243 Bullets for FL deer

[BrassHog]

I reload several different calibers but have never loaded anything in the 243 Win area before nor have I ever shot anything other than paper with one. The loads that I want to develop are for my daughter (11 yrs old) who can put a bullet right where it needs to be out to about 175 yds. Most of the ranges will be within 75 yds for shots and in medium thick brush ( for her ) to 200 yds in semi open woods (for me :-) ..). I was leaning towards an SST style bullet or perhaps a Gameking . I want to stay on the economical side and not go for top line stuff so that my daughter may practice with her new rifle alot. Being able to make a quartering shot if I had to would be good also. Rifle is a Remington Mohawk 600 .Anyone have any experience's with a particular type of bullet/velocity that worked well for them that you would like to share ? Thanks

[BILLY D.]

brasshog

a mohawk 600 huh? you lucky dog. i've looked for one of those for years. they are scarce as chicken lips around here.

i've gotten excellent performance with game kings, honady and nosler partitions in 100gr pills on big whitetails in both my 243 standard and 243 ackley.

for the 243 any of those bullets will work perfect. they stay in one piece and don't break up.

start at 37 grs of imr 4350 and work your way up to 43.5grs. some manuals say that 41.5 grs is tops, others say 43.5grs. thats why i say start at 37 and work your way up in half grain increments and check for pressure signs. my best loads were between 42 and 43 grains. also check your overall cartridge length. mine has a long throat so your results will vary. this is the old, my guns different than your gun syndrome.

good luck to that youngin'.

[denton]

There are a lot of ways to do it right.

My opinion is that the 243's reputation for not being totally reliable on deer comes from some people using light bullets that are going too fast at impact, and that break up if they hit bone.

Standard bullets hang together well if they impact between 2100 and 2800 fps. Below that, they don't open, and above that, they have a tendency to come apart. Partitions work well over a wider range, about 1700 fps to 3100 fps.

Just my opinion: Stick with 100 grain bullets, and reduce the load a grain or two from maximum. That should provide mild recoil and effective results. Muzzle velocity will be in the 2700-2750 range, and will stay above 2100 out to 350 yards or so, so the bullet should function reliably.

[Rocky Raab]

I'll second what denton said. Use 95 or 100 grain bullets over a slightly reduced charge, and your daughter will collect venison.

Boy, will you be proud!

[Montana Cowboy]

Howdy Brasshog
I have shot quite a few deer and lopers with the .243. My bullet of choice is the Nosler 100 gr. partition,It has never failed to do the job. Just my opinion, hunters spend a lot of money on every other aspect of their hunt but for some reason try to save a buck on their ammo. When it comes right down to the moment your depending on that bullet to do the job. Ifin it were my id go with the partition. Hope your daughter gets a nice deer. MC

[L. Cooper]

My vote goes to the 100 grain Partition as well. You need all the bullet weight you can get in this small caliber, and you need it to hang together on bad angles or after hitting bones.

I have seen many (at least 25) deer taken with this round or its 6mm twin. If you use the right bullet, the .243 will do its part.

[BrassHog]

Thanks for the info guys. I have a 308 and a 243 Mohawk that are exactly alike. I just free floated the barrels, pillar ( had stress fractures) and glass bed the actions, done trigger jobs ( approximately 2 3/4 lb for her and 1 5/8 lb for me), and glass bed the barrel channels on both of them (you can slide two dollar bills underneath the barrel). I got the 243 for $100 recently and hope that it will keep 5/8 in groups at 100 yds like the 308 ( 165g SST with 47.5g BLC-2). My cheap hunting scope is what's limiting accuracy (Simmons 3-9X50) on both rifles. If anyone is interested I will post pics of the rifles and groups as I work them up on this thread.

[8X56MS]

My son kills a lot of deer in North Florida with his old Ruger 77 .243. For his rifle, I load the Remington 100 grain Core-Lokt over 35 grains of IMR 4320. This seems to work well on the deer around here. Velocity is just above 2650 fps.

Funny thing about that powder charge, is thats the same amount of the same powder I use in my 30-30 loads.

[Cal Sibley]

In the past couple of years I've switched to the Hornady 95gr. SST and IMR4831 42.0grs. for my .243Win. and been quite satisfied with it. I think it holds together very well, better than the similar Nosler Bal.Tip. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[bsterns]

I think all the replies on your subject are good ones. You mentioned that your daughter would be hunting fairly heavy brush up to 75 yards. I wonder if the deer would be easily found if, for some reason, it was shot in a less than ideal spot. My experience using a 243 over 40+ years is that you need for the bullet to expand well inside a fairly small chest cavity (which many Texas whitetails have) to keep the deer from running off too far. Heavy brush and the sun setting is always a problem with behind the shoulder lung shots. Higher up on the thorax closer to the backseems to paralyse them. Midway down through and through lung shots seem to allow the deer to run 50 yards or more. This is what I have experienced with my 243 using slow expanding bullets such as the old 100 gr. Winchester silvertip. The bullet would zip through leaving a very small exit wound and the deer would finally go down and be sitting up looking at me, still alive 20 minutes later some 50 to 75 yds from where he was shot. The idea of using a reduced load with a nosler 95 or 100 grain partition bullet might slow it down enough to expand more. Of course I am speaking of heavy brush, sunset, whitetail deer, and a 243 win. I once gave my wife some 80gr. 243 hollowpoints to shoot her deer and she shot him in the front shoulder and the bullet blew up. He fell, got up and she shot him in the butt. He fell, got up and ran off. We had to get dogs to find him. He jumped and ran and was shot 3 more times to down him. To kill him we used a .22 pistol to the head. Not your usual whitetail story but it proves you don't shoot fast hollow points at whitetail. Her first shot would have killed instantly had she used a penetrating bullet. So you can have both extremes. I just started buying Remington corelock 100 grain factory cartridges for my wife so I could not be blamed for the outcome. They seemed to expand perfectly on the bullets that I found. Some did not make it through larger deer but held together and mushroomed to the skin on the opposite side when the animal was shot through the paunch, liver, or whatever you might call a gutshot. Still those deer did not go over 30 yards. Of course it was in the morning. They only run off in the late evening it seems. I think the Remington PSP or PSP Corelock expand faster than the gameking or partition. If the bullet tumbles after hitting it can separate from it's jacket. Most of them stay together. I once shot a trophy whitetail whose horns are on my wall with the .243 at 325 yards. He was standing brownside to me grazing. I aimed high on the shoulder and it went low through the leg bone, brisket, center of the heart and exited leaving a horrendous blood trail. The deer was standing still when I shot and he ran wideopen headfirst into the ground, burying his antlers in the dirt and did a flip. He ran 35 yards. So whitetails can be tough and lots of stories can be told about which bullet is best. I think you must have a bullet that will not blow up on the shoulder and one that will not zip through like an ice pick stab wound. I would probably recommend the 95 nosler partition for myself and I would make sure I shot him in the shoulder and not behind it when the sun is setting and the deer is near heavy brush. I am sure it will be a great experience for an 11 year old. I think I was 12 when I first shot a gun.

Bob