243WIN performance on deer

blasted_saber

blasted_saber

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Very soon I'll be the proud new owner of a 243 with the intent of using it for deer, wolves, and yotes. This is my first venture into sub 30 cal bullets for deer. I have other larger options, but I know 243 can do the trick.

What bullet do you use for deer? Bullet type, grain etc?

I'll do the usual buy a bunch of boxes and see what shoots best of course, but im looking for terminal performance impressions from those of who've shot deer. Im less concerned about performance on wolves and yotes, but if you want to throw those experiences out too thats great.

Thanks
 
Past experience - built a smaller size .243 Win for my wife when she decided to hunt - based on a Remington 788 - 19.5" barrel. She took her mule deer with a single shot - 85 grain Speer Soft Point Boat Tail. 12 or 13 years later our son took his first whitetail with same rifle and same bullet - also with a single shot taken. Each of them had fired many hundreds of rounds in practice - clay pigeons on the 100 yard backstop was a common off-hand "challenge". The scope was a Weaver K3 - plain cross hairs with a 3MOA dot at the intersection - just place the dot on what you wanted to hit and fire.

Going forward - I have a .243 Win rifle on order for me - for it, I have stocked up on 95 grain Nosler Partitions. I had bought our grandson a Rem 783 in 243 Win - so, for practice and shooting gophers at other GrandPa's pasture, I have been loading 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip - would not deliberately use them on anything much larger than a rabbit, although no doubt would turn a coyote or fox inside out, if hit. Also found three boxes of old time Hornady 85 grain Interbond - not sure why I had bought them back in the day - is my "fall back", if I can not get a decent load to work with the 95 grain Partitions.

At least one local guy seems to use a .243 Win for everything - does not reload - store bought ammo, only, so likely 100 grain bullets. Black Bear, wolves, coyotes, deer and occasional moose - many of the predators taken in or near his farmyard around his livestock. He has multiple larger caliber rifles - no longer feels the need for them. Brings that little .243 Win (a "youth model" Ruger "Compact") with him everywhere - in his pick-up, doing farmyard chores, on tractor, swather or combine, checking traps, when out cutting birch firewood, etc.
 
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Pretty much any properly made expanding bullet will do. I use 62gr fusion .223 to kill whitetail normally. I think with .243 as long as its a hunting round, which 99% of them are, the deer will die with a good shot, I wouldn't overthink it IMO.
 
I've used the following bullets for deer in .243 Win:

-80gr Remington hollowpoint
-80gr Barnes TTSX
-85gr Sierra GameKing
-95gr Winchester XP3
-100gr Winchester PSP

Out of all those bullets, the Barnes TTSX was my favourite, and killed 8 deer with it if I recall correctly, only two of which needed a finisher shot. Penetration was stellar, and accuracy was decent. Even for frontal and quartering shots, performance was consistent and deadly.

Both the 100gr PSP and 95gr XP3 did admirably well at close-medium range, and I'd certainly use them again, but my rifle definitely preferred the Barnes in accuracy.

The GameKing penetrated better than expected and caused massive damage, but I feel it is still on the frangible side for large deer.

The Remington HP penetrated roughly 2" before exploding in the lung cavity- terrific results, but definitely far too frangible for anything other than CNS shots- would not use it again.
 
80 gr ttsx and 90 gr accubond are current loads. I use to use anything 100gr sp - Hornady, Speer, with good results. Even used 80 gr sp back when I shot factory loads and was in a pinch
 
I use 95gr federal fusion. Only shot 1 deer with it and it didn't take a step. It'll be coming out with me again this season.
 
I've used two different bullets on deer with a 243. First time I wasn't sure about what to use so I went with an old standby: the Nosler Accubond (90gr). Factory Nosler loads. I shot a mule deer doe from 150 yards and the thing barely reacted. I couldn't shoot again because the deer were milling around in a group and I lost track of which doe I'd shot! It was a good lung shot and it fell over as the rest finally took off. There were very small entry and exit wounds without much damage to the lungs. Definitely deadly but not what I'd call ideal. I think that bullet would do the job on an elk or moose, to be honest.

The next year I loaded some 100gr Hornady BTSP to about 3000 fps. Wife shot a whitetail buck at about 100 yards. Again a lung shot but this time with huge wound channel and the deer fell over instantly. The bullet exited so I don't know what it looked like afterwards. I think a 100gr BTSP from any of the manufacturers will do a great job on deer-sized game. Not too soft, not too hard. Heck, back in the day, an 87gr .257" bullet was considered decent deer medicine!
 
I do not judge the performance of a bullet by whether a deer dies on the spot or makes a short [<100M] dash before collapsing.

I have seen deer with virtually no lungs left run a good distance before dropping. Remember shooting a big muley doe with my 270
and the 130 Ballistic tip. Bullet went through both lungs and completely destroyed the lungs. Exit was 3" in diameter. She still ran
60 meters flat out, and stopped when she blindly ran into a barb wire fence. The blood loss during her dash was impressive!

For the OP with your 243, I would be shooting the 90 Accubond, the 90 Scirocco II, the 95 or 100 Partition. These get the job
done, even when the presentation is not perfect. Dave.
 
Eagleye said:
I do not judge the performance of a bullet by whether a deer dies on the spot or makes a short [<100M] dash before collapsing.

I have seen deer with virtually no lungs left run a good distance before dropping. Remember shooting a big muley doe with my 270
and the 130 Ballistic tip. Bullet went through both lungs and completely destroyed the lungs. Exit was 3" in diameter. She still ran
60 meters flat out, and stopped when she blindly ran into a barb wire fence. The blood loss during her dash was impressive!

For the OP with your 243, I would be shooting the 90 Accubond, the 90 Scirocco II, the 95 or 100 Partition. These get the job
done, even when the presentation is not perfect. Dave.
Click to expand...

Those three bullets seem like a fantastic option in pretty much any caliber.
 
243 win is great. Doesnt damage meat much. A well placed shot will drop almost anything in canada. I shot 2 deer and my dad a black bear with a winchester model 70 featherweight in 243. 85 or 90 grain bullets i think.
One deer dropped on the spot.
 
100 grain Winchester Power Point. High centre shoulder shot bang flop. Deer was the target. The classic behind the shoulder shot into the lungs kills too but often with difficult tracking due to small bullet hole and very little bleeding.

Darryl
 
I have a number of .243's that I use for deer hunting and my wife has also used for moose on more than one occasion. A 100 grain Nosler Partition or 100 grain Speer Grand Slam seems to anchor them very well and I have yet to retrieve a single bullet as they typically penetrate clean through from any angle. I think it is wise to use heavier bullets in the smaller calibers just for the penetration aspect alone.
 
I took a deer with factory Winchester powershok 100gr bullets and despite great shot placement the bullet didn't expand at all and the deer went much farther than I would have liked. Going forward I started using Nosler 95gr ballistic tips but have yet to take a deer with it.
 
I will 2nd the 85 gr Speer btsp. It accounted for a couple dozen deer without a second shot being required. I found that Speer have a heavier/tougher jacket than other bullets of the same weight. Even on a coyote the exit hole is rarely larger than a quarter unless bone is driven through. Trouble is it is hard to find Speer bullets anymore.
 
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