This year I have taken two deer, both bucks and both field dressed about 125 lbs. In both cases the 100 gr Sierra spitzer boattail did not exit. Both deer died almost on the spot, one ran about 15" and the other ran about 15 yds.
Is this "non-exit" typical of the Sierra 100 gr bullets on average size Texas deer?

Is there a better bullet? (even tho both deer dies asap)

bit,
welcome to OUR forum,yes theres lots of better bullets, theirs speers 105 gr spz,100gr spz these are hot-cores their boatails are not made the same. the bonded core bullets are very nice,the85,95,100gr.partitions flat work.barnes makes great bullets to,
it just depends what you want to shoot in your rifle.regards

Bill-

Given typical .243 Win velocities, that particular bullet exits only about half the time inside of 100 yards. Farther out, as the velocity drops off and the expansion is less violent, the odds of an exit go up significantly. Nonetheless, the Sierra generally penetrates more than sufficiently -- it's a terrific bullet for deer-sized game -- and can be found under the hide on the far side on the occasions when it fails to penetrate completely.

I say don't fix what's not broken, but if you are looking for a bullet that leaves a bloodtrail, then the Partition is truly tough to beat.

After having 2 Sierra 85 grain BTHPs and 2 Sierra 90 grain BTHPs fail on average sized, 150+/- lbs., whitetails, I won't use Sierra on game anymore. That said, I really like Sierra for shooting varmints, but no more chances on game.

My "go to" bullet for deer in the 243 and 6mm is the 95 grain Partition. I like the 95 grain Partition because it shoots to the same approximate POA as the less expensive 95 grain BT, so you can shoot 95 grain BTs for varmints and targets, while having confidence that the 95 grain Partition will shoot to your POA and provide deeper penetration. For smaller deer, the 95 grain BTs work fine if you put the bullet into the pleural cavity, but I've never had a 95 grain BT provide through and through penetration. They generally put a big entrance hole through the rib cage and liquify the lungs, but don't even scratch the interior of the off-side rib cage.

The 95 grain BT has a BC of .379, SD of .230, and an OAL of 1.115".

The 95 grain Parition has a BC of .365, SD of .230, and an OAL of 1.025".

Jeff

While I'm not a big fan of .243s, I will somewhat echo 260remguy's recommendation, use a 95gr or 100gr Partition.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill in Texas:
This year I have taken two deer, both bucks and both field dressed about 125 lbs. In both cases the 100 gr Sierra spitzer boattail did not exit. Both deer died almost on the spot, one ran about 15" and the other ran about 15 yds.
Is this "non-exit" typical of the Sierra 100 gr bullets on average size Texas deer?

Is there a better bullet? (even tho both deer dies asap)

I'm assuming by "better bullet" you mean one that will exit, as the outcome of your hunt is what most hunters would regard as 100% success.

As previously mentioned, you cannot go wrong with a partition. In this caliber, it is my opinion that it is a better choice than the Barnes TSX. I would fear that the very small hollow point on such a small bullet would have a higher probablility of closing up (compared to larger diameter bullets) instead of opening up. However, the new Tipped TSX could be a different story. Even though it does not appear to be available even next year.

I would have to ask, what is your goal? What do you want from the bullet?

If you seek an exit wound, I'd definitely go premium when using a 6mm bullet. And, honestly, for the money, the partition is one of the best premium bullets made.

For what it's worth, my friend has shot a few deer with his 243 and the Remington Accutip bullet and they've all exited.

I use the cheap 100 grain Winchester bulk packed and they exit and the deer goes down. My grandson now shoots a .308 and really I have not found his results to be any different than they were with the .243. This year I think his count is two whitetail,two hogs and a bobcat.

Have used the .243 alot on Black Tails. I use the 95 gr Nosler Partition and the only time I did not get a pass thru and quick kill was the one time I used it on a big Mule deer buck at longer range. He went down and layed there till I got up to him and finished him. Since then I have not used it for that purpose again.
Within 300yds on small deer it will do fine but thats where I would set the limit.

Been using 85gr TSX for whitetail does and pronghorn for the last 2 years, shot 7 so far and only recovered one bullet. MV is approx 3300fps, getting good accuracy with varget.

The inability to stabilize heavier bullets was the kiss of death for the Rem .244. Rem had to go back and rebarrel to a faster twist that would and rename it the 6MM Rem. Why place that same restriction on a .243---the 100 grainers are the ones to use in .243 in my books.

"Been using 85gr TSX for whitetail does and pronghorn for the last 2 years, shot 7 so far and only recovered one. MV is approx 3300fps, getting good accuracy with varget."

I hope you mean you only recovered one bullet.
You will find that the 95 or 100 Partitions carrys better in wind or distance, My daughters shoot the .243 with partitions and have about 30 head of (deer & antelope) between them and it always works fine.
Hit them in chest and keep in inside of 350yds and you'll be fine.

RC

Yes, you can find bullets that will dependably exit, however in most cases the deer will go far more than 15 yards before dropping.

The performance you describe is hard to beat. If you want a little more penetration, use the Sierra flat base bullet. Those will keep their core together a little longer than the boattail design.

The goal of the bullet is to deliver trauma to the vital organs, not simply penetrate the muscle and bone on the other side of the vital organs, which really does little or nothing at all to cause the deer's death.

Many more deer are lost each year due to bullets that expand insufficiently failing to cause enough organ damage to quickly drop the deer than to bullets which expand too rapidly failing to penetrate adequately.

Kind of funny. I used all kinds of standard bullets in the 243 and 6MM Rem. Quick killers, then someone talked me into trying 100 grain Partitions. Darn! every deer I shot was acting like an olympic miler. After 10 or so animals I was happy my 50 bullets were gone. I went back to the 100 grain corelokts and Sierra Gamekings and all this extended tracking stopped. I got a lot of exits with those two bullets also. Recently I went to the often cussed and discussed 95 grain Ballistic Tip and lo and behold I get exits and sudden kills. Don't let the boys fool you into thinking just because you get an exit hole you will get a good blood trail, it's just not true. You get good blood trails from certain hits like the liver or low chest hits that don't destroy the heart. High lung hits often cause the deer to breath out blood which they can't do if the lungs are sauced like the Gamekings and Ballistic Tips do em. Oddly I have found the Ballistic Tip (95 gr.) to exit a bit more often than the Sierra 100 gr. Gameking but we are still talking about 50% of the time. If you want an exit most of the time don't slam your bullet into the shoulder.

The non exit is comon for the .243 but it is a killer! I shoot 90 grn. Nos. Bal. Tips. and 100 grn sierras . Fun gun to shoot at anything from groundhogs in the summer to deer in the fall then cyotes/wild hogs in the winter.

Bill, I seem to remember awhile back on another forum that ya’ll over in Texas couldn’t kill deer with a .270 Win. So, what are you doin’ shootin’ a .243?

I’m jokin’ Bill. Of course a .243 Win will kill Texas deer just like it will Mississippi. But most of the time the deer will run a little ways and sometime a long ways and sometimes the bullet will not exit. I have seen this happen a lot even with good shot placement.

I have a relative that used a .243 for 15 or 20 years and he said the same thing I’m telling you. I have helped him and a lot of other guys track deer that had been shot with a .243. I think have helped track more deer shot with a .243 than any other cartridge.

Years ago I used a .243 briefly and had similar results as you. That is the reason I no longer use it.

We do have better bullets today than we had when I used a .243. So, if you reload you might try a premium bullet or one the factory premium lines. But I am afraid the results will be similar.

Yeah "almost died on the spot", better try something else. I have tracked more deer shot with 30-30's than any other.

I shoot 87grn Hornady HP . They work great . Lots of other weights both up and down . I'm not sure how everyone else rates bullets , I tend to see what puts meat on the table . Although not a watermelon heaver , the 243 WIN and 6MM REM can really free a shooter up to shoot precise . I might be scrutinized for such a light bullet on deer but the steaks taste great . And I wont argue with the cook .

87gr. works good for me, drops Deer DRT..

I have a plain-jane, plastic stocked, matte finished, j-lock, 700 ADL I paid just over $300 for, NIB, when Academy had them on closeout. That rifle has become my go-to for nearly everything. It will usually shoot sub-1" groups at the range with 100gr Core-locts. It places 100gr Core-Locts, 95gr Partitions, and 95gr Bergers close enough to the same POI that it doesn't make any practical difference for hunting. I haven't taken anything with the Bergers yet, but it is just a matter of time. The PTs & core-locts just kill stuff. A deer or hog may make a short dash after a soft-tissue hit behind the shoulder, but head/neck/spine/shoulder hits are mostly DRT.
Yeah, that's true for most everything else, too, but the .243 does it with less fuss! I've only taken deer, hogs, and a few varmints out to 250 or so, but it continues to impress me. I might just be easily impressed, but the 243 makes it look simple.
Just as a caveat, my notion would change dramatically if deer were over 125#, or hogs weren't considered vermin. I hunt with other cals too, but consider the 243 a very viable/enjoyable option.

we shot about 30 does off our property in the hill country, two of the rifles were 243's.

we shot 80grain corelokts and most of the deer dropped right there, the rest dropped in sight 10 yds or so. from neck, shoulder and lung shots.

i thought i was doing my wife a favor when we went down and sighted her gun in with partitions, just in case we saw an axis or kudu or whatever.

she shot at a real nice 10 pt. she was by herself and shes not a dyed in the wool shooter. we looked for blood and found a speck here and there for 25 yds. she said the deer ran right off with no signs of being hit.

i gave up the looking till morning not wanting to push it.(very thick brush) found it the next am another 25yds. all the meat was ruined it was very hot. it was hit right behind the shoulder, double lung, exit hole very small. ditto a few days later on a doe. she shot that in the am so we tracked it 40yds or so and found it with little blood trail.

i then switched her to the corelokts and the rest didnt move. i wont shoot them again for texas deer.

just my ..02 cents

black mamba: FWIW Remington makes 2 80gr bullets for the 243. A PSP (Pointed Soft Point) and a Power-Lokt. Don't know which you have been using, but they are not Core-Lokts. They are bullets designed for varmints.

you are correct, the bullets we have been using are 80 gr PSP. i checked remington's website and there is no description for PSP. that i found, just core-lokt psp? if they are classified as varmint bullets the deer should dont agree. thanks for catching that.

black mamba: don't doubt for a second, your experience with 80gr 243's on hill country does. A varmint bullet on a broadside double lung shot usually drops them like a sack of potatoes But IMO, if you are after muy grande, and want to be prepared for something other than a perfect broadside shot, you are better off with a heavier bullet, designed for deer.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill in Texas:
This year I have taken two deer, both bucks and both field dressed about 125 lbs. In both cases the 100 gr Sierra spitzer boattail did not exit. Both deer died almost on the spot, one ran about 15" and the other ran about 15 yds.
Is this "non-exit" typical of the Sierra 100 gr bullets on average size Texas deer?

Is there a better bullet? (even tho both deer dies asap)

Bill, your Texas whitetails are pretty much the same as our Catskill whitetails in terms of size and weight. In my 6mm Rem, I use 100g Nosler Partitions with great success, good penetration and exit wounds with broadside shots. You can use pretty much anything if you have a broadside shot on a still deer, but I always think about the less than perfect situation and for that, I would want a bullet that would hold up a bit better.
You can't argue with your success, though

I might be wrong on this but I think think the power lock bullets are actually an early plated bullet that is bonded.

Any way my limited experience with the 243 has been that deer shot with the partitions and early barns -x's did cover a lot more ground than with the Sierra bt and the remington 100 corelock. With the sierra the empty jack was usually found under the hide or in the muscle on the other side.

quote:

Originally posted by els:
I might be wrong on this but I think think the power lock bullets are actually an early plated bullet that is bonded.

You are correct. The jacket is/was plated to the core. But it was designed to disintegrate on contact...i.e., it's a varmint bullet

quote:

I might be wrong on this but I think think the power lock bullets are actually an early plated bullet that is bonded.

You are right the Rem. Power Lokt were/are electro plated. I reloaded some of them in my 6mm Rem when they first came out in about 1974. They were very fragil, about 20% of them blew up before they reached the 100 yard target and some of the ones that hit the paper had "comet tails." The ones that made it to the target made tight groups. I shot the rest up and never bought them again.

I suspect the ones they make now are better, but still a varmit bullet.

If you are getting quick one shot kills, whats the problem? Only bad experience I've ever had with Nosler Partitions was with the 100 grain 243. Got the kill but no expansion, bullet just penciled through. Since then I use the Hornady 100 grain BTSP interlock at about 3150 fps. It has performed consistently well.

a 243 will kill any deer.
do i want to have one in my hands when Mr. Big walks out at 275 yards quartering away?
no.

quote:

Originally posted by Sagebrush Burns:
If you are getting quick one shot kills, whats the problem? Only bad experience I've ever had with Nosler Partitions was with the 100 grain 243. Got the kill but no expansion, bullet just penciled through. Since then I use the Hornady 100 grain BTSP interlock at about 3150 fps. It has performed consistently well.

In my experience with Partitions, which is not all that extensive (shot them in a .270 Wby and my daughter has used them in her .22-250) when I see a small exit they were going very fast and shed the nose inside the target, causing a lot of damage. Can still be difficult if you need to track the animal in brush with a small exit and little to no blood.

Try the Sierra Prohunter 100 grain.They seem less likley to have the jacket separate in my experience. In saying that it sounds like the boat tail worked well anyway. I have also used the 85 gn HPBT Sierra with great success even on very large red stags (over 220 lbs dressed out). They are a very accurate bullet as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill in Texas:
This year I have taken two deer, both bucks and both field dressed about 125 lbs. In both cases the 100 gr Sierra spitzer boattail did not exit. Both deer died almost on the spot, one ran about 15" and the other ran about 15 yds.
Is this "non-exit" typical of the Sierra 100 gr bullets on average size Texas deer?

Is there a better bullet? (even tho both deer dies asap)

I (as others have echoed) do not use Sierra for hunting......and now don't use Sierra for anything!

I use Hornady 100 grain Flat base interlocks but certainly agree on the 95 and 100 grain Nosler partitions. Several folks I hunt with use the .243 and the 6MM remington ( I handload for them) and the results are amazing. The little guns kill deer extremely well with minimal recoil and there's nothing short ranged about them either.....great guns.

Another vote for the Nosler Partition. My son and I have used both the 95 and 100 grain with excellent results.

I have used the 75 GR. Barnes X until they quite making them and I now use the 75 gr. GS Customs monolithic bullet at about 2900 FPS in my 6mm/223 and it kills them very well indeed, does not bloodshoot them too much and I always get an exit hole the size of a nickle or a quarter.....That should work for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Originally posted by Sagebrush Burns:
If you are getting quick one shot kills, whats the problem? Only bad experience I've ever had with Nosler Partitions was with the 100 grain 243. Got the kill but no expansion, bullet just penciled through. Since then I use the Hornady 100 grain BTSP interlock at about 3150 fps. It has performed consistently well.

In my experience with Partitions, which is not all that extensive (shot them in a .270 Wby and my daughter has used them in her .22-250) when I see a small exit they were going very fast and shed the nose inside the target, causing a lot of damage. Can still be difficult if you need to track the animal in brush with a small exit and little to no blood.

I've had similar experience with the Nosler partitions and left them behind as soon as the Ballistic Tips came out. I was also having pencil shots on the Partitions where I would be blowing up rocks after the bullet passed through the deer to the point that I was sure I had missed an easy shot.

The Ballistic Tips will actually penetrate better at longer distances when the velocity has diminished some and we have had great luck with them in many calibers on deer and elk at both close ranges ; 70 yards on a deer with a .270 to 375 yards on an elk with a .300 Win mag.

I've found them also to supercede the old Sierra match grade hollow point boattail in my centerfire .223 and 22/250's for accuracy and we have become almost a one bullet family.

The Nosler partition is a great bullet, but I agree it starts being great at about .270 caliber and gets better as the bore gets bigger..I use the 200 gr. Noslers exclusively in my 06 and 300 H&H, and they are awesome on cape buffalo in my 416 Rem.

The smaller calibers just do not always leave a good blood trail with them... I would prefer a Sierra in the .243, they are soft and a whitetail in that area is not much resistence.

I use a 75 gr. GS Customs HP with great results in my 6x45 and it leaves a nickle to quarter size exit every time and the deer never go more that 50 yards, but again not much of a blood trail so I pick where I hunt with it keeping to the more open areas...

I have used the Speer Hot-cor 80 grain SP Spitzer (flat base) on several deer with my .243 and the bullets exited while doing a tremendous amount of internal damage. They were Oklahoma deer though, those Texas whitetails may be tougher, Ha!

I have had good success using the Speer Hot-cor 80 grain SP Sptizer (flat base) in my .243. They erxited and did a tremendous amount of internal damage along the way. However, they were Oklahoma whitetail. Texas ones may be tougher, Ha!