best deer round for .243

[bun007burger]

evening to all.
its beautifull weather here,in ireland.
everyone is gone to bed and i am sitting here relaxing.
i was just thinking what is the members opinion on the best deer round, grain weight ,drop rate etc.....not just the make but rather the why !


bu007burger

 

[dprice3844444]

how big are the deer?
http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/yhs...t&hsimp=yhs-att_001&type=att_lego_portal_home

 

[22-rimfire]

I'm pretty comfortable with factory loaded Remington 100 gr Core lokt for deer.

 

[jmr40]

Nothing special about killing deer with a 243. Just about any 85-100 gr bullet that shoots well in your gun will easily take any deer. I'd use a premium bullet on game larger than deer in the 100-105 gr range.

 

[Skyshot]

Very fond of the 100 grn. Sierra GameKings.

 

[Geno]

bun007burger:

Welcome from this-side-of-the-pond! I am using Speer Deep Curl 80 grains in a Winchester M70, Ultimate Shadow with 1-10 twist. Don't overlook the Nosler 95 grain Partitians depending on the barrel's rate of twist (ie 1-9).

Say hello to my family in Cork for me.

Geno

 

[jack44]

I would say any bullet in 85gr.

 

[archer1214]

.243 bullet

I second the Sierra 100 gr Game Kings!

 

[jstein650]

The OP did ask to include the 'why' as well, and I think jmr40 pretty well hit it. As most whitetail will succumb to any well placed, decent weight bullet out of a .243 (no explosive varmint bullets). The bullets mentioned, the Core-Lokt, Deep Curl, and Sierra hunting bullets are plenty tough for most deer. In my home state of Indiana, deer often exceed 250# dressed (well over 300# gross). That's a big deer. If your critters are big and tough, I also agree that the 95gr Partition pushed fast, is as about as close to fail safe as you can get.

 

[lonewolf5347]

Barnes 85 Gr. TSX

 

[Art Eatman]

Generally: If zeroed at 200 yards, most .243 bullets in the 85- to 100-grain range will be around five to six inches low at 300.

 

[Don McDowell]

I've always used the hornady 100 gr bullet. It has always shot well (even before they started calling them interlocs) gave good penetration and expanded well leaving a decent wound channel. The higher sd and better bc of the 100 gr bullet also gives a bit of advantage in windy conditions when the distance starts crossing past 200 yds.
Never thought much about drop, always sighted in 2 inches high at 100 , and when a center hold didn't score a fatal hit, if you had to hold over it was to far to shoot anyway.

 

[ICE1210]

My son has had great success using the 80 grain Hornady GMX. He shot three deer last year, longest shot was about 120 yards, shortest, about 75. No bullets were recovered ass all were pass through shots. While I can't speak about what the bullets looked like after impact, I can say, only one of my sons deer moved after getting shot.

 

[Geno]

Art:

Correct indeed. Per http://handloads.com/calc/index.html, this is the result of an 80 grain (0.243 Cal), boattail, with a zero at 200 yards, and loaded to 3,460 fps.

Zero: 200 yards
Effect at Range 300 yards follows:

Velocity remaining (@ 300): 2,665 fps
Impact drop (@ 300): -5.11
Time of Flight (to 300): 0.3 Secs
Energy remaining (@ 300): 1,261 pounds
Drift (@ 300): 6.71

Sounds durned impressive for such a small projectile, huh?

Geno

 

[Arkansas Paul]

My favorite load is an 85 grain Seirra Gameking HPBT. As far as why, well it makes just as big a hole as my .30-06 does.

 

[ssyoumans]

I took a 7 pt buck, about 140 lbs dressed with a 95gr SST. Bullet is a bit explosive, but did its job. I had a prett much head on shot, slightly turned, shot into the chest, bullet didn't exit. Deer went 20 yards and expired. Got to the vitals & heart.

Next time I'm going to try the 85gr TSX or 80gr TTSX.

 

[witchhunter]

I only use Nosler Partition bullets for big game, no matter the caliber. Almost any reputable bullet will do the job with a standing broadside shot, but if the shot is quartering they do not have the ability to break bone and still stay together enough for fatal penetration. The Partition is designed to expand only back to the partition in the bullet, leaving the rest of the bullet together for penetration. Best of both worlds in bullet performance. Not trying to start an argument, just my opinion. the OP asked why.

 

[surjimmy]

Was told by a friend of mine who reloads, that the most accurate gr for a 243 is 80gr. Don't know or care if he's right all I know is my family and I have pulled the trigger 26 times and have recovered 26 deer since 2008(when we started hunting together) The biggest being 260lbs, who only went 40 yards.

 

[Sav .250]

Nothing special about killing deer with a 243. Just about any 85-100 gr bullet that shoots well in your gun will easily take any deer. I'd use a premium bullet on game larger than deer in the 100-105 gr range.

That about covers it!

 

[josiewales]

My favorite is Winchester X supreme 100 gr. ballistic tip. However, as the others have said pretty much any factory load, that isn't FMJ, will do just fine.

 

[T.R.]

.243 has been slaying deer and other animals ever since the 1950's. My favorite bullets are Nosler 95 grain Ballistic Tip or any bonded bullet by Speer.

Nothing wrong with Remington core-lokt bullets; they're famous for reliable expansion and deep penetration.

TR

 

[splattergun]

Welcome bun007burger. Assuming you want to hunt spotted deer, which are about the same size range as whitetail, the 80-100 grain range should work well as long in broadside shots, as long as it's a bonded core like core-lokt etc. These would be great on fallow deer as well. But IMO, if you're stalking red deer stags (lucky devil), keep to a heavier bullet, over 100 gr, or choose a larger caliber.

my tuppence

 

[Kachok]

I second the Sierra 100 gr Game Kings!

I load Game Kings in every caliber I shoot, the results have been superb across the board and I would not hesitate one bit to use them on deer in 243 as well. They are a fast expanding soft point, expect some notable fragmentation at speeds over 2700fps, which is not a bad thing on deer sized game if you can keep it out of the tasty bits. Not a super deep perpetrator but deep enough for normal deer hunting.

 

[Vlad357]

My Rem 788 in .243 has taken over 30 deer on our farm (kids and other family) all with 100 grain Corelocks. Some have been good shots and a few thru the shoulder, but all of them dropped right about there. The 100 grain always has enough penetration.

 

[Fremmer]

I've used 100 grn Remington core lokts in .243 and they are great. I Use Sierra game kings in the .308 now, and they work great, too.