the best 243 win bullet

[jeffpenland123]

so i am wanting to know the best 243 win ammo for deer hunting i shot 2 deer at about 100 each with the horandy superformance 95 grain sst and first deer no blood second deer three drops and no more. i shot some remington corelokt 80 grain and they didnt group good so i am gonna try some fedral powershock 100 grain but i want to know the best bullet for blood on deer 100 hundred yard shot i can not have them run no more than 250 yards. also do you think a 300 weatherby mag is too much for deer with a 180 grain accubond because i asked in a diffrent thread the best bullet out of that 180 grn to 200 grn projectoille range and people was like why do you need such a big gun on deer at 100-150 yards and i explained to them about the 243 and what happend to me and my bad experince. also i kinda think its personell perfernce because my brother shot a deer with a 30-30 and it wasted more meat with a 150 grain bullet than my 300 weatherby wit a 180 gr accubond.

 

[flathead#2]

.243 is fine but I'd shoot 100gr. non polymer tipped bullets..
Fusions, Interlocks, Partitions, etc.....

 

[Drenalin]

The bullets matter a lot more than the cartridge. 243 is darn near perfect for dear, and Fusions would be the easy button for bullet choice.

I don't know if I understand exactly what you're going for - you don't want runners, but you do want to select a bullet based on it providing a good blood trail? In any case, the Fusion will serve you well if you put it in the lungs.

 

[Lou (Louis)]

The bullets matter a lot more than the cartridge. 243 is darn near perfect for dear, and Fusions would be the easy button for bullet choice.

I don't know if I understand exactly what you're going for - you don't want runners, but you do want to select a bullet based on it providing a good blood trail? In any case, the Fusion will serve you well if you put it in the lungs.

Agree with your assessment of the .243.

 

[blkqi]

The answer will depend strongly on the twist of your barrel.

 

[mtwarden]

When I asked on this thread- 90 gr Nosler Accubond, 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip (both Winchester and Federal use this bullet in their lineups) and 100 gr Partition floated up.

6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

All I load in my .243 are 100gr. Interlocks and Partitions. They just work.

rokslide.com

Supposedly the guy at Nosler that came up with the 95 gr ballistic tip did it with elk in mind and reputedly killed a half dozen elk with that round.

My .243 is 1:10 and with the stability calculator, all those are a go @ ~ 2900 fps.

My plan is to get a couple of boxes each and see if one shoots noticeably better than the other two, if not then it might be a coin toss

BTW I'm not hand loading, so very possible there are other viable bullets/loads to consider as well, but from what I've read that's a good start.

 

[TaperPin]

The 90 gr and 100 gr partition has racked up a football coliseum full of critters. Elk will run quite a ways, but deer and antelope don’t go far. I’m sure the Accubond is just as good.

 

[sierracharlie338]

105 Amax if you can spin it, too bad they don’t make them anymore….

 

[Andrewlonghi]

Remington core lokt 100gr can't go wrong

 

[t_carlson]

95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip is THE bullet for a .243

 

[jeffpenland123]

The bullets matter a lot more than the cartridge. 243 is darn near perfect for dear, and Fusions would be the easy button for bullet choice.

I don't know if I understand exactly what you're going for - you don't want runners, but you do want to select a bullet based on it providing a good blood trail? In any case, the Fusion will serve you well if you put it in the lungs.

i do not care if it runs 250 yards but i want a good blood trail

 

[EdP]

I have had great success with 100 gr Sierra Gamekings. Partitions and Accubonds are great bullets but I don't think they are needed for most whitetail hunting and are twice the cost of Gamekings.

A .300 Weatherby Mag for deer will certainly be effective but meat loss will be significant. It is overkill. I would not do it but that is a personal choice.

 

[kkp005]

95gr nosler ballistic tip
Or 95 gr federal fusion

 

[Highvoltage1]

85 gr Sierra is what everyone loads around here. Best wishes

 

[EmperorMA]

95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip is THE bullet for a .243

This. ^^^^^^

 

[Oregonmuley]

95gr nosler ballistic tip
Or 95 gr federal fusion

I've had really good luck with both of those especially the 95 grain Fusion ammo. I've killed several truckloads of antelope and plenty of mule deer with it

 

[ssimo]

It depends on what younare looking for. Thougher bullet gives you more margin with quartering shots, when you have to pierce a shoulder blade. You will have runners with traditional shots (usually not more than 50 yards with a good shot) but there should be a decent blood trail to follow. With more fragile bullets you will have much more chances of an instant drop but, especially with lighter projectiles at high velocities, you risk an early fragmentation with less than ideal performaces and, with quartering shots on big animals, often you won't see a pass through. More fragile bullets expands at lower velocities for long distance shots. Pros and cons. Some bullets are halfway between those two archetypes.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

Fusion does great on deer size animals. Bad medicine when you put them through a hog’s ear also.

 

[jeffpenland123]

The answer will depend strongly on the twist of your barrel.

it a 1:9

 

[jeffpenland123]

I have had great success with 100 gr Sierra Gamekings. Partitions and Accubonds are great bullets but I don't think they are needed for most whitetail hunting and are twice the cost of Gamekings.

A .300 Weatherby Mag for deer will certainly be effective but meat loss will be significant. It is overkill. I would not do it but that is a personal choice.

thanks for the info about the 243 bullets. i cerintaly think there is some truth to a 300 weatherby mag losing meat but with my experince i had about as much meat loss as the deer my brother shot with a 30-30 i shot a doe at 120 with my 300 with a 180 grn nosler accubond and a little bit of the exit side shoulder was gone and a few ribs and then the last day my brother shot a deer with a 30-30 150 grn corelokt and there was 3 or four ribs missing and no exit side shoulder and my was a direct entrance side shoulder hit and his was to but it is defiently opinion people have there opinion i have mine thanks for sharing yours. god bless.