80 grain for deer?
 

is an 80 grain .243 sufficent for deer? reason i am asking is I bought a rossi with full intenet of usung 100 grain bullets and they arent holding groups. when i called rossi they said that they test with winchester 80 grain bullets and to try them. but before i go out and buy them i want to make sure that 80 grains is enough.

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

yes, 80 grains will kill a deer with no problem.

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

I use 100 gr, but I reload 80 gr nosler's for my brother's .243. They are fine as long as you get in behind the shoulder. 85 gr sierra's are probably better suited for deer than the 80 gr nosler bt's

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

Hey, I just bought what might be the same rossi .243 for my son. I sighted it in with 100 grain but only shot it about six times. wha t were you experiancing when you shot the 100 grain shells.

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

did you get a group? I was experiancing a group about 6 inches then i wouldnt hit paper for a couple shots then a larger group then a couple more strays and so on. called rossi and they said i needed to go winchester 80 grain. gonna try it soon and let you know what happens. if that doesnt work ill call again until we figure out what is wrong.

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

The first time I shot it we got a group of three dead onwitin an inch at 100 yrds. but I took it out the next day and it shot a group of three but about 4 or 5 inches high. I figured it must have been me but now you got me thinking. To bad I bought 2 boxes of 100 gr

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

i went through 4 boxes so far we were thinking scope problems, ie. scope, mount or rings.i would shoot some more from a rest before i was worried, if i was you.

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

yes, i used 85 grains in my .243 last year. I killed 3 deer.

Remember, its all about shot placement

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

i use remington 100 grain core-lokts but my cousin uses 80 grain hollow points and blows holes through them. shes dropped deer with them at 200 yards

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

I have killed a couple deer with a .243 but all with 100 grain bullets. As a general rule I consider 100 grains the minimum for deer sized game, but as other have said it is all about shot placement. As long as you are careful with your shots I'm sure 80 grains will do just fine. Good luck with it!

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

Will it group with the first handful of shots and then stray?

Don't forget, if you shoot too many shots to quickly your barrel will get hot and your shots will start to stray. My Tikka T3 Lite is good for 4 or 5 shots in approx 1" @ 100 yards.

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

first 2 shots were off the paper, then a large group then nothing and so on.

RE: 80 grain for deer?
 

Try the Federal Premium 85gr HPBT, I've killed about 35 deer with it, excellent bullet...

You don't have to give up on heavier bullets though...I've tested about 12 factory loadings in my .243...Some bullets just don't shoot well in some rifles...For some reason my rifle loves the 100gr Remington CoreLokts, the Federal Premium 85gr, the Federal Premium 100gr Nosler Partition and the Federal 100gr Hotcore...It doesn't like Hornadys, in the Lite Mag or standard loading, nor does it care for the Federal Premium 100gr Sierra GameKing SPBT or the Winchester Supremes 95gr Combined Technology...Some of these grouped up to 4 inches, whereas theCoreLokts will hit a quarter at 100 yards...

Keep trying until you find what your rifle prefers...