Best 243 bullet for deer?

[Fred Ea]

I bought a 243 for my son for the light recoil. I have been loading 100gr. speer GS, 100gr. hornady spire point and round nose that I had on the shelf and they did ok, but it just didn't have the punch to my liking. So I got some 85gr. barnes tsx for it and that made the difference. My son shot a doe at 120yards and the bullet entered in the front shoulder, went through, broke 3 ribs, exited and broke the other leg, deer ran 30 yards and fell. These bullets shoot better that any of the other ones I have put through it. I was not very sure about a 85gr. bullet for deer, but the barnes bullet is almost the same length as the 100gr. bullets I have been using. They are impressive in my opinion and perform well with better penetration.
FE

 

[sp6x6]

I grew up w/243 first rifle and now my sons. We have both taken bulls w/same. Scirroco 2 90 gr. works well

 

[Derek M.]

243 at 200 yards? This is easy to answer. PARTITION!!!

 

[roninflag]

243 at 200 yards? This is easy to answer. PARTITION!!!

VEEMAN - i have one .243 i have shot over 2000 rounds through. i have 6. you do no say what rifle. only .243 caliber. without a doubt a 95 partition followed by a 100 or even an 85 partition. or any of the 100 grainers, horn. sierra, ect
. you may be able to get more velocity out of 4350. but varget is an accurate and an extreme powder. 50 fps mean little. powder choices . 1 varget. 2 4350. 3. I4064.

 

[veeman]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Guess I should have mentioned it's a Remington 700 sps with a 24" barrel. Tried some Hornady 87 gr V-mav's today and also let him try some shooting a little further than 100 yards. I got to proudly watch him hit pop cans all the way out to 300 yards and yes, I am still grinning.

 

[25 Otter]

I was loading 95gr Combined tech B-Tips for my daughter for Whitetails. I noticed they were shedding their jackets on us and switched to 100gr Speer Boat tails. So far so good. If she doesn't move up into the 25/06 this year I think I'll put her into the 95 Partitions.

 

[proload]

243 at 200 yards? This is easy to answer. PARTITION!!!

+1

I tried a bunch of hunting bullets and in the end, my Howa 1500 simply loves the 85gr Partition at 3200fps.

 

[Popapi]

105grn A-MAX. BAR NONE!

 

[blackco]

I know a lot of people love the partition...I/my son had horrible luck with them out of a 6mm on deer. Accurate but did not expand AT ALL. I grew up with the 243 and killed lots of deer with Sierras...I think the the 85gr and I still like them. I have killed eveything up to caribou with the 105 Speer ahead of IMR 4350, with great results. My pet load now is a 85gr Rem bulk bullets (I think they are power points) ahead of a stout load of R-19 in a 6mm (found this load trying to get rid of old cheap components) and it is the hammer of Thor on deer out to 420yards so far. It does everything if I do my part...and sometimes when I don't.

 

[longrangehuntr]

sierra hpbt dropped a doe in her tracks at 60 yrds, ill have to check the load data since it was a bit ago since I loaded them up.
I am wanted to try the barnes tipped trip shock and trip shock bullets as well in my 243, 300 and 308.

 

[mcseal2]

I've tried many of them, here are my thoughts on what I've used that are heavy enough for deer

80gr GMX - never got it to shoot well

85gr Speer BTSP - good BC of .400, good performance with exits on yotes never used on deer.
85gr Interbond - never got it to shoot well
85gr Partition - Great performance on yotes and 1 deer, lower BC than I like
85gr Sierra BTHP gameking - very good terminal performance on several yotes and deer, great accuracy in several rifles, much lower BC than I'd like to see.

90gr Scirocco II - never got it to shoot well
90gr BT - good accuracy and small exits, yotes went right down as did deer. Little low on BC.

95gr Sierra Matchking - little expansion on broadside yotes, had runners never tried on deer
100gr Sierra Gameking - one heck of a bullet. It has shot well in every gun I've tried and has a good BC of .430. They open fast but don't blow up and put deer or yotes down really fast, they've performed real similar to what the accubonds do in my bigger guns. It will exit a yote and usually a deer, but doesn't make a huge exit. The biggest downside for me is the reduced velocity of the 100gr bullet shortening MPBR.

87 & 95 gr Berger VLD Hunting - mixed feelings. They don't expand fast enough for me on yotes, I've had lots of runners with them. They penetrate 2-3" before expanding and that's pretty deep into a broadside yote. On deer they kill very quick. Every deer I've shot or seen shot with them has gone less than 30ft and their lungs were a liquid. With a tiny entrance wound and no exit though, they wouldn't leave a blood trail on a poor shot. One deer we hauled home on the truckbed with the entrance wound down and didn't even leak blood onto the bed. The fat had sealed the wound. I've never seen one fail, but I've also never seen one hit a shoulder or major bone. I look at a 243 as a coyote/deer combo gun and probably won't use them extensively because I don't like their performance on yotes.

I have a box of the 90gr AB's on backorder. They may replace the 100gr sierra as my favorite all-around 6mm bullet. As of today I'd recommend the 100gr gameking for an all-around or deer bullet. On a side not I'd LOVE to see a 100 or 105gr accubond.

 

[El Lobo]

With all due respect to those who love those exotic and expensive bullets, I would start with the cheapest box of 100 grain soft points you can find, probably Remington Core-Lokts or Federal Power-Shoks. See how they group in your son's rifle. If they group okay, you are done. I think you might be pleasantly surprised. My little .243 Remington 700 ADL loves 100 grain Core-Lokts and they kill deer just as dead as the more expensive stuff.

I reload the Remington cases with more 100 grain Core-Lokts, 39 grains of H4350 and Federal primers. Maybe not quite as much zip as the factory load, but the deer don't seem to notice any difference in velocity.

Good luck and good hunting to you and your son.

 

[sendero72]

Without a doubt the 105 A-max w/Superformance powder!! A killer combo indeed!

 

[wasgas]

Also looking for a 243 load for a 12yr old for couse deer. Rifle is a standard savage model 11 probably a 1/9 twist, but shots will hopefully be short range