No love for the .243?

[vonb]

I like two holes. One in and one out. Where I hunt, if a deer runs 20 yards with no blood trail, there’s a good chance it may not be recovered.

With that said, the Nosler 95 ballistic tip, Sierra 85 gr HPBT and Speer 100 gr HPBTs were spotty on pass troughs. Is there a decent cup and core that can stay together and have a high probability of passing through? If I can find that, I’ll use the .243 more. That’s where the .308 and .30-06 have been more reliable for me.

 

[KenLee]

Cheap Hornady Whitetail 100 gr or the discontinued Winchester Power Max bonded.
Only deer of 30 without an exit with Power Max was shot in chest and bullet was under hide in ham.

 

[mcseal2]

Kills me to hear people say they want more gun, just in case they have to take a poor angle shot. An unethical shot. Are you going to starve if you don't kill that one and only animal ? I highly doubt it. It's obviously the risk for the rack syndrome.

What shots are considered ethical? I never considered a quartering shot to be unethical.

 

[mcseal2]

I like two holes. One in and one out. Where I hunt, if a deer runs 20 yards with no blood trail, there’s a good chance it may not be recovered.

With that said, the Nosler 95 ballistic tip, Sierra 85 gr HPBT and Speer 100 gr HPBTs were spotty on pass troughs. Is there a decent cup and core that can stay together and have a high probability of passing through? If I can find that, I’ll use the .243 more. That’s where the .308 and .30-06 have been more reliable for me.

If you are ok with using a bonded bullet, the 90gr Accubond or Sirocco always worked well for me. My wife has used the 85 gr Partition with similar results. I used 100gr Sierra Gamekings in my 6mm for a while and they passed through most times. It was a little faster, they were moving 3150 at the muzzle. That would probably be my next choice behind those mentioned earlier.

 

[KenLee]

What shots are considered ethical? I never considered a quartering shot to be unethical.

When in doubt, Ima send it. 50 yrs in and always find em.

 

[Wildhorse]

Big caliber with good splatter bullets actually will often make up for a pretty shitty shot.

Ruins a lot of meat as well might not seem like a big deal to guys back east that shoot 7 deer a year but to guys out west like I am we get one deer and we have plenty of woods around where I'm from that you will lose yourself without a blood trail the 243 worked fine for my father for over 40 years dropping plenty of blacktail and elk almost one each every year unless the families freezer was still full from the year before never heard or seen where he lost an animal he shot used bonded bullets couldnt tell you what kind but it was factory ammo refused and cussed the newer "splatter" bullets as all they do is ruin meat would always say if you need a bullet to splatter and a bigger gun you should spend more time at the range making sure you can shoot. His biggest pet peeve was the guys who pull a gun out opening day and go hunt and never spend more than a day or two the rest of the year with that rifle. Personally I say to each his own but I dont believe in trying to justify being a lousy shot by having a bigger rifle which is what I see happen most of the time it's been proven time and time again shot placement is the most important factor.

 

[KenLee]

Ruins a lot of meat as well might not seem like a big deal to guys back east that shoot 7 deer a year but to guys out west like I am we get one deer and we have plenty of woods around where I'm from that you will lose yourself without a blood trail the 243 worked fine for my father for over 40 years dropping plenty of blacktail and elk almost one each every year unless the families freezer was still full from the year before never heard or seen where he lost an animal he shot used bonded bullets couldnt tell you what kind but it was factory ammo refused and cussed the newer "splatter" bullets as all they do is ruin meat would always say if you need a bullet to splatter and a bigger gun you should spend more time at the range making sure you can shoot. His biggest pet peeve was the guys who pull a gun out opening day and go hunt and never spend more than a day or two the rest of the year with that rifle. Personally I say to each his own but I dont believe in trying to justify being a lousy shot by having a bigger rifle which is what I see happen most of the time it's been proven time and time again shot placement is the most important factor.

Range time doesn’t help my issue much. Inherited essential tremors from my Mama at age 40. I used to be a helluva shot, but not so much the last 15 years. I'm still hunting every chance I get though.

Essential tremor - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

 

[StupidLightweight]

Hunters are either hot or cold on the 243. Some love it; others hate it. This puzzles me, because I can recall killing big-game with the 223, 243, 6mm CM, 250-3000, 25-06, 257 Weatherby, 6.5 Grendel, 260, 6.5 CM, 6.5 PRC, 7x57, 280 AI, 7mm Rem. Mag., 300 BLK, 308 Win., 30-06, 300 Win. Mag, 338 Weatherby RPM, and 338 Win. Mag. Without question, the quickest deaths came from the 243 Win. using non-premium bullets from 85 to 95 grains. Second to that would be the 6.5 PRC with Hornady 147-gr. ELD M. Inside 200 yards, most animals don't take a step when hit by the 243.