I was wandering if anyone was using a 243 for deer this year. If s0, what kind of ammo are you using and what range is your scope lined in for.

My wife is useing her little Ruger compact 243 for Muley this year.

She shoots a 110 gr. Horn. SP . It is sighted in at 100 yards. This will be the 3rd year she has used it to take muley's with. Last year she dropped a nice 5x5 at 70 yards. He weighed around 200 pounds, give or take a pound or two.


hope it helps.
hunter338

My brother inlaw is using his. he shoot federal 100gr nosler partitions its sighted in at 100 yards. he took a nice sized doe last year with it too.

yup. 100 gr. noslers. i have it sighted in for 100 yards.

are you planning on using one this season?

Didn't get to hunt deer this year or last, but in 2002 I took a doe at ~75 yards with my .243 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight. I took her with a twixt-the-eyes headshot, which I would not have attempted had I not been 100% confident of making (75 yards ain't that tough a shot.) She dropped like a stone and never knew what hit her. Our California deer usually run pretty small, about 120 pounds for the does. I free floated the barrel, which greatly improved accuracy.

I used handloads with Hornady 100 grain Spire Points, 37.5 grains IMR 4064. My rifle will put three shots under an inch with this load, after that barrel heat makes the shots wander a bit.

I've only taken this one deer with my .243, so I don't know how they perform with heart/lung shots, but my guess is that it would be just fine with our sized deer.

I am. To me, there are only 2 factory loads for whitetails in .243 , the 100gr Nosler partition, and the 100gr speer grand slams. I will be using the partitions this year.

I am...have been since 1980...I'm sighted in 2 1/2 high at 100..so I'm dead on at about 250, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches low at 300...I have been using the Federal Premium 85gr Sierra BTHP for the last few years...
Gave a pretty detailed report on this load under "Need Advice for .243 Bullet"...Good Luck

This is NOT a deer hunting load. The 85gr. BTHP is a varmint bullet - period! It is an
excellent load for chucks, and even does a terrific job on coyote, as well as, of course,
prairie dogs. Used it a lot when I was in Wyoming.

NO RESPONSIBLE OR ETHICAL HUNTER SHOULD USE SUCH A LOAD FOR DEER!
Even Federal lists it as a varmint loading.

According to Sierra...the people that make the bullet...They get calls every week on how well this bullet is for deer...Look up their 800 number on the net, and give them a call on Monday...I guess the 21 deer that we have killed with this bullet over the past few years will just open up the freezer door and walk out...As I reported in "Need Advice for .243 Bullet" post...I have killed at least 125 deer with my .243 since 1980...never lost a one...One of my buddies in Eastern NC is a farmer...He has killed 3 black bears with this bullet...one went over 350 pounds...Pretty good for a varmit bullet...I didn't believe it either...until I tried it...As far as me being ethical....Do you have a rifle that has never failed you in 24 years of deer hunting???? It doesn't take a 300 Mag to kill deer...Not if you know how to shoot in the field...One of the worst hunters I know keeps buying bigger guns...He can't admit that he flinches...

Like I said in my original post on this bullet...If ranges over 200 yards are anticipated...this is The Bullet...If ranges are under 200....Any good factory loading in 100 gr are fine....

I have been a VERY big fan of the Sierra 100gr SBT bullet. I use both the federal premium loading and have reloaded to duplicate this load. I have my browning Eurobolt tuned in to this load and it will shoot outrageously small groups at 100 yards. It will shoot well under MOA out to 400 yards which is the farthest I have ever shot it. I always sighted in to be dead on at 25 yards, this puts you +2.75" at 100, about a half inch low at 250, and -4.5" at 300 yards. I have shot several deer with this load out to 300 yards and never had one need a second shot. The farthest I have ever had one travel was about 20 yards and it was a large buck that dressed at 178lbs and was shot at 230 yards. I have had this bullet penetrate both shoulders on several deer. It is the only load that I bother to shoot out of my .243.

Like anything else bullet placement is important with the 243 but I have always found them to be so accurate that it is very easy to place your bullet exactly where you want. I had a neighbor with a 300 RUM shoot several deer in the last couple of years, so far he is 4 for 11 with the RUM. He used to get pretty much everything he shot at back when he hunted with his 270. Does this mean that the 300 RUM is inadequate for whitetails, NO, but he shot his 270 a lot better so it served him better. I have personally not noticed a heck of a lot of difference in killing power from the 243-7mm Rem mag on deer with good broadside shots. Even my 250g loads out of my 35 whelen don't seem to noticably kill any faster or better than my 243. The only advantage with the bigger calibers is that you can take lower percentage shots and still get away with it, and really hard angle shots where it is important to drive the bullet completely thru a deer end to end.