I know Nosler partitions are probably the right answer in a .243 for 100-150 pound WT deer. Yet I wonder if the Speer 105 grain SP, the Sierra 100 gr Pro Hunter, Hornady 100 grain SP would not "work" for this game. Of the above which shoots the best and works best on animals of this size. I have been killing them for years with .270-30-06 and have always had people scoff at the idea of a .243 but somehow the Sako followed me home and now I have one and must use it! I wanted to see if one bullet might be a little tougher than another as I am still leary of the .243 a little but am trying to keep the budget down a bit and use conventional or near conventional bullets.

Nearly twenty years ago my son, then age 12, killed the largest whitetail anyone in the family has ever killed with a 100 grain Sierra from a .243 -- one shot.

While the Sierra works great as a deer bullet, I like the old Nosler Solid Base even better. It will give you the same rapid expansion combined with deeper penetration due to the solid base. The NSB is not a regular production item any more, but is often available from Shooters Pro Shop or from the Nosler website.

In the weight class you mentioned for your part of GA any 100 gr 243 bullet from any of the manufacturers will preform very well. It's only when someone starts using the lighter bullets, especially hollow points, intended for varmints, that they get into trouble with deer, and that's not just limited to a 243. When I hunted with a 243 my favorite bullet was the Hornady round nose. In the area I hunted distance wasn't in the equation.

Joe

I also find myself in the same dillema, though my .243 was a remmy ADL.

I'm planning on driving Barnes 85gr TSX ~3300 fps.

I ordered some of the Hornady 100 grain spire point flat base bullets and will give these a whirl thru the rifle to see how they do. I wanted the boattails but everyone has low stock on everything at this time..

I load 95gr Nosler Partitions for my nephew. They have done the job on the Georgia deer he has killed. The last one was a 165lb 8pt around Thanksgiving.

Not a deer going that can take a properly placed 100gr .243 bullet of any kind. Limit your shots to roughly 300 yds and sink one in the boiler room, get your knife sharp.

100% agree with Starmetal and 30378. I read on these boards all time that the .243 is marginal AT BEST on deer and you must use a premium bullet. I use 100 grain Winchester Bulk packed(cheap bullet)and between my grandson,son in law and myself,we have not ran across any deer that reads the boards and thought it required a premium bullet. Well I take that back---my 95 grain cast bullet was not a premium bullet--it didnt work.

Carpetman is right about those Winchesters, the neighbor and his son down the road from me have been taking deer for many many years with the 243 and the 6mm Rem. They use the factory Win or Rem 100 gr and now I'm reloading those for them with the factory bulk bullets such as Carpetman speaks. I've seen the deer they harvest and honestly another caliber wouldn't have done better. Also the 243 is used a lot on the bear around here too. To tell you the truth, I'm not paying Nosler a premium price for their bullets, they are nuts. Now talk about a bigger and more dangerous game animal, maybe I would.

Joe

Jimmy P
Coaltrain, I think you answered your own question, and that is any of the 90-105gr. bullets for the 243 Win. will take A deer. Speer, Sierra, Hornady, Rem, Win, Nosler, the thing is to find the one that your rifle likes the best, Then you do your best, by putting it in the wright spot. You will have your deer.

6.5 SWEDE

I use the 100 grain Speer in my .257 Roberts and am very pleased with it. With the exception of a brisket-clip, I have all one-shot kills. Your .243 will start a bit slower, but, with the better ballistic coefficient, by 200 yards, we're probably even.
Happy Hunting !

Yes everyone so far is really on track.
In my experience in loading for my now ex-wifes .243 I found that Deer and Antelope couldn't stand up to a simple 100 grain Sierra (both flat base and boat tail) from that gun. All of hers were taken with one shot and we got exits on all but one and that was a chest on shot and recovered the bullet from the rear ham just under the skin and it weighed 87 grains after travelling the full length of an 8 point whitetail. Not bad performance really and they shoot at about .5 to .75" at 100 yards. Our best accurate load was with those 100 gr Sierra's and IMR-4350 most accurate was right at max Sierra book.
Good luck with yours.

I upgraded to a 7mm08 many years ago but my longest deer kill was 400 with a 243 and I think a 90 gr sierra bullet so they work quite well. I would not switch back but I can't really knock what I killed a lot of deer with.

My grandson moved up to the .243 when he was 11 and has taken a lot of deer with it. Not that I felt he needed more performance,I happened to have a .308 I wanted him to have. It was a Win pre64 model 88 with Pachmayr Decellerator pad and an extra magazine with a carrying pouch on the sling and a Leupold 2x-7x. Figured he would like the gun. He is still getting deer,but I can't see that it's doing any better than the .243 did. He has shot it 7 times--2 practice shots and one ten pointer that was down for the count got a finishing shot in the neck. 4 big game animals. I think his count would have been the same with the .243.

A 100 Sierra at 2900 fps or so will be all you need for a 150 pound deer. Don't worry about using a tough bullet, whitetails are not elk.

For the smaller to medium calibers I really like the Accubond bullet.

If you shoot at stationary deer at sane ranges at sane angles then an 85-90gr bullet will do very well too. My own favourite is the 90gr BT - with a 150lb deer you will find it under the skin on the opposite shoulder or exited. This October I shot 9 fallow up to this weight with this bullet at 2,950fps (the lowest legal velocity for this weight bullet to attain 1700ftlbs) Others to consider are the 85gr speer BTSP (very good BC) the 85gr sierra gameking BTHP (excellent terminal effect) and the 87gr Hornady SP (no interlock) I've killed this weight class deer with all of them reliably.

I absolutely love the 243 (or 6mm rem) with this weight of bullet.

I have shot a .243 for years, but mostly on coyotes. I once shot a large mulie buck in thick cover with a 100 grain Hornady. The bullet did not penetrate completely through the chest although the deer was less than 100 yards. He was bleeding out of a 6mm hole. That made me somewhat nervous although, we did get the deer. What I have found in my rifles is that Hornady Spire points and Nosler partitions hit virtually the same POI. If you are determined to shoot deer with the .243, try sighting in with the standard bullets and see if the Noslers hit the same. If they do, use the standards for range and varmints and use the premiums for a little insurance when hunting. I am going to try the 87 grain Hornadys vs the 85 grain Partitions just to see what happens. A friend of mine has always had exceptional results with the Barnes X also, but it is not a bullet you want to buy by the 1000s!

I've used or seen used 85 gr Speer btsp , 95 gr Nos. bt , and 95 gr Hornaday SST with very good results. My experience with the 100 gr Hornaday spitzers was they seemed a tad stiff from short barreled 243s........

I met an old trapper in Montana one time that shot a very large mule deer buck with his .243 at a lazered 539 yards. He shot him through the heart with-if I remember right-a 90 grain Speer. At that range you would not get explosive behavior from the bullet and I am sure the penetration was good. He was using a Shepherd range finder scope. Man those things are awesome! I shot his 22-250 that also had one on it and it was phenomenal.

To sbhooper's point I am a little worried about penetration as well, but I want to hunt with the gun as it is very accurate, light, and easy to shoot...a classic! I may just buy a box of Nosler's as well but I was hoping that there was something in between a Sierra 100 grain pro hunter and a Nosler in terms of ruggedness.

Been shooting, wives have shot (yeah, 2), kids have shot, and grandkids have shot .243 for deer and antelope. For a slightly tougher bullet, the 100gr Hornady flatbase and the 105gr Speer Hot-Cores seemed to provide that. I do prefer the Nosler partitions, but I'm always a little conservative on game animals. By that, I mean I want 100% penetration most of the time...just in case the shot is a little off.

Try the new Barnes TSX bullets in your guns. I have not shot any in the .243, but I have used the regular X bullets in a 7 mag. The Barnes in the 85 grain range will outperform the 100 grain standards.

The Hornady is excellent

You are right to be leery of the .243.
Under good conditions the Hornady 100 grain bullet works well.
The problem with a .243 (and a 6MM Remington)is it is easy hit with past it's effective range. At longer ranges a tougher bullet just pencils through.

I've killed several with 100gr Remington Corelocks . These bullets seem to hold together very well and shoot good too .However, do not use the 80 gr Rem corelocks as they do not give good penatration . I have killed one small WT deer with them . He was very close and I got a surface blowout and had to shoot the deer twice .I like a good humane kill and I shouldn't have been using the 80's .

I have killed several wt deer, and my wife killed several wt deer, antelope and a few mule deer with a 243.
We always used either the Sierra 100gr or the 95 gr Nosler Partition. Both with perfect results.
For bigger deer and raking shots i prefer the Nosler Partition.