Mule Deer and any others with direct experience:

I plan on using 95 BTs out of my .243 on at least one deer and possibly black bear this year. I know this bullet has a great reputation and it is very accurate in my rifle. I do have some concern about what to expect if I end up with a close range (under 50 yards) and possible quartering shot where the bullet may encounter solid bone at high velocity. Current load is running 3120 at the muzzle. Would you have any reservations about shooting through shoulders at close range? Should I consider loading my hunting rounds down some? Thanks.

I'd sure use it on deer at close, but black bear can get a lot bigger than deer.

If you're worried about bear, you might use a tougher bullet to ease your worries. Often you can get a controlled-expansion bullet of similar weight to shoot to the same point of impact. I do that with a lot of my rifles, first finding a load with a more "affordable" bullet for sight-in, practice and deer-sized game, then work up a load with a more expensive bullet for special purposes.

Thanks, appreciate the input.

I've been meaning to try out the 100 Oryx, imagine that would be a more sensible choice on the bears.

While we're on the topic, have you done any work with IMR 7977 in the .243 or similar? I'm loving it with the heavier bullets so far.

The Norma Oryx is a fine bullet--I've used a bunch of them for big game hunting in both North America and Africa--but they expand very widely, so don't penetrate as deeply as some other controlled-expansion bullets. In fact I'd bet the 100 6mm won't penetrate any deeper than the 95 Ballistic Tip, and maybe not as deeply. If you want deeper penetration on larger animals, I'd stick with the 100 Partition, or monolithics like the TSX, E-Tip and GMX.

Yeah, I've used 7977 in the .243 and it works well. Another new powder that's really good in the .243 is Reloder 26.

Barnes TSX or TTSX work really really good...................

Start your seating depth at 0.050. Mine drill them at 0.100 off.

My granddaughter has killed many deer and pigs with the Ballistic tip, but if I was in bear country I would have partition bullets in my gun. They still expand at low speed, stay together at high velocity. A Bear Claw would be excellent also. I hope they make the new Bear Claws available in more calibers for loading.

I'll probably just end up taking the 7-08 out during bear season. It has proven itself on bear and I already have a partition load worked up for it.

Plus here in PA they would probably string me up on the meat pole if I had the .243 in the woods during bear. I get strange looks from the locals as it is with the 7-08. It's a generally well accepted practice to bang away wildly at distant running bears as long as you're firing a magnum of some kind.

I live part-time in rural PA, near Lancaster. The season before last, some guy walked through my neighborhood, rifle on shoulder, looking to get to the woods below my house. I could see the rifle was a LA Rem SPS. I said hello to him as he was heading back to his car vehicle later around noon, and asked him what he was carrying. It was a 7mmRM. I didn't bother asking what bullets he was shooting. I've been down into those woods often, and the longest shot I've seen may go 80 yds, with visibility much of the time below well below 50. Good thing he had a flat-shooting magnum.

I've tested a bunch of bullets for high speed bone impact and the 95gr btip was one of them.

Results are here but it's a long thread with lots of pictures if you want to do some reading.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...-femurs-and-newspaper-part-1#Post9615624

It's tough to explain to a part time hunter who doesn't shoot for practice/reload/study ballistics. I've tried but you can tell they dont believe you. One of my good friends hauls a 7mag into the deer woods every year that he is afraid to shoot due to recoil, while his .270 collects dust in his closet.

more times than i can count, i have been moving too fast thru the woods to get to a spot and kicked up a deer well within lever action range... hasn't happened with a bear yet but someday will. i love my 6mm, but would rather have fat bullets in my 30-30 or 444 in the conditions HuntnShoot describes...

I agree dogger. I've killed bear and it's no longer the "quest" it was when I was younger. I can pass shots without regret and wait on the perfect opportunity if I chose to carry the little gun. I use the bear opener mostly as a recon day for the rifle deer opener. Lots of guys in the woods moving game, very similar conditions.

But for a guy on a mission to get his bear I completely agree with you, more gun would serve you well, so long as you can hit reliably.

As a matter of fact my first bear was just as you described. Jumped her up at about 40 yards.

Yes your PA man card says it on the back...bear minimum is 180s in an ‘06 or bigger/magnummer. My 358 win was totally misunderstood at my last bear camp.

I shot two antelope bang flop with 95 gr NBT from 6mmBR rifle 2800 fps muzzle.

croz2173- unless you hunt with a Remington pump in .270 or 30-06 you are probably an oddball and people will look at you funny when you talk about your deer rifle, been there done that. The fact that you hunt with a 7-08 really puts you in a special strange group same one I was in when I hunted with a 6.5X55. They also think deer have armor plating and still haven't hear there is no such caliber that is a brush buster so they shoot cannons and miss. Then when they come out west they also are convinced that a .270 or 30-06 will bounce off elk, mind boggling! Anyway hunt with what you want and when you come back to camp with a deer or bear while shooting a piddly .243 you can rub it in!!!

Have used them on a few critters. answers are no, and no.

85 ttsx or is it 80? You won't have any thing to worry about then.

Hanco what a cutie. I always worry when one of the youngsters shoots a good deer right off the bat as they may not get another for a long time, but a good problem to have.

RE: The 95 grain BT may well be one of the best 6mm cup and core bullets around. For deer I think I like them even better than the Partition, but let me shoot a couple dozen more with each before I hang my hat on that opinion. I have not used them on bear but have on several hogs some approaching big bear size at 300+ lbs. If I wanted to be loaded for bear so to speak I would go with a Partition, Accubond, Woodleigh, Barnes or other mono's, before using the BT. This is a little counter intuitive as the BT would theoretically drop a bruin faster. I have very limited experience with bear but I think hogs share some of their capacity for soaking up lead if things go wrong. Black bear are pussy cats except when their not. They seem to usually show up at last light and a dark target in low light could lead to a botched shot.

I have been in situations where all I could see was black and only by moving off target and guessing how high I was holding could I make a shot. This scenario could lead to problems. So yes the BT will work really well except when it doesn't, IE: Texas heart shot on a rapidly retreating boar. Plan for the worst case and enjoy the best.

Very rarely we will run into a Hogzilla of a Hog that may go 600+ lbs. If I know there is a chance encounter then I up the ante to 7mm or all the way up to 375 H&H and feel much more comfortable. I know I could kill any hog around with a head shot with anything bigger than a 22 short but I have witnessed these and 25 acps not killing a trapped boar.

My daughter killed a black bear this past season with the 80 gr TTSX and IMR 4350 @ 3300 fps out of her 6mm. She has also used the 95 gr BT on deer. We were loading that with R22. Impact is 1" higher with the TTSX. Penetration was amazing on the bear. I opted for the TTSX instead of the BT for bear. No comparison between bear bones and deer bones.