Deer Hunters... what .243?

What kind of deer?

Doesn't really matter. I think you could shoot a hundred deer with several different brands and loads of premium .243, and see no discernible difference.

what shoots good in my rifle may not give good accuracy in yours. try a few different loads.

i take my deer with handloads.

100gn soft points, both Federal and Remington, have shot very well from my .243 hunting rifle.

I use hand loads Nosler 95 grain. I think most heavier grain bullets (more then 90g) would do fine for deer.

Great choice for a deer rifle. I hand-load 100gr Sierra Game Kings but before I started loading we used Remingtons and also Federals in 100gr. These have worked so well we never tried another wt for deer.

100gr Hornady Interlock boattail softpoint, 35.5gr IMR 4895. Not a real hotrod load - I doubt it's breaking 3000fps. But it's done several 5/8" groups out of my Savage, and rings steel well past 300 yards.

Im running 105grn amax pretty fast right now, but my go to loads are 100grn whatevers by whom ever at reasonable velocity.....or any factory load that fits those criteria.

Barnes Solid Copper X Bullet.
It will enable you to hunt game that is larger than one would typically hunt using a .243

The Barnes sight says to take the bullet weight you would typically use and then drop down one weight for the 'proper' Barnes Bullet.

PMP South African ammo is affordable and deadly. However, my long range choice is Black Hills Ammo featuring the 95 gr ballistic tip.

TR

Friendly said:

Barnes Solid Copper X Bullet.
It will enable you to hunt game that is larger than one would typically hunt using a .243

The Barnes sight says to take the bullet weight you would typically use and then drop down one weight for the 'proper' Barnes Bullet.

Click to expand...

The Barnes all copper TSX is long for weight due to copper being lighter than lead. Kinda have no choice but to use a slightly lighter bullet to maintain COAL and powder capacity. You will get your best penetration on game by using a bullet on the heavy end of the spectrum and that is a premium type "controlled" expansion. You want near 100% weight retention. Penetration is a funtion of Momentum and bullet construction.

I've taken whitetails out to 225yds no problem with a savage shooting 100 gr rem corelocks

I have killed deer with 90 grain ballistic tips, in factory loaded Remington ammo. Then I started reloading, and went with 100 grain Sierra Pro-Hunter. I can tell no difference between the two as far as performance, both are deadly.

T.R. I have my dad's old 760 in .257 Roberts, it's hammered, but I love it, one in .243 would be great.

I'm getting my handloading moving, and I want to use Barnes TSX bullets for just about everything, I wish they weren't so dang expensive. They are a local company.

Remington's 100 grain Core-Lokts will get the job done. They shoot right at 1-inch in both my Model Seven and 700 BDL Custom Deluxe. I plan to work up some more accurate loads over the winter months, but the Core-Lokts have proven accurate and deadly enough for hunting purposes.

For deer I have always loved Remington Core-lokt even though their are other good brands. Like hornady, and winchester, stick with at least 100 gr for deer, lighter ones for varmint.

I used a 243 this deer season for the first time. Two shots, two deer (a buck and a doe), using Winchester 95gr BallisticSilvertips. Both shots through the lungs. Neither deer went very far before dropping. I have to say that I was impressed with the 243. Neither shot was much of a test for the 243, though, as they were not very long (50-100 yards), with both deer presenting nice broadside shots.

I bought my first .243 in 1971, and i still have it. For rib shots with factory ammo, i use nothing but 100 bullets, Rem. Cor-lokt's work pretty good.

For more penetration (other than rib shots) i MUCH prefer 95 or 100 grain NP's! I was never impressed with my .243 on deer until i switched to NP's!

DM

Well that .58 grain bullet is a couple hundred feet per second faster,but I wouldn't use it hunting white tail bucks.


Mark, esquire

Inebriated, it depends on where you are. Most of the time, U.S. made ammo with regular cup-and-core softpoints, like the Remington Corelokt and Federal -whatever they're calling it- is going to be going for $15.00-$20.00 a box. That's a dollar/round. Premium ammunition, with the expensive fancy-pants bullets, is going to be ~$30-$40/box.

The regular cup-and-core bullets you can usually get as reloading components for under $30/100, and the more expensive ones for under $30/50. The interlocks I mentioned above I get for about $20/100, so one bullet is 20 cents, and one primer is about 3.5. Add a penny or two of powder and brass I already have, and I'm loading them for about a quarter/round. Using the expensive bullets is going to run ~45-65 cents per loaded round, so I can load anything I want for a lot less than factory ammo.

If you don't have reloading equipment, it might be a good idea to get some. I don't actually save money because of mine - I get to shoot more per dollar I spend on ammunition. Most hunters don't really shoot their hunting rifles all that much because it costs $1+/round to shoot them, using factory ammo. Two boxes of ammunition costs as much as dinner for 2 at Chili's, after all, or 2/3 of a tank of gas in my truck, and that's more than most hunters use practicing in a year, judging by my friends who don't reload. On the other hand, if you reload, that afternoon shooting will cost you about ten bucks, which means you'll probably do it more often. Most of my friends who reload shoot all the time, and are much more proficient with their rifles as a result.

That is a Good Thing.

I think you'll be pleased with good old Rem Core-lokt. They've been knocking down deer for ever