.243 Help

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Guys,

I haven't hunted with a rifle in over 10 years, I have exclusively used Shotgun and Sixgun. I traded my Ruger LCP for a Mossberg Patriot in .243 win. I know I should stick to bullet weight above 80 gr, first thing I will do is sight in the rifle. What bullet selection have y'all used that you trust? Selected game will be white tail and feral hog. IMG_20190710_194640412.jpg
 
I've only used my .243 on whitetail, not hogs. I get great accuracy with the Sierra 85-grain HPBT. It's a blow-up bullet, so I limit myself to neck shots or cross-body heart/lung shots. Some two dozen tagged bucks with all of them bang-flops.

All-around "not picky" loads seem mostly to be 95- to 105-grain bullets from various manufacturers. Basically, whatever gives best group size.
 
My wife has had good luck with the 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip for deer. At closer range (50 yards) the bullet "blew up" and didn't exit, it did however make a grenade like mess inside. Works for her lol.

My preference would be a 90ish grain bonded bullet or a 100 grain Hornady or Speer soft point. Shoot the neck or double lung them.
 
95 gr nosler partition would be my choice for deer and hog.

80 gr barnes ttsx would be second

If it were for only deer and you are willing to wait for the right shot a standard cup and core bullet in the 95 gr weight range will work as well as anything. Hot cor, pro hunter, interlock...
Some people have had bullet blow up issues hitting bone at the wrong angle with standard bullets.
 
My wife has had good luck with the 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip for deer.

I too recommend the 95 or 100 gr. Nosler partition for deer. Don't aim for the shoulder and it won't 'blow up'. That bullet is designed to open up initially and then continue on through to exit the animal. Aim for heart/lungs and you won't have any meat loss. The accuracy of a partition is not quite as good as the varmint bullets but its effects on deer-sized animals is much better.
 
i have used bullets from 58 to 105 grain in the 243 and 6mmrem. 75 to 95 i like best, sp or exposed lead tips seam to kill the fastest, i have used bonded and they work but if not put into bone they can be slow to kill. for the money speer bullets are hard to beat, for ammo i like the ppu it can be found for under $12 a box.
 
Guys,

I haven't hunted with a rifle in over 10 years, I have exclusively used Shotgun and Sixgun. I traded my Ruger LCP for a Mossberg Patriot in .243 win. I know I should stick to bullet weight above 80 gr, first thing I will do is sight in the rifle. What bullet selection have y'all used that you trust? Selected game will be white tail and feral hog.View attachment 849754
Factory ammo only? Fusion is a good one to start with, nosler has some factory ammo, there's federal premium offers quite a variety, Hornady has some as well. The deer are easy enough, hogs shouldn't present too much issue if you match bullet to placement, I wouldn't try to break 2 shoulders with a ballistic tip or sst, but a copper (from various makers) or bonded bullet (fusion, interbond, accubond etc) should do the trick for tougher shots, bonded bullets would get you the best of both worlds. The other thing to remember is that 10 twist barrel may not stabilize ALL bullets, I'd start with the tsx, fusion, prohunter, partition, types where a flat base/not so long tip will stabilize easier.
 
Factory ammo only? Fusion is a good one to start with, nosler has some factory ammo, there's federal premium offers quite a variety, Hornady has some as well. The deer are easy enough, hogs shouldn't present too much issue if you match bullet to placement, I wouldn't try to break 2 shoulders with a ballistic tip or sst, but a copper (from various makers) or bonded bullet (fusion, interbond, accubond etc) should do the trick for tougher shots, bonded bullets would get you the best of both worlds. The other thing to remember is that 10 twist barrel may not stabilize ALL bullets, I'd start with the tsx, fusion, prohunter, partition, types where a flat base/not so long tip will stabilize easier.
For now factory I am not setup for ANY rifle reloading at the moment. I just went to academy after work and picked up federal fusion, monarch JSP, and remington core lokt.
 
For economical factory ammo that performs well the Federal Fusion is a great choice. For my rifles and several other people I know the fusions have always shot well and performed like it's supposed to.

I'm a reloader so I mostly shoot Accubonds or TTSX for deer, but if I couldn't reload all I'd buy would be Fusions.

Let us know how it shoots.
 
The first 2 deer that I took with a 243 was with the fusion ammo. Both were bang-flops. Then I loaded some 95gr Ballistic Silver Tips. No gripes there after taking a half dozen or so. Currently using the 95gr. Accubond. It has worked well. The only bullet that has not been pleasing was a 90gr Nosler BT that went to pieces on a bambi's shoulder. I should have known because of the armadillo that I shot. There was chunks the size of a tennis balls blown 20 feet into the air.

If I had hogs in the equation I would probably go with a Nosler Partition or Accubond.
 
For economical factory ammo that performs well the Federal Fusion is a great choice. For my rifles and several other people I know the fusions have always shot well and performed like it's supposed to.

I'm a reloader so I mostly shoot Accubonds or TTSX for deer, but if I couldn't reload all I'd buy would be Fusions.

Let us know how it shoots.
I will, I will be going shooting tomorrow evening, I will load pics later that night on this thread. Its not a large shoot just enough to test function of this and a couple of other guns.
 
I have one of the cheaper 700's in 243. Mine shoots great with Winchester 100 grain power points (about 1" groups at 100) - conveniently available at walmart, at about $16 a box. There may be another round that shoots a little bit better, but since I found a cheap one that works, I see no point in chasing down that small fraction of an inch increased accuracy that I MAY get. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. They have done fine on all of the deer I have shot with it, always got a nice exit wound and blood trail. I would say keep it simple and cheap and try these things out before you put a whole bunch of effort and $ into it. Unless that is just what you are into.
 
I have one of the cheaper 700's in 243. Mine shoots great with Winchester 100 grain power points (about 1" groups at 100) - conveniently available at walmart, at about $16 a box. There may be another round that shoots a little bit better, but since I found a cheap one that works, I see no point in chasing down that small fraction of an inch increased accuracy that I MAY get. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. They have done fine on all of the deer I have shot with it, always got a nice exit wound and blood trail. I would say keep it simple and cheap and try these things out before you put a whole bunch of effort and $ into it. Unless that is just what you are into.
No I agree, hence why I stuck to the cheapest things i could find, including monarch which is an academy brand from serbia. It has a picture of a deer on the box... does that count as good enough for deer? Haha, I just want to see what the best load for me is but punching paper is different than flesh, could be the one that groups the best doesnt necessarily do better damage.
 
My Ruger #1 liked the 100gr WW PSP.

Shot one deer and it zipped through.50 yards, double lunged, rib on entrance and exit, finger poke like hole.
Deer went over 100 yards total and when it tipped over, was not dead. I went over and finished it off.

Not impressed.

So got the 95 gr Deer Season XP. Shot great.
Nothing big enough to shoot the following year :(
 
My 700 .243 win likes the 80 gr WW PSP.
That's just for yotes/chucks.

If I handload again, Nosler 70gr BT on max plus charges of 4350.
That has done well in a couple of other Remingtons (700 BDL, ADL, 600 and Model 7).

Have not tried any deer loads in my current 700.
 
I traded my Ruger LCP for a Mossberg Patriot in .243 win.

I wish I could find a trade like that....,

So how "used" was the Mossberg rifle?

Even if the owner said it was practically new..., clean the barrel with a very good copper remover first, before you start testing ammo, and don't be stingy with it as you go through different "flavors", until you find the best combo of accuracy and price for the bullet type that you prefer. The folks above have given you good ideas on what bullet to launch. ;)

When I worked at the LGS, .243 Winchester, and 6mm Remington were pretty popular for deer and woodchucks, and even a few 6.5 Swedes would come in. They all had a pretty good copper buildup in the barrels, even after a low round count. Most really went to crap on accuracy with the buildup, but it was pretty simple to get rid of that, and the owners all thought a miracle had been worked. :cool: They had been cleaned, and looked clean, but not with a copper solvent.

Just a tip, for what it's worth. You probably have a new "favorite" rifle with that. I love mine in .223 Remington.

LD
 
I wish I could find a trade like that....,

So how "used" was the Mossberg rifle?

Even if the owner said it was practically new..., clean the barrel with a very good copper remover first, before you start testing ammo, and don't be stingy with it as you go through different "flavors", until you find the best combo of accuracy and price for the bullet type that you prefer. The folks above have given you good ideas on what bullet to launch. ;)

When I worked at the LGS, .243 Winchester, and 6mm Remington were pretty popular for deer and woodchucks, and even a few 6.5 Swedes would come in. They all had a pretty good copper buildup in the barrels, even after a low round count. Most really went to crap on accuracy with the buildup, but it was pretty simple to get rid of that, and the owners all thought a miracle had been worked. :cool: They had been cleaned, and looked clean, but not with a copper solvent.

Just a tip, for what it's worth. You probably have a new "favorite" rifle with that. I love mine in .223 Remington.

LD
Thanks for the advice. I don't know too much about bolt actions, my only other bolt action was a Winchester Model 70 in the same caliber that got sold years ago. I don't have any copper solvent right now. I'm assuming Hoppes 9 is still the standby? I will putting a few drops of clp down the barrel and flush it through with a bore snake I'm shooting it today after work .
 
Thanks for the advice. I don't know too much about bolt actions, my only other bolt action was a Winchester Model 70 in the same caliber that got sold years ago. I don't have any copper solvent right now. I'm assuming Hoppes 9 is still the standby? I will putting a few drops of clp down the barrel and flush it through with a bore snake I'm shooting it today after work .
I wouldn't put CLP in the barrel- but it is a good rust preventer for the exterior metal. Hoppes powder solvent is fine, I use MPRO7 myself as a solvent. For copper cleaner I use Sweet's. It smells like cat pee- don't use it inside your house! Also be sure to follow the instructions. I copper clean once a year- after season.
 
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