Best .243 factory ammo for Russian Boar???

[Meta]

My friends 11 year old son will be hunting Russian Boar with us and the only rifle he is comfortable shooting is a Tikka T3 in 243 Winchester. Any suggestions on the best factory ammo we might choose to get the job done on some Russian Boar?

 

[natman]

IMO the 243 is a bit light for boar. That said, try:

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rifle.aspx?id=214

http://www.remington.com/products/a...arative_ballistics_results.aspx?data=PRC243WC

 

[hardluk1]

Try to get Federal 85gr tsx . That is a barnes bullet that will stay in one piece and penetrate deeper than most any other. Just besure of placement ,a lung/heart and forward will work with this round. That bullet can break the shoulders too.

 

[Water-Man]

Not the best of choices but if so... Federal 100gr. NP

 

[MCgunner]

Try to get Federal 85gr tsx . That is a barnes bullet that will stay in one piece and penetrate deeper than most any other. Just besure of placement ,a lung/heart and forward will work with this round. That bullet can break the shoulders too.

With a Barnes bullet, penetrating a hog is not a problem.

 

[HarleyFixer]

The only hog I have ever killed was with a .243 and 85grn Federal. About 150 yard shot and DRT. I was satisfied.

 

[DannySeesUSMC]

Lots of people taking hogs with 6.8 SPC and loving it and the 243 Win is even better for the task.

I would go with the Federal 100 grain Partition load...plenty of penetration but a good deal more damage to the vitals area than any .243 TSX bullet.

 

[nathan]

And grill afterwards is the best thing esp the ribs.

 

[Flintknapper]

+1

Partition or Barnes TSX will both do well.

 

[DannySeesUSMC]

I think you would be ok using the Barnes, but it's not equal or right next to the Partition load for this task.

60 grain .223 Partition produces a larger wound cavity than a 100 grain .257 TSX...the difference between a 100 grain .243 Partition and 85 grain .243 TSX is magnified....

Super-duper penetration with small wound cavities is en vogue but you might have to track the hog for a good long while. Chances are with the 85 grain TSX it will lose enough blood to finally drop with a shot that is a couple inches from the vitals...but with the 100 grain Partition you have some insurance the much larger wound cavity will bring death more swiftly.

The 85 grain TSX load might be the best bet for trying to shoot length-wise through a moose with the same rifle.

 

[hardluk1]

Dannyseesusmc Have you hunted with a barnes bullet?? Shoot the shoulders,not the heart /lung. I have used the barnes and also like BT and SST bullets. Don't care for partitions as i hunt in heavy cover and typicaly an animal will carry a partiction a ways before it falls died. Yes it kills but if i want to stop what can be a tougher animal now it will be a barnes threw the shoulders. I have killed them with a 22mag but not smart. I have killed several mullies and one elk with older 150gr barnes and the elk took the 308 threw the shoulders and dropped on the spot, the deer were hit with a 7mm 140gr barnes and i shot them both end to end and shoulder pass threw shots. I just went to a funeral of a friend that could not be changed away from the partition for years and i can't count the deer i have trailed in pines and swamps that ran some distance. Great shots to. I now use sst and bt's for deer but still barnes for tough game. The barnes also does double in width at closer ranges and does keep 100% of its wieght.

 

[DannySeesUSMC]

I've only tested Barnes pistol bullets my self, with rifle bullets I'm only going by the testing and hunting experiences of others whose words carry a lot of weight with me and echo the pistol bullets.

I think they are best suited for low velocity cartridges and stack up better with good, conventional pistol bullets. With .223 rifles and higher it seems the dynamic behavior of expanding bullets which lose a decent percentage of weight will always do more damage. If the construction allows it do much damage and then have a relatively small frontal diameter such as the Partition it will penetrate almost as much as the Barnes with the addition of a better wound cavity. If they retain more weight and a larger frontal diameter they will have a better wound cavity than the Barnes but not penetrate at deeply.

The Barnes will always penetrate great but do the damage of a caliber 2-3 sizes smaller. So if the more conventional premium bullet still penetrates enough why bother with the Barnes and the smaller wound cavity with less chance for damaged vitals? Add in the higher price for the Barnes.

Also the 2x expanded diameter is not factoring in all that space in between the petals, which is the reason it penetrates so great. A large mushroomed lead bullet which retains 90-95% weight or something like the Lapua Naturalis will damage more tissue but not penetrate as deeply as a result.

I think it's picking what you want and the hunting of animals where you need 4ft or more penetration is limited.

Going off of averages with a similar size bullet in the same caliber a Partition will have a 35% greater wound cavity and the Barnes will have 3-4% greater penetration.

Me personally I will not ever purchase Barnes bullets again and will never hunt with them when I do start hunting again.

 

[hardluk1]

Good ,glad you will never use barnes bullets .That just goes to show you really know nothing about a barnes Rifle bullet or pistol for that fact. If you did under stand the X bullet then you would know it will expand to twice it's diameter at closer ranges and will not blow the front off like a partition can do on tough game like a front shot on that hog but still expand at longer distances. The partition is a good OLD bullet but to darn many deer have to been found after being shot in ideal conditions. The X will take out the shoulders or make that front shot with a 1/2" whole from a 243 and all its bullet wieght will be there. That is why it penitrates so well. Keep following that partition shot animal in some small planted pines or deep swamp. Can't compair the X in a pistol bullet to the rifle bullet, any more than you can compair the silvertip winchester in a rifle and pistol round, just does not work the same between rifle and pistol. Hard to get someone to under stand that has not hunted with them and rely's only on hear say. Lots of new bullet designs today that show just how antiquated the partition is in todays bullets designs. Now i will not say the X is a great deer bullet, it is made for tough conditions and hogs and elk along with bear in tight areas would be where i would want them. I have killed hogs with a 22mag and a buddy that just died used a 22 hornet sometimes. Wouldn't again. I still love my nosler BT and Hornady's SST for deer but i am smart enought to under stand what the x was made for. To say try to leave the impresstion that the x will not expand like other bullets is just stupid.

 

[bswiv]

Hogs are not as tough as folks like to make them out to be. A deer will take more punishment and still escape.

While I prefer my .35 Rem the wife has take 15 or so in the last 6 years with her .243 using the Federal Premium with the Sierra 100 grain. I've had to trail only one for a second shot.

Just keep the bulled in the ribcage and you do not have a problem. And I hate to say this, as I really like my old .35, but the .243 in the ribs seems to put them down faster, does more damage while the .35 punches through.

 

[hardluk1]

bswiv I am not try'n to say other bullets don't work, just hate to hear someone tell me the x would not work well . A person with no experiance with it. That 35 rem is darn sure a hog thumper and lots of bullets would work in a 243,some better than others under some conditions. I would not want to shoot a deer with the x and have and trailed it with a heart lung shot. I am one that will walk in on a hog and shoot at close distances and now use a 357 or now 44 but with heavy hardcaste bullets. I have used the x in a rifle and it will roll them with a shoulder shot. I just hate to find a wounded pig that has use of all it legs, them suckers can kill dogs in a heart beat. reather leave it wigglin on the ground or died out right. Grew up with a friend that only shot partitions and i was always looking for deer and hogs, all died, just ran off in tight cover or some darn swamp. After you have a pig come straight at you pissed off,then real tough bullets come into there own. My hog hunts never seem to look like tv hunts, always around some darn wet area's and hogs haull'n a so you get in there with them. Not a nice blind or stand with a nice pill of corn to eat and a still shot. Oh well.

 

[DannySeesUSMC]

The words of guys who have been hunting all over the world for the past 20-30 years is not mere hearsay. The retained weight and the small frontal diameter is why the Barnes penetrates so well. It's just the way it works. If it didn't have the space between the petals it would not penetrate more than a bonded bullet with lead core that retains 95% and larger frontal diameter.

Using the bone fragments to help the Barnes with wounding does have a lot of testimony in effectiveness but you can do the same with other big game bullets as well.

Why do you think John Nosler designed the Partition to retain 65-75% of its weight when he could have settled on it retaining 85-90% of its weight?

Designing it to lose about 30% of its weight and then penetrate deep was found to be the most effective after much of testing in real animals. The partition part of the bullet is placed strategically through the different calibers of bullets to be most effective. In larger caliber bullets it is designed to retain 80-85% for very big African game.

The Accubond was designed to be as close to the Partition as possible and also retain about 70% of its weight but yet could of been designed to retain 90% or more of its weight. Why would Nosler do that?

Very experienced hunters are saying Berger VLD's which shed 45-85% of their weight are dropping deer, hogs, and even elk faster than they have ever experienced. Why is that?

For moose, elk, deer, etc. what good does the little bit extra penetration of the Barnes do when more damaging bullets will also exit or reach the off-side hide?

 

[Flintknapper]

Danny,

We banter back and forth the merits of the Barnes, Partition, AccuBond, etc....

I like all of them and have used all them successfully, but you won't find me "slobbering" over any particular one.

Each has it's place and some are more practical in a wider variety of hunting situations....but the "context" of this thread is hunting hogs with a caliber I consider minimal at best.

Too, we are not talking about hunting "feral" hogs but RUSSIAN boar which typically will be larger on average than ferals.

For this reason....I would recommend the young man use the heaviest Barnes bullet that is available.

Having killed several hundred hogs...I can tell you from experience that many bullets are "adequate" when shot angles (and placement) are ideal.

But, the deep penetration the Barnes offers....also provides the hunter "shot options" in terms of angles that would otherwise be ineffective or unethical with lesser bullets.

Much of what you have written here I agree with (conditionally), but it would require many pages of discussion about energy transfer, impact velocity, temporary vs. permanent wound cavitation, etc....to arrive at anything like "general conclusions".

Now...I am NOT stumping for the Barnes as a wholesale answer to all hog hunting questions, but in this case (small power factor and potentially large, tough animal)...I am going to gravitate toward "all the penetration I can get".

The Barnes has plenty of frontal area to get the job done:



There is a reason that the "Partition" is NOT the only bullet out there. That "reason" is that it is not the "best" bullet for every circumstance. This is a fact too plain to require argument.

It is a fine bullet...and a timeless design IMO. Less costly (as you point out) than others and perfectly adequate for many applications but NOT "perfect".

Lastly, I would vehemently disagree that the Barnes only penetrates slightly better than the Partition. It depends largely upon what type of tissue/bone is struck and what angle the animal is hit.

Shoot both into the South end of of North-bound Boar and see which one makes the entire trip. It won't be the Partition.

 

[DannySeesUSMC]

What caliber are those Flintknapper? I thought they open up to four petals. The ones I've seen pictures of from tests and animals have the petals slightly curved and folded tightly down to the shank.

 

[Flintknapper]

Danny,

Those are .458 SOCOM (also the Tac-X) but represent the same technology. These were recovered from wet phone book media (another forum member).

As you say....most of the TSX are four petal.

How much the petals open up and peel back depends on the "variables" I alluded to in my last post....I.E. (impact velocity, type of tissue impacted, etc).

I have seen the TSX hold together well (the norm), but also shed petals...or have the petals peel back against the base.

Same is true of the "Partition". It generally does a good job....but can range from a nicely mushroomed projectile to something almost unrecognizable.

I like the Partition (and AccuBond) very much. It is not my intent to disparage them in any way. Its just that with "hog hunting" there are so many variables involved that you can not count on getting consistent wound cavities (the likes of which you speak).

Conversely, you are almost guaranteed to get "penetration" from the Barnes.

On smaller animals (or broadside) shots, I readily concede the potential for greater penetration is a moot point. However, when things are less than ideal....I believe the Barnes would provide some advantage in this case.

I use neither bullet exclusively...because different circumstances demand different performance.

The Partition is an excellent design and has remained so for 40 years. That says alot about it right there.

So, I am not arguing the sound design or proven track record of the Partition. I am simply offering my opinion concerning what might be the best bullet for THIS application (large animal, fairly small caliber, maybe less than ideal angles).


Flint.

 

[chas08]

My wife uses 100 gr. Hornady Light Magnums in her .243. They shoot MOA at 100yds. she's killed several hogs over the years. We prefer to not mess up the shoulders if the hog/pig is an "eater". So most usually we take head shots. If you shoot them just under the ear, it don't matter what bullet you use, or how big they are,

 

[natman]

Danny,

We banter back and forth the merits of the Barnes, Partition, AccuBond, etc....

I like all of them and have used all them successfully, but you won't find me "slobbering" over any particular one.

Each has it's place and some are more practical in a wider variety of hunting situations....but the "context" of this thread is hunting hogs with a caliber I consider minimal at best.

Too, we are not talking about hunting "feral" hogs but RUSSIAN boar which typically will be larger on average than ferals.

For this reason....I would recommend the young man use the heaviest Barnes bullet that is available.

I recommended the Partition and not the Barnes. In most calibers I would recommend the Barnes without hesitation, but in .243 the heaviest Barnes bullet available is the TSX at only 85 grains. If they made a 100 grain .243 TSX and offered it in loaded ammo I would have recommended it, but they don't.

I do agree fully with the "minimal at best" part.