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Old 12-29-2010, 03:11 AM
  #8  
homers brother
Nontypical Buck
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: WY
Posts: 2,056
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Originally Posted by Ridge Runner
its a deer, a light thin skinned medium game, using a standard cartridge, why use a premieum? just hold off the sholder on close shots and shoot where ya want past 100 yards, in my 6mm I use a 95 gr ballistic tip, in 243 an 87 gr hornady spire point. your over evaluating what the bullet has to do.RR
+1

I use the .243 almost exclusively for deer and pronghorn and at ranges from 25 to 200 yards. RR's advice is spot-on. Years ago, convinced that "premium" bullets had to be better in every case than Wal-Mart Green and Silver box stuff, I reloaded quite a variety of ammunition. I loaded GKs, I loaded Hornadys, I loaded Noslers. In the end, I found a dead deer on the other end, just as I had with the cheap factory stuff. And, as a matter of discussion, I found in EVERY case that the GKs didn't reliably hold onto their jackets. Not at short range, not at long range. Not in 6mm, not in .308, and not in .375. Not in pronghorn, not in deer, and not in elk. Great for target shooting, but I won't load them again for game. I still haven't used up the six boxes of CoreLokts I bought almost 20 years ago, but that's my ammo of choice now for deer and pronghorns.


When surveying your quarry, and particularly when it's up close, one must consider the target three-dimensionally. Animals get a vote, too. They won't always present themselves in manner where destroying a large amount of tissue in an off-shoulder or ham can be avoided. You have a choice - you don't have to shoot in those cases. Troublesome are shots from either rear quarter (hitting the heart/lungs may necessitate a gut-shot). Not good - and a sure candidate to pass up. Same goes for guys hunting up high. What does the bullet have to angle through to hit a vital?

I've had more DRT shots with the .243 (including elk) than I've had with any other caliber. Ammunition selection's important, but it's secondary to the shot itself. If you want to overthink something, focus on the shot and game anatomy, not the bullets.
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