Working with a 700 BDL and so far have a good varmit load using a 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Appreciate any suggestions/recomendations for game up to deer sized.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeMichalski:
Working with a 700 BDL and so far have a good varmit load using a 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Appreciate any suggestions/recomendations for game up to deer sized.

For hunting, one of my 243's really liked the 85 grain Partition with IMR4064 powder but the other preferred the 95 grain Partition with H4350.

Nosler 100 gr partition over IMR4350. Approach maximum loads carefully. We settled on two grains below max for best accuracy and no signs of inappropriate pressure.

Any common 100 gr. bullet will do nicely.

Daughter kills them dead at our ranch with Federal stuff loaded with 100 grn. Sierra.
Nothing has run off yet!

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Originally posted by Jim C. <><:
Any common 100 gr. bullet will do nicely.

Just this past Saturday a forked horn buck--100 grain bulk packed Winchester bullet and have a sharp knife handy.

80 gr TTSX pushed by a good dose of H4350

Thanks all. So far I've tried 100g Noslers with H414, H4350, and Varget with mixed, not good, results. Looks like I need to try Sierras and Winchesters and maybe some 80-85 grainers.

100 gr. Nosler Partitions or 85 gr TSX. I like them both a lot.

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Originally posted by dogcat:
...or 85 gr TSX.

Any idea what sort of velocities you see in 22 inch barrels?

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Originally posted by WestBayWader:
80 gr TTSX pushed by a good dose of H4350

Velocity x barrel length? Terminal effectivness? Thanks.

Certainly not a knock against Nosler Partitions--but with .243 it's overkill and unneeded expenditure. Cheap bullet placed properly becomes premium bullet.

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Originally posted by carpetman1:
Certainly not a knock against Nosler Partitions--but with .243 it's overkill and unneeded expenditure.

In my experience the Nosler takes some of the pucker factor out of using the 243 in case a bullet lands somewhere especially hard. Years ago my son's second deer was a nice doe about 50 yards off quartering toward us. He put his shot right on the shoulder...and I mean on the shoulder...the ball at the top of the humerus. She switched ends, took one leap, and piled up. The entry wound was big enough to put my fist in. It took out ribs, lungs, and the plumbing at the top of the heart. We found about 60 grains of the 100 gr Partition between the hide and the ribs on the other side, bent in half like letter "C" with lead still on both sides of the partition. I'm not sure a conventional cup and core would have done the same job that day.

You may also want to try the 87gr Hornaday spire point. Myself, my uncle, and a cousin have all had really good results with this bullet in 6mm Rem and .243wins.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim C. <><:
Any common 100 gr. bullet will do nicely.

Economically said and equally correct. Just use the one that shoots best in your rifle. The Sierra has done well for me, but I really like the Nosler 100 grain Solid Base (lead tip) when they are available as "seconds" through Shooters Pro Shop.

Skip the "pistol" powders and go directly to H4831. It will provide optimal velocities. If you happen to have some IMR 7828 on hand, that's also a good one. Most people don't appreciate what a slow powder is needed in the .243 when using 100 grain bullets.

I have had very good results with the Barnes 85 TSX, WLR primer and 46 gr. Ramshot Hunter. Very accurate and deadly on deer.

The wife and I have shot a BUNCH of deer with the 100gr Sierra and the 95gr Nolser Partition...

And the wife has shot a bunch of antelope in Wyoming, and a couple of Mule deer, with the 100gr Sierra and a really big bodied deer in Colorado with the 95 gr Partition.

These 2 bullets gave us excellent performance.

All shots but one were pass throughs..

The only bullet we ever recovered was a 95gr Nolser Parition that I shot a whitetail doe with at @175 yards that was facing me.

The bullet expanded perfectly.

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We found about 60 grains of the 100 gr Partition between the hide and the ribs on the other side, bent in half like letter "C" with lead still on both sides of the partition. I'm not sure a conventional cup and core would have done the same job that day.

No common bullet would have "done the same job", what you describe is a partition characteristic. But the deer would have been equally dead with any common 100 gr. hunting bullet so why worry about it?

Deer really aren't hard to drop and normal hunting bullets are a LOT more effective than some seem to think.

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quote:

We found about 60 grains of the 100 gr Partition between the hide and the ribs on the other side, bent in half like letter "C" with lead still on both sides of the partition. I'm not sure a conventional cup and core would have done the same job that day.

No common bullet would have "done the same job", what you describe is a partition characteristic. But the deer would have been equally dead with any common 100 gr. hunting bullet so why worry about it?

I'm not sure an exploded cup and core would have gone much further than the shattered shoulder joint. The deer certainly would have died but maybe not right there or right then.

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Deer really aren't hard to drop and normal hunting bullets are a LOT more effective than some seem to think.

Fair enough. I've killed as many deer with 243 100 gr CoreLokts as I have NPTs. The freezer couldn't tell the difference.

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Any idea what sort of velocities you see in 22 inch barrels?

85 grain TSX, 38/38.5 Varget produces 3200 w/22 inch barrels. The 80 grain TTSX out of a 22 inch barrel with 38.5 Varget was the same. They don't stop in deer and bone hasn't broken them up.

95 gr nosler and also the new Winchester 95 gr XP3

The .243 with any accurate bullet from 85 grains on up will smoke deer and antelope most of the time. If you want to be sure on the iffy shots, then use a good premium bullet. The Sierra 85 hp has a tremendous following on deer. My boys have killed numerous deer with the 100 grain Hornady Interlock. If you hunt open country it is less of an issue than if you hunt thicker country where losing an animal could be more of an issue. If you use a Barnes or Partition, then you will never have to doubt the penetration ability.

The 100gr partition or 85gr barnes x will do very well out to 300 yards.

I have not tried them yet, but I think that a 95gr HDY SSt would be a good bullet for deer.

I haven't used a .243 for deer in years but I had my best luck with 100 gr. Nosler factory loads. I don't know if they're even available these days.

I've tried Hot-cor / Hornady SST & Interbond / Barnes TSX (85gr) on roe deer, and the TSX does the best job
A friend took 2 fallow deer with the TSX in 243 last year, one dropped dead and the other ran 15m and dropped, the bullet went trough on both.
My load for TSX (in 243w Blaser R93)in Remington brass w CCI 200 is:
COAL: 2.7086"/68,8mm
46 grain MRP
My chrono display 3200 f/s ~ 975 m/s

105 grain Speer...old reload data on H 414...

3150 fps...

does a nice job of dropping them like a sack of potatoes...

Sierra 85 grain Hollow Point Boat Tail.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeMichalski:
Thanks all. So far I've tried 100g Noslers with H414, H4350, and Varget with mixed, not good, results. Looks like I need to try Sierras and Winchesters and maybe some 80-85 grainers.

My brother has a .243 with which he couldn't get
any hunting bullet to shoot accurately until he
tried the Speer 80gr SPTZ Soft Point with
H4350. He has killed a few deer with it, but
goes only for lung shots.