Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 243 on Elk

Spencer & 6.5 - I understand and agree that a decent bullet of any size thru the VITALS will definately kill ANY animal or man.

My position is that the LARGER hole in & out AND the LARGER area of vitals destroyed YIELDS a FASTER demise, therefore less distance traveled by the game. The bigger the game the more important it is.

upper case for emphasis > not yelling.

I don't believe less damage to vitals = same quickness to ground.

Not the best but it will do with a vital shot with the proper bullet.

.270WSM with 150gr is the minimum for me, but I'd take the .300win mag or my new .300 Weatherby mag if I was going after an elk

Obviously the plain old .270 Winchester won't work.

Saw it work a couple of times JB, with 150gr cup n' core bullets no less.Not sure why anyone would use something most consider marginal (243) unless they were just looking for something to brag about when they have more suitable outfits to use. Magnum Man

When I look in my safe the cut off starts with my .270wsm with a bonded 150gr. I am not saying my plain jane .270 wont do the job but I'd rather have a tad more oomph behind that 150gr.

To each and their own. I wouldn't be surprised to learn a 9mm glock has killed an elk before........

It is hard to decide what works when its apples and oranges your working with. My buddy used to use a 243 when I was using a 338wm. One day he took a 4x and I took a 3x, mulies, both at around 75 yards. Both dropped, mine having a gapping hole in the offside, his a much smaller hole. Boiler rooms were both just devastated. Noted the same on elk, put a proper mushrooming bullet into the boiler and they die.

He has since jumped to a 308 and I have downgraded to 30-06, he uses Federal fusions and I use accubonds, results same same, the pumps just shut down due to destruction.

1- use a well made bullet
2- aim into the chest - heart / lungs
3- have enough momentum to have half a chance of getting through the offside (energy)

Yep, 243 will work, proven.

That's too bad because studies have been done, and found no relation between cartridge shot and distance animal traveled after. Some show a higher percentage of DOA (dropped on ass). Killing by shock to the CNS is more likely to be achieved with bigger, more powerful cart., if shooting vitals. Personally, if I want to ensure DOA, then I'll shoot the CNS, not try to overwhelm it with an overly powerful bullet hitting somewhere else.

There once was a gunwriter/outfitter/guide by the name of Les Bowman that wrote that the many of his clients would of been better served by a 243 than the magnum rifle they brought.
Back in the good olddays when nonresidents could drive out and buy an elk license in town and then head on up to camp, my cousin that lived in California brought his neighbor out hunting. His neighbor and I both killed real good bulls, he with a 300 wby and me with my only rifle at the time a 243. We were skinning those elk back at camp and he said, you really should get a better rifle to hunt elk with that the 243 just wasn't enough gun. I asked him which of our bulls did he think was deadest, they were both shot twice , both pretty much died where they stood when the first shot took him.. He had no answer for that and never came back.
I don't think I trust the Barnes x bullets enough to expand to use them in any rifle for hunting, but given their solid nature , maybe the 85 grs would do just fine on elk.
Here's a couple of pics of elk and hunters that haven't read what the experts on the internet have to say about whether or not the 243 is a dependable elk rifle, both animals were hit twice at about 200 yds, both died with in a few yds of the first round hitting home.

Speed is your friend with the TSX, and that bullet in a .243 is formidable.

"I hear ya knockin, but ya can't come in." I wasn't talking about DRT (dropped right there) but quicker death due to more vital tissue disrupted. The more things that DON'T work, the quicker body hits the ground.

Ranch, nice pics, what bullet(s) if you know sir? Also, as to expansion, I used an 85 XBT on a hog, pics here on the link..you can see the recovered bullet and how it did...

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...ger_1_International_Who_has_#Post3091822

Also, TT - was the 9 used as a Coup de Grace...or just a random shot opportunity? Head or neck?

Mule Deer - I am sure a 7.366-06 aka .290 Barsness Express would be Mucho Grande Betta

65, I don't know anything about the load on the top elk.
The bottom one I do know there was a box of PMC 100 gr factory loads on the dashboard of his pickup.

Have never killed an elk but would not be skeered to take a poke at an elk w/my 250AI and 43.0gr of RL19 topped of w/100gr TSX @ 3000fps. powdr

13- who'd thunk those cheap PMCs would drop an elk - in a 243 at that!

powdr - like thw way you think, great round.