6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

[amassi]

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.


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[pathnz]

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]

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?

 

[SloppyJ]

95 BTs, 108 ELDMs, and 108 Berger EHs loaded and ready for some whitetail testing out of my 18" barrel. Thanks for the inspiration. Pics to come after I decide which to start with.

 

[WCB]

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]

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.

 

[Ranchhunter]

I put together a 6 arc for my 13 yr old daughter. Howa mini barreled action, stockys vg mini. Scythe ti. I want to cut it to 18 but didn’t have time before season. She loves it. It’s about 7 lbs. she has been hunting with a 14.5 ar last 2 years so it’s an upgrade for sure. She drew blood with it on the 2 day youth hunt. I didn’t get any pictures of the damage. 240yds 2275 impact velocity. Factory 108eldm.
When I reached up in his chest the heart was in 2 pieces just loose in there.
This is all thanks to this thread and the.223 thread

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[MallardSX2]

I'd encourage you to try some different bullets first. What's the twist rate on that rifle?

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


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It's a Ruger American and it is a 1:9 twist. The gun is a tack driver with the bullets. Th other part of this whole decision is that the rifle is a piece of crap IMHO (due to its ridiculous bolt design) and it's time to move on. So, I am killing 2 birds with one stone here. We had a misfire this year that took forever to troubleshoot and when I discovered what caused it, I decided IMMEDIATLEY that it was time to sell the rifle and move on. She may never recover from that misfire on that buck. Luckily, I was right there and corrected the issue and she was able to make it happen, but it really was a terrible situation.

You can read all about that issue here if you want....: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/16512911/ruger-american-misfire

FYI, over the last 30 years I/we have had limited or non-existent blood trails with .243's using cor-loks, Winchester ammo, federal ammo and Hornady ammo. Several of the deer went a long way even after having great shot placements made. Thats why I say that IMHO a .243 just isn't a good fit for deer in the terrain I hunt. I am not hunting wide open plains....

To each their own but IMHO the .243 just isn't my first choice (or my 77th) for deer hunting. Seen a lot of deer go unrecovered by people using them.

It's a personal decision.