Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 243 hunters - Barnes 80-85gr - results on game survey

It worked.......



Another 80gr Barnes TTSX @ 215 yards does the job.

Sweet!

Details of the terminal effect would be appreciated.

I shot two doe today with a load using the 85 grain TSX. 1st was at 58 yards, Boiler-room shot. She did the bronco-buck and made about a 40 yard dash, then piled up.

Second was at 99 yards, broke both shoulders, down right there.

Bones were broken, no bullets were found, and the blood trail was more sparse than with the Interlok/Gamekings I've used in the past, but the meat savings, especially on the shoulder-shot deer is a good trade-off. Internal damage to the lungs was complete.

I'm sold on them for a .243.

So this load works great on deer, is it too much for a coyote?

Dale

Tried them on paper today through my 243, at .050" off the lands. Groups were lacklustre. I think I am going to try seating them closer to the lands. I was able to get about 1" at 100, but no better.

Maybe 3" over the point of the shoulder, just about perfect broadside angle. He did that little drop at the shot where they look like they just got hit by a Barnes 80gr TTSX!

I obviously new he was hit hard and heard him crash about 75 yards into the locust trees. I couldn't ask for more. Interior damage was considerable. Lungs were damaged behold repair. Note the blood coming out the mouth. The blood trail was ample.

Have only shot one coyote with the TSX, in the neck broadside. Blew out the other side about 3" hole.

Try .060 or .070 off, I have a couple of rifles that like the bigger jump to tighten up the groups.

Good info, congrats Lawdwaz, Vic, and others.

Wow! This sounds like a great combination. Several of your fellow .243 shooters don't fair as well in these parts of N.C. I am not sure what bullet these guys are using, but they clearly don't get the results shown above. A fellow that I go to church with hit one this year that bled a good bit for maybe 75 yards. After that the trail got thin and we never found the deer. I am sure it must have been a marginal hit, but it sure bled like a vitals hit for a while. I also have a .243 but I only shoot it at varmints and targets. I have very little confidence in the round despite the results that you guys get. For some reason it seems like deer hit with a .243 seem to have the blood trail thin out after a bit.

My son dropped a 200lb hog this past weekend with his Remington 700 Compact in .243 shooting Federal Premium with an 85g Barnes TSX. One shot, 120 yds, impacted behind shoulder and high, massive damage. The feral pigs are tough and this one was done.

I shot 100-120 pound dink last year at 40 yards with a 700. first round hit just behind the shoulder and exited between 4-5 ribs. He actually ran about 15 yards and stopped and started feeding again. second round hit about 2" from the first exit wound and exited the center of his chest. he ran 25 yards and piled up.
That was the last barnes I shot and the last deer I will probably ever shoot with either a 243 or a Barnes.

My results with a .243 pretty much sound like ringworm's observation. I shot a small buck tight behind the shoulder, broadside... he just looked up , turned around and started feeding again. I put another round through him from the opposite side about 2" from the exit hole. Range: 200 yards. 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. Have had other situations with the .243 that leave me less than enthused.

Ringworm, sounds like he made it 40 yards from the first hit?

FWIW, I hit a small buck w/a 338/06 yrs back, 200gr BT at 2910fps, range 40 paces, deer ran about 100 yds.....go figure, it turned and ran straight to me and turned just before my stand, and blood was GUSHING out of it about the size of a silver dollar. Bullet failure? Cartridge Failure? Not enough Power?

I think not. SLAMMED a few other large bucks, one at 200 yds was a DRT. I think sometimes the smallish deer lack enough mass to fully absorb a bullets energy.

Wonder what the insides of those deer on the above 2 posts looked like?

65BR, I bet it was the distance that made the difference. My buddy shot a nice blacktail with my .243 using the same ammo that I did and his was DRT while mine ran a ways. The only difference was the distance, mine was close and his wasn't.

So you had a deer run 40 yards and die, with two entrance and two exit wounds and you think it was the bullet?

My son used this combo this past weekend on a WT buck.

Bullet: 85 grain TSX, 243 AI 3400 fps @ muzzle
Range: 80 yards
Distance traveled after hit: 40 yards
WT buck given a second shot due to head being up after hitting the dirt.
Bullet Penetration: 11 inches. found under hide opposite shoulder

Recovered TSX, still weighs 85 grains

I've piled up a bunch of whitetails with mine. I don't have the exact details but will tell you the distances have been between 40 and 150y. All but one were drilled through the shoulders with either the 80g TTSX or 85g TSX. They were all bam-flops. The one shot behind the shoulder ran about 40y and bled well. I've never recovered a TSX or TTSX in any caliber in a whitetail.

After reading numerous posts how TSX's penetrate like nothing else on the market and many claiming to never recover one inside a critter, I've seen five animals catch and hold 3 bullets. Two of them were .30 cal 180's. One from a .300 Weatherby (elk) and the other from a 300 Win (WT buck). This is just the second animal my son has killed with the TSX's and a shoulder shot on a 2.5 year-old 4x4 buck stopped the 85 grain TSX. I don't doubt TSX's penetrate well, as many people attest to it, but I've possibly seen the impossible where 3 outta 5 stopped and 2 were deer.

Not that it really matters though because all critters eneded up in the freezer.