Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .243 Win. and whitetail deer ???

I've had great results with the 100 gr sierra game king.... big holes on exits.
But I just tried the 85 gr HPBT game king on two doe...one was 50 yards and one was 100 yards...very tiny holes.
I wouldn't hunt with this bullet in afternoons expecting to get a good blood trail. JMP

Lee Harvey, did that deer go Back....and to the left? Back ....and to the left?

The 95 grain Nosler Ballistic tip was designed for the 243 and whitetail deer. My son can choose just about any cartridge he wants from my gun locker, he always takes the 243.

I've shot a lot of deer with a 243. I use it as my primary hunting rifle and I absolutely love it. I've tried to switch to larger calibers a few times over the years, but I always end up back with my trusty old 243. Part of it is the gun just fits me so well and is one of the most accurate rifles that I own.

I shoot 95 grain Hornady SST's over 40.3 grains of IMR 4831 and the load is both amazingly accurate in my rifle and very deadly on deer. They shoot submoa out of my rifle.

I'm not sure why there is so much hate for these bullets online. I'm not sure if people are trying to push them too fast or what. I will say that they do a lot of damage, and they do ruin most of the meat around the front shoulder. However, more often than not, the deer drops in its tracks when shot. When I haven't gotten a DRT, I've never had a deer go more than 100 yards or so, and it's usually much less with a pretty good blood trail. I also almost always get a pass through with a fairly large exit wound. Even when I've hit bone in the shoulder. The only times I can remember not getting a pass through have been when I've shot a deer quartering away and hit it a bit far back only to have the bullet stop right before exiting the hide in the front.

I absolutely love this setup, and I'll likely continue to use it in the future.

Recent discovery in the 243 with Lapua brass, 100g Hornady btsp was with R#26, cci 250 at 3175 fps, small groups. We usually shoot this bullet with IMR 4350 at 3000 fps in Rem brass.

Keith, I shoot the 100g Hornady BTSP also with IMR 4350 out of a M70 with a 22" barell. What gun/barrel length you shooting...sounds like a 24"?

I've come full circle. Started out with a 243 and 6mm then started climbing in the calibers, now I'm back to a 243.
I alternate between 2 loads. 95gr. Partition, 48.0gr. of RL26, Nosler brass, and Rem. 9 1/2 primer. This load runs at 3150fps. Then at times I use a 100gr. Hornady Interlock FBSP, 47.3gr. of RL26, Nosler brass, and Rem. 9 1/2 primer and it runs at 3035fps.
This is from a 22" 8 Twist Lilja. I'm sure I can up the velocity more, but accuracy is very good at those.

Shot this little fella at 225yds with the 100gr. load. Forgot to turn the scope up from 3X.

Those are some nice loads.

Beautiful rifle K22. Who built it?

As for .243 loads, 80 gr TTSX or the 100 gr Partition if the rifle will shoot accurately have been my go to bullets with IMR 4831. The .260 with a 100 gr TTSX has proven more effective on our largest feral pigs always exiting. So I sold the .243 and use the .260 now for a light and light recoiling rifle.

It is a wonderful round. Anyone that say's anything different, I just label them an idiot and walk away. My personal favorite bullet is 95 NBT's, but I've experimented with about everything. As my user name implies, I like em.

15 years ago, an old friend had 12 head of elk antlers on his den wall - all shot with his Sako L579 rifle and the 85gr BTHP. Oh, and something north of 100 deer from the same round. I wonder what he's up to now.

All the same, my favorite is the 95gr Ballistic Tip and whatever powder you have to get it to 3000 fps. Over the years, it has won some great recommendations from people with far more experience than I have.

I just sold and/or gifted my .243s but my favorite was the flat base Hornady 100 grainer ( no longer made) Also like the 100 gr. Hornady boattail, but had been using the 95Gr. NBT the last few years on the recommendation of Dogzapper and some others here, with excellent results.

85gn TSX over 45gn Ramshot Hunter. ~3200fps in 22" bbl and shoots well from Kimber, Rem, Win, and How/Vanguards for sure.

So anyone using those 105 speer hot cores?

I got 2 boxes and a 6mm. My son just used the 100 grain speer on a doe- worked fine. I removed the ProHunters in favor of the SPeers. Probably over thinking it- like when I decided to try something other than the 85hpbt's that had been working .

100gr Horn spire point.

works well on deer.

also used the 90gr deep curl also a good one for me.

Love Remington Core Lokts factory ammo. Pair them with a Whitetail hunt & it’s like Butterbeans & Cornbread.........both of which are pretty cheap too.

I shot a few 243s, Think I am down to 4 of them now. i am shooting either 80 grain TTSXs or 85 TSXs in three. One rifle shoots of them unreal good with the XLCs Three are with Varget, one is with 4451. All are very accurate. Never recovered a bullet, never lost a deer, never needed a second dose for any of the 243s I have owned over the years.

I would have no problem using my 243 with partitions or hornady interlocks or ttsx on controlled shots for a bull elk.

A lot of deer were lost with the cheap Win 80 gr and some even with their 100 gr cup/core back in the day before good bullets came in vogue.

A little hole going into the chest cavity and not exiting limits blood trail quality and loses lots of deer for inexperienced hunters where there is dense cover.

BTDT with the Partitions and the Hornadys. It works. Select your shot and it works as well as anything Ive used on elk..

AH! Hell ingwe, everyone knows Elk are bullet proof,Just ask all these experts here on the fire. Rio7