Last year I got tired of humping my .308 Remington M700 Police, and in a break between hunting, went out and bought a Thompson Center in .243.

Does anyone here have experience using a .243 on muleys? I bought 95 gr Ballistic Silvertips, as the store was out of heavier bullets.

Is that an adequate bullet/load combination for shots out to 200 yds?

Thanks.

BH63

yup, it sure is.
I haven't used that combo on mulies for a while, but it worked on elk and LOTS of big WT deer. it's my go to load minus the silvertip part of it, I prefer the vanilla BT's

If you shoot 'em through the lungs, any current production factory loads with 95 or 100 grain bullets will do.

I'm impressed by how accurate the 95 grain Winchester/Olin Deer Season XP and Federal Fusion are in both my Marlin XS7 and RAR-Predator.

Thanks. I've always been a big fan of shoulder shots, but with the .243 maybe I should slip them in, just behind the shoulder.

BH63

The .243 is quite capable for any deer. Dad used his for Elk many times. I got tired of lugging around my Win mod 70 .243 varmint bbl around, grabbed my Savage 99 in .308 (was my grandfathers) been carrying it ever since.

If you want to make shoulder shots on deer, any of the cup and core 100 gr. load should work fine.
I've been very impressed with the 95-100 gr. Nosler Partitions out the .243 and the .240 Wby. They lack nothing on penetration at any angle on the mulies I've seen them used on. E

If I ever went back to the .243 for deer I would use the Barnes TTSX.

I've seen a lot of muleys go a long ways if not hit well with a 243. IMO there's less margin for error. It's not my first choice, but if you put it where you should you'll be fine.

A 243 loaded with 100 grain Partitions is what John's (Mule Deer) wife uses. I don't think she has any complaints.

Lots of good bullets out there for the .243 these days. I can't see a mule deer shaking off a GOOD shot with any quality 90 to 105 gr bullet from a .243 inside 200yds.

Thanks for all the great info. I can't wait until I get out in the field (provided I get a tag).

BH63

If you just can't break the shoulder punching habit, these might be better than the silvertips.
http://rmrbullets.com/product-category/bullets-for-reloading/bullets-for-reloading-243-6mm-19/

I've never been a big 243 guy....with that being said, when I used 95 grain vld for two white-tails I'm now a 243 guy. I was amazed at the performance and accuracy is very impressive. shooting out of a 75 finnlight at less than 1/2". One bug hole 5 shot groups is not uncommon when I do my part.

I have to confess I bought the .243, primarily because of weight issues. Even the bullets save quite a bit of weight, which is really a big deal, if you suffer from arthritis of the hip. More weight equates to more pain.

I get fairly good accuracy with my .243 Ballistic Silvertips with MOA at 200 yds without any fliers, but I will look into some of the other bullet recommendations.

Cheers,

BH63

Carry that rifle/load and go kill deer.

The landowner's 8 yr old son killed this nice buck with a .243 a couple of years ago.

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They have been known to work:

hint...










They even work on Axis Deer!

Snake River Marksman,

The 95-grain Ballistic Silivertips are simply black-coated Ballistic Tips with silver plastic tips, NOT the original Winchester Silvertip. The 95-grain Ballistic Tip is a tough bullet, and in fact the retired Nosler ballisician/engineer who designed it, Gail Root, used it to take a number of elk, including more than one big 6-point bull. I sincerely doubt there would be any problem punching mule deer shoulders with one.

JB, is the 90 grain BT 'about' as tough as the 95 or does it have a different jacket?


My latest scheme involves an attempt at getting the 90 BT's to match up with 95 grain Partitions.


The 90 grain Scenar experiment is over.

A buddy of mine has killed a boatload of mulies with a Remington pump in 6mm using 100 grain Nosler Partitions. You will really like that TC Venture. Good luck.

I know of people that have killed elk with the 95 grain ballistic tipped pushed faster than what the 243 can do. Deer just aren't hard to kill. Stick the bullet where it needs to go and you won't have a problem.

I have always had a positive attitude about the .243 Win, based on the opinions of men I liked who liked the caliber. But I had zero experience with it until 2 years ago, when I bought a Howa .243 as a general utility rifle to keep in the house for new/young shooters (me & The Redhead have 7 kids between us, only 2 of which were hunters when we started out... the number is rapidly growing!).

Anyways, Red's youngest collected his first whitetail spike buck with it at the end of the 2014-15 deer season. It was a bang-flop, identical to any bang-flop I've seen from any caused by a 270, 308, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag, etc.

"Well, huh," says I. Which means, "I guess all those guys who love the .243 might be right."

So I bought another .243 last fall: a Browning X-Bolt, a real pretty rifle, which my youngest daughter has since claimed for her own. It really likes Winchester factory ammo with the 95 gr Ballistic Silvertip.

This past Christmas we had a family hunt in which my daughter killed a doe and a spike buck with it, then I killed a buck with it, then my son killed a buck with it, then I killed another buck with it. Oh, and Red's boy killed two bucks with the Howa 243. All were one-shot bang-flops using the 95 gr Ballistic Silvertip. All were shot through the shoulder/lung area, although daughter's first was a tad high and I suspect stunned the thoracic spine. Red Jr's first buck at Thanksgiving was shot through the eyeball due to high grass at that time. Oh, BTW, all those bullets exited with plenty of zing still on 'em.

The point being that the .243 appears to kill white tailed deer pretty well. I doubt mule deer will be any tougher to kill.

Light and handy rifles with almost no recoil, akkerit, and kills deers. Can't argue with that.

Thanks for all the "real life" anecdotes (not to mention the great pictures). I now feel much better about choosing that caliber. Now, if I can only get drawn this year.

BH

Sam,

I dunno about the 90 BT's jacket compared to the 95's, but might have some 90's on hand and could section one to see, if you want me to.

The other factor, however, in the "toughness" of Ballistic Tips (and as I recall first thing Nosler changed when some of the initial BT's proved pretty tender) is the lead alloy used in the core.

Have you tried getting the 95 BT's to shoot to the same place as the 95 Partition?

Eileen knows how to kill'em and she knows how to cook'em...

Check out her cook book...

DF

I've killed a large mulie and an antelope with a 243 and 95gr ballistic tip. Bang-flops...

As long as this thread was going, anybody use the 95 gr hornady SST. Never used a 243 for deer but I have some black hills ammo with these and thought I might try them during our whitetail antlerless/doe season here. Unless they're considered too fragile.

I used them on one deer (Wt fawn), never again. that was in 2009, maybe they have changed them, but one bad experience was enough! I since have switched to the 95 NBT and im thoroughly pleased with the results

Thought they might be too fragile, wanted to use them for coyote but haven't shot one with them.

Seen pictures from a friend that shot a deer with an 95 grain SST. It was not pretty

Used Remington 100gr. Core-Lokts for years then switch to Federal 85gr. copper trophy bonded. Now going to load some Barns 80gr,TTSX

I'll add to the suggestions for the 95 grain Ballistic Tip. It has done quite well for me and friends of mine on deer and pigs.

A friend of mine has killed a couple of good sized does with the 95 SST. He didn't get blow ups like others have reported, but these weren't tough angle shots.

I've killed two whitetails with the 95 SST.They did a good job for me. First was a big doe at 50 yards. The shot was directly into the brisket as she faced me head on. Bullet blew off the top of her heart, pulped the lungs, put a silver dollar sized hole through the liver and was lost in the guts. She dropped in her tracks. Second was a 30 yard broadside shot on a 5 point buck. That one hit a rib going in, turned the lungs to soupy purple jelly and exited through a rib on the offside. The exit wound was about the size of a nickel. I found the expanded jacket just under the hide on the far side right next to where the core exited.

JB, I tried some 95 BT's a couple years ago in my 243 but had a bedding issue and at the time thought the rifle didn't like that bullet. Haven't shot the 90's yet, maybe when/if the wind ever dies down below 20-30 mph I'll compare them at 400 yards to the Partitions.


Interesting on the core alloy, I hadn't even thought about that!



I might have a 95 left and could section it and a 90.

Just to add my 2 cents, I've used a 6MM-06 on everything I've hunted (big game --- except Elk) for 20 years. Although it shoots a bit flatter than your 243, it is still the same bore size.

I've shot Mule Deer, Whitetail, Antelope, Caribou and Big Horn Sheep with it. Perfect satisfaction.

I use 100 grain Partitions @ 3270 fps, but if starting over on bullet choice today, I'd surely try the 90 grain AccuBonds. In your 243, the 90 grain weight would be a great compromise, and the bullet has a good BC and will retain weight well. Also, it will expand, even at a lower velocity because you decided to take a long shot at that trophy.

wow i wish my son can do that, he is always on his phone, is there any way i can make i kids get interests in shooting???????????

Please don't take this the wrong way, but it isn't tongue in cheek...

Take the damn phone away from him and move as far away from New Jersey as you can get...

Last year I took the local game warden hunting. He killed his first wild boar weighing a good 200 pounds with his 243. He used a Hornady 95 grain SST. The bullet hit the boar square in the shoulder and exited the offside shoulder killing the boar instantly. Very impressive kill.

I've had SST's blow up and I've had them blow through. Too much variation to suit me. I'm off onto other bullets, no more SST's.

They are accurate, I'll give them that.

DF

95g partition will make a believer out of you, quartering coming or going!

I've killed a lot of animals with a .7mm Wby Mag I used to own. I have killed black bear, Russian boar, elk (2 or 3), deer (maybe a dozen), and antelope (2 or 3). Using Weatherby's 154 gr bullet, I got more than my share of one-shot bang flops, than one morning, I put one through a young doe (drought hunt) that was quartering away about 150 yds. The bullet went though without opening up. It took two more shots to kill the poor thing. Based upon that one experience I would have thought the caliber/bullet combination to be worthless on deer. Occasionally one-off things just happen when hunting.

BH63

I grew up in Utah. A place that had LARGE mulies when I was a kid.

While some of my friends parents gave them their first center fire hunting rifle. I had to buy my own. Most of these kids were given .243's. I bought a M77R in 30.06.

Now, here comes the truth about any rifle used for hunting. A well placed shot is critical. So, whether you're a fan of using a .22-250 for mule deer, or a .30-378 wthby, the key is a well placed shot.

A bigger cartridge might help with an advantage of poor placed shot and increase blunt force trauma, but a poor shot is a poor shot.

Practice, practice, practice. Chose a caliber that you can shoot well, not flinch due to recoil and a proper bullet style for the game that is being chased, and you should do well.

Just my opinion.

Good luck !

^
That is very true. However, sometimes even a well-placed lung shot (or at least as good as can be expected in field conditions) can miss bone and simply poke a tiny hole though the lungs without opening up.

I have hit quartering mule deer at 150 yds with the 154 gr Wby round and have had football-sized holes in the off side rib cage, yet that deer I mentioned above only had two small holes through her lungs.

That is why I like shoulder shots, but with those it is important to use enough gun to break the near shoulder and continue on through the heart/lung regions.

Apparently from the posts on this thread, the .243 with a 95gr bullet has enough juice to do that.

BH63

PS. Personally I would rather be shot in the chest with a .22 short than a .44 Mag, but that's just me.

I'd rather not be shot through the heart by either. Either way, you're screwed.

Dropped a nice buck using that bullet at about 100 yds, drilled both shoulders just like my 260 did the other that crossed the same trail. It dropped in sight.

Shot a few others using that bullet in a 6mmBR.

FYI, that bullet is my GO TO bullet in any 6mm/243 round. It will penetrate and expand at most sane distances, has the accuracy and downrange energy/speed retention to work well, and it does.

Hunt with confidence. Stoney...SLG888 has layed MANY deer/hogs low using that bullet in his 243. Cannot go wrong.

There is no doubt that the .243 is a killer.

How is it for blood trails given a hit in the lungs? Or maybe as compared to a 30-06 standard deer load in 150 or 165 with a chest cavity lung shot?

Probably hypothetical because of so many variables but in thick woods a deer even well hit can be tough to find sometimes. I have seen deer run almost 100 yards after a lung hit ( and heart for that matter) 100 yards of bush can seem to swallow up a fatally hit buck if the blood isn't decent.

Sam, I've sectioned both and I can't tell a darned bit of difference between the 90 and 95, as it relates to jacket thickness. The 90 gr NBT is a very tough bullet, so much that on broadside shots at deer I can't tell the difference in exit wounds between them and TSXs on close shots from my WSSM or vanilla 243. That's not usually the case with most cup and core bullets, in my experience. Using a max load of I4350 in my Tikka 243 Win, I put one through the shoulder and offside leg joint on a good sized buck a few years ago at around 50 yards. After that I decided not to worry about its construction.

Found a picture of the 90 vs 95 grain...

I no longer own a .243, but took a few mulies with one. I like the 100-grain Interlock, or 100-grain Partitions. The only thing that lacked a time or two, was a big blood trail-but that is not a game changer.

I have a 6mm Rem that I have used on over 100 white-tailed deer. I shoot the 100-grain Hornady at about 3000 fps and it has been as good as any rifle out to 400 yards ( I have not shot one farther than that). I use it primarily for deer depredation hunts for my neighbor.

I would not pick either one as my rifle, if I invested a lot of money in an out-of-state hunt, but they will kill. The weight issue is ridiculous. A .243 weighs just as much as any other short-action rifle.

The blood trail thing has been my experience with .243s

Some leave no blood whatsoever with a good hit, and my last one left a trail Stevie Wonder could follow in the dark.

Looks like the only difference is the bigger tip on the 90...probably where that other 5 grains went....

You're probably right.

2 years ago I had the chance to go hunt wild donkeys back in Peru.
Used a CZ550 in 243 and the Win Silvertips (95BT).
The donkey took hits at 2-300yds uphill, it was a 400lb animal determined to live, despite being dead on the hoof - 1 tight behind the shoulder and 1 broke the femur at the pelvis as he turned and run uphill. Finishing shot in the neck/brisket with it bedded, at steep angle.

Based on my limited experience I would not hesitate to use it on mule deer or whitetails or shooting a big donkey like this one again. Blood trail was easy and finishing shot was to avoid suffering, though lung shot had already done him.





This is me with my white ass on my knees


Big Ass Hoof

I will add that the finishing shot was done from the same position as the initial shot and only head/neck was exposed with animal bedded. "Blood trail" was seen upon hiking further uphill for recovery and not needed as he dropped 20-30yds from first hit.

Bigger tip, bigger hollow point = quicker/more dramatic expansion.

I was thinking the same....

when I am feeling under gunned with my .223 I stop by the house and get my .243 A.I. Rio7

Yep. My .243 is now my "big" gun.

Yes on experience, yes good to 200 yards (with decent shooting of course).

Yet I take my 06 with 165's rather than my .243 when deliberately going after muleys.

I killed my biggest muley with a 95 grain Nosler Partition, a massive bodied Canadian buck. That bullet has killed black bear and large bull elk for us when it was the rifle in hand-- but I'm dinosaur enough to pick up the 06 when heading east to the dry side for muleys.

I will bring my .308 as a backup on my next, mule deer hunt, but I do like the idea of a lightweight little deer rifle, so I will start off with the .243.

Now, if I can only get drawn!


Again thanks for all the good, experienced advice.

BH63

BH63: I have killed Mule Deer (and Whitetails!) with my Rifles in calibers 243 Winchester, 6m/m Remington, 240 Weatherby and 6m/m Remington Ackley Improved.
With these Rifles/calibers I always make sure to be patient and have a steady rest and only shoot for the heart/lungs area.
I have used a variety of bullets over the decades from these Rifles but never the 95 grain Ballistic Silvertips - I see no reason why they would not be very lethal on Mule Deer with proper shot placement.
Best of luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

We killed a lot of large mulies and white tails in Nebraska and Kansas with a 243 and 6 Rem with 95g Nosler partitions.

You get great bone breaking penetration on quartering shots coming and going with this bullet with a great blood trail.

We shoot for shoulders, NOT behind the shoulders. No large buck over 200 lbs never went over 30 yards, and the last buck in Kansas was shot at 320 yards, and dressed out at 260 lbs. This large buck was rattled in and took one or two steps after he was hit....pretty typical.

When living in Az, we rode mules to deer and elk hunt. I shot many cow elk with this same 95g partition.

I have a friend I haven't seen for 15 years, but at the time we moved away, he had a dozen set of elk antlers hanging on his wall - all taken with a .243. He's only owned one rifle all his life, a Sako .243 that he shot with 87gr BTHPs, loaded "as fast as they will go".

He loved the explosive effect these bullets had on elk shoulders, saying it "sprayed bone fragments throughout the chest cavity". He once also told me that "when that bullet reaches 400 yards, it mushrooms like a regular soft-point".

He only lost an elk once, and he was sick about it. He took a shot at an elk in timber, while it was moving through the trees, a shot he told himself he would never take because too much could go wrong. It started raining right after the shot, and he never found a blood trail.

His experience with those elk - and more than 100 deer - left him thoroughly convinced that he didn't need anything bigger than the little .243.

Everyone has definitely made a believer out of me!

BH63

The furthest I've had a deer run with a boiler hit was better than 200 yards. (140 AB in .284 cal - 7SAUM). Frankly, I would have never believed if I hadn't experienced it for myself. The bullet struck the upper 1/3 of the lungs on a perfectly broadside shot - blood was sparse until the chest cavity filled and commenced leakage. Luckily it was in a hay meadow and I saw the direction the deer headed for cover - about 75 yards from the shot, the frothy stuff finally became apparent.

This is rather intuitive, but the lower the hit in the chest, the better and quicker the leak. I prefer to break them down on the spot but will shoot for the crease on longer shots - a bit more margin for operator error.

There simply isn't a deer on the planet I wouldn't confidently ventilate with a 243, and, like MD explained above, the 95GR Ballistic Silvertip is a good choice.

I'm glad that I don't have to get a steady rest, nor shoot for the heart/lungs with my 300 WBY. Makes things much easier.

I understand with a powerful enough caliber you don't even have to aim. Just the reputation of the ballistics is enough to knock over most critters.

BH63

I think a 30-378 will field dress deer too.

Don't even need to shoulder the rifle - just declare to your quarry with an empathic "BIG-TIME-RIFLE-HERE!"

I might take my .416 Rem Mag deer hunting instead of the .243.

Then I won't have to leave my camper, just use a loudspeaker to tell the deer to give themselves up before I fire a round over their heads and take out the entire herd.

I'll need to check the Colorado Hunting regs first!

BH63

Actually reminds me of a story. I was on a military base shooting range that was open for public sight-in many decades ago. A couple of young guys had a brand new .300 Wby Mag on the firing position next to me.

After a few shots, one of them exclaimed, "It don't shoot accurate, but it sure shoots hard!" Live and learn I guess.

BH63

While I have no real life personal experience with a 6mm bore anything and mule deer, I did grow up in an era when most kids received a high power centerfire rifle at 12-16 years of age.

Most kids received a .243 win. a few got 30-30's. I got a Ruger M77r in 30-06. Seems like it was about 1978.

Almost all of these kids (most were friends) shot some sort of 90-100 grain soft points. Probably Hornady Frontier loads.

As kids, we were all active in the Boy Scouts. We had a great Scoutmaster that had a rifle range and would let us practice anytime we wanted.

He ALWAYS taught us that shot placement was paramount and the most important thing when hunting. Regardless of the game.

I don't think that I can ever recall any of my buddies hitting a mule deer with a .243 or 6mm that did not drop when hit, or fall within 50 yards.

Thank you Ernie B. for being a great Scoutmaster, mentor and teacher.

Side note... for all of us that were able to achieve the rank of Eagle, Scoutmaster Ernie would build you a custom .300 win mag on a Mauser action. Hand build the stock in his shop to fit you.

Guess that he figured if your were responsible enough to earn the Eagle rank, you were responsible enough to own a BIG magnum. And in 1976, to a bunch of 14 year old kids, a 300 mag of any flavor was BIG MEDICINE.

Anyway, a well placed shot, with the proper bullet should anchor a big mule deer. At least they did in northern Utah in the 70's & 80's.

My one and only mule deer was killed with a 243 and a 100grain BTSP..many years ago in Colorado..

I have used 100gr. Remington factory Core-Lokts for years for mule deer. Last year used the factory Federal Trophy Copper 85gr. Now I handloaded a Barnes 80gr. TTSX with RL17 powder and got a 0.300" 3-shot group at 100yds. I have not chronograph load yet, but real happy with group. I wish I could post picture, but can't get picture transferred from phone to this tablet.

^
That is a nice group.

I once got a .45 inch, 3-shot, 100 yd group with a Rem 700 Police in .308. I still have that target somewhere.

BH63

My son has taken 2 mule bucks to date with his .243 (Rem 700 Youth). First one was with 100 gr Hornady SPBT, second one was with 95 gr BT. I'll not buy any more of the SPBT's, and what I have on hand will be shot into targets, or coyotes. As has been mentioned here multiple times now, the 95 gr BT is the cat's azz.

Pet load suggestions for the 95 GR BT in the 243 Win. please.

Im shooting 37.0 grains of IMR4064

Next load I'm trying will be:

48.5 grs R26 and the 95 BT. This should do around 3,200+ fps in a 24 inch barrel.

The guys I hunt with in West Tx. have shot over 20 Desert Mule Deer with .243's. Only lost one to a called bad shot. I have lost track of the number of Whitetail I have shot with a .243 but only one Mule Deer so far. Only because I like to use a variety of other rifles not due to lack of performance.

Why? What happened that turned you off?

kk,
I just loaded some up with 43.0 Hunter. Looks like I can go up to 44.0 but gonna start a grain lower and see what happens...

DD, I have only shot 2 deer with the combo so very limited sample.

Mule deer buck, total DRT, bullet went in an inch or two and appeared to bomb. Minimal penetration.


Little whitetail doe(had already been hit by a car) and same thing.


To thin of a deer hunting bullet for me.

Took this last November, .243win 95gr Berger

That buck looks too big to be killed with a 243...



Here's another dink via 243 from a couple years ago.

Wish I could get pictures to work on here for me. I shot a couple of Dink's myself with the 243. One was 171, the other 174. One shot a piece. 410, and 306 yds. Lots of smaller ones too.Amazing little cartridge.

^
Darn I hope I get my deer tag this year!

BH63

Velocity?

Sorry it took so long to respond. Out of a 24" barrel its right on 3000 fps.


Performance on game is good.

Heres a pic of two 95 gr. NBTs recovered, one from an Axis and one from a Blackbuck.

If these suggestions don't appeal to you or are not accurate in your rifle, don't overlook the 100 Speer BTSP. It has done well for me on deer. I even killed a couple deer sized elk with that bullet.

My kids have had great luck with the .243 on both whitetails and a couple mulies, all with the 80 grain TTSX's.