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Joined: Nov 2019
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I have used the 243 on blacktail and whitetail Hunts without any horror stories. Even as a handloader, I haven’t found a load that shoots much better than the 95gr Fusion stuff. So, I bought a couple hundred rounds before the craziness emptied the shelves. If I hunt deer with it again, I’ll zero with that. But my 257 Roberts or 6.5 CM will most likely get the nod ahead of the 243.

As for coyotes and other stuff of that size, I’ve been using a 70gr NBT and it’s accurate and real effective. I have some 87gr Bergers I wanna try.

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I’d agree with what others on here have said. A 243 flat kills deer. But as others have also said, in my experience it doesn’t leave gushing blood trails. But a properly hit deer won’t run far anyway. Good luck with the rifle. Hopefully you both will have many years afield together.

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The best blood trail I can recall seeing was left by a .243AI and 105AM. I watched through the bino as the shooter pulled the trigger, and it looked like a can of tomato soup exploded from the deer's hide. The blood trail looked like somebody poured blood from a gallon paint can all the way to the deer. The bullet entered between ribs on a broadside shot and came apart in the heart/lungs. Fragments peppered the offside ribcage, but nothing made it through.

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I hunted with a Ruger No 1 .243 Win for a lot of years and it killed deer just like my .30-06 did except with a lot less recoil. There is a well known PH in Africa (whose name I can’t remember right now😳) who champions the .243 for Leopard. One of my early Centerfire rifles was a Remington 722 in .244 Remington and shot a boatload of deer and pigs with 90gr bullets. There is not a lock of difference in the two


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I only killed 2 deer with it. They went 40 yds? and fell over. My son shot one big doe, and went 50'. I dont think there was a drop of blood though and I dont like that. I like the .243 Win. 40 gr of powder, 100 gr. bullet is quite cheap . Two weeks ago I shot a small whitetail and used a Remington Core loc. It blew out the front shoulder and went out the ribs and almost cut the heart in half. I saw it fall . The Rem. Core Loc did good. My other deer was a Hornady 100 Gr. My sons was a Speer 100 gr. boattail. All worked well , but none left a blood trail.


But the fruits of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, Gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. Galations 5: 22&23
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My vintage hb Varminter loved 90gr Speer hot cor's over imr4350.
Many a critter has been slayed with that combo.
Now I'm using 70gr Ballistic tips over Varget, and just shoot coyotes.

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Good thread for me. I have been deciding on what rifle/caliber to put together a dedicated thermal varmint rig. I read through this a couple of times and bought a Tikka .243 and a Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50 Pro. Most of my hunting will mostly be coyotes and hogs with the slim chance that I will catch a mountain lion. The .243 should be enough for any my uses.

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