Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .243 Winchester bullet advice

JB, wish you had been here a couple of years ago when I shot a nice buck at 60 yards in the ribs with a 100 grain Sierra Pro Hunter. We finally found him at least a 150 yards away, no blood trail. The bullet went in between ribs and did not exit. We gutted him in the dark so I didn't really get a chance to see the lung damage very well. I don't know if it got one or both but he sure went a long ways if it was both.

I followed your recommendation and this year used a 100 Nosler Partition. Got two holes and a dead deer within 20-30 yards. Damage looked like that produced by larger calibers.

I’ve killed a whole bunch of deer and several truck loads of hogs here at the Ranch over the years with a plain ole 100 gr Remington Corelock.

My old gunsmith recommended the Sierra 85gr hollow point. Have loaded it for friends in .243 and 6mm Rem with great results on our whitetails.

I’ve killed a schitt load of coyotes with those. Super accurate in my Model 700 Classic in 243.

To the original question. I been through this myself. Monos all the way . What ever flavor you like .

Used many different bullets in the 243 before I realized I could pay the same amount for a rifle shooting a bigger bullet and not have to balance thin wound channels and penetration against wide shorter wound channels. That said I never lost a deer I shot with a 243. Favorite bullet was the 100 gr. Nosler solid base with runners up being the 95 gr. Ballistic Tip. I used the 80 gr. Remington PSP with pretty good results too. My biggest complaint is that often blood trails are pretty thin and don't start til pretty far from where the deer was shot. I only had a few deer travel far after being hit but others I have hunted with often consistently created complicated tracking scenarios sometimes resulting in lost deer. However I have had to do some tracking with deer hit with larger cartridges also. The splashier blood trails being greatly appreciated. When I look at my collection of rifles where a lone 243 still lingers and I have the choice of a 7x57, 7-08 or a 308 among many others for hunting the thorn tree country of north Texas the 243 is just not the one I pick. Typically if you don't find the deer that night the coyotes or feral hogs get it.

Years ago I owned both a 6MM Remington on a Mauser I made, and later a 243 in a Ruger #1.
The best bullet I ever used back then in them for deer was the 100 grain Nosler Partition.
All of them I shot had exits. One shot by my friend Don was facing us and his bullet (Also a 100 grain Nosler Partition) went about 80% of the way through the deer and was found on the skin.

I have not used them myself, but I have seen Barnes TSX bullets used and they also gave the hunters exits. Deer antelope and several elk.
So if I were to get another 243 and hunt deer with it I think I'd choose one of those 2. Barnes TSX or Nosler Partition.

Anson,

Would like to hear more details--such as bullet path, internal damage, whether the bullet hit above the mid-line of the body, etc.

In my experience with the 80TTSX, it would have made a smallish straight-line hole through the deer, with not much damage to the lungs. Whether he would have reacted differently is debatable, but I have had not good results on lung shots with that bullet, and have stopped using it in the 243 as I like to shoot lungs.

You're not stating anything new. Hunters here have been saying this for years. Remember that hunting regulations are not decided by hunters, at least, not here. In an earlier post, I mentioned not being able to hunt in S. Ontario for deer with a bullet diameter larger than .275. That was lifted several years ago, but this still apllies. From the Ontario Hunting Regulations:

A person hunting small game may not carry or use a rifle of greater calibre than a .275-calibre rifle, except a muzzle-loading gun, in the geographic areas of Brant, Chatham-Kent, Durham, Elgin, Essex, Haldimand, Halton, Hamilton, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Niagara, Norfolk, Northumberland, Oxford, Peel, Perth, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington or York.

This is much of S. Ontario.

Fuggin Frenchies cant even spell caliber let alone use sense when making regulations regarding cartridges/calibers for hunting.

I never had any issues with Sierra bullets in either a 6mm or 243 but did switch to a 95 grain Partition 2 years ago for reasons unknown other than to see if they acted the same from my 6mm as they did from a 22-250.

1 DRT on a 150# 8 point and maybe a 60 yard death run on same sized 10 point last year. I shot pretty high on the 10 as I bobbled when the trigger tripped. He still left a blood trail Stevie Wonder could have followed even though it wasn't needed as I saw him fall.

Can't say they work any better on broadside deer but they do give me more confidence on larger bodied deer if I should need to drive from flank to shoulder.

Thanks, DakotaDeer. Think I'll stick with the Partitions if I use the 243 again.

JB, not much to add. The hit was about half way up the body, tight behind the front leg. I had already written the Sierra and the 243 off by the time we found that deer. Also was well aware that my neighbor was ready for it all to be over so hurried through the gutting process with poor lighting. Bullet did not hit rib going in and did not exit.

AnsonRogers, Try a Sierra 85gr HPBT ... you won't regret it Ben

Ben, I shot one deer with the 85 BTHP in 2000. He was in an open pasture so was in sight the whole time. He ran about 50 yards and stopped for a few seconds then fell over. Massive lung damage but no exit or even marks on the opposite rib cage. There was no blood trail either.

Do you get exits? I use them for coyotes and they work great for that. Very accurate.

I posted on the Campfire forum the story of the 4 bucks my family killed this year, all from the same stand. Three of those deer were shot with the 243. The youngest granddaughter shot hers with a mild 85 Sierra HPBT, the first shot was too far back, and the buck ran about 50 yards and stopped. Second shot was in the front shoulder, and the deer died right there. Oldest girl shot hers in the front shoulder with a 95 grain SST, with the bullet in the skin of the off shoulder, and the deer died as quick as I've ever seen one. The heart was destroyed. Son shot his in the neck with a Sierra 85 HPBT at 100 yards. Deer dropped in it's tracks. He's killed a bunch with my handload of 45.0 W760 and the 85 Sierra. He says they usually run a little if shot in the lungs, but if he's where he can take a neck shot, that's what he does. That load is deadly accurate in his rifle, so he knows what's he's doing.

That'll work, as will most any "heavy" bullet in the 243. For factory ammo, give the Federal Fusion 95 grain a try.

AnsonRogers,
When I first started using the Sierra 85gr HPBT, probably back in the 70's, it was classified as a varmint bullet. The deer I hit with it usually went down very quickly, but usually there was no exit. However, I believe Sierra upgraded the bullet somewhere along the line, gave it a heavier jacket, and started calling it a Gameking bullet. Sierra now says that the HP "Gameking" hunting bullets penetrate better than a similar weight Spitzer or plastic tip bullets. Now a days, the bullet still destroys the deer insides and now usually exits. As far as a blood trail goes, sometime yes and sometimes not very much ... but it usually doesn't matter because the deer usually don't go very far after being hit .. if at all ... of course that's provided you hit them where you are supposed to. Ben

My son had good luck this year with 100 gr Core-lokt Ultra Bonds. For those of you complaining of a slight blood trail, expansion was immediate, HUGE entrance and exits. Blood trail at the point of impact.

One was a neck shot, broke spine, did not exit. Bullet stayed together very well.

We have also had good luck with the 100 Gr Interlock on a dozen big Canadian whitetails and mulies. Including breaking both shoulders and exits.

This week a friend broke the spine and dropped a large bull moose with his .243 and Partitions.,