the best 243 win bullet

[Q_Sertorius]

I've searched and found some conflicting opinions, especially many years ago now before Nosler changed the way they made at least some of their Ballistic Tips. Is there any discernable difference between the 90gr and the 95gr today? It seems the 95gr is much more popular when talking about reloading, but the 90gr Ballistic Tip factory Nosler ammo is much more common, at least right now. I just ordered a case of the Nosler 90gr factory loaded ammo even though I have a ton of the 95gr to load because at well under $30 a box, it seemed like a no-brainer. Anyone have any relatively recent comparisons of the two? They will be used in various 10 twist barrels, so I thought the 90gr may have an even better chance of stabilizing well.

The 95-grain NBT does just fine in any 1:10” twist barrel I have seen. With no disrespect to the 95-TMK, I think the 95-NBT is *the bullet* for a 1:10” twist barrel. I’ve read that it was optimized for it. But, I have no firsthand experience with the 90-NBT.

 

[Rich M]

Their “issues” are deer dropping dead within 40 yards without leaving blood trails.

Cmon down and hunt with me. You cant see a cop car w the lights on at 40 yards.

The older bullets and shoulder shots have led many people on very long blood trails. 243 and 223 were very much undergunned a short time back in history. Most folks who shot 243 would upgrade as soon as they could.

 

[Rich M]

@jeffpenland123

There are some good bullets out there but you are not gonna get much blood out of a .243 hole unless it is low in the chest cavity.

A 350L throws a heavy bullet and will work well at 100 yds. Plenty of blood. Shoulder shoot em if you want drt. Slower expanding bullet will have exit hole - stay away from winchester 150 deer bullet.

If you are real sensitive, 357 mag rifle is good to 100 yds. A soft point might give 2 holes.

 

[Ozarkansas]

Cmon down and hunt with me. You cant see a cop car w the lights on at 40 yards.

The older bullets and shoulder shots have led many people on very long blood trails. 243 and 223 were very much undergunned a short time back in history. Most folks who shot 243 would upgrade as soon as they could.

I also hunt thick country, but I don’t find the .243 to be too small at all. I’ve yet to see a .243 bullet fail to make it through both sides of the rib cage of any animal I’ve shot with it, including on shoulder shots.

I’ve also yet to recover a .243 partition, they have always left me with short, easy blood trails. That’s a bullet design that’s old enough to be my grandpa, so it’s not like “new bullets” are the reason I’ve been successful with it.

Granted I use a 6.5x55 now for most of my deer but only because it’s a cooler caliber.

 

[onlybrowning]

The 95-grain NBT does just fine in any 1:10” twist barrel I have seen. With no disrespect to the 95-TMK, I think the 95-NBT is *the bullet* for a 1:10” twist barrel. I’ve read that it was optimized for it. But, I have no firsthand experience with the 90-NBT.

I have a ton of the 95gr Ballistic Tips to reload, but like I said the 90's were cheap as loaded ammo so I jumped on it. I was able to find one example sharing a cross section of both, and they look the same to me, other than the 90gr being a touch shorter. My guess is they are simply "more" stable in a 10 twist, which is good news for me, until they are gone and I switch to the 95's with hand loads.

 

[Rich M]

I also hunt thick country, but I don’t find the .243 to be too small at all. I’ve yet to see a .243 bullet fail to make it through both sides of the rib cage of any animal I’ve shot with it, including on shoulder shots.

I’ve also yet to recover a .243 partition, they have always left me with short, easy blood trails. That’s a bullet design that’s old enough to be my grandpa, so it’s not like “new bullets” are the reason I’ve been successful with it.

Granted I use a 6.5x55 now for most of my deer but only because it’s a cooler caliber.

touché

Partition is the king of all bullets when it comes to having smack power & penetration.

Been in several hunt camps and folks and their kids were always losing deer to 243. Just not as much fun on a Saturday night crawling around in the vines and thorns looking for someone's buck when you could be eating BBQ and laughing around the fire. Anyway, everyone who used a 243 would do so until they lost a big buck and switch over to 270. Then the deer are suddenly DRT. Last time I crawled in the vines was about 2017 - 1/2 way decent buck had crawled under a pile of vines and I was literally going blood drop to blood drop and saw a hoof... Still have the memories of all those. Typically after losing a buck or two, folks would upgrade the fire power. We tracked for 243 but not 30-06, 270, 35 rem, etc. What's a guy supposed to think about 243?

That said I currently shoot 243 (RAR G2 Predator w T96 scope on it) and have 2 bucks w 243. This year will be buck #3. Shooting 100 gr NPs.

 

[onlybrowning]

touché

Partition is the king of all bullets when it comes to having smack power & penetration.

Been in several hunt camps and folks and their kids were always losing deer to 243. Just not as much fun on a Saturday night crawling around in the vines and thorns looking for someone's buck when you could be eating BBQ and laughing around the fire. Anyway, everyone who used a 243 would do so until they lost a big buck and switch over to 270. Then the deer are suddenly DRT. Last time I crawled in the vines was about 2017 - 1/2 way decent buck had crawled under a pile of vines and I was literally going blood drop to blood drop and saw a hoof... Still have the memories of all those. Typically after losing a buck or two, folks would upgrade the fire power. We tracked for 243 but not 30-06, 270, 35 rem, etc. What's a guy supposed to think about 243?

That said I currently shoot 243 (RAR G2 Predator w T96 scope on it) and have 2 bucks w 243. This year will be buck #3. Shooting 100 gr NPs.

Not saying for sure it’s the case here, but I suspect there is a correlation between new, often young, inexperienced hunters using .243’s and having poor results. It’s a common “kids” caliber.

 

[Ozarkansas]

touché

Partition is the king of all bullets when it comes to having smack power & penetration.

Been in several hunt camps and folks and their kids were always losing deer to 243. Just not as much fun on a Saturday night crawling around in the vines and thorns looking for someone's buck when you could be eating BBQ and laughing around the fire. Anyway, everyone who used a 243 would do so until they lost a big buck and switch over to 270. Then the deer are suddenly DRT. Last time I crawled in the vines was about 2017 - 1/2 way decent buck had crawled under a pile of vines and I was literally going blood drop to blood drop and saw a hoof... Still have the memories of all those. Typically after losing a buck or two, folks would upgrade the fire power. We tracked for 243 but not 30-06, 270, 35 rem, etc. What's a guy supposed to think about 243?

That said I currently shoot 243 (RAR G2 Predator w T96 scope on it) and have 2 bucks w 243. This year will be buck #3. Shooting 100 gr NPs.

I can only speak from my own deer camp experience, but as a kid I used a .243, my dad used a 6mm, my uncle a .244 or 22-250, my brother a .270, my friend a 30-06 (I think he went with some kind of magnum later), and his dad a 7mm RM. the dudes losing deer or needing help tracking were always my friend and his dad.

I’ll admit to a couple of deer with no blood trails before I switched to partitions but we always found them pretty quickly since they didn't run far. With partitions though I was absolutely blowing through deer, getting good blood trails, but usually dropping them on the spot.