I have never killed anything with 243 ballistic silvertips, but 270 and 300 WSM have performed flawlessly for me. My son and I have killed a total of 15 deer and NUMEROUS hogs and coyoteswith them and not one has taken a step. Every bullet has completely passed through whether shoulder or neck shots. We have killed at ranges from 30 yards to 300 yards with the same results. I havesighted in my 243 with ballistic silvertips and have had great range results out to 250 yards. I personally would not be afraid to hunt with them.

I used them two seasons ago. They are the most accurate bullet I have ever shot out of my rifle (.270). However, I did not really are of them when it came to knock down power and meat damage. I literaly blew a doe's head off when I shot her in the neck. It cut her whole neck in 1/2.

JMO- If I were shooting a .243 for deer, I would want a bonded bullet. My uncle shoots Cor-Lockt and he loves them. However, he did loose a monster a few years back. JMO- I would go with a 308 over a 243 for deer.

I have taken over 200(I hunt in two states,90% of these were bucks)deer in the past 21 years of hunting.During the last 5 years all my deer have been take with either 30-06 150 grain BST or 270 130 grain BST.Most of the deer have dropped in their tracks,even when my shot was a little off.The most a deer(only one)has traveled after being shot with a BST was about 40 yards.I have tried Seirra Game Kings,Core-loks,Fail-Safe,etc.Once I tried the BST I was sold.You will not get as many pass thru's but you will find your deer in their tracks or close by.Using the BST I have killed deer from six yards to 275 yards.I think it is because the BST use most of their enegry in the deer.If you think you need a bullet that will travel thru a deer use another bullet,but if you want to get your deer instead of a 200-300 blood trail use a shoot-thru type bullet.By the way thedeer I shot at six yards did not pass thru but fell in his tracks.

Thanks guys,from this forum and other resourcesI have found on the internet, I haveenough confidence to give them a try this fall. If they work well enough on deer, then this round will keep me from having to re-sight every time I go from deer to varmints.

I see that you have already decided to use the Ballistic Silver Tips. If you are confident in them, then good luck this season. I used the 130 grain BST in my 270 WSM last year and shot a doe at 70 yards. It was a broadside shot and I shot her a little farther back than I wanted to, right in the liver. She took off running and dropped 200 yards away. When I cleaned her, I noticed that the bullet passed completely through her without expanding much at all. The exit hole was about 3/8" big. There was a neat, small hole through her liver also. The bullet did not hit a rib on the way in which may have contributed to it not expanding well. I am going to try them again this year as there are not a lot of choices for this caliber being used for Whitetail. I think the Fail Safe and the Accubond are a bit of overkill. I will give it a second chance but my confidence is a little shaky.

Wow, of all things good and bad I have heard about Ballistic Silver Tips, I have never heard of someone saying that they DIDN'T expand. Maybe that was a fluke, as I have seen them expand on groundhogs even though they are deer loads. Good luck this fall!

StrutnBPS
How big was this doe that you decapitated? I killed 2 doeslast year with 150 gr BST out of my 300 WSM both were neck shots and both were around 80 yards,but I didn't get near the damage you are describing. Both these does were mature animals that weighed in around 130 lbs.

I agree with the recommendation that a larger caliber would be better than 243.I have killed several deer with a 243, as have my kids and my grandfather, but Iprefer a 270 over 243 for deer-size game.

The doe that I shot was rather small, 100lbs. I normally don't shoot deer this small at all, it was a weird set of cirumstances. I had been patterning this really nice 10pt all year that year through cam pics and scouting. One of his trails crossed a road, walking through a old loading clearing (logging).

I got out of the stand one morning and was heading home and passed by the old clearing. When I got to where I could see it, ole Mr. 10pt was standing there. I passed the clearing like I never seen him and stopped about a 1/4 away. Got out (this was still our land) and tried to circle around him b/c I knew just where he was going.

I didn't make it, he beat me, so I decided to go back to the truck. On the way out, I walked to the clearing to check it out. When I got to the edge of a briar bed, a deer jumped up 25 yards from me. Being so excited, hopeing it was the buck, I put the cross hairs on its neck and fired. (I will never do this again and shouldn't have that time). When I walked up to the deer, it was a doe that weighed around 100lbs. I hit her in the middle of the neck. I was stunned by the amount of blood EVERYWHERE. All over the ground, trees, her body. It was quite a "murder" scene.

When I bent down to pick her up, I noticed that her head was hanging on by her windpipe and a little bit of hide. The BST completely blew her spine and meat in 1/2.

I am not saying its a bad bullet, I was just stating MY opinion about it. As I also stated, the BST is the most accurate bullet I have ever shot out of my rifle. At 200yds I put three bullets in the same hole with the entire hole only being the size of a dime.

A .243 will kill a deer, don't get me wrong. My uncle kills 20+ deer a year and all he shoots is a .243. He has killed 200lb+ deer with it. I just like having a little heavier bullet and again, JMO- I think that if a person wants a deer rifle with no recoil (kids, women) or men that like no recoil, that a .270 or .308 is a better choice b/c of the heavier bullet.

Well, the rifle choice is a done deal. So I am working out the load choice. From what I have read, .243 is plenty. And if you can kill deer with it as a youth, why can't you kill deer with it when you are older!

You can kill a deer with a .243 or you can kill them with a 50cal. sniper rifle. Dead is dead. I just like having a heavier bullet. I also think that we owe it to the animals to use a weapon, bullet, shot placement that produces the least amount of suffering as possible.


All it amounts to is comfort and confidence in what you shoot and personally, I would not feel comfortable nor confident in shooting deer with a .243. That doesn't mean you feel the same.