243 bullet choice
 

I have this crazy itch to take my 243 hunting to kill a whitetail. Prob not the best choice I know but it will do. I'm gonna reload some bullets but at a loss as far as choice. I setup for 100-150 yard shots but it is hunting so what would be a good choice. I was thinking 90 gr accubonds or 95 gr Nosler Ballistic tips

If I was going to use a 6mm caliber, I'd want a bullet that would both expand well but also retain its weight. With that in mind, I'd probably go with an Accubond or Barnes TTSX.

Any 80+ gr bullet will do the trick just dandy.

The .243 is perfect for whitetail. Especially in the ranges you're talking.
-Jake

Go heavy with a 100gr Hornady Interlock. If your rifle likes them you can take it from the many deer that I and my kids have all taken with them that the deer WONT like them at ALL! And as Jake said, the .243 is a great whitetail cartridge.

I use Serria 85gr HPBT game kings.


.243 dia. (6mm) 85 gr. HPBTGameKing1530




:D Al

I am brand new to a 243 for whitetail this year also. After research and advice from others I went with the Hornday American Whitetail 100 grain. I only shot two of them out of my rifle after it was bore sighted and they were a pretty tight group. Once I get some more practice time and get it dialed it I expect it to be very accurate.

85gr TSX from federal is my goto load, although I think they stopped making this load, I have seen some 80gr tipped TSX/ GMX loads, same difference.

I used the .243 on 3 antelope, 85gr TSX, 95gr tipped ballistic, 100gr SPBT, preferred the TSX.

I think the numbers suggest a deer under 400yds with the .243 has enough energy...

I'd really consider those 80/85 TSX type bullets!

I use Hornady, and am very happy with their ammo !

For my .243 I use the 95 gr. SST's - never a concern.

If it say American Whitetail - you can use it with confidence IMO.

BTW - Accuracy is everything, if the construction of the bullet is built for "that" use (I use their V-max bullets for predators) !!!


Here is their latest stuff.......................

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art...-eld-x-bullet/

100% agreed. I loaded 500rnds a while back for my buddies wife to take hogs and deer with in Tx with. Has not had 1 fail yet and all bullets performed to perfection!!!!

the 243 will do just dandy for deer. id load it with 95 or 100 grain bullets. try nosler partitions and they wont fail you.

I have used the factory federal in red box with 100 gr partitions with good results. Thanks guys for the input

If the gun will group them 100gr CoreLokts do just fine... ;)

I'll second the 100gr. Hornady Interlocks! My 6MM Rem. loves the 100gr. Interlocks with 35.0 grains of IMR-3031 pushing them! The deer don't like them so much, they just fall over or run about 20-30 yards, leaving a blood trail that a blind city-slicker could follow and give up the ghost! (I know I can get hotter loads, but I'm not going to mess with success this season!)

duck, I honestly like to go heavy for caliber in almost all my rifles. I try to go with the heaviest that my twist will accommodate. Except in most of my 30-06's. I generally stick around 180gr with those except in one of my builds off a K98 action. It absolutely LOVES 220gr RN Interlock and it's usually my go to Moose gun anyway. Speed is all well and good but momentum and stored energy is where you get the "umph" from in a bullet. Light for caliber bullets have a tendency to destroy themselves and a lot of meat in the process. Especially in the .243. Just seen too many deer hit with the little fast bullets from that caliber all tore up and a whole quarter deer absolutely shot all to hell.

+1; I don't know how many deer my .243 took with this bullet. And all but one with a single shot. the little 6mm bullet really causes a lot of internal shock and damage.

That's no joke!!!!!! I have seen some of those hogs that they have shot trying out the projectiles for me and it was a sight to be hold!! They tried from brain to butt and they all went down with a flop for the most part. I load them exclusively in my 7mmBR pistol for hogs and 'yotes and it just flops em!!!

I have tried the 100 gr nosler partitions and had great results and I really like those bullets. Never tried the interlocks. Heard good things but no range time or hunting time with them. Just have had several discussions in camp about the barnes and people swear by them. I honestly don't wanna go any lighter than 100gr

Eh, those Barnes TSX's are pretty good for the most part. But in all honesty, I'm just not a big fan of the mono metal bullets. People are swearing by them but I just don't feel they are needed. Whitetail aren't armor plated. Any well bonded bullet works well on them. Granted in the .243 you want a tougher bullet, especially for close range on a shoulder hit, but I've seen a lot of folks that just can't get the 85gr-95gr TSX's to fly worth diddly out of their .243's. You already know a 100gr will fly well. Give the Interlocks a shot and if they fly well you can bet you will be 100% satisfied by their terminal performance. Not to mention they are quite a bit cheaper than those Barnes.

Thanks guys for all the great info. I will definitely give them a try. I had a bad experience with hornady a few years back with the sst so have honestly been scared to try hornady again. But it's worth a shot

Excellent choice,killed a lot of deer over the years...:hail:

I had a couple bad blow up's with the SST's myself in both the 250gr muzzleloading SST's and out of my 7mm-08. Both close range blow up problems. Still got both deer and both hogs but lets just say I had a good deal less boning out to do :D That's why I switched the the Interlocks and Interbonds. The Interbonds are suspended presently but the Interlocks are plentiful.

I'll tell you a little story about the 100 gr Hornady Interlocks. As I stated I killed a lot of whitetails and all but one were one shot and DRT. The only single deer, a 154 lb. field dressed buck, was hit behind the shoulder and for whatever reason I found later the bullet exploded on impact and never even entered the chest cavity but fragmented under the skin and pieces traveled left and right between the hide and rib cage. Why this happened was a very rare instance with these bullets. This first shot put the buck into high gear. I cycled the bolt and sent the second bullet on its way. That 100 gr Interlock hit the buck squarely in the right shoulder breaking it, went through the body and broke the left shoulder. Being at a full sprint and losing his front "axle" his nose hit the ground, then his rack and he flipped with his butt coming over his head and laid there stone dead. This happened about 30 years ago and has been etched in my brain. It was really awesome.

My wife and I had great results w/ Horndady Interlocked 100grn this year. I shot a whitetail doe and a big mulie doe with them; my wife shot a forkhorn mulie. These were all w/ .243's. Great ammo. I'm not inclined to look further at this point.

Yup.....someone here knows his stuff.

I load 100 grain Sierra Game Kings, soft point boattail, or the Speer version. Both are nearly identical and group the same. I saw the GK take a whitetail last fall, it blew the top of the heart out and blew up both lungs. :)