Quote: In the end there are quite a few cartridges that are OK for deer -including .243.
But if there was such a thing as an "Ultimate Deer Round" that everyone used, I'd use something else just to be different!........DJ
I think that sums it up perfectly. Although my brother and my father both use 243's, I like my 375/284 for them. It's a gun I can use on damn near anything, not just deer...and, DJ, it's different, like me
Posts: 504 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: 09 December 2001
How long have you been reloading? I have been for 17 years. I have never had case head seperation or even had a primer back out. First sign of pressure is a sticky bolt. The second sign is ejector marks by the stamp. I have neither one of these in my rifles. I said they down load the cartridge and they do. A realoding manual is just a guide that is it every rifle is different and every cartridge is different. Take a look at what a 284 use's for grains of powder and try tell me that according to the Manuals it can only shoot 49 grains safetly in a 6mm-284. I dont think so. Check around the net lots of data. Oh I also get 5 to 6 firings out of my cases before the primer pockets loosen up. Which would be about normal. The other way to tell if you have a hot load is if you are only getting 1 to 2 firings before your primer pockets start to become loose and mine are fine until the 5th or 6th firing. Oh and to put your mind to rest my smith who built the rifle also has one and is shooting about the same loads I am. So I suppose he doesnt know what he is doing even though he has had rifles he has built for benchrest shooting on the cover of Sinclair Magazine. As for being a magical reloader nobody is I have seen guys out at the rifle range blow primers out and keep on shooting. As for Sectional density and physics not everything that looks good on paper pans out in the real world. If you would like to come and watch my STW out penitrait my 375 at 15 yards and 60 yards like I tested by all means come and watch. Why would I lie? What do I have to gain by lying to a bunch of people I don't know? Why would I tell people that my Biggest rifle I have and the one everyone thinks is a canon gets out penitraited by the 7mm STW?
Quote: ...I think in most states where I hunt, it is illegal. ...
Hey Doc, Look in your KY Hunting & Trapping Guide Fall 2005 & Spring 2005 on page 14 under Equipment Restrictions.
"Any caliber centerfire rifle or centerfire handgun is legal for deer hunting during modern gun season."
So, even the folks with a 25ACP in a 1.5" Saturday Night Special are approved for Deer Hunting by those Regulations. By the way, I have witnessed " 1 " 25ACP Deer kill by a fellow who had legs long enough to almost be able to out-run Deer Hounds on a hot trail. I'd shot a nice Buck at the edge of a woods line with a shotgun and cut it a flip into a picked bean filed, but it was still alive. I was struggling to fight my way through the Man Eating Briers. Before I could get loose and to the Deer, this guy had breezed on by me on a loging road and had the 25ACP stuck in the Bucks ear, which did kill it. I couldn't even see the pistol in his hand from 30yds away and almost didn't hear the report. However, I'm not endorsing the 25ACP as "The Best Deer Cartridge". Do you know if they make a "TSX" Load for it???
As a side note, the kill was not made in KY and it was illegal in that state for the guy to use the 25ACP. I showed him the Regs and he did not do it ever again.
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Quote: The friend I know knew zilch about rifle hunting as we live in Ohio.
Are you "confirming" that Ohio folks know nothing about rifle hunting? Naw, I know it is a Shotgun and Bow state.
Did remind me of the old "Green Side Up" joke though. You remember the one about the KY Contractor using two boys from Ohio State to lay sod and he had to keep telling them, "Green Side Up"!!!
Posts: 9920 | Location: Carolinas, USA | Registered: 22 April 2001
It's been said that those who know the least about a topic are the most sure they are right. This can be proven in school on simple tests.
On the other hand there are many debates here when the actual topic is not defined.
If I understand you, and I may not, you mention penetration again but I suspect your talking about steel? In another paragraph you compared a 2900 fps 130 gr 270's energy to an over loaded 6mm from a smaller cartridge and somehow tried to make the point that one had more kinetic energy than the other. Good grief man go to the university.
Quote: ... Velocity is the best pressure sign an average reloader with a chronograph can use without real pressure testing equipment. ...
While Velocity can be used as a "Pressure Indicator", it can be extremely misleading and should never be used as the only Pressure Detection Method. The very best Pressure Indicator of ALL TIME is the time proven, always reliable, simple to use Pressure Ring Expansion (PRE) Method. And of course HSGS = Reloader's Pyrite.
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I do believe there are some cartridges "better suited" to specific hunting conditions. The "High Velocity - Lighter Bullet Cartridges" and "Low Velocity - Heavier Bullet Cartridges" both have situations where their on-game performance is better than the other style. So, like a good many folks, I've lived long enough and invested enough money to have some of each (and quite a few in between).
If a person hunts one specific type of terrain then I'd say it is possible for him to select a specific cartridge to fill his needs and requirements as the "Ultimate Deer Hunting Cartridge".
We sure are blessed with a lot of options which work very well.
Posts: 9920 | Location: Carolinas, USA | Registered: 22 April 2001
The first pic is a 270 Win shooting a 130 Partition at 2900 fps. The second one is a 95gr Ballistic Tip out of my 6mm-284. Note the energy at the muzzle and at 300 yards. AZ I get about 6 to 7 firings out of my cases which is about normal for winchester brass. The only company that state's Ten firings is Lapua which I will be switching to after this batch of cases runs out.
Quote: Well doc I can see you are from the generation that still thinks you need 300 grain bullets to kill a rabbit and anyone that does not use a 300 grain bullet is a fool in your eyes because you guys are always right
Not so. I stated that the 243 is an adequate deer round. I also never ever ever called anyone a fool. I also stated that I appreciated your and your father's success. How much clearer can I make that?
I also know for a fact that it takes at least a 350 grain bullet to kill a rabbit. A 300 grainer is just too small.
And yes...I'm always right. At least my wife says that and so does our office manager...and now you. So, I'm starting to believe it.
Quote: Oh come on a 243 is a dang good deer round. It's a flat shooting sonofagun. Everybody posting here has good points about their calibers from 22-250 up to 338 win mag.
You know what opinions are like Doc...everyone has one, but if you hold onto yours too tightly you're eventually going crap on yourself.
Well, as I have stated already, I truly believe the 243 is an adequate deer rifle. I also know that deer have been killed with smaller cal. rifles. Somehow, I think a few of the readers are getting upset just because I have chosen not to use one based on my past experiences with a few fellow hunters and what has happened to them.
Will anyone try and convince me that I should drive a Dodge truck as opposed to a Chevy or Ford, just because it's a real good truck? C'mon guys. Lighten up.
And if it makes everyone happy, now that Hot Core was kind enough to shed light on Kentucky's rifle legallity, I will be happy to go afield next season with a 243 or 22-250 if I can borrow one from a guy I know. I never read the regulations regarding legal firearms because I knew my rifles would all be legal, and I no longer own a 22 cal rifle. One of the guys I mentioned in a previous post, LES, has a 243. It is a real nice rifle, I paid to have it fully customized as a thank you to him for allowing me to hunt his 40 acres in Vinton, County.
He liked my 30.06 so much. Liked the way it shot, liked the paint job, etc. He had a stainless Ruger and wanted to just get the action and barrel bead blasted. He could not afford to get anything else done to it. So I told him that I was sending my 7 mag to the same smith for some work and that I would send his Ruger to get blasted.
Well, unbeknownst to Les, I had John Noveske fully customize it, and it was on me. PacNor barrel (24"), New stock painted up like my 30.06, bedded and floated, action squared and trued, everything lapped, and even a Pachmyer decelerator. I know, It's a Ruger but it turned out to be a very very nice shooting rifle. It is like my .06, not picky at all. I know...I did the handloads.
You should have seen the look on his face when he took it out of the box. His mom said no one has ever done anything like that for him. It was priceless. Really cool feeling too. And yes, he's killed a couple of deer with it (and yes, they ran before they dropped)...sorry, had to throw that stab back in there.
In fact, I will be in a position to video all of my hunts next season and I'll be happy to post those. Do you think anyone would enjoy watching?
Just bear in mind, IF JUST ONE FRICKIN DEER TAKES A STEP AFTER I SHOOT IT WITH A 243...JUST ONE STEP, well, then I guess I'll have to find it. I'll stuff the gun with some 85 TSX and aim for shoulder.
And a serious question to all: Sincerely, what is a good range limitation on the 243? I do not know. What range should I limit my shots to?
Actually, I just thought of something. I can buy as many Doe tags as I want for Grant county. I'll get in touch with Lester and see if I can take it down to KY before the season ends.
Quote: Are you "confirming" that Ohio folks know nothing about rifle hunting? Naw, I know it is a Shotgun and Bow state.
Trust me, there are plenty of hunters here that haven't even heard of a 243, or even a 270. To them a 'centerfire' rifle is a 30.06. Kind of like living in the south and EVERY soda is a 'coke.' "I'll have a coke." Even though they serve pepsi.
Nothing like the subject line to bring out the passions. I have owned a 243 for 30 years and have killed about 18 deer and had others kill around 10 with this rifle. Ranges have been from 25yds to 250 or so yds. The load is 44gr IMR 4831 behind a 95gr Partition bullet. Velocity is just over 3000 fps. This has proven extremely reliable with never a bullet recovered. Shots have been well placed for the most part and the deer don't go any distance before dropping. These are not large deer, however, averaging about 125 lbs. My conclusion...perfectly adequate for smaller deer with good bullet placement...duh.
I don't think the .243 is the ultimate deer cartridge either, but is surely adequate. I've seen a lot of them killed with .243's most run 40 yards and fall over, and this happens with a lot of cartridges. I'll probably create a lot of headaches when I say this, but the only cartridge with which I've shot at least ten deer with none taking a step is the .220 Swift. This is with an old rifle (now the Ackley version) that I'm on barrel number three that's killed truckloads of coyotes, etc. To say I'm confident of my bullet placement with it is a definite understatement. I started my son out on deer with the .220 at eight years old and he killed three with three shots before I moved him to his own .243, which he killed 8 more with one shot each. This year was his first to shoot more than once and that was with a 7x57 and 160 Noslers. Go figure. Of course the buck he shot this year was almost straight away, shot in front of the left hip, exited between his front legs. Certainly this wasn't a shot we'd take with a .243 or .220.
Posts: 2788 | Location: gallatin, mo usa | Registered: 10 March 2001
I am another one that does not think that a 243 is the ultimate deer cartridge. Although I use one every time I go deer hunting. I have shot a lot of large muledeer deer with it and I have killed a spike bull elk with it. I am not saying it is the best elk gun or the best deer gun. It is a adequate cartridge for deer of any size. What distance is the max? That is a question that will start more hair flying. I personally have shot several deer at or over 300 yards. I have "yanked the rug" on almost every deer I have shot at, and I have never lost one. The bull elk only ran 50 yards. Max yardage I think depends on the shooter. Is the person prone to get buck fever and shoot wild? Is the person shooting more like a trained sniper? I have never shot Whitetails. I have see a lot of hunting shows and almost every whitetail they show runs off. Even if they are shot with large calibers. I have always wondered why so many of them run off, when I have seen so many larger deer get pimp slapped to the sod? I use 100 gr hornady interlock flat bases. I like the gun for a deer rifle, it doesn't mean anyone else has to like it. Ron
The Best deer hunting rifle is the one that I have in my hand at any given moment.When a friend of mine finishes his 600 overkill I hope he lets me see the results or better yet, lets me shoot one with it.
Posts: 428 | Location: Ticonderoga NY | Registered: 19 March 2004
Quote: I have see a lot of hunting shows and almost every whitetail they show runs off. Even if they are shot with large calibers. I have always wondered why so many of them run off, when I have seen so many larger deer get pimp slapped to the sod?
That's because they use super tough "Premium" bullets on em' .
Good Luck!
Reloader
Posts: 4146 | Location: North Louisiana | Registered: 18 February 2004
Quote: ... IF JUST ONE FRICKIN DEER TAKES A STEP AFTER I SHOOT IT WITH A 243...JUST ONE STEP, well, then I guess I'll have to find it. I'll stuff the gun with some 85 TSX and aim for shoulder.
And a serious question to all: Sincerely, what is a good range limitation on the 243? I do not know. What range should I limit my shots to?
Actually, I just thought of something. I can buy as many Doe tags as I want for Grant county. I'll get in touch with Lester and see if I can take it down to KY before the season ends.
Hey Doc, In order to really know if the 85gr TSX performes as well as the 165gr TSX in your 30-06( ), I would think it "might" take a good number of kills. I've been blessed with a lot of good (year around) killing opportunities on some of the old Plantations which have some serious Deer problems. So, I usually don't recommend a bullet until I've put it in a couple of dozen Deer. In some cases I've used a box(100 per) or more of them, so I have a good data base to pull from.
In the 85gr weight, I've used the Nosler Partitions in a couple of 243Wins and they did as well as the heavier bullets when stuck in the shoulders. I've not used a TSX though, so I can't comment on it from experience. I would "speculate" the 85gr TSX would work out to "maybe" 300yds with adequate retained energy. If they make a 100gr TSX, then 400yds is "probably" just inside the envelope.
There are two things I consider problems with small diameter bullets, that some people do not consider problems. First up is you do not ALWAYS get an Exit. Second, when you do get an Exit, it is typically a small one. The "innards"(Southern doctor tech talk) can/do shift around and plug the Entrance and Exits rather easily. Same can happen with larger calibers, but just not as often or as easily.
Looks like your biggest problem right now is copious amounts of YANKEE Rain(snow) piled all over the place in KY and I'd guess around you Buckeyes too. If you do not get the chance to try it on Deer, you can always go blast a few Hogs with it over the Spring and Summer.
Best of luck to you.
Posts: 9920 | Location: Carolinas, USA | Registered: 22 April 2001
I have taken most of my deer with a 243. So impressed was my Dad that he bought one a few years later after he saw the results of four or five deer kills with mine. We both shoot 100gr. Remington Core-lokts and used to use H450 but now he uses H4350 and I use H4831SC(since Hogdon discontinued 450). Out of over a dozen kills I have recovered two bullets. One was on a big old eight point(WV) that entered behind the right shoulder and went slam through the middle of the opposite shoulder stopping just underneath the hide. The shot was about 50-55 yards. He made it 35 yards or so and that was it. Coincidentally, that was the FARTHEST I've tracked a deer with a 243. The other recovered bullet came from a spike buck that might have dressed 90-95lbs. I took him head on(shouldn't have done it but I was younger and not as experienced then) at 40 yards right at the front of his chest. I recovered the bullet in the inards(as Hot Core would say) toward the rear of the buck and it was 8 or so inches from completely going through the deer. He dropped like a rock. Both bullets were fully mushroomed with hardly any visible shank left on them. I didn't weigh them, but the core and jacket were intact. These were close shots on deer at near muzzle velocity(2900fps or so). I will state that I don't think that the 243 is the "best" deer cartridge out there, just that I have used it enough to have confidence in it. I don't encounter deer that would regularly weigh over 200lbs. on the hoof and my personal range limit with this rig is 225 yards. Why? Well since I figured someone would wonder I'll state that I don't want to push my luck. I realize that this load may take deer farther but I know that between 30-150 yards (the ranges that I've shot deer with this) it had worked flawlessly. I also know from shooting it that with my zero that I can take shots to 225 yards with no holdover. The drop is that insignifficant that I don't bother. I doubt that the less than 3 inches of drop will make or break me as I typically aim in the middle of the chest just behind the shouldeer. Two or three inches won't make a difference as I'll still get lungs/heart. Since that one incident with the spike, I have never attempted such a shot again. Did I get lucky or is that normal performance? I don't know and don't wish to find out the hard way. I choose for personal reasons to stick with broadside or slightly quartering shots at no farther than 225 yards. I feel totally confident that as long as the range is as described above, and the deer aren't huge Canadian monsters, then I'll be fine. I have shot this rifle more than any other centerfire in my safe hands down and know it like my own hands. I know that there are several bullets that will work in 243 but the 100gr. Remmy's work for me at a very great price. If I do change and I may, I'll go to 100gr. Hornady interlock flat base bullets. I know this is lengthy but I wanted to accurately describe my experiences with this cartridge as it seems to be "hot on the presses". As far as the "ultimate deer cartridge"? I personally believe that there is no such animal but Dad tells me that it's what's in your hands at the day of the hunt . Good luck out there for you late season deer chasers and Happy Holidays to all.
Chad
Posts: 69 | Location: Havelock, NC USA | Registered: 17 September 2004
Quote: Doc Where do you shoot all your whitetails? I've shot a few of them with a variety of guns and mostly they ran aways.
Your question as presented can be interpreted 2 ways. Do you mean bullet placement or geographical? I assume you mean bullet placement.
I shoot for the shoulder or where the spine meets the shoulder IF GIVEN THAT PRESENTATION. Other than that, I aim for lung. It is so hard to say, but I've killed a bunch of deer with quartering away shots, one of my favorite shots by the way.
All I can tell you is that I must have been very very lucky. I watch videos all the time and it really baffles me how so many deer run after they've been hit with a bullet. I'm ignorant I guess. I've just not had that happen but once maybe twice. Strange huh?
JMO here but this thread started out as the "Ultimate Deer Hunting Cartridge". Alot has been said about the .22's, the 6mm' and so on. I believe you start coming close with the .270 with a premium 150gr bullet then you can work up from there. What I mean is a cartridge that can handle any shot at any range at any angle. Like I said in the beginning its JMO Kinetic Energy has nothing to do with it. It's SD and Momentum
I'll agree with you on the high shoulder shot with a larger rifle and a tough bullet, it works best. With the little guns, behind the shoulder through both lungs is the shot. With the .220, half will not exit, I certainly place these shots with precision, and wouldn't have any problem using one on does for meat from a stand. We push a lot of bucks from small draws and ditches and hedge patches and shoot a lot of them moving, so use .270's and up, i shot mine with the 9.3x62 and a 250 grain North Fork this year.
Posts: 2788 | Location: gallatin, mo usa | Registered: 10 March 2001
My primary deer rifle is my .270 with 150 gr Partition. There is no whitetail in our area that I am not comfortable with using the .270.
My .243 using 100 gr Partition is the backup rifle. I just don't have full confidence that it can handle deer heavier than 250 lb with less than an ideal shot. Confidence plays a key role with my hunting.
I know we can go round and round with opinions for the ultimate deer cartridge, but I just wanted to share this with you guys. My neighbor, the other night in his backyard, shot a doe in the back of the skull at 50 feet with a .177 caliber pellet gun and drop it dead in it's tracks. He was going to shoot it in the butt to scare it, but decided, not knowing it was going to kill it, to shoot it in the back of the head instead. As soon as he shot, the deer went stiff legged and fell over dead. I guess this proves that shot placement counts more than anything. I'm switching to a Beeman .177 caliber pellet rifle. Just kidding of course, but proves a point.
Posts: 410 | Location: Maryland | Registered: 12 August 2004
What do you suppose your neighbor would have done if the Doe started whaling in bleats in misery and pain and was only semi paralized from the pellet...still kicking, bleating in pain, trying to get up and run and falling and slowly but surely was able to make it about 50 feet per attempt? What do you think he would have done to put the animal out of its misery?
Quote: What do you suppose your neighbor would have done if the Doe started whaling in bleats in misery and pain and was only semi paralized from the pellet...still kicking, bleating in pain, trying to get up and run and falling and slowly but surely was able to make it about 50 feet per attempt? What do you think he would have done to put the animal out of its misery?
Just curious.
Doc, that was a damn fine description of a Deer dying to a shot that was a little off, especialy for someone who has never had one move from its tracks!!! I suppose you learned that while tagging along on other peoples hunts. Probably people who used a 243.
Posts: 231 | Location: West Virginia | Registered: 22 December 2003
Doc, The only thing I have gotten out of this big gun ittle gun, big bullet little bullet pissing match, was your statement above about the number of deer I see shot on TV hunting shows that all run off. I am kinda like you, that doesn't really match my experiences, maybe like you I have just been lucky or maybe also I never gave it much thought as to whether one dropped like a used rubber or wandered off a little bit to expire. Mike
Posts: 201 | Location: Virginia | Registered: 25 August 2004
Quote: Doc, that was a damn fine description of a Deer dying to a shot that was a little off, especialy for someone who has never had one move from its tracks!!! I suppose you learned that while tagging along on other peoples hunts. Probably people who used a 243.
Not so fast slick ...reread my posts. I specifically stated that I've had one or two move after being hit with a bullet. I never said 'never.'
But you are right about one thing. I did witness this happen with a Doe that I shot with my bow back in 1990 when I just started bowhunting. I made a huge mistake and tried to be Robin Hood and shoot through a small window of limbs but I hit one which deflected the arrow.
The description of what happened to me is exactly what I posted. It was very sad and I felt terrible.
After climbing down out of the tree and stalking her, she'd get up and run another several yards never giving me another opportunity to finish her.
This happened because I acted stupidly and very unethically as a novice bowhunter...and I'm certainly not proud of it, but I'm bold enough to admit it.
I've never done something so stupid again, and never will. I can only imagine how long it took that deer to die but I'm confident that it suffered a long time. My fault completely but I learned a valuable lesson.
And since you mentioned it, I would have loved to have a 243 that day.
Don't be to hard on yourself about it Doc. If you hunt long enough and have enough shot opportunities, bad things can / will inevitably happen. I've lost two deer over the years. Both decent bucks, and I agonized over my shot decisions and impatience for a long time with each of them. It happens.
Posts: 399 | Location: Louisiana | Registered: 19 February 2004
I find it interesting that so many of you have had a very high percentage of the deer you have shot drop in their tracks. I've shot around 20 deer and only had 2 drop dead in their tacks. Both were hit in the spine. The rest of them inevitably run 10-100 yards until they lose enough blood that they go down. All of them have been shot through the lungs. they also left one hell of a blood trail. Some of the exit holes have been close to 2.5" in diameter. I don't think it matters what you use, if you shoot a deer through the lungs they run. I have used a .270, a 30-06, a 300 Win Mag, and a 12 slug to kill deer. The slugs did not impress me at all. The rifles all performed about the same. In my opinion if you have sufficient energy and bullet weight to get complete pentration through the lungs at the range you're shooting I think you have enough gun. Do those of you shooting .243's get complete pentration?
On the other hand if you shoot a deer in the spine, head, or break both shoulders they drop. Maybe I should start doing that. I have never done so becasue I thought I would damage too much meat. The lungs are also a much bigger target than the head or neck. Are you guys taking shoulder or head shots when you get "instant kills".
Posts: 130 | Location: Montana | Registered: 08 October 2003
Quote: On the other hand if you shoot a deer in the spine, head, or break both shoulders they drop. Maybe I should start doing that. I have never done so becasue I thought I would damage too much meat. The lungs are also a much bigger target than the head or neck. Are you guys taking shoulder or head shots when you get "instant kills".
If given the opportunity, I aim for shoulders. However, I really like quartering away shots.
I cannot possibly tell you why most all of the deer I've shot with a firearm have dropped. But they have. Here's my Kansas deer's entrance and exit holes. He was quartering away and he dropped.
The blood shot hole is the entrance behind the bucks left shoulder. The small hole coming out the front right neck is obviously the exit.
The shot was only 50-60 yards but this guy dropped.
I can see why he dropped. It looks like the entrance hole is 3" across. The exit hole is smaller than the entrance, so the bullet must have seperated in the chest cavity (correct me if I'm wrong). Was the heart destroyed? I've heard that massive damage to the heart can cause an instant drop in blood pressure which causes an animal to drop in its tracks. What bullet etc.. were you shooting.
I shot a similar buck at about 50 yards this year with my 300 Winchester Mag. I shot him through the lungs (I missed the shoulder completely). The 165 Hornady SST completely penetrated and left a 2.5" exit hole, but the buck ran 25 yards before he dropped. The heart was in good shape, but the lungs were gone.
Posts: 130 | Location: Montana | Registered: 08 October 2003
Entrance hole is deceiving by picture. It was about 2" in diameter.
Each lung was almost unrecognizable. The resultant trauma was more than impressive. For such a tough bullet, it opens up on impact very nicely. I've gutted enough deer to have that proven to me now.
Take a look at the first picture. You can see the entrance whole on the hide is about midbody. My bullet didn't do alot of trauma to the heart. However, it did cut into the top of it.
Regardless, and just so you'll know, anytime you hit any major artery, you'll have a substantial loss in BP.
I've posted it before, but Ty Herring at Barnes told me that when they developed the TSX bullet, they wanted it to open up faster and more rapid than on their original X bullet.
Apparently their new hollow point design worked so well, they implemeted it on all of their bullets.
What I can tell you is that this bullet really performs well for me despite the cost. I like it because it shoots very very well in my rifles.
As far as the bullet separating IN the chest cavity, I seriously doubt it. Rather, the bullet SEPARATED the chest cavity.
Here is a relevant "study" to the twist that this topic has taken. It's at odds with one persons findings that "hard" bullets stop faster. In fact it concludes that soft bullets to the nervous system or shoulder are about 50% better in making instant stops.
I can attest to the lethality of a 260 shooting a 100 grain Ballistic Tip at 3350 fps MV. I shot a deer at a little over 300 yds with this combo and it dropped so quick I watched it fall straight down in the scope before the recoil made me loose the site picture.
I can also attest to the fact that I also lost the entire off side shoulder from a shot impact from 300 yds away.
I repeated this feat twice since, but have used a 100 grain Partition and a 100 grain Hornady SP. Both times on those bullets there was no meat loss.
Just passing on the experiences, make up your own choices.
As for Sectional density and physics not everything that looks good on paper pans out in the real world. If you would like to come and watch my STW out penitrait my 375 at 15 yards and 60 yards like I tested by all means come and watch. Why would I lie? What do I have to gain by lying to a bunch of people I don't know? Why would I tell people that my Biggest rifle I have and the one everyone thinks is a canon gets out penitraited by the 7mm STW?
