renfrowridge

The Ultimate Deer Cartridges - Best Caliber Rifle for Hunting Whitetail Deer -
Best Cartridge for Hunting White tail Deer[align=center][/align]



By Test: The Best Drop Whitetail deer Dead in their Tracks Deer Caliber, Cartridge, & Bullet Combinations.


In some relatively involved deer shooting testing the .243 Winchester and 6 mm Remington cartridges loaded with 85 grain Sierra GameKing Hollow Point Boat Tail bullets were as good as the best and better than the rest! This included rifles of all the major caliber's and cartridge/loads, including 7 mm magnums and 30 caliber magnum cartridges. See, September 1999, Vol. 5 No. 8, SHOOTERS NEWS, "THE ULTIMATE Deer Hunting Cartridge," by Bill Truitt. This Magazine for Hunters and Shooters is great reading.

I personally am in need of more proof, --as I am still concerned about bullet surface blow-up on deer at close range, nerve centers hits such as the spinal column from the head to the shoulders should drop them in their tracks, ---even at very close range. The new 100 grain Remington Core-Lokt Ultra or Nosler Partition will do the job. See the performance of the new ultra bullet at 25 yards.

243 Winchester 100 grain Remington Core-Lokt Ultra bullet performance - scans of bullet at 25 yard impact.
You can view those scans on other 243 ballistic pages.

The shock created by the explosive hydraulic shocking power of the higher velocity bullets is what generates the instant nerve shock paralyzes and therefore instant knockdown kills. Insufficient velocity or improperly constructed bullets that fail to produce the explosive expansion shock that is needed, won't get the job done.

If you don't hand load, Federal is loading Sierra's 85 grain HPBT for the .243 Winchester.

The Sierra Bullet Smiths sent me an email stating that my 243-06 wildcat had too much velocity with the 85 grain BTHP at ranges closer than 200 yards. Therefore, I have decided not to use that bullet in my 243-06 wildcat. I used the 100 grain Sierra BTSP during the 2000 deer season, and at 100 yards broke a running doe's neck, it was the only shot at deer that I got all season. I used the 100 grain Hornady Interlock #2450 this deer season and never got a shot at one all season. I had a lot of problems with the pickup this 2001 deer season and didn't hunt the way I should have, wait till next year!

The lightest bullet I use in my 243/06 is the 85 grain Sierra HPBT bullet for coyotes. I now prefer the 87 grain Hornady V-Max for coyotes, I want a bullet that will blowup when it hits the frozen ground.

A Sierra Rep. told me the 85 grain HPBT was very popular in the 243 Win. and the 6 mm Rem. on deer, but due to the higher velocity of my 243/06 I should only use it at 200 or more yards on deer. Therefore, I am using the heavier 100 grain bullets in my 243/06 Wildcat. This rifle has been perfect for me!.

I would love to hear your experiences with different load combinations especially in the .243 or 6 mm caliber, including wildcats.
Quick Kill Deer Cartridge Load Combinations for some of the larger diameter Caliber's
In the 7 mm & 7 mm Remington Magnums use the 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets for deer. Stay away from the 120 grain Sierra PSP, it won't expand rapidly enough. The 90 grain Sierra HP or 130 grain Nosler ballistic tips work well in the .270 Winchester.

The .257 Roberts and the .25/06 worked well with 75 grain Sierra bullets [varmint class bullet?] and Nosler's 85 grain Ballistic Tips and 90 grain Sierra Hollow Points. The 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip works well in the .264, 6.5x55 Swedish. [His testing, not mine!]

Let us hear from you!
What has your experience been?
Help us determine the actual terminal performance of specific bullets at various ranges on deer.

Rick Jamison writer for Petersen's Hunting Magazine, July 2002, p- 20, Guns & Loads Article Long Rangers, - http://www.huntingmag.com says in essence that for deer sized game you need a minimum of 1000 ft/lbs of energy and 2000 ft/sec velocity at the impact range for adequate bullet expansion. The bullet needs a sectional density between .215 to .265 and a high ballistic coefficient for long range shots. This is a great Hunting Magazine, I subscribe through the local school magazine drives.
---------------------------------

Whisky Chamberlain of Idaho took 15 consecutive big bull elk, all one shot kills, with a straight .243 Winchester.

Therefore, I believe with the right bullet and will placed and proper ranged shots the 243/06 Wildcat ought to be adequate on elk.

I don't want to buy a new larger caliber rifle just to go elk hunting once or twice in my remaining lifetime.
---------------

During an elk hunting trip in western Colorado in about 1985, I attended a retirement party for a Department of Wildlife officer. I questioned 25 of the attending DOW officers as to the cartridge with which they hunted elk. The .243 Winchester cartridge was used by twenty-two (88%) of them, two of them used the 30-06 cartridge (8%), and one used the .270 cartridge (4%). While three Wyoming Wildlife officers were checking my license, I asked them what cartridge they carry for hunting elk. ALL three replied that they shoot the .243 Winchester cartridge (100%) and said they shoot it for every type of big game animal in Wyoming.

Just thought you wanted to know these facts. I shoot the 375 H&H cartridge most of the time, and I don't own a .243 Win. However, this does support my opinion that any modern cartridge with a bore of .243 or more and has velocity of 2500 fps or more is sufficient for harvesting an elk which is standing broadside at a distance of 300 yards or less. (200 yds would be the outside limit to stay within the 2500 fps cut-off. I say 150 yds. would be my limit Darrell U)

Billy Mitchell - Posted in rec.hunting (newsgroup) on 09/23/03
------------------------------------
The following reply was posted by Ranch 13 on OutdoorsBest Forums 03/03/2004:

Couldn't agree more with the use enough gun theory. With nearly 50 years experience using the 243 Winchester on things from ground squirrels to moose I haven't ever noticed it not being enough gun.

You can look at the various ballistic tables I have on the Net and determine the approximate outer range limit your cartridge and selected bullet will be capable of killing a deer with a well placed shot.
If you can't put the bullet in the vital kill zone don't take the shot no matter how capable the cartridge you're using is at that range.
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Posted 06/21/00; Updated: 02/08/05

renfrowridge

Federal's .243 Win 100gr. Sierra SBT SPITZER BOAT TAIL - Wind Drift - Ballistic Coefficient - BC: .430; SD: .242 - Deer Rifle - Lead Chart




Range

910

50yds

100yds

150yds

200yds

250yds

300yds

350yds

400yds

450yds

500yds


Vel fps

2962mv

2848

2736

2628

2523

2418

2316

2221

2126

2034

1946


Energy Ft/lbs

1947

1802

1663

1533

1412

12989

1191

1096

1004

919

841


flight Time

of /sec

.05

.105

.160

.217

.276

.336

.399

.464

.530

.60


7½mph/11fps

hrt/lungs

½'

1'

1.8'

2½'

3'

3.7'

4.4'

x

x

x

10mph/14.66fps

lead/lungs

.74'

1.5'

2.4'

3.2'

4'

5'

5.9'

x

x

x



15mph/22fps

hrt/lungs

1'

2½'

3½'

5'

6'

7.4'

8.8'

x

x

x


25mph/36.66 fps

hrt/lungs

2'

4'

6'

8'

10'

x

x

x

x

x


30mph/44fps

hrt/lungs

2.2'

4.6'

7'

9.3'

12'

x

x

x
x

x


35mph51.33fps

hrt/lungs

2½'

5½'

8'

11'

x

x

x

x

x

x


Drift@10mph

90°angle

.2"

.7"

1.7"

3"

4.8"

7.1"

9.7"

13"

16.8"

21.1"


Drift@10mph

322323°angle

.14"

.5"

1.2"

2.1"

3.4"

5"

6.8"

9.1"

11.6"

15.2"


250yd zero

-1.5"

1"

2.6"

3"

2.2"

Zero

-3.7"

-8.9"

-16"

-25"

-36"


Range

372[color=#000099]373

50yds

100yds

150yds

200yds

250yds

300yds

350yds

400yds

450yds

500yds




All leads are in feet for your deer rifle or coyote rifle. There are many reasons why we should all improve our abilities to place shots in the kill zones on wounded running game such as deer, bear, elk, antelope, and other game including coyotes, etc. Being capable of anchoring wounded game on the run is a major plus. I have watched numerous easy close-in moving deer shots on TV hunting Dish satellite channels that were passed up and a trophy buck got away that could have been harvested. There should be moving deer and coyote targets at every rifle range. Close-up to 150 yards will be the limit for most shooter's. The shot must be safe; there are very few good opportunities for legitimate running shots!
Speaking of safe gun handling, this should be taught to everyone that handles a shotgun or rifle.
Whenever you raise the bolt handle straight-up move the safety to the safe position before you chamber the live round!
On a pump action shotgun or rifle, when the action is slide all the way back immediately set the safety!
A gun should never be loaded magazine or chamber unless you are in the immediate area of the game you are going to shoot.
For many reasons, you are much more apt to have an accidental resulting in shooting a person that is very near you in the field! Think about these scenarios! Wind drift: A 45-degree wind drift angle isn't half the drift of a 90º-angle, but is three-quarters the drift. It has around a 70% effect, even though the angle is only halfway between no drift effect and full drift effect. The drift effect is not proportional, due to the aerodynamic ballistics of a bullet in flight. Just remember that halfway between full and zero effect is nearly three-quarters the drift of 90-degrees. [/b]Memorize these aerodynamic ballistic realities. Multiply the [/b]90º figure by .7 for the 45 degree drift.[/b]
Rick Jamison says an (SD) Sectional Density of .140 is the minimum for coyotes, an a lower limit of .210-SD for deer! A 150-gr .308-Cal, SD is .225; 165-gr has a .248-SD. The construction of the bullet is most critical to terminal bullet performance. Don't buy Match purpose constructed bullets if you want ballistic tip performance on coyotes!
Sectional density is the same irrespective of bullet shape, here is a list of 6mm SD's: 70-gr .169; 75 .181; 80 .194; 87 .210; 90 .218; 95 .230; 100 .242. Here's the SD equation: SD is the ratio of bullet weight to the square of the bullets diameter.
Example: | .243 X's .243= .059049 (65-gr / 7000 grs per pound= .0092857 / .059049= .157-SD) Figure your own caliber/bullet SD.
The 6mm 55 grain Nosler bullet ( .133-SD) has a higher BC than the 55 grain bullet .224 bullet which has a higher .157-SD; the 60-gr .224 is .171-SD. I like my 243/06 wildcat for coyotes using the 87 grain V-Max bullet, SD .210, BC .400.
Rick Jamison writer for Petersen's Hunting Magazine, July 2002, p- 20, Guns & Loads Article Long Rangers, - http://www.huntingmag.com says in essence that for deer sized game you need a minimum of 1000 ft/lbs of energy and 2000 ft/sec velocity at the impact range for adequate bullet expansion. The bullet needs a sectional density between .210 to .265 and a high ballistic coefficient for long range shots. This is a great Hunting Magazine, I subscribe through the local school magazine drives.
You can look at the various ballistic tables I have on the Net and determine the approximate outer range limit your cartridge and selected bullet will be capable of killing a deer with a well placed shot. If you can't put the bullet in the vital kill zone don't take the shot no matter how capable the cartridge you're using is at that range.
Let me know how this NEW bullet performs: theRemington Premier Core-Lokt UltraAmmunition[View my test!]
The special bonded construction retains 90% of original weight and delivers controlled expansion "up to" 1.8 times the original diameter.


Side view - base- left side (25 yds 100 gr retained 84.8 gr new Core- Lokt Ultra 243 Win.) nose view
Serious performance from point blank range "out to 500 yards. "Forget about shooting deer at 500 yards with any bullet with a standard 243 Winchester cartridge, 400 yards is the limit, --follow Rick Jamison's advice in the paragraph above!
Cabelas.com will have the NEW .243 Winchester 100 grain cartridges available by the end of August 2003. I want to reload that bullet asap in my 243/06 Wildcat! Where can we get them, and when?
Lead from the heart/lung area. I rounded off the lead figures in feet, 100 yards is about the limit of most shooter's ability to make killing shots on running deer. Safety first, shooting at running game can be a lot more dangerous, make sure there are no hunters in the area and that there is adequate background to stop the bullet!
The leads beyond 150 yards are for illustration purposes only. Unless you have practiced on a moving target similar to a deer and are proficient enough to know you can make a clean kill shot, forget about running shots. Friendly running deer target shooting should be conducted on every shooting range, it's a blast. Six shooters shoot all day long on the Potosi, WI target the first Sunday in October.
Look up the link on this site. From a rest, lately 10/18/02, 300 yards appears far enough on standing deer. The new 95 grain Hornady SST bullet seems to group better in my .243/06 Wildcat than in my .243 Win.
In many southeastern states in the U.S., deer are hunted with trail hounds and running shots are the norm. Those Southeastern states include: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia. They post themselves at clearings where the hounds will push them through so they can get a quick shot at them in full flight! They use both rifles and shot guns with buckshot, quick shots in clearings at running deer is the rule. For clean kills the proper leads are required with both weapons. (This information is needed by a lot of deer hunters, so bear with me my friends.)
I got one shot during the entire 2000 Wisconsin deer season and dropped a nice doe running full throttle broadside at 100 yards. I admit, I lead from her head instead of from the heart/lung area, so the 100 grain Sierra BT/SP bullet broke her neck, she fell in a pile and never moved. I felt very comfortable and confident taking the shot in an open field, --had I passed that running shot up my entire deer hunting season would have been a total wipe out. It is always better to over lead and miss than to under lead!
Position yourself instantly in relationship to the direction the game is running. Find a rest to shoot from ahead of time or drop to one knee if you can, or sit down if possible. You need to be in as stable a shooting position as possible but that allows you a smooth swing ahead of the big game. Since I usually shoot right handed I have more stability with my left side facing the path of the deer or coyote. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet and do the swinging by slowly pivoting your entire body while keeping the horizontal cross-hairs level as the vertical reticule maintains the desired lead for an instant when you squeeze the trigger and follow through with your eyes and body after the shot.
Always swing through from behind the game so you will be following any vertical angle of ascent or descent of the moving target.
We need running deer and coyote targets on most of our rifle ranges to foster some friendly competition. Back around the late 1950's and early 1960's they rigged up a pretty good running deer target near Glen Haven, WI. I loved those competitive events, --we need more of them today! The winner of each group 6 shooter's got (I believe) a frozen turkey or turkey breast.
This is the way they set it up at Potosi, WI. I had not shot my rifles for 28 odd years as I was working in a couple of cities and left my rifles back on the farm which was many hundreds of miles away. I shot the last ground offhand with my 243 and an old K4 weaver scope on it and scored a 2 inch hit at 9 o'clock from the center of the bulls-eye on the deer, which won that 6 shooter round by a good margin. They had some great shooters and they keep blazing away at the running deer target all day long. They only hold that shoot once a year and it is the first Sunday of of October. There was one big fellow shooting a 416 mag all day long and scoring well with it too! I'll stick with my 243 Winchester.
In this age of technology advancements we need to have moving targets at every rifle range! Lets get it done, some commercial enterprise could make a ton of money designing and selling workable moving rifle target systems.
MOA is .25" per click at 100 yards, with the inches per click at various yardage's shown on the row below Range in yards. Animals at 300 yards or more will usually give you time to zero at those yardage's. You have to decide at what yardage you feel you need to adjust for drop or windage. If you see any errors on my chart, let me know!
An Illuminated Mil Dot reticule is the best for accurate judging of ranges and providing hold on increments with which to adjust for drop and windage without using manual clicks. These scopes should greatly improve your ultra long range scoring abilities and facilitate dawn and dusk hits on coyotes and other varmints.
All I have at present are 3 old scopes: K4; K6, and a K10 Weaver scopes with plain rather fine crosshairs. I need to find out how much area these crosshairs cover at extended yardage's. If you know, e-mail me, otherwise I will have to find out for myself as it could help me determine the range on coyotes, deer, etc.
Hornady's New 6mm SST Bullet is on sale now, August 2002 | B.C., may be .355 ?| 95 gr. SST BT tip with a flat-base to provide the needed stability. In 1 in 10" twist barrels at .243 Win. Velocities with a boat-tail the bullet hit target sideways at 200 yds. I'm going to start shooting more flat-based bullets in my 6MM's, the claim is that they are not as hard on barrel's and tend to be more accurate.
I filled an empty gallon plastic milk jug with water and shot it with the new 95 grain SST bullet. It appeared to be the most explosive bullet I have tested in my .243 Winchester. The hydraulic shock of this bullet ought to be devastating.
On 10/17/04, I filled 3 one gallon plastic milk jugs with water lined in a row at 15 yards and shot them using my Remington 722 with a 22" BBL, in 243 Winchester using the Hornady 95 grain SST bullet and 44 grains of RL 19. It blew the first two up big time and went through the third one gallon jug of water. This should be a very good terminal performance bullet on deer in the 243 Winchester caliber cartridge.---------
Related Pages
Shooting Running Coyotes - Shooting Wounded Running Deer the Ballistics
Split-Screen Site - Your rifle's ballistic chart with actual lead figures, Wind Drift, Trajectory, etc.
http://www.udarrell.com/leadingrunninggamerifle.html
http://www.udarrell.com/ultimate_deer_cartridge.htm
http://www.udarrell.com/wisconsin_coyote_hunting.html
------
A Page full of my links
http://www.udarrell.com/my_pages2.htm
The Real Political Issues and People Empowerment
Empowerment Communications
Darrell Udelhoven - udarrell
Posted: 09/06/01; Date of Last Modification: 02/28/05

rick_reno

Wow - now I know everything I ever need to know. Thanks!

PaJack

I have used Sierra 85gr BTHP for years with execelent results also,99% of the deer drop when shot...

Rebel Hog

rentfrow,

zrexpilot

I seen that already, I actually posted links to that several times. I think I like the 100gr hornady's and the 100 gr sierra boat tails better, but I havent used the 85's eneough to make that judgment yet.

Gundigest

Hog, thats funny. This is not going to start another .243 war is it?

Rebel Hog

Gun, everyone has the right (with-in the law) to use what he wants
to use. If some are using .243, so be it ! I have used .243 in the past
and have taken deer and hogs with it, but prefer the 6.5mm Swede.
To each his own.

zrexpilot

Expansion and penetration
More important than initial bullet diameter is expanded bullet diameter. A bullet that does not expand generally imparts little shock to an animal's system, and disrupts little tissue. Bullet construction is very important to killing power, both for rapid expansion and for the penetration required to reach the vitals of large animals.
Bullet makers use various strategies to attain the terminal performance desired. Usually a combination of expansion and penetration is sought. The front part of the bullet should expand rapidly to approximately twice the bullet's original diameter, in order to cause as much tissue damage as possible as the bullet plows through the target. The rear portion of the bullet should remain intact, to retain as much weight as possible to aid penetration. If the design works perfectly, the bullet tears through the target's vitals fully mushroomed.
Velocity has a great impact on expansion. Generally, the higher the velocity, the more violent the expansion. Bullets are designed for a particular range of impact velocities. Bullets of conventional soft point, hollow point, and plastic tip design generally perform best in conventional calibers. Using the popular .30 caliber cartridges as an example, these would range from the .30-30 Winchester to the .30-06 Springfield. Big case magnum cartridges, from the .300 WSM on up, require tougher bullets to control expansion and prevent premature bullet break-up at impact velocities over 3000 fps. This is particularly true for the lighter bullets in any caliber.
A good bullet for medium size game should expand quickly and create a wide wound channel that destroys the maximum amount of tissue on its way through the animal's lungs. Ideally, a bullet should retain some of its core to aid penetration. However, a bullet that penetrates to the vitals and then fragments and scatters bits of lead and jacket material all through the animals heart/lung area will kill quicker than one which creates a long, narrow wound channel through the lungs and exits the far side. For light framed animals under 350 pounds, a quick expanding bullet that dumps the maximum amount of energy into a vital area gives the quickest kills.

BareBack Jack

I have used the 243 and the 6mm Rem with good results,they had killed every deerI shot with them.
Here is my results.
1-Wt buck 60 yds runing 4 shots all hits,3 in vitals and 1 in neck(the first 2 would have killed him but he was running into a not hunt-zone-plus it was a 7400 in 243 and it was fun to just rattle rounds)
1 WT-Buck 125 yds standing broadside Rem 700 6mm 1 shot ran maybe 30 yds and piled up
1-Mulie doe 25 yds shot head on rem 700 VLS .243 travled lenght of body,droped on the spott.
1-mulie doe 400 yds broad side 1-shot stood in place for 15-20 seconds and then dropped.
1- Wt doe 1 shot broad side 100 yds 6mm Rem in Rem 788,ran 60 yds and piled up.
1-Mulie buck 5 shots 75 yds 2-in chest 1-in neck and 1-head to finish and 1 miss,ran 200 or more yds and laid down.
This all with 100 core-loks in both guns,my sister uses the 243 and has killed more deer than that with it.
I still like the 25-06 for deer,I have had more 1 shot drop on the spot kills with it and it seem to be a little better on more full bodied mulies than the 243 and 6mm.
But like Reble said each to their own use what you wan't and best of luck.
I have also only seen one deer lost with the 243 and it was aWT-buck shot at 50 yds and hit dead on the shoulder and it ran and was never found.
BBJ