Got a (new to me) 243! Let's discuss big game bullets and loads

[Propbndr]

Sierra 100gr Pro-Hunter. It is a flat base Spitzer. Shoots great out of my rifle. Dropped the deer I have shot in their tracks.

 

[Boondox]

If you can find the 90 gr. Nosler Accubond it will do well with putting deer down quickly. The little bullet simply does a great job even with end to end shots. Last one I shot was @ 75 yds. head-on frontal chest. Bullet stayed together and stopped between the hams.

I won't use accubonds my man. Used 150 grain accubonds in my uncle's 760 308 last year. Shot a small 6 point bout 50 yards broadside... I've NEVER seen damage like that in my life. From any gun. His entire chest cavity was literal clumps of jello that poured out when I cut his diaphragm. All that was left was about a 3 inch piece of windpipe to cut out.

The entire entrance side ribcage, shoulder, leg, half the backstraps and base of his neck was blacker'n a boot and the consistency of playdough. I literally pulled his shoulder off when I peeled his hide down.

I really can't bring myself to use a accubond after what I saw last year. Bullet never even touched a rib goin in or out.

Sierra 85 BTHP.

I've heard a few people say they're good bullets. Say they're ridiculously tough too?

Have had probably 40 deer killed with a .243. Always had the issue of either no penetration or no expansion. Until I started loading TTSX!
Load TSX or TTSX and never look back.

I've been on some very long track jobs when ttsx were involved with 30 Cal's, I've never used them myself.

Well said. When my son was 10 we trapped a bear. He shot the bear 5 times with a 243 before getting it off of its feet. If a true giant black bear comes out where would you put one of these so called "well placed shots". They have extremely thick tough ribs and you need to get both lungs or more then likely the bear will not be retrieved.
I did buy a new 243 Rem 1.5 years ago. I load 95 gr Berger VLDs for coyote. I had a doe tag so I did use it on the doe. It worked fine but if I was hunting to fill my buck tag I would not have taken it.

What da hell kinda bear you killin? I've shot 20 or so of the stinky buggers now and I always tell people the toughest part of a bear is their hide. Whitetails got bigger, heavier ribs than a bear, bear leg bones are pretty stout though. They're honestly a pretty easy critter to kill, right up there with deer, then again I've never had to shoot one pissed off in a trap either; that could definitely change how tough they are being angry like that.

It would be tough to beat the 100 gr grand slam, especially if you want exits. Close range(under 50 yards) exits with tipped/hollow point bullets leadcore will be unreliable. Bear hide/hair/bone a big issue for many high velocity tipped bullets at close range.

I keep looking at the Grand slams, for some reason I really want them to work... I don't know why though.

My furthest shot would be 70 yards. Most of them are 15 feet to 50 yards though

 

[Boondox]

Sierra 100gr Pro-Hunter. It is a flat base Spitzer. Shoots great out of my rifle. Dropped the deer I have shot in their tracks.

I happen to have some of them loaded up right meow. Gonna see how they shoot

 

[MrK.]

I have two .243 Winchesters. One I don't shoot much, it's a pre 64 Model 70 that likes the now discontinued 105 grain Speer over a mild charge of IMR 4350. The other is a Krieger barreled Remington 700 that shoots the Speer 90 grain Hot Cor at about 3350 fps. Reloader 22 is the powder for that one. Both of these bullets are great deer bullets and have served me well on deer up close as well as out past 300 yds.

I only have a handful of loaded rounds left for the Model 70. I have a bunch of 95 gn SSTs and some 100 gn InterLocks I'm going to try using RL19 or H4831sc.

 

[hotshot828]

IMR 4831 or H4831 100 Gr. Bullets.

 

[Gman]

The 95 gr Ballistic Tip was designed with you in mind. Devastating game bullet. The Winchester 95 gr. Ballistic Silvertip is the same bullet.

I wouldn't choose a BT for BIG black bear. I don't believe that it will penetrate deeply enough before exploding. Just my opinion, not trying to be confrontational.

 

[Gary in MD]

Actually, the 95grain ballistic tip was supposedly designed to be quite tough for a .243 caliber bullet.
I

 

[NZ_Fclass]

Bear with a 6mm? I will devise a nice epitaph for your headstone. Something alone the lines of "Too late reafised why the 30-06 with 200g bullets was so popular round here"

 

[CJ6]

I'm a big fan of bonded bullets for hunting, that being said with the way the Sierra 100gr. Tipped Game Kings are working I may give them a try next time I get a chance. 46.5grs. Of vv 165.

 

[Gman]

Actually, the 95grain ballistic tip was supposedly designed to be quite tough for a .243 caliber bullet.
I

Thank You for that info on that bullet. I did not know that.

I do know 2 guys who shot PA black bears with the .243 Win cartridge, but they were using 100 grain bullets. (don't remember which manufacturer or type) One bear weighed 175 lbs field dressed, the other was a little over 260 lbs dressed. I'll stick with my 7x57 Model 70 using 140-150 gr pills if going after black bear.

 

[243winxb]

7600 in 243

A twist rate of 1:10 may not like Long bullets?
https://jbmballistics.com/ballistics/lengths/lengths.shtml

Sierra #1530 85 gr hpbt

 

[slm9s]

My Mom tipped over a few Roosevelt elk with her 243 model 88 and 100gr Core-Lokts

 

[Turpentine]

Thank You for that info on that bullet. I did not know that.

I do know 2 guys who shot PA black bears with the .243 Win cartridge, but they were using 100 grain bullets. (don't remember which manufacturer or type) One bear weighed 175 lbs field dressed, the other was a little over 260 lbs dressed. I'll stick with my 7x57 Model 70 using 140-150 gr pills if going after black bear.

Supposedly the 6.5 caliber 120 Grain Ballistic Tip is also a bit more heavily constructed also. I cannot remember where I read or heard that but I'm sure at some point I ran across that info. I can't remember a lot of things these days.

 

[Turpentine]

I know that this is an old post but I just wanted to wake it up as I just had a very strange occurrence in my life. A little background may help. Where I hunt most of the time if a deer goes 25 yards you may just have a long night. Briars, bays, so thick you have to crawl. Plus creeks, rivers, gators, snakes, tend to make tracking an adventure. But as long as we found blood or just tracks if we knew the deer was hit we did not stop.

I have always been adamantly against the 243 ever since I started hunting in the 70s. I saw friends and acquaintances lose quite a few deer with one. They traded up to a 270 win and their kill ratio went way up. Now one of these guys (my best friend) did not shoot well at all. Couldn't hit a baseball well either for that matter! But even his kill ratio went up and the number of blood trails to nowhere went way down. And yes I have seen deer wounded and lost with most of the popular calibers. But the percentage of loss went up when the 243 was involved. Most of these guys shot Remington 100 grain Corelokts. Those do not produce a wide wound in my experience. One man that I knew used 100 grain hornady interlock bullets. And he could shoot. When he shot, you could bet he had meat on the ground.

Well fast forward about 40 years and I build my niece an AR in 6.5 Grendel when she was 7. She has killed a pile of deer with it and my brother (honestly one of the best or luckiest hunters I know) fell in love with the Grendel. He has probably killed 75 deer with the one I built for him. His daughter told him the first rifle was hers. Y'all know how that goes. I have 2 Grendel's myself and use them for depredation with thermal for deer and hogs. I won't go into kill numbers personally but it's a lot. I have built several of them for friends and their young kids. An AR with the adjustable stock in 6.5 Grendel makes a perfect starter gun for a kid to hunt with. With supervision of course. The Grendel with 123 eldm's or Sst's just punches way above its weight class. But we were talking 243 so I'll get back to that. Last year my brother had a 223 truck gun stolen and he happened to find a deal on a 6mm Arc. He bought some Hornady 103 Eldx's and he and his kids killed five does with it in December last year.3 dead in their tracks, one went 20 yards, one that was not hit well made it 50 yards. That got me thinking. Last year I bought a Ruger SFAR 6.5 Creedmore with a 20" barrel. I needed something with more reach for big fields. I've shot it, killed several deer with it. But I've found it a bit underwhelming performance wise with the 20" barrel. I have also had some issues with the barrel. We'll just last week I made up my mind to have the barrel replaced and go to another cartridge. Something quick and flat shooting that has very little recoil. So I ordered a 22" medium heavy contoured barrel in the 6mm Creedmore for the SFAR. A very close cousin to the old 243 win. I plan on using 108 eldm's. My favorite bullet in the 6.5-06 and the Grendel. I may also try 103 eldx, the 95 grain Berger classic hunter, and the 95 grain Sierra TMK. Possibly the Sierra BTHP but for what I'm doing I like a higher BC bullet. Most of the deer I shoot are 150 - 400 yards. I can only shoot does on permit and they average around 90 pounds.
I may have to eat some crow on this deal. I hope so. I'll surely give it a good test run and report back. Only problem is the barrel may not make it in time for me to use it during this depredation period for deer. We shall see! Hope y'all don't mind me bringing up this older thread. I'm just anxious to see what this thing will do. If I'm right it should definitely improve my point blank range.