.243 Opinions

[Rich M]

Last year I shot my first & only muley buck with a .243. Bullet performance was so-so, dead deer, no misses, no tracking, so it worked. I may be asking for more than the caliber can give and may be too picky cause the buck was only on his feet about 3 seconds after first shot, hobbled a little bit and dropped at second shot.

Ammo was federal blue box 100 gr pointed soft points. They shot okay, bottom of soda can at 200 kind of shooting.

Looking at heading back in another year and wonder if there is a better bullet to use.

I do reload, hoping for something that will give better penetration.

Anyone else use .243? Suggestions?

 

[Mudpuddle]

I hunt whitetails with a .243 and found that when the distances were close core-lokts give complete penetration on broadside shots. I imagine you'll be shooting at longer ranges for mule deer so I'd consider a partition, accubond, or even a federal fusion to give decent penetration and have a higher b.c. (for a .243). I've also used the hornady 100 grain btsp and found that penetration was underwhelming, but after a short run the deer do go down.

In short, try a bonded bullet.

 

[Ratbeetle]

I'll be using a 95gr barnes lrx on pronghorn this year out of a 6mm CM.

 

[Newtosavage]

Why specifically are you asking about a better bullet? Were you not happy with the exit hole? The blood trail? The fact that he was standing for 3 sec? If I shot a .243, I'd probably go TTSX or GMX or E-Tip and shoot whichever was most accurate among those. Then just aim for the shoulder to put them down straight away.

I don't mind tracking jobs as long as they aren't more than about 100 yards or so. I hate ruining shoulders and the mess that creates, so I try and double-lung all my deer, which often results in a 40-60 yard run and drop. No biggie to me. Makes the quartering cleaner.

If you do try a bonded bullet and don't hit the shoulders, be prepared for a tracking job.

Hope you find what you're looking for though.

 

[WCB]

Some good advice and bad advice above. 1st is sounds like the bullet performed great. I don't know where guys got the idea that every time you hit an animal it is supposed to just drop in its tracks? That bullet along with a Core Lokts (same basic bullet soft lead cup and core) have killed more deer than any other bullet out there. Mule Deer are deer there is no difference in bullet selection unless you extend your range.

If you want to change bullets I would personally go to a Partition or Federal Fusion. Solid Coppers are an option I'm just not a fan of them. And anyone that says Bonded bullets will cause tracking jobs must shoot some horrible bullets because that is all I shoot out of multiple calibers at every thing I hunt and have never had to "track" an animal.

 

[TxxAgg]

I vote Federal Fusion or Barnes TTSX depending on where you like to shoot them and what kinda performance you're wanting.

 

[FLAK]

Partitions or Interlocks.

 

[bluetick78]

If your hitting soda cans at 200 and bucks are dropping in 3 seconds.....what the hell more do you want? Cut, wrapped, and flash frozen before you walk up to it?

 

[HuntInWild88]

80 gr ttsx. I wouldnt think twice on a mule deer sub 300 yards....

 

[nodakian]

Dozens of critters from antelope does to muley bucks have fallen to 95 grain Partitions and 100 grain Core Lokts from 50 yards to over 300. Sometimes they run a little, even with clean lung or heart shots, but that can happen with any caliber. If I do my part, my 243 does its job every time.

 

[Rich M]

Just trying to improve the wheel.

The mule deer hunting area in small parcels intermixed with private, the deer have to fall on the correct side of the fence.

I had read that the fusions are pretty tough bullets. Haven't tried em yet.

TTSX was my first inclination - didn't shoot well out of my rifle (4-inch at 200).

Read somewhere that the .243 100 gr Partition doesn't penetrate well. 95 or 85 gr might be better?

Many folks say that once they got away from the 100 gr cup & cores, the bullets performed better.

 

[black dawg]

We have had good results on deer and bears with 100 grn interlocks and 100 grn game kings. All behind the shoulder shots. Full penetration at 50 yards or less.

Spent way to much of my life looking for the magic bullet, if it shoots reasonably accurate go kill stuff with it.

 

[WCB]

It really depends what you are looking for. For small property, so I would assume shorter shooting, I think you keep rockin what works. Any bullet mentioned will kill a deer. 100gr partitions will penetrate more than enough for deer at normal distances.

A better way to approach this is asking....What performance are you looking for? Are you looking for penetration? quick energy dump and big expansion? Weight retention? Some go hand in hand some you have to choose between. The #1 thing I would say to get out of your head< ifit is in there, is requiring an exit hole. There are some that will give you a better chance but if you require it you will be disappointed eventually.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around wanting something better than a 3 second kill. No matter what bullet you choose eventually you will have a deer run. Center punch the lungs or heart deer can drop dead or run 200yds it happens.

 

[PNWGATOR]

For factory ammo I’d highly recommend the Winchester Supreme 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. The terminal performance is fantastic and will leave nothing to be desired in tissue.

 

[Dead eye BT]

Rich M-
Your first inclination- TTSX, is all I feed my daughter’s 243. Did you try different seating depths with that bullet? If you try seating the bullet a little deeper, accuracy might improve drastically. I run the 80 Gr TTSX over RL17- accuracy is excellent, velocity averages just under 3400, and the deer typically tip over at the shot. She has taken bucks at ranges between 6 yards and 380 yards with that combo. I’m not looking for a different load.

 

[idahohikker]

Just trying to improve the wheel.

The mule deer hunting area in small parcels intermixed with private, the deer have to fall on the correct side of the fence.

I had read that the fusions are pretty tough bullets. Haven't tried em yet.

TTSX was my first inclination - didn't shoot well out of my rifle (4-inch at 200).

Read somewhere that the .243 100 gr Partition doesn't penetrate well. 95 or 85 gr might be better?

Many folks say that once they got away from the 100 gr cup & cores, the bullets performed better.

My .02 is that I love my .243 but would go for a 30 caliber and bonded bullet if I wanted to anchor deer around private. My .02 is worth about .02.

 

[Rich M]

Thanks, guys!

Great input.


What it comes down to is that I really need to get used to the fact that I'm using a smaller, less powerful bullet now as opposed to the 30-06 of the previous 41 seasons. I just shoot the .243 more easily and it's a good shooting gun.

The possibility for a 200 yard run is what i want to avoid if near property lines. My buck from last year was 215 yards out and about 100, maybe 150 yards from the property line, high shoulder shot stunned him, he peg legged say 20-25 yds and I hit him thru lungs as soon as he stopped, dropped. Iff'n the first bullet had penetrated another 4 inches, it would have dropped him right there - the ballistic numbers say it had about 1,300# of energy at impact. A lung shot was too risky for the first shot in that circumstance as he could have easily gone onto private.

Just ordered 30 mm rings to mount a diff scope on it and some 100 gr Partitions for the loading bench to play with - also have a small box of Sierra game Changers 90 gr for reloading. May try reloading TTSX.

Also have factory loads - Federal Blue Box, Core Lokts, TTSX, and SSTs.

Yes - making a science project out of it.

 

[idahohikker]

Thanks, guys!

Great input.


What it comes down to is that I really need to get used to the fact that I'm using a smaller, less powerful bullet now as opposed to the 30-06 of the previous 41 seasons. I just shoot the .243 more easily and it's a good shooting gun.

The possibility for a 200 yard run is what i want to avoid if near property lines. My buck from last year was 215 yards out and about 100, maybe 150 yards from the property line, high shoulder shot stunned him, he peg legged say 20-25 yds and I hit him thru lungs as soon as he stopped, dropped. Iff'n the first bullet had penetrated another 4 inches, it would have dropped him right there - the ballistic numbers say it had about 1,300# of energy at impact. A lung shot was too risky for the first shot in that circumstance as he could have easily gone onto private.

Just ordered 30 mm rings to mount a diff scope on it and some 100 gr Partitions for the loading bench to play with - also have a small box of Sierra game Changers 90 gr for reloading. May try reloading TTSX.

Also have factory loads - Federal Blue Box, Core Lokts, TTSX, and SSTs.

Yes - making a science project out of it.

Sounds like you’re having fun with the analysis which is awesome. You also seem to know yourself and that’s the gun you shoot really well. Smart dude. I shoot my .243 better as well and it’s a great deer gun. I’ve mostly shot core locts at distances of 100-300 yards and most of my deer have dropped straight down dead. It works with broadside shots.

 

[wilydawg]

I use Gameking 85 grain HPBT's in my .243's. Kills like lightning. Google it and see that many others have the same results...

Check this recent thread too: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/243-90-gr-sierra-game-changer.160566/

 

[TripleJ]

100 grain partitions are great deer medicine. Whoever you told you they weren’t told you wrong. The majority of deer I’ve seen shot with that round struggle to make it 20-30 yds.