Ammo Choices For 243 Winchester
 

Thinking about possibly getting a 243 rifle and have been looking at the various choices for deer hunting.Especially interested in shooting the Nosler Partition or the Barnes Triple Shock that Federal has as their listings.I would like something that will hold together well if shoulder shots or ribs are hit and not blow up.Really considering this caliber seriously and wondering what you guys shoot and your success with them on deer or bear and what bullets have you had good results with. Mike

The .243 and Barnes TSX's work great on small deer, like the Fallow in my avatar, so they should be ok on your Whitetail deer. I hand load mine though, so I can't comment on the factory offerings.

Really no need to pay that much for bullets for whitetail...

I've killed over 200 deer with mine and at least half have fallen to plain old 100gr Remington CoreLokts...

When I tested the 100gr Partitions on a dozen deer a few years back they actually ran further with lung shots and had smaller exit holes than with CoreLokts...

Mine shoots the regular "gray" box winchester 100gr. very well.

X2 for the 100 gr. core-locts! I've got two guns that like the core-locts better than the premium stuff! Find what your gun likes and feed it to it!

I've only shot one deer with a .243 but it was with Remmy Corelokts. Folded up immediately at about 120 yards. Bang flop. I've only got one with it because I don't own a .243. I shot it while I was holding my cousins rifle, but I wouldn't hesitate to use the .243 for deer, or the Corelokts. It's a good choice.
-Jake

I'm shooting 95 gr Fusions right now, but haven't been able to shoot a deer with them yet. I have shot deer with 30-06 and 308 Fusion bullets and they do a really good job.

If you're gonna try a premium bullet try the federal 85g sierra gameking.Alot of guys seem to have very good results on whitetails with that bullet.

My new Savage also likes them. I have not had the opportunity to try them on deer yet. 18.99/box around hear!

You'd think that the .243 was some kind of pipsqueak, everyone seems to think it needs premium ammo to bring down a deer?!

I've used the .243 on deer and pronghorns since 1978. Dozens of animals (including two elk) later, I can tell you quite frankly that the .243 does NOT need premium ammunition to be effective on deer-sized game.

Focus on your marksmanship and on finding a recipe your rifle shoots well.

One day the right ammo forum will show up for my post but as of now I'm saying stick to something with lead in it. It will preform better.

Thanks a lot guys for all the feedback on ammo choices.Gives me a lot of choices as to what I might want to shoot in the 243.Looking at the Midway website there are so many different bullets to chose from.Until researching it I did not know that the 243 is the sixth best selling caliber of all time.Thanks again. Mike

I have always used the Hornady Custom 100 grain bullets in my Browning A-bolt Hunter Rifle and they have performed just fine for me...this is after taking down several large Doe's and 2 nice 8-Point Bucks not to mention about 6 Coyotes also!I use the Remington 100 grain Core-Lokt's in my Daughters Rossi .243 Single-shot Youth Gun and they work very well too!