The issue wasn't the, it was poor shot placement with a really soft bullet. You would have had a better result with Accubonds, Partitions, or Barnes TTSX's. My 243 likes 100 grain Interlocks but I avoid the shoulder with it as results would be a bit better but still little penetration and it would cost me a completely blood shot quarter worth of meat.
30-06 Reduced Recoil ammo vs. 243 for deer
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Don McDowell
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There's really no wrong answer here. But I will say that I'm a firm believer in the higher the sectional density of the bullet makes for better penetration. I think the 125 gr 30 cal bullet falls way short of the ideal sectional density.
My recommendation would be look for some of the 30-06 150 gr reduced recoil loads, or reload yourself some using bullets intended for the 30-30, and Hodgdons youth load data, if the 30-06 is your favored rifle.
Otherwise just go with the 243. When I was a youngster the 243 was the cartridge most used in our family, and those rifles filled our freezer every year with antelope, deer and elk, and the occasional moose and bear, and that was back in the 50's and 60's before game became half kevlar implanted and near impossible kill with a properly placed shot as they apparently are today...
The proof is in the pudding. My brother (age 79) has hunted deer all of his adult life and has killed dozens, at least 95% of them with his favorite deer rifle, a Ruger #1 .243. Being a single shot, 99% of them one shot kills. He shoots a 100gr bullet, not sure exactly which one. He has always told me that choosing the right shot is the most important feature of hunting deer for him.
Vern Humphrey
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"Overkill" is when you shoot one deer and find 15 lying dead around it.
Compare squirrel hunting with deer hunting:
A 12 oz. squirrel (which is a big squirrel) is hit by a .22 LR bullet. That works out to about 190 ft lbs per pound of squirrel.
A 100 pound deer (which is a small deer) is hit by a rifle cartridge with 3,000 ft lbs energy. That works out to 30 ft lbs per pound of deer.
You need to learn more about the topic. From Hornady's website describing the features of the SST bullet:
"4. InterLock® Ring
Ensures the core and jacket remain locked solid during expansion, so the SST® retains the mass and energy needed for dramatic wound channels."
That is point number 4. Note the part where they say it has an interlock ring to ensure the core and jacket stay together. Any deer shot in the shoulder with such a bullet should be dead. Their bullet failed...nothing stayed together. It simply came apart on muscle and the top of the shoulder blade.
Again...I've never had one of my larger calibers fail in such a manner.
To claim that a shoulder shot on a southern whitetail is poor placement is pure silliness...and that's putting it politely.
To believe hornady garuante about the Interlock ring. Between the 7 deer I've shot and all my dad has shot since he started using a 243 in the early 70's. Never have we recovered anything more then a pretty shredded copper jacket. That includes some dang small 1 year old bucks. So if hand loads with a standard Interlock are achieving core and jacket separation on broadside lung shots, how is it that adding a "Super Shock Tip" to that bullet will make it a good choice for specifically targeting large muscle bone? I've never seen issues with Interlocks in larger caliber/cartridge (I've recovered Interlocks from elk using 165 gr out of a 308 & 30-06, 150 grain out of a 280 rem, and 200 grain out of a 338-06) always with perfect mushrooms, yet time after time time core and jacket separation with 100 grain 243 bullets going 3100fps will have the jacket separate from the core. So please explain how I will educate myself by reading, verbatim, what Hornady puts on their website as opposed to a cumulative field experience of 30-40 deer being shot with the same bullet but lacking a plastic tip to make it expand faster?
The opinion that any deer being shot in the shoulder with a 243 is a poor choice is a quite valid one. The amount of blood shot meat will encompass the entire shoulder. When shooting an animal for meat all respect should be paid to the animal to take care of the meat in the best possible way. Imparting large amounts of energy and hydrostatic shock, rupturing vessels, cells, and muscle tissue that you will cut away a opposed to eating it is wasteful.
I'm just a silly uneducated hunter though. Them southern white tails must be of an entirely different composition than mule deer ranging from small forked horns to solid 4 x 4's.
You seem to be trying to prove my point for me. Hornady advertises it as a bullet designed to keep from separating...I stated mine came apart...which is a failure by any definition.
Then you post that all of yours have shredded...which also runs counter to their claim...and constitutes a failure.
How are those outcomes different? My point in saying you need to educate yourself is that you need to learn how Hornady is advertising the bullet. By every measure...yours and mine...the advertising claim isn't very realistic.
I shot an elk just a few months ago with a modestly loaded .30-06 Interlock...and all I got was a copper jacket. The bullet hit the heart and travelled through to the far shoulder...it left a trail of lead nuggets the entire way.
in a very ironic twist, my hunting partner shot an elk several times with Hornady SST's from his 7 mag. One of those SST's hit the rear leg and absolutely shattered it...the recovered slug was a mushroom so perfect it could've been featured in a magazine.
Again...you are proving my point. The advertised claims do not match the field experience.
That depends entirely on the circumstance. When dropping an animal in it's place is of higher priority than a little meat damage (such as when hunting a property line) a shoulder shot can be a vastly superior to a double lung shot. Double lung shot deer tend to run a ways...whereas shoulder or neck shots tend to drop them in their tracks. Furthermore, doing it with a bullet that is ADVERTISED as being designed to STAY TOGETHER makes it all the more acceptable. My field experience proves that their claim isn't exactly true.
When you fail to grasp the initial argument...sarcasm doesn't help you much.
My point is, you used a "Super Shock Tip" bullet in a cartridge that does dual duty as a varmint round. You bought a bullet that the very name tells you its going to expand rapidly, stuffed it in a cartridge that also is popular for varmints, had your son target the biggest mass of muscle and bone that you can aim for, then say it's the bullets fault for coming apart. The very name implies they come apart.
The .243 is a deer-killing machine in the hands of a capable shooter. Those having issues with the round won't be better served with a bigger caliber necessarily, but rather an education in bullet construction. The fact many people shoot varmints with a .243 does nothing to discount its effectiveness as a deer round when loaded for such. I have absolutely no qualms on using it on the smallest whietails through the biggest mule deer, so long as one shoots within their capabilities. YTour OPINION regarding shoulder shoots, theleo, doesn't make it a verifiable fact. As pointed out, there are situations where shoulder shots are preferrable. While you may not hunt in a manner where such shots present themselves doesn't mean others mirror you. Sometimes, putting a deer down immediately is the prudent thing to do, a bit of loss meat notwithstanding.
Sav .250
Member
Sounds like you may have an re-coil issue.
You can also get 243 ammo in reduced loads.
You can also get 243 ammo in reduced loads.
I bought a bullet whose manufacturer claims it will stay together. I've shown you both their claim for performance, and my field experience.
A product not performing as advertised is a failure. There is no way you can get around it.
Furthermore, the SST does not in any way imply that it comes apart...it is advertised as initiating "controlled expansion". Controlled expansion, coupled with their advertised Interlock ring combine for a claimed performance of a bullet that is quick to mushroom, but retain it's mass.
I know many people who have used them with great results and as I originally posted...that particular bullet might have been a fluke...but it failed.
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Olympus
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I used the 95gr SST on a nice 8pt this year. The bullet entered behind the front shoulder, but exited through the back shoulder. In deboning that shoulder, the bullet broke the bone and made a whole in the bone about the size of a silver dollar and then exited.
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