Suggestions for factory 243 deer/varmint round

travis_

travis_

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I recently sold my 30-06 and 223 and moved to a 243 with the hopes of using the same rifle for coyote and deer. I am hoping that there is a factory round that will work for both deer and varmint. I would like to keep the same round so that I do not have to sight my rifle in for two different rounds.

If this is possible, does anyone with real experience have any specific suggestions on something over the counter that I can use?

I am using a Tikka T3 if it makes any difference...

I am going to be busy during the season so I need to get everything sorted out within the next couple weeks.

I know there is a lot of knowledge on this board, thanks in advance.
 
a varmint round will have a thin jacket and tend to break apart my suggestion would be any cup and core soft point that shoots well in your gun one can tell you what will shoot well in your gun even if another person has a gun one serial number different it could like a different brand/type/weight of ammo
 
I just went through the trials of exactly what you're looking for. I bought a Sako .243 to cover coyotes to deer.

My gun really likes the Hornady 58 grain VMAX round. Its a really good varmint round, as i came to find out on the coyotes a few weeks ago. Incredible performance really! That gun also likes a few of the various heavy bonded bullets.

Basically what you need to do is find a few different varmint bullets, and a few different heavy bonded bullets and spend some time on the range. See which ones group together the best and tune your scope or sights to fit the ammunition that your gun seems to like the best. For me, deer is a secondary usage, it will primarily be a coyote gun. So its all set up for the varmint round. But the heavy bonded bullets that i selected hit dead on windage wise. So ill only ever need to compensate for elevation. There is almost exactly 1" difference at 100 yards, and a bit more out at 150 yards. So that made my decision easy!
 
(I was trying to respond to the fella above who suggested the federal fusion bonded bullet)

I used these on coyotes once, there is a reason they sell varmint bullets. A bonded bullet just doesn't put them down the same.
 
I will suggest not using varmint bullets on a deer they don't hold together long enough in my books go find a bunch different brands/weights of ammo made for big game set up some targets at 100 yards and see what shoots the best group it can be used for both coyotes and deer. it will not expand all that well in a coyote but a well placed shot will kill it I have used .22lr when I see one while hunting other things it does not take much but a well placed shot
 
Not sure what the T3's preferences are, but in my pre-64 M70 and Parker Hale, I get MOA or less 3+5 shot groups at 100 yds. I buy at LeBaron's and it is cheap but stellar performance. Neither rifle shoots lighter pills worth a darn?! Performance inside 200 yards on deer has been great, and I have yet to shoot a song dog with them, but sure they work. 80 grain Sierra handloads on wolves worked when we were in N. Ontario. In handloads, you would be hard pressed to do better than a Nosler Partition 95 grain. Best of Luck!
 
Every one I know shooting 243's just use the Winchester power point 100g for coyotes and deer. I just sighted a little savage axis youth in today with that ammo. I was able to get a 1" group for 3 shots at 100 yards with them.
 
patricksbb391 said:
Not sure what the T3's preferences are, but in my pre-64 M70 and Parker Hale, I get MOA or less 3+5 shot groups at 100 yds. I buy at LeBaron's and it is cheap but stellar performance. Neither rifle shoots lighter pills worth a darn?! Performance inside 200 yards on deer has been great, and I have yet to shoot a song dog with them, but sure they work. 80 grain Sierra handloads on wolves worked when we were in N. Ontario. In handloads, you would be hard pressed to do better than a Nosler Partition 95 grain. Best of Luck!
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every rifle is different between one t3 off of the line and another even if its one serial number different it could like different brand/weight/type of ammo best thing to do is buy as many different brands and set some targets up to see what shoots best in the end hand loading will always get you the best accuracy
 
The WINCHESTER'S are great for factory and the Nosler's are very good in handloads. I have shot many coyotes and deer with my 243 and in all honesty I have never had bad bullet performance so again find what holds the best group for your gun and go for it.
 
The strength of the .243 is that you can find bullets that excel on coyotes and on deer, so although I can see why you might want two different loads that shoot to the same point of impact, I'm not sure why you would even try to find one that provides optimum performance on both a 60 pound animal and a 250 pound animal. If it were me, I'd keep the rifle loaded with big game ammo during deer season, then switch back to varmint ammo for the rest of the year. With respect to factory ammo, I can't give you an informed opinion because I don't use the stuff very often, but I do have an opinion about bullets. For big game, look for ammo that loads 100 gr Nosler Partitions or 85 gr TSXs or 80 gr TTSXs. For varmint ammo, look for Nosler Ballistic-Tips, the 55 gr BTs at 3900-4000 fps are awfully impressive on a light animal, but a 70 gr will potentially have more reach if you anticipate shots which exceed a quarter mile. I've shot plenty of the 55 gr BTs, and if my observations hold up, at 600 yards, the groups are too large to count on, probably 2-2.5 MOA..
 
Try the Hornady Superformance in the 80gr GMX. My 13 year old daughter shot here first two mule deer does with them and with excellent results. Two shots, two dead deer at 100-150yds. Accuracy was about as good as I expected out of the youth Savage Axis around 1-1 1/2" 3 shot at 100yds.
 
A varmint bullet, like the V-Max, is not suitable for deer, but a deer bullet will kill a coyote with no fuss. And Wiley won't care. Not so good if you want the hides though. Hunting Wiley is a good way of practicing for deer season.
Try any 80 to 100 grain bullet. You will have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your rifle shoots best. No two rifles will shoot the same ammo the same way.
 
Is your intention to harvest the yotes for fur? If so the applicaiton of one bullet for two differnt jobs and animals may not make sense. I shoot a T3 Lite as well and it will eat up most everyhting. Only ammo it doesnt really like is Fusion which is odd as it has no probs with Fed Premium or Power Shok. As was suggested grab a few boxes, shoot and see what your rifle likes.
 
My friend shot our white tail last year with a Hornady SST and it turned the whole vital organ area into jelly with very little effect on the edibility of the animal.
 
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