best deer hunting bullet for whitetail?

[hillbillydruggist]

I am going to try and kill a deer with a handloaded round (will by my first time). I mainly load .243 and 6mm creedmoor, ranges with be between 50-150 yds. any suggestion on brand/design?

thanks

 

[Adam in WI]

Lehigh Defense Controlled Chaos. All copper, cheaper than Barnes, and it's a weight shedding design. Keep em off the shoulder though, they open real quick.

 

[johnfred1965]

Most any bullet will work with whitetails. In 6mm, the 90-100 gr are your best bet with regular jacketed bullets, down to 85 for the all copper ones. Nosler B-tip, Sierra gameking, Hornady interlock, Barnes X, all have worked well for me. Whatever your rifle shoots best will be YOUR best bullet for deer.

 

[MrMajestic]

Pick the box color you like. Most all make great Class 2 game bullets. Check their recommendations online or catalog. Nobody stays in business making bad bullets. Good luck and bag a biggun'!

 

[Gary in MD]

The 95 grain Ballistic Tips have been extremely accurate in my 243 Winchester and 240 Wby. and are deer killers.
But like the others said, pick about any bullet designed for deer and it’s hard to go wrong.
Gary

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

The 95 grain Ballistic Tips have been extremely accurate in my 243 Winchester and 240 Wby. and are deer killers.
But like the others said, pick about any bullet designed for deer and it’s hard to go wrong.
Gary

This one

 

[Kermit in Va.]

90 gr. Accubond

 

[WyleWD]

I am going to try and kill a deer with a handloaded round (will by my first time). I mainly load .243 and 6mm creedmoor, ranges with be between 50-150 yds. any suggestion on brand/design?

thanks

A quick search will show you that one of the most popular and effective bullets for the 243 or the 6mm family in general is the Sierra 85gr HPBT. Not fancy, not over engineered …. it just plain works, especially so at the distances you're asking about. It's also one of the most inherently accurate bullets for the 243 & 6mm family. As long as you have an 8, 9, or 10twist barrel and can hit what you're shooting at you should be golden. JME. WD

 

[hogpatrol]

Which bullet? Any of the hunting versions that goes exactly where you aim it.

 

[Dead Eye]

There was a long post somewhere that I read on the best 6mm bullet for deer. I can’t remember where I read it but the Sierra 85gr HP boat tail kept coming up as a good bullet. Seems to be one of the favorites.

 

[Mark W]

The Sierra 100 grain Gameking is one of my favorite 6mm hunting bullets. It’s very accurate in two out of three of my 243s. Put one in the boiler room and a deer isn’t going far.

https://www.sierrabullets.com/product/6mm-243-caliber-100-gr-sbt/

 

[mmcu]

Two that I use that work are the 85 grain Sierra and the 95 grain Nosler Partition.

 

[wkdickinson]

I have killed many, many whitetails with a 7mm-08 and 280 Rem with 160gr Sierra HPBT GameKing bullets. Most of the deer have dropped right where they stood, without the bullet exiting (100% energy expended in in the deer). I see no reason why a "heavy" 6mm GameKing in a 243/6 Creed would performance differently.

 

[DaveTooley]

These were the only thing I could find on the shelf 20 years ago and I still use them.
Speer 85 gr. SPBT. I've shot many Red Deer with them as well as whitetails. I would use SP or one of the tipped bullets over a HP. Every bullet manufacturer has something in the 85-90 gr. range. All will kill a deer. YMMV

 

[drano38]

In the 50-150 yard range, any 6mm bullet designed for big game (ie not a thin, exploding varmint bullet) will work well. So try a few and use the one that's most accurate in your rifle.
I've used some Barns all copper bullets. Mushroom perfect, and 95% or more weight retention. But expensive.
Last year I switched to Sierra 110g GameKing in my 6.8 SPC. Dropped a 4x7 buck on the run at ~100 yards. Hit the pelvic joint and dropped him like a rock. Yea I know, too far back, but it worked. When I butchered him, the joint was shattered. Never found the bullet, but it did its job.

 

[Bill K]

The old standby Nosler Partition in the 95-100 grain weight would do you just fine.

 

[Loudenboomer]

The 85 gr Sierra is our all around .243 bullet over a charge of H414 for ez metering. When our youngsters and women are hunting deer specifically we switch to the 85 gr Nossler partition over AA 4350. Both loads run a little over 3200 fps and point of impact is very close at practical ranges. Woodchucks to Bucks!

 

[Bill Norris]

The Nosler 90 gr. Accubond and 95 gr. BT are hard to beat with white tail.

 

[ckrifles]

What bullet you use is not as important as were you put that bullet. any of the bullets recommended on this post will work great. Pick the one your rifles like and shoot and shoot and shoot. good luck

 

[Tommie]

Any cup-n-core 6mm bullet will smoke a white tail. Spend more only if it increases your confidence.