95 grain partition
Sierra bullets will kill just as well for about half the price at 100gr. They make a soft point spitzer (I think under the Pro Hunter label) and an SBT with a thicker jacket.
I know there’s a lot of doubt around the .243 but i love my savage .243 because it’s boringly accurate and fun to shoot. I’ve shot everything through it and it’s crazy accurate, but it prefers hornady ammo more than anything. So i hunt with hornady products out of confidence. I’ve used 100gr interlocks and 95gr SST’s. Both work, but i have a slight preference for the SST and the reason being is i know it’s gonna hit where I’m aiming. You get a good shot angle and tuck an SST behind the shoulder and the deer aren’t moving far. Everything in the path of the sst is jelly. Only negative is if you hit shoulder it causes pretty severe meat damage, but it’s a dead deer regardless. I got a box of the 90 grain eld-x I’m going to try out this year. But first i got a new to me marlin 30-30 i got to get a notch in its belt first.
I've seen well over a hundred whitetail killed with factory 243 ammo.
Nothing better than the Power Max bonded. Expands well and if you need to trail the deer, Ray Charles could follow the blood.
I have been very happy with the NBT 90 grain on deer. One of the best blood trails I have ever seem came from that round, even though I watched the deer go down and didn't have to track it. I know they hold together well too because I have used them as close as 8 yds, but they aren't screaming out of the muzzle either (2880 fps).
My biggest problem related directly to the rifle (H&R Handi Rifle) and not to the bullets, but the NBT was the first one that I could get a decent group with. The SST 95 grain was consistently the worst group at 100 yds being 6-8 inches with multiple powders. Factory Remington CoreLokts were generally grouping around 4 inches. I was really frustrated with everything I tried because I know those bullets are game getters, but my rifle apparently has very particular tastes. The NBT shoots under an inch for me and has always put animals down cleanly.