243 bullet for youth deer

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Form, had to bring you out of the shadows. Hadn't seen you post in a while.

Pictures you shared show dead animals. However I don't see any internal damage pictures with the mono's, did I miss them? Every one I've opened up after the mono has done its job has lungs and/or heart shredded and tattered (i.e destroyed) and made nonfunctional.

Loss of the animal's life is the devastation we are both after, and we both get.
 
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kkp005

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Jan 4, 2021
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The Fusions do well. However, for normal range hunting, the 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip might be the best performing 6mm on the market.
Form, so for less than 400yds you like the 95gr NBT the best ?
I’ve recently picked up a 6creed and trying to figure out what the best deer and hog bullet would be. I’ve got 95gr NBT’s, 108gr eld-m and some 105gr Berger hybrids. I recently shot a decent boar with the bergers and it flopped him right there. I’ve been trying to also find some 95 TMK’s but haven’t had any luck.
 

Formidilosus

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Form, so for less than 400yds you like the 95gr NBT the best ?
I’ve recently picked up a 6creed and trying to figure out what the best deer and hog bullet would be. I’ve got 95gr NBT’s, 108gr eld-m and some 105gr Berger hybrids. I recently shot a decent boar with the bergers and it flopped him right there. I’ve been trying to also find some 95 TMK’s but haven’t had any luck.

It depends on what kind of bullet performance you prefer. All of those you listed will kill without issue. The 95gr NBT is a good mix of expansion and penetration.
 

Anschutz

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Only bullet I've shot deer with out of the .243 is the 100gr Winchester PP. Never had a deer go more than 30 yards with some bang flops on high shoulder shots. I was a kid using what my dad bought me to use. I've recently picked up some 85gr TSX and 90gr Accubonds to try out.


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Rich M

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.243 is not known for DRT performance. At least not anyone ive known.

My dad shot small buck, front on and we found the bullet in the opposite ham. The ribcage was blown out along one side and the shoulder bruised by the ribs exploding i guess. Nosler partition at about 2950 fps, 125 yards.

Ive had great success w sub-100 yard DRT kills with 357 magnum rifle and 158 gr hornady xtp fp bullet. 1 deer ran but good blood trail, the other 14 or so DRT. Its an amazing combination and we debate over who is gonna use it.

350 Legend has been 50/50 for me. 1 DRT, 1 fell and got moving again. Good blood trail. 165 gr ftx bullet reload.
 

Anschutz

Lil-Rokslider
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.243 is not known for DRT performance. At least not anyone ive known.

My dad shot small buck, front on and we found the bullet in the opposite ham. The ribcage was blown out along one side and the shoulder bruised by the ribs exploding i guess. Nosler partition at about 2950 fps, 125 yards.

Ive had great success w sub-100 yard DRT kills with 357 magnum rifle and 158 gr hornady xtp fp bullet. 1 deer ran but good blood trail, the other 14 or so DRT. Its an amazing combination and we debate over who is gonna use it.

350 Legend has been 50/50 for me. 1 DRT, 1 fell and got moving again. Good blood trail. 165 gr ftx bullet reload.
I've had 4 DRT with the 243 of probably 7 or 8. The rest have run a max of 40 yards. It's all about placement in the end.

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CMF

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I stepped my kids up to a 270 with 120gr hornady lite recoil, then to 130s cause I couldn’t find the 120s. We haven’t had luck with blood on 243 shots either.
 

Rich M

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I've had 4 DRT with the 243 of probably 7 or 8. The rest have run a max of 40 yards. It's all about placement in the end.

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Agree.

The .243 doesn't leave a lot of room for error and often ends up with a lost animal for less than experienced shooters. It is a common trend. The kids who shoot all the time kill with precision, the ones who don't ultimately lose some deer.
 

vonb

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Sierra 85 gr HPBT. I’ve had better luck with this bullet than any other in the .243.
 
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Used 95 nosler bt on 1 deer this year. Was about 75 yards, behind shoulder a couple inches.
Bullet exited after destroying the insides of that deer. Damage was similar to what I have seen with close range soft 130 grn bullets in 270win.
 
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The DRT concept is hard without a paralyzing shot (shoulder, spinal cord, etc). I used to encourage my son to aim at the shoulder. Worked great on his first one and dropped it right in his tracks. However you have very little room for error if you are a little far forward or low. My dad always told me as a kid to aim right behind the shoulder with my 243. I always killed deer with it. Punch a hole in the heart or lungs with a ballistic tip, and it’s going to be a short tracking job with a lot of blood.
 
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95 grain sst is the only bullet I’ll shoot in 243 at deer until I can’t find them anymore. Absolutely devastating damage.
I love them too. I use them in my TC Venture for pronghorn and deer from time to time (when not using 100gr Speer BTSP). Love them. People give up on them because they find the jacket in the animal. Well, it performed the way its supposed to, but for some reason people standing over the animal they just killed with the SST think that jacket is a sign of bullet failure. I dont get it.

Here's an exit from my buddies pronghorn this year from the 95gr SST.
 

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CBB1

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As a follow up to this, we have been shooting the Hornady 95gr SST this season. We have had good performance on the two he has shot. They definitely upset more than the federal soft point we have been shooting. Both deer have run about 50 yards but their chest cavities were mush.


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bmart2622

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Deer are easy to kill, dont over think it too much. Growing up as a kid and now my kids have shot a pile of deer with a 243 shooting bullets ranging from handloaded Nosler bullets to the cheapest Winchester and Remington factory ammo out there with ZERO difference in terminal performance
 

RAG2Scott

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I have found my .243 loves Federal box blue box soft point 100gr Fed, near match grade accuracy out to 200 yards. This has been my go to bullet for cull deer, both neck shots and just behind the shoulder. This year I experienced two times where the bullet zoomed through with no expansion resulting in lots of hard tracking (one not recovered as it sailed over fence rows into private property for until I lost sight). Both deer were shot at 75ish yards.

Was about to write these bullets off completely but I have a ton of rounds and figured after a decade of no problems they deserved a strike three. No problems since those two on subsequent deer and pigs... sometimes bullets do weird things.

I also shoot the same ammo in my .308 and had zero problems.

I have learned a lot experimenting with regular factory loads at the range and it's interesting to see how one gun performs so differently with different ammo.
 

Laramie

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The .243 is a great deer cartridge for kids shooting under 100 yards
Lol... so beyond 100 yards they need something bigger?

The .243 with good factory loads is very capable on deer sized game well beyond 300 yards.
 
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