Back from the West Virginia hunt we shucked out the deer that were killed. The nephew shot a spike with the 30-30 and it was DRT. Two nice holes thru the ribs and lungs jellied.

The 243 was in the hands of my brother a very skilled hunter. The load was 100gr Hornady BTSP over 34.2gr IMR4064 and WLRM primer. On a quartering away shot the bullet hit the next to last rib, jellied the lungs and broke the 2nd rib back from the shoulder but did not exit.The bullet must have came out in the gut pile. The deer took 5 steps.

Again the 30-30 Win is a solid performer. The 243Win is a nice choice also. The 30-06 will have to wait for a performance review as my 2 shots at a buck were deflected by brush.

Put a well constructed soft point bullet from 80 to 105 gns at a reasonably velocity in the right place to go through the vitals on any deer and thye don't go far.

OK on the very large big red stags when full of testosterone they wont fall over immediately and to be fare and humane you might want a 30-06 or similar, but they will still do the job if you get in close.

Good doin's Mick! Always good to put meat in the freezer.

My wife has been using a 243 for over 20 years and has never had to shoot more than once. Typically the deer have travelled less than 20 years, usually not regaining their feet.

This year the only shot she had was at a doe with only her shoulders exposed. After waiting and hoping the doe would step from behind the tree so she could take a lung shot she said the doe started acting like she was going to bolt so she shot it through the shoulders. I never saw any more devastation from my 270 when I used it decades ago. Penetration was complete through both shoulder blades and the meat was so bloodshot we didn't try to save any of them. Obviously two bloodshot shoulders was not the goal but we take what the red gods offer. That's her 18th deer with a 243. If anything I am more impressed with the 24's every deer she kills.

Mt brother and son have used 243's for deer and on average they don't go any further than a deer shot with a larger caliber bullet. Seems we get more DRT's with larger caliber bullets though.

When my son was very young, 7-10, I used a 243 as well so that I only had to pack one caliber, one load of ammo, to KISS. Worked for me too, and the load was a little detuned to reduce muzzle flash and blast from my son's 20" barrel. We used 85gr TSX's.

JPK

For several years both me and a son in law carried a .243. This was so his son (My grandson) could also use it. We took lots of deer and used 100 grain cup and core bullets and it was a matter of put it in right spot and the deer died. The last deer I shot was an odd situation. I could see where I hit the deer and knew it was well hit. The deer neither jumped nor fell, just walked slowly with some stagger. Didn't run. After several yards it stopped and was swaying some. I could tell it was about over and walked up to the deer while it was still on it's feet. The deer seemed oblivious to my presence. I could have kicked it over. Few seconds later it fell dead. Both heart and liver were mushy. How it took one step was a mystery. I doubt results would have been any different with larger cal and have seen many dropped on spot with .223. Pretty much a deal of put the bullet in right spot and you kill the deer.

Personally, for my own hunting, I am not a fan of the .243.

That opinion was formed back in the early/mid 1970's and was based on the folks I hunted with/knew using varmint bullets on deer with really poor results.

All that being said, the first caliber I list if someone asks for a recommendation on hunting rifles, especially if all they are planning on hunting is white tail deer and the occasional feral hog is the .243.

I have seen and field dressed too many animals that were one shot kills with reasonable meat loss, that were killed with one shot from a .243.

While I still won't use one for my own hunts and do not own one, Lora and I use the .257 Robert's I bought her, and other than being able to use a slightly heavier bullet than the .243, I see no difference in the performance of the two.

A well placed shot with a good bullet out of a .243, in my experience results in a dead critter.

I, and quite a few of my friends, hunt with a .243, a 6mm Rem, a .257 Roberts and a .25-06

I've also hunted with a .270 win, a .280 rem, a .30-06, a .300 win mag, a .35 whelen, and a .375 H&H.

I've seen a lot of deer killed and none of the above mentioned cartridges are clearly better than the .243 class of bullet.

It's simply a matter of placement and it seems folks might be better shots with the lower recoiling guns.....whatever it is, the 6mm cartridges just get the job done.

Between myself and my son we've shot six deer with the .243 and all were one shot kills. Great cartridge for adults and kids, low recoil and low muzzle jump, which allows kids to concentrate on making good shots. I am a big fan of the .243. I've probably used at least 3-4 different bullets in the .243 and couldn't discern much difference in knock down between any of them. (The TTSX blew up and disintegrated on impact).

However, I still prefer the .270 and '06 for putting venison on the ground. MHO, they don't run as far on average. Where we hunt it's very thick with blackberry bushes and sumac, so I like dropping them and I honestly think the .270 and '06 do a better job of knocking them down.

If I hunted in a more mature forest or in open land, I'd use the .243 every time.

Any suggestions on what is the best bullet in a .243?

I've shot the 85 TSX in my .243 and it was devastating on a large hog, wondering if there is a better option?

quote:

Originally posted by 10generation:
Any suggestions on what is the best bullet in a .243?

Barnes TTSX or Nosler Accubond

My son and I used the 85gr TSX with excellent results. Velocity was reduced a bit and a faster powder used to reduce muzzle flash and blast from my then young son's 20" barrel. Don't recall MV, maybe 2850fps.

My youngest shot his buck this year (his first) with a 90 grain Swift Scirocco. 170 yards and the wind pushed his bullet a bit forward. He hit the leg under the shoulder blade and shattered it and took out the water lines between the boiler and the brain. Deer went 60 yards in a bloody mess and folded. We lost a little burger from one shoulder and that was it. Pretty impressed with that bullet and the 243.

Yep, I also think it is plenty enough rifle to do the job guys.

When the 243 came out it was touted as the ultimate deer and varmint gun. I had to have one and it killed deer very well most of the time but I had a few failures that were unacceptable, and several times no blood trail at all with good hits. I returned to my tried and true 250-3000, that has always worked 110%, regardless of the paper ballistics.

Since that time I have observed many killing shots with the .243 and also a number of failures. No blood and deer that escaped.

quote:

Originally posted by 9.3 X 75R:


My wife has been using a 243 for over 20 years and has never had to shoot more than once. Typically the deer have traveled less than 20 years,

Time to go get that buck she shot back in 1994.

quote:

also a number of failures. No blood and deer that escaped.

When I first started hunting around folks that were using .243's, that is why I developed a dislike for the caliber.

Even though as time went along, I realized it was not the fault of the cartridge itself, but the choice of bullet being used. Most of these folks were handloaders/reloaders and they like experimenting and all too often they would use varmint bullets that were too light grain weight wise and too lightly constructed for even Texas white tail size animals.

I still personally won't own one, but it is the first caliber I recommend for beginning hunters, if for no other reason, the availability of good quality factory ammo practically everywhere.

Crazy Horse,
I'll go along with that for the most part but on 3 occasion I have observed deer go a long ways and bush up dead, shot with 100 gr. bullets that should have put them down and no blood at all could be found as the bled out inside..Fortunately the rancher had a good dog as most Texas ranchers do, and 99.9 of all deer are recovered. These 3 were.

I will use any caliber to hunt deer with but some calibers like the 22-250, 223, 222, 243 and my 25-35 require a change in hunting style IMO...These calibers including the 22 L.R. to more of a degree will effectively kill deer when used properlay. Get close and place the shot with precision, pass up the iffy shots and that seems to be the hard part for some.

That is the point, you can't take shots with the calibers you listed that you would with even a .30-30.

I do believe that present day loadings with the .243 and some of the others you listed, make them more capable, but as you pointed out, it isn't really the fault of the cartridge or bullet, as much as it is operator error or lack of experience.

Same can be said for the various calibers larger than the .243. If the shooter is not competent/capable with their rifle, they can and do lose deer with the larger calibers.

I mean, I love the job my wife's .257 Robert's does on deer, but in reality, other than a few thousandths difference in bullet diameter and a few grains different in weight, ballistics wise, there is little difference between the .243 and the .257 Robert's.

As with all rifle/scope/cartridge combinations, the weak link in the equation is the shooter.

Talked to my brother and he did find the bullet. It did go thru both sides and stuck in the shoulder. Will get a pic when possible. He said it mushroomed nicely.

quote:

I mean, I love the job my wife's .257 Robert's does on deer, but in reality, other than a few thousandths difference in bullet diameter and a few grains different in weight, ballistics wise, there is little difference between the .243 and the .257 Robert's.

And the same is true comparing the 257R and the 260Rem, and the 260Rem to the 7mm/08, the 7mm/08 to the 308w....

IMO, there is substantial difference between a 243 and a 257R, though both work, and the differences between "just up" cartridges diminishes as they get bigger. For example, there isn't as much difference between a 7mm/08 and a 308w as between a 243w and the 257R.

Clearly at some point cartridge X just isn't up to the job, though, as noted, a 22lr or even short will kill a deer. So what is the minimum your average hunter ought to go afield with? To me it is the 243w or the 6x45mm, 6mmx222... A 6mm though.

JPK

I have a hunting buddy that uses his 243 almost exclusively for deer. I've witnessed two of his kills; one, a heart/lung quartering slightly away and the other a head-on chest shot. Both were quick and in each case, the deer went down no more than 10 yards from where they were shot. The first was taken at just over 70 yards and the other at just over 200 yards. While hunting a couple of weeks ago, he took a nice sow which dropped immediately from a head shot. I wouldn't hesitate to use a 243 on whitetails, muleys or hogs. I'm impressed with his little Ruger.

As Finn Aagard said in his book, the 243 killed deer very well indeed and made belivers out of the owners, self included, but then on more than a few occasions it failed and with proper bullets. I had a failure with a 85 gr.Nosler that passed thru a deer leaving a caliber size hole in and out, and that deer just didn't bleed much. Found him two days later by the buzzards and he had gone about 800 yards to water and died on the dirt bank of the tank. Happen again with a 100 gr. Sierra. I have seen a half dozen such incidents with the caliber but I have seen a heck of a lot of instant kills with the .243..

Also the 243,according to Win. is the most notorious caliber to blow up of all the calibers. Something to do with throat erosion and the use of light bullet according to their study..

I hold no grudge against those that use it, I mean I use the 25-35 and 250 Savage and even used much lighter rifles, so I'm not the caliber cop, just not a .243 fan. If I had only a .243 to hunt with, I wouldn't be wrought with nightmares and doubts.

As something I read or heard somewhere pointed out, we are the sum of our experience.

I developed a dislike for the .243, because of the choice of bullet some folks I hunted with chose to use in their handloads.

This was 40 years ago, but at that time they were using 75 grain varmint bullets for hunting white tail here in north Texas.

Now with a properly placed head/neck shot, it was a bang/flop situation.

Shoulder/behind the shoulder shots were a completely different equation, with wounded deer having to be shot a second or even third time, at the loss of a lot of meat, because the bullets simply were not meant to be used in that application.

With modern bullets and just a little bit of realistic thought on the part of the shooter, the .243 does a good job.

My first Mod. 70 Fwt 243 win. started using in 1957 with the Hornady 100 gr. ROUNDNOSE SHAPE bullets. An old reloader told me to try that bullet on deer and it worked great. I still have some of these bullets as they are no longer available. It is still my choise for deer.

Read Les Bowman's report on elk guided hunts. He talks about people could have a better kill using a 243 Win. than their larger caliber mags.

For whitetail sized game, I have settled on a 6mmRem with 87 or 90 grain spitzers. I've also used 30-06, 270, 7x57 and this year 223. The 223 has been effective with close in neck shots but does not do much damage. I'll probably go back to my 6mm next season. I think the 25s would be close to optimal too.

Not to stir the pot but several years back I killed an adult Whitetail doe with a .17 Remington and a 25gr.Hornady. Distance was 100-125 yards. It was a frontal shot, I held at the base of the neck and at the shot she went down and got up and ran 60-70yds and you would not believe what the lungs looked like, enough left to fill a coffee mug and the rest was liquid.
For the last several seasons my go to deer rifle has been my 22/250 Ackley and what a job it does!
My Son has killed several deer with his 77 Ruger in 6m/m Remington without failure using 85gr. Sierra HPBT's.
I guess the point is, it's not so much what you shoot but how you shoot it.

Stepchild

quote:

Originally posted by Rub Line:
Between myself and my son we've shot six deer with the .243 and all were one shot kills. Great cartridge for adults and kids, low recoil and low muzzle jump, which allows kids to concentrate on making good shots. I am a big fan of the .243. I've probably used at least 3-4 different bullets in the .243 and couldn't discern much difference in knock down between any of them. (The TTSX blew up and disintegrated on impact).

However, I still prefer the .270 and '06 for putting venison on the ground. MHO, they don't run as far on average. Where we hunt it's very thick with blackberry bushes and sumac, so I like dropping them and I honestly think the .270 and '06 do a better job of knocking them down.

If I hunted in a more mature forest or in open land, I'd use the .243 every time.

I very highly doubt the ttsx blew apart and disintegrated. Only because it is physically impossible. The rear portion is solid copper. This is the bullet I use in mine. It blasts through everything and leaves a great but unnecessary blood trail. Acts like a larger bullet every time.

My father bought me a Rem 700 243 when I was about 11 years old (just about to turn 58). I still have that rifle and many other 243's. I use the same hand load I have been using for over 30 yrs. A 95 gr Nolser partition ahead of +40 gr of IMR 4831. I get between 3050 and 3100 FPS pending the rifle.
It will shoot through the shoulders of feral hogs and I have shot many many deer with this round over the past +40 years. Coyotes, bobcats, crows, feral hogs, javelinas and deer.
Typical pass throughs on just about anything I have mentioned with the 95 Gr nolser partitions.
DRT.

EZ

It seems to me that almost every caliber comparison is fraught with "Lost Animals" especially with the smaller cals. BUT...No one mentions the "Lost Animals" with the larger cals. ALL the factors that cause a lost animal are the same with the smaller cals as they are with larger cals and have been mentioned, copiously, in this post and all the other posts of this ilk, and have been true for as long as I can remember in 60 years of hunting.

I think most of it boils down to FAVORITISM...no matter whatever caliber you favor, most people will go to great lengths to "PROVE" theirs is the "favored son"...and "HAIR SPLITTING". I don't think many would compare a 6mm with any 35+ cal and say the 6mm is equal in destructiveness...but go to great lengths to say a 25 cal is better than a 6mm or visa versa and posit the diameter, BC, SD, animals they've killed with various cals, other BS, etc., numbers in extreme detail.

I don't want to start a protracted whizzing contest here, I have at least one rifle/barrel in almost every available caliber and have taken game with most of them and tend toward the larger cal/heavier bullets rifles now...BUT...I think the 17 Rem has given me the most spectacular kills AND biggest muckups of any of my other rifles with the exception of the 50 cals. Stick a 20 cal Vmax in the right place and you have a bag of gurgling liquefied jelly...but hit a rib or bone or dried mud and you better be ready for a second shot with a much larger cal because all you have done is blow out a grapefruit size gob of meat and have a nasty job ahead of you.

You might be the best shot in the world, have a perfect hold, a bughole shooting rifle and the cross hairs just right and at the moment you touch off the animal moves slightly and that perfect spine shot turns into a gut shot or misses altogether.

Everyone plays the "blame game"..."it was the bullet", "it was the caliber"..."it was the rifle, the scope, the "...", maybe if we started playing the "what EXACTLY happened and why" game WE would become better hunters and lose less game...no matter WHICH CALIBER/CARTRIDGE we use.


Under the right circumstances that 4000+ fs 55-58 gr "purple haze" varmint bullet out of a 240 Weatherby, 6mm284 or 243 WSSM turns into a perfectly acceptable deer bullet at 3000 fs from a 6BR, 6PPC or 6x45mm/6x47mm.

"CIRCUMSTANCES"...remember CIRCUMSTANCES are the keys to successful hunts...knowing and doing the right things BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER the shot make for a memorable, story telling hunt.

Luck with your shots.

My problem with the 243 is that it seldom leaves a blood trail. I like a blood trail, sometimes it's needed.

The 100gr Hornady BTSP recovered from deer.

Unfortunately this stick deflected the shot from my 30-06 on a nice little buck. I thought I had him for sure.

Certainly after what I have seen the 243Win is enough gun with a good shot for whitetails.

Boils down to bullets and placement. Always has, always will.

LIght bullets for use on small whitetail include the 222, 223, 22-250 and the 6MM with light bullets and even varmint bullets, and you don't have to use neck and head shots, in fact those are the worst of shots because you miss the spine or spinal cord and they run off to die and on head shots you may break the jaw..With these light calibers a shot behind the shoulder in in the ribs gets the heart and or lungs you get mostly instant kills, with a few runs..the runs are the problem as these calibers may or may not leave a blood trail, so use them in open country if you must.

My personal choice for small Texas Hill country whitetail from a blind at 100 or so yards is my 25-35 Win., its slow 117 gr. bullet punches a hole thru them and always leaves a real nice blood trail, mostly they drop at the shot but sometimes will run up to 50 to 75 yards with lots of blood on the ground. I also like my Sav. 99 250-3000 with 87 or 100 gr. bullets. I even use these two guns for Mule Deer in Idaho on occasions.

I hunt New Mexico mule deer with my 243 shooting the Barnes 85gr ttsx. I have also killed them with the Sierra 85 grain BTHP

I used to have a 243, but rebarreled it to 308. For me, I just did not like the performance. As many said here, it left little, if any, blood trail. I had one smallish doe that I shot on the shoulder. I went to the shot location and found portions of leg bones, but no deer. Drop by drop, we followed her for over 300 yards with no further sign. We lost her to boundaries we could not cross. I will be selling my 243 stuff soon.

As has been said over and over in this thread, the round will kill. BUT: as also has been said over and over on this thread, it takes good shot placement and some degree of luck.

Let's face it: there are just times when a .243" bullet is not going to exit, and there are times when if it does exit, the exit hole is not large enough for a reliable blood trail unless a rib or shoulder bone is hit and the secondary projectiles increase the size of the exit hole.

My biggest gripe with the .243 is just that: it takes precise shot placement and the bullet has to perform its function perfectly; that means expand to its largest caliber possible and exit. Any less, unless you get a DRT, potentially means lost game. And I hate losing game. It is a waste.

I firmly believe the 243 belongs in the hands of mature shooters who can put the bullet where it belongs every time. The deer deserve that.

One anecdote: roughly 25 years ago I was at a gun show in Houston, admiring an end cap of pre-'64 Model 70 Winchesters. There must have been 30 of them on that table, but sadly, no LH rifles, and I am a lefty. None the less, while I was looking a man walked up and asked the table owner if he had any 243s. When the answer was affirmative, the rifles were pointed out.

I watched this man reach in his pocket and shell out enough cash to buy each of his three sons, the oldest of which could not have been over 12 at best, a 243 and hand it to them one at a time. I walked away shaking my head, wondering how many deer those three youngsters were going to mark up and let get away because of imprecise shooting. Maybe I was wrong, but somehow I doubt it.

I have had mixed results on deer with the 243 Winchester. I had never had to track a deer after I shot until I used the 243. The deer did not go far, maybe 30yards. I was close enough to hear it fall in the leaves. There was a blood trail a blind man could have followed. I do not consider that a fail of any kind.
I have had other shots on deer that ended in DRT to a 60yard dead sprint that ended when the deer got tripped up by some dead fall. So far I have not lost a deer while using the 243 & I have not had any experience that would make me not hunt with one.

quote:

Originally posted by Doubless:
As has been said over and over in this thread, the round will kill. BUT: as also has been said over and over on this thread, it takes good shot placement and some degree of luck.

Let's face it: there are just times when a .243" bullet is not going to exit, and there are times when if it does exit, the exit hole is not large enough for a reliable blood trail unless a rib or shoulder bone is hit and the secondary projectiles increase the size of the exit hole.

My biggest gripe with the .243 is just that: it takes precise shot placement and the bullet has to perform its function perfectly; that means expand to its largest caliber possible and exit. Any less, unless you get a DRT, potentially means lost game. And I hate losing game. It is a waste.

I firmly believe the 243 belongs in the hands of mature shooters who can put the bullet where it belongs every time. The deer deserve that.

One anecdote: roughly 25 years ago I was at a gun show in Houston, admiring an end cap of pre-'64 Model 70 Winchesters. There must have been 30 of them on that table, but sadly, no LH rifles, and I am a lefty. None the less, while I was looking a man walked up and asked the table owner if he had any 243s. When the answer was affirmative, the rifles were pointed out.

I watched this man reach in his pocket and shell out enough cash to buy each of his three sons, the oldest of which could not have been over 12 at best, a 243 and hand it to them one at a time. I walked away shaking my head, wondering how many deer those three youngsters were going to mark up and let get away because of imprecise shooting. Maybe I was wrong, but somehow I doubt it.

Well said. I had my grandson's 6mm Rem rebored to 7x57 last year for these very reasons.

Just ten miles from here is the old farm my dad bought in '67. Big field in back. Used a .22-250 with perfect results decades ago. Didn't matter if the deer ran 150 yds. Didn't need a blood trail. I mean, if you see where the deer folds you don't need to track it. Would have been fine with a .243......then and now. A flat trajectory was somewhat helpful.

About 400 yds from where I'm typing is our "killing field". Its about 150 yds square. Surrounded by some of the real nasty thick stuff you find in this state. Used a .243 once. Once. Will not do so again. The need for a blood trail is greater than the need for stretched string trajectory. And better yet, I want them down with minimal travel. If forced to choose, would rather have a .30-30 here than a .243. But our .300s work pretty well.

I have an idea people who both like and hate the .243 (and .22 CFs) are all "correct". They know where they're hunting so they know why the .243 (or the .22-250.......or the .223.....) will or will not be a good idea.