243 Winchester bullet choice

[klemm]

Looking at taking the boy deer hunting this year. He seems to be interested and I thought I would try to keep him interested. I have a Remington 700 in 243 sitting in the safe. Anyone have a preference in Bullets and weight. Thinking something in the 90 gr range to mitigate recoil. Will be shooting no further than 400 yards in the future, but this first year it will be 200 yards and in.
What do you guys suggest.

 

[DNADave]

Barnes 80gr TTSX or Hornady 90gr ELD-X. I use both in my .243 Win and 240 Wby Mag. I like the Barnes better as at .243 Win and greater speeds, non-mono bullets tend to fragment too easily on me. I only use the cup and core bullets where I know my shots will be more than 400 yards.

 

[YZ-80]

I run an 85 grain Sierra Gameking (BTHP) in mine under 42 grains of IMR 4350. Great load for both chucks and deer, especially at the ranges you are talking about.

 

[DNADave]

I run an 85 grain Sierra Gameking (BTHP) in mine under 42 grains of IMR 4350. Great load for both chucks and deer, especially at the ranges you are talking about.

@YZ-80 do you find the new Gameking as frangible as the ones from the late '70s/early '80s? My first deer rifle from that era was a used Remington 788 in .243 Win and we loaded up lots of 85gr Gamekings. I lost a lot of meat on deer in Texas from those bullets blowing up. Most shots were in the 100-200 yard range. When my brother started hunting, he got the .243 and I got a .270. The 130gr Gamekings didn't seem to be so frangible and my brother became the meat destroyer in our family.

Just curious on your experience. I will admit that dead is dead, but I like the experience I've had with the Barnes at closer ranges better than with the Sierra.

 

[Highvoltage]

85 gr Sierra game king...ask no more! Just kidding. This has been the go to for all deer in my neck of the woods since my grandpappy's pappy started hunting. Best wishes

 

[Tommytrees]

Try 95gr Hornady. Used to hunt woodchuck with a 243 75 gr Hornady. Tried gun for deer with 100 gr and it looked like a shotgun pattern. Switched to 95gr Hornady and very accurate in that gun. Deer and varmint killer.

 

[YZ-80]

@YZ-80 do you find the new Gameking as frangible as the ones from the late '70s/early '80s? My first deer rifle from that era was a used Remington 788 in .243 Win and we loaded up lots of 85gr Gamekings. I lost a lot of meat on deer in Texas from those bullets blowing up. Most shots were in the 100-200 yard range. When my brother started hunting, he got the .243 and I got a .270. The 130gr Gamekings didn't seem to be so frangible and my brother became the meat destroyer in our family.

Just curious on your experience. I will admit that dead is dead, but I like the experience I've had with the Barnes at closer ranges better than with the Sierra.

Oh, I can't make the comparison that far back on the 85 grain Sierra. It seem to perform well on the big crop damage does I shoot out to 225 or so. Thoracic shots show a fair amount of organ damage. I don't worry much about meat damage in the shoulders. What bothers me is when I pull a shoulder shot high and I clip the edge of the backstrap and bruise it.

I'll add that I have also used the Speer 100 grain BTSP and both the 90 and 95 grain Nosler Ballistic tips, all with good accuracy and performance within practical limits.

 

[mobenzowner]

The 87 grain berger is also a very good deer bullet.

 

[hunter67wa]

80gr TTSX

 

[ButterBean]

I run an 85 grain Sierra Gameking (BTHP) in mine under 42 grains of IMR 4350. Great load for both chucks and deer, especially at the ranges you are talking about.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
X-2 on the 85 SGK's

 

[SmokinCrow]

Try 95gr Hornady. Used to hunt woodchuck with a 243 75 gr Hornady. Tried gun for deer with 100 gr and it looked like a shotgun pattern. Switched to 95gr Hornady and very accurate in that gun. Deer and varmint killer.

I have shot a few deer with the 95 gr Hornady. I haven't been super impressed with it. That's a personal thing, and the few deer I have shot I wasn't impressed. I previously used the 100 gr. Hornady Interlocks with great success and killed a few elk them. Don't know why I switched. Accuracy was great with both, but just didn't like the performance compared to the interlock for me.

 

[crazyhorse]

My wife, kids, and any other new hunter Ive taken have always used my 6mm Remington (very similar to .243) due to low recoil and compact design.
Every one of them used the 80gr TTSX with outstanding results! I cant remember a deer going more than 50yds and there have been a bunch of them. Something about driving the tiny copper bullet at speeds in excess of 3100fps really puts them on the floor!

 

[Backcountry sports]

Barnes 80gr TTSX or Hornady 90gr ELD-X. I use both in my .243 Win and 240 Wby Mag. I like the Barnes better as at .243 Win and greater speeds, non-mono bullets tend to fragment too easily on me. I only use the cup and core bullets where I know my shots will be more than 400 yards.

100 grain core loc from remington lots of deer killed with that load

 

[bgoniea]

95 grain Berger classic hunters. My .243 shots them sub MOA