federal 95 grain Fusion in factory 243 ammunition. If that isn't available, I'm as happy as a clam to shoot Federal Blue Box, 100 grain soft points. Whitetails get sick and die very quickly if you shoot them in the armpit, shoulder or neck with either of those loads.

Yeah no kidding.
I was on a deer hunt in the state of Washington, about 38 years ago. I was hunting with some friends and their family members. They were telling me my 243 was going to bounce off the deer with no injury to the deer.
A few days later, I let the air out of a nice buck. They all had long faces.

The 243/6mm is still getting it done.

I hand loaded 95g partitions and 100g Hornady Interlock flat base and boat tails...fabulious on large 200+ lb deer.

this is a great factory bullet, for coming and going from any angle

https://www.federalpremium.com/products/rifle/premium-centerfire-rifle/nosler-partition/p243e

Shots with deer walking away or coming to you can be tricky with some bullets. Partitions will never fail you even if you have to shoot them in the butt hole walking away from you!!!

The bullet is the cheapest part of the hunt.

Friends report great results shooting the 80g ttsx, but I have not shot them on deer or hogs.

For flat lands In OK, wide open spaces, years ago, all I shot was the 85g Speer btsp, great deer bullet, not a varmint bullet.

Buckman,

This past season was my second to use a 243 win here in Missouri. Like you, I was a little bit nervous, using only 7-08 or larger rounds previously. I took a nice mature buck each season with one shot using hand loaded bullets. A 100 gr Partition in 2017, and a 95 gr Ballistic Tip last season. Neither buck went over 35-40 yds. Internal damage and deer response was the same as I'd seen with 7-08, 284 win, 308 etc. If I was using factory ammo, I'd go with the BT or the Fusion. And shoot with confidence It will get the job done quite efffectively.

Good hunting,
bludog



2017, non-typical 5x3, 100 gr Partition



Last season, nice 8, 95gr Ballistic Tip

We get to hunt during the rut. Deer are often chasing does, so the normal broadside shot is not always possible. I need to have the confidence to shoot them quartering walking away or coming to me.

95 and 100g Partitions do not fail.

also, R#26 gets the 100g up to 3150-3200, but most of my life, I have shot them in the 2950 fps area on a 24" barrel.

As a recovered "243 is too light for deer" 243 shooter I have used a lot of bullets over the last several years and all have worked well.... They include...

80 gr ttsx
90 gr NBT
95 gr NBT
95 gr SST
95 gr NPT
100 gr Hornady BTSP
100 gr NPT
100 gr Sierra Pro Hunter

My fav is the 95 gr NBT. Works great from any angle and very easy to make shoot well. R-23, R-26 and either 4831 have been my goto's. Just like Keith i get 3150-3200 with 26 and about 75 fps slower with 23. The 4831's both run around 2950-3000. Go forth and kill stuff... it works...

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.

My son has shot 7 deer with 100 gr Hornady Interlocks, my ex Gf shot two mulie does with the same load.'


Very tough little bullet.

I watched it break both shoulders and exits a very large mulie doe at 200 yards.

I have killed a bunch of deer from 10 yards to 300 with a 6mm br and a 243. Primarily hunt with a 243 and 95nbt. 6mm br 105 vld. Have also used the Winchester loaded silver tip which is just a 95nbt before I reloaded. Also have used core lok and 95vld. I have made a couple marginal shots and still recovered deer with ease with all those mentioned.

Don’t sweat it honestly. Just pick a good bullet like the Winchester silver tip 95nbt and kill shiit. My hunting partner has killed two elk and 2 caribou with 95nbt. None went very far at all. Plus more does than I could imagine over 30 years. His son shot a 350lb black bear last fall at 150 yards and dropped it.

150ish yards 90gr fed fusion 243 win

daughters first deer.