243 range on - deer

[searcher]

Bullet construction matters. The energy number doesn't mean that the bullet will transfer all it's energy into the animal. Each bullet has a minimum velocity for it to expand like it's supposed to. I've never even seen a moose much less have any experience shooting them.

My pun about the moose was to illustrate what a .17 cal. 20-grain bullet would have to do to be effective as another larger cartridge when hunting moose. Would one expect a .17 cal. bullet to be driven reliably fast enough to fully penetrate and exit an elk, moose, brown bear or such? Would it be expected to break bones rather than deflect? Would it be able to do this at the several hundred yards that most larger cartridges are capable of? This isn't a debate of bullet construction when there are no such bullets in a 20-grain weight that can do this as well as larger cartridges. One can say this has nothing to do with energy - but whatever they want to call it - it is the same thing.

 

[Doug Casner]

If a bullet doesnt exit . I guess that means all energy is left in the animal . If you dont need a blood trail wouldnt that be ideal? I always shot partitions and bonded hunting deer I wonder if I needed that tough of a bullet?

 

[AckleymanII]

People can usually shoot very accurately with a 243, and with a good muzzle break, you see the water vapor fly off a deer when you hit it.

80g Barnes TTSX, hot load of IMR 4064, Federal 210 is doing 3300+ on a 24" barrel. Norma Ornx is a bonded core 100g bullet, and they run $48 per hundred.

 

[JFrank]

I have a friend in Minn that is killing large mule deer in Montana with a 6x47 Lapua shooting the 90g Sierra game changer using a hot load of Varget. His last HUGE buck was at 570 yards, and his son uses the same rifle now, also.

Shot placement is more important than most would think. Here is a short story. My last Antelope buck was taken at 470 yards with a well worn Rem 788 in 223 with 55g Winchester soft points with a muzzle velocity of 3050 fps. We had a late p.dog hunt and also had antelope tags. We had been shooting p. dogs and had moved the truck, and I forgot to pick up my wind flag. Before we started shooting after the truck move, we had lunch, cleaned a couple of guns. We got set up to start shooting again, and I was glassing where we had been set up previously. An antelope buck was wiping his scent glands on the red yarn of the wind flag! I ranged him, dialed up the 6.5x20 Leupold and held a little for wind, right behind the front leg. At the shot, he collapsed.

Your house could not hold the number of deer and hogs that my family has killed with the 100g Hornady BTSP shot with various 243 Win and 6 Remingtons. Out of boredom, we have played with 105g g Hornady BTHP that does stabalize in the Rem 9.25" twist barrels, loaded hot with IMR 4350/R#22. The 105g Berger VLD Hunting bullet is worth buiding a rifle around.

My good friends in Oklahoma shoot their 243s with 85g Speer BTSP, several generations of them, they had rather fight than switch. Owning 243s is like a cult to that family of farmers, I have never seen anything like it....they are shooters who always have a 243 in the cab of their Air conditioned Tractor.

Western hunting where the deer can travel 100 yards after being hit is not big deal at all, but in the South, a running deer can mean a lost deer. All of my family uses higher power, variable scopes, they can place the shot well, and they shoot off and on all year long. Deer seem to run further with a 95g Partition than some other bullets, but they are running dead with complete penetration, no matter what the angle. The 95g Partition is the most accurate partition of any I have ever shot with the 85g Partition being tied with the 22 caliber-60g partiton as being the least accurate.

I shot a few deer with the 85g Barnes TSX, one facing me around 100 yards. The bullet broke a shoulder and was under the skin in the rear hip. The load was 44.5g of R#19 at 3300 fps. I always shoot deer though the shoulders when using barnes bullets. A pard uses the 80g Barnes TTSX at 3400 with IMR 4064, and he gets more internal damage than I do with the 85's.

With all these varied experiences with 243s, it is obvious that the caliber is a winner with light recoil and accuracy.

This is good information and exactly what I have been looking for, I built my 1-8 twist dasher around the Berger 105 hunting VLD at 2950 fps on a tikka T-3 platform for east Montana mule deer.
I have know idea how much energy it puts out or any of that crap but it shoots pretty small at 540 yards. I have shot out to a grand but haven’t killed anything since the re barrel.

Jim

 

[Carl S]

243 is a capable round.ive shot lots of deer with one.a few things to consider shooting deer at range.how accurate is your rifle.bullet construction.weather conditions etc.one ofm

 

[Carl S]

one of the most important things is shot placement.a gut shot and its running.heart-lung it's running dead.

 

[Doug Casner]

Jack O conner used to say A gutshot elk with a .270 is a gutshot elk with a .375 hh. Doug

 

[Syncrowave]

If a bullet doesnt exit . I guess that means all energy is left in the animal .

Yep, that pretty much defines the idea.

I've always liked the old-style Winchester Silvertips (with the aluminum tip) 130gr in 270 Win because they seemed to always stop just under the skin on the far side of the deer, which ensured maximum tissue damage with 100% energy transfer into the deer. And they always dropped as if hit by lightning. Never saw one twitch.

In contrast, I've shot quite a few deer with Winchester 150 gr "Power Points" in 30-06, and every single one of them ran at least a few yards, probably because the bullets went right through and took some of their energy with them.

People talk about bullets passing all the way through as some kind of supposed benefit for making more of a blood trail, but I would rather the bullet stay in the deer and the deer to be DRT.

 

[Syncrowave]

Jack O conner used to say A gutshot elk with a .270 is a gutshot elk with a .375 hh. Doug

...and if I recall correctly, he had multiple one-shot kills on moose at ~600y with 130gr bullets in 270 Win.

 

[Doug Casner]

Man, I dont remember. I was a kid when the Outdoor Lifes were laying around the house. Always enjoyed Jacks stories. Make you feel like you were there. Sold alot of .270s for win. and rem. Doug

 

[True Grit]

A .243 is devastating on deer size animals. Some days you just can't go long because of the conditions. When your hunting there's no sighters and the deer shouldn't be used for practice or targets. I've killed a lot of deer at 600+ using a .243 and won't hesitate to go longer if everything is in my favor. Deer aren't hard to kill.

 

[STOMP442]

I have posted this before but here you go. My primary hunting rifle is a 6XC. Essentially a .243 as far as performance goes. When I first built it I was running the 110 Sierra Match king. My personal farthest kill was 760 yards on a nice Coues buck. Dropped on the spot and performance was devastating to say the least. I have since switched to running the 105 Hybrids which also works very well on deer but not nearly as explosive. Most broadside shots will exit with a nice nickel to quarter sized exit. My rifle has killed probably over a dozen deer from just over 400 yards to nearly 800 and all have been drop on the spot one and done kills. A .243 with the right bullet can do some amazing things.

Here are the entry and exit wounds on my buck at 760. Plenty of gun. The off side shoulder was essentially detached, only thing holding it in place was the hide.

 

[Syncrowave]

Deer aren't hard to kill.

There's a guy near here who swears up and down that he routinely kills deer with a Sheridan .20 cal air rifle.
I grew up shooting a Sheridan .20 Blue Streak, so I challenged him on it, but he stood his ground.

 

[Link]

You only bought the muzzle brake because of health reasons (I hope)?

Danny

TRUE. With any luck I'll be back with my 7mm Mag next season.

 

[std7mag]

@Link,

I think you'll be ok.