6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

amassi

WKR
Joined
May 26, 2018
Messages
3,816
Kid shot a deer with her .243 a couple weeks ago.

Hornady BTSP Interlocks 100 grains.

Recvovered the bullet and it was 53 grains.

Dead is dead I guess, but I wasn't impressed with the blood trail. But I never am with a .243 which is why I don't like it as a big game cartridge.

Getting her a 308 setup for next year for sure. I knew better than to have her shooting a woodchuck gun.....

If you’re willing and reload I’ll send you a box of 95 gr ballistic tips to try first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

pathnz

FNG
Joined
Apr 10, 2024
Messages
13
Call the tech phone number, not the sales department. That’s who hooked me up. He took down the order but didn’t do any paperwork, said it helps them gauge the demand.

Well, yes and no. I’m gonna keep pushing. There’s one employee who’s on board, said they’re going to have a conversation about it and soon. But we’ll see. I kept it realistic, pointing to market demand over the last decade and harping on what Hornady has done. I knew if I pressed for bullets that required 6 or 7” twist rates then it would fall on deaf ears. So I harped on the success of Creedmoor/PRC/ARC lines, kept it narrowly tailored to the 140 or 142 MatchKing in 6.5mm and the 107 MatchKing in 6mm. Told them if they announced TMK versions of those and took pre-orders they’d be very surprised by the acceptance.
He admitted that they had done a run of 107 TMK before, but didn’t release it. That was the tidbit that got me up on my soapbox.

**** yes we need a 105-110 TMK in 6mm
 

eric1115

WKR
Joined
Jun 26, 2018
Messages
777
Kid shot a deer with her .243 a couple weeks ago.

Hornady BTSP Interlocks 100 grains.

Recvovered the bullet and it was 53 grains.

Dead is dead I guess, but I wasn't impressed with the blood trail. But I never am with a .243 which is why I don't like it as a big game cartridge.

Getting her a 308 setup for next year for sure. I knew better than to have her shooting a woodchuck gun.....
I'd encourage you to try some different bullets first. What's the twist rate on that rifle?
 

WCB

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2019
Messages
3,626
I have a question for you guys on elk anatomy. With the elk I shot a couple posts back, I thought I had completely missed the lungs and maybe but probably missed the liver and only hit the guts.

However, he died within 40 yards and 45 minutes. The bullet entered between the 3rd and 4th last ribs, either broadside or very very slight quartering away. When I accidentally punctured the stomach muscle when quartering, thick, chunky dark blood poured out more than anything. When I did some extremely brief looking inside after finishing, I didn't see obvious damage to the lungs or liver, but they were both much much smaller than they should have been.

However, looking at anatomy pictures, the liver and rear of the lungs are right behind the 3rd and 4th last ribs.

So given all of that, does it make sense that I actually did hit some liver and lungs and just didn't see it in my quick looking?
Liver.....you have to be really far back to hit just guts!
 

Solm

FNG
Joined
Mar 18, 2021
Messages
44
I think there is a much larger selection of 6mm bullets today. In days of old, when the .243 was a popular kids gun, the 100gr Cup&Core was popular. But at 3000+fps, you didn't get much penetration - but a lot of deer went in the freezer.
 
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