.243 ballistic silvertip works

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351 WINCHESTER

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My youngest son who is 17 has killed 3 or 4 deer with my rem. 600 in .243. I gave the rifle to my oldest who is 22, but he isn't a deer hunter.

Anyway every Thanksgiving the kids go to N.C. to hunt deer. Last year Travis shot a deer with the ballistic silvertip and the "guide" had never seen so much ruined meat from any caliber. The kids just got back and Travis shot his deer at 25 yds., but Coulter shot his at a measured distance (verified with a rangefinder) of 425 yds. His first shot was low so he held over about a foot and let her fly. The kid is only 15 and had never shot that rifle until yesterday. I had to shake his hand as I've never seen anyone shoot a deer at that distance. I've had a lot of folks claim they shot a deer at 500 yds or more, but this shot was verified by a range finder.

The deer shot at 25 yds. had no heart and it struck the shoulder on the exit.
The exit hole was bigger than a baseball.

The 425 yd. shot was thru the neck.

Good going kids.
 
Yup. I use Remington Core-Lokt 100gr Soft points in my Rossi 243, never fails. However I usually use my Remington 700 in .223 with 55gr PSP's. Both cartriges usually leave the heart, lungs, and often liver as an unrecognizable pile of mush. Last Dec. 31 I nailed an 8-point at 302 yd with my .223. I hadn't shot it with the new scope on it and I aimed higher than I needed to (my dad sighted it in for longer range than the old scope) and the bullet hit his spine and followed it back, completley destroying his left backstrap and then turned down screwing up the guts. Those "little" bullets get the job done better than any thing I've ever seen.:)
 
Hi 351...

Congrats to your son on making a fine long shot !!!!!

Have used the .243 for years and consider it to be THE finest deer cartridge made. The three longest shots I've made on deer have all been at about 325-350. Longest shot I've made on anything was a woodchuck at just a shade over 400 yds. Like you, I take the stories of some of these 500-600 yd shots with a grain (or several) of salt, no matter what the caliber is.

Have mostly used the Hornady 87gr. BTHP in it with splendid success.

Congrats again !! :)
 
Shooting deer at 425 yards with a .243 is ill advised, even more so if you "had never shot that rifle".:uhoh:
My ballistic chart shows that there is 22 inches of drop and only 880 ft pounds of energy at 400 yards.
That is enough to kill a deer if it is hit in the right place. But the risk of wounding is very high at 425 yards. It is hard to judge the wind at that range. Was your son aiming for the neck?
However I am glad your sons are hunting and are doing so successfully. Congratulations. :D
 
Shooting deer at 425 yards with a .243 is ill advised, even more so if you "had never shot that rifle". - You gotta shoot it sometime. :D
My ballistic chart shows that there is 22 inches of drop and only 880 ft pounds of energy at 400 yards. - 22 inches of drop at 425yds is nothing, and 200 ft/lbs (ala .38 SPL) in the neck will take down any deer.
That is enough to kill a deer if it is hit in the right place. But the risk of wounding is very high at 425 yards. It is hard to judge the wind at that range. Was your son aiming for the neck? - There is a risk of wounding any time you pull the trigger, and of course he was aiming for the neck! :D
Click to expand...

:evil::evil::evil:

Just feeling a little contrary tonight! No hard feelings.
 
There is a risk of wounding any time you pull the trigger
Click to expand...
This is true however it is the duty of the hunter to take only ethical shots at game. IMHO a 425 yard neck shot with a unfamiliar rifle is unethical.
The people that hunt the property adjoining mine shoot at every deer they see regardless of distance, poor shooting lanes, poor shooting angle etc. :banghead:
I found a dead deer on my property a few years back that had been gutshot it was a mature buck with a large, heavy 9 point rack. I see many three legged deer. The neighbors tell stories about wounding deer like most guys would if they killed the deer, It just makes me angry.:fire:
I am not blaming the kid, in fact he made a great shot.:) But I think the "guide" should be able to put the kid into position for a closer shot.
And of course no offense taken.:D
 
My nephew shot a scraggly horned cull buck the Saturday before Thanksgiving with my Rem 700 .243 loaded with 95 grain ballistic silvertips. The deer ran 50 yards but he was running dead. Both lungs deflated, no heart left at all and chunks of heart and liver left laying on the ground where he was shot.

Very effective round. Shot was at about 65 yds give or take a foot or two.
 
To set the record straight my son shot his deer at 25 yds. His friend who is 15 made the long shot. The scope was still on 3 power and yes, he had never shot the rifle. I wasn't there and if I was there I wouldn't have given him a china man's chance in hell of hitting it at that range. His first shot was way low so he aimed about a foot over it's backbone (center mass). The deer dropped like a rock. Was it an unethical shot, no doubt expecially since he isn't an accomplished shot (he's getting there). He mainly got lucky.

There are riflemen that can and do make shots like that and some longer, but they know their rifles and ammo and scopes and wind. I think the longest shot I made on a deer was with a .30-30 marlin and the range was about 150 yds. Pleantly long for a scoped .30-30, but I know my rifle as I've been hunting with it for about 35 years. I've missed deer like every other hunter, but I've been fortunate not to have wounded one to die a horrible death.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread 351 Winchester.
Back on track, Years ago I used a .243 bst to make one of my longest shots a doe at 230 yards. I no longer use ballistic silver tips because I had one fail when it hit the shoulder of a small buck. There was blood everywhere but the deer kept moving for a couple hundred yards. It was an evening hunt when I followed the bloodtrail up in the morning I found a gut pile at the end of the trail. I use nosler accubonds now instead.
 
I limit shots on a good windless day to no more than 400 yards and ideally 300 or less. I'll get closer if I see one 400 yards. Of course, on my place I stand hunt and I cannot SEE that far in the heavy cover, so I don't have to worry about it, LOL.

Congrats on the kills. .243 is a great deer and varmint caliber especially for the recoil shy and teen beginners. I shoot its daddy, the .308. I shoot Nosler BTs and have had excellent results in the .308 with it. It's an accurate bullet that expands and, amazingly, seems to have great penetration. I know not of the factory stuff and silver tips, though. My guns rarely see a factory load and my .308 has never seen one, not in my hands anyway. It was slightly used when I got it and came with the recipe I'm using and have found no reason to change.
 
Years ago I used a .243 bst to make one of my longest shots a doe at 230 yards. I no longer use ballistic silver tips because I had one fail when it hit the shoulder of a small buck. There was blood everywhere but the deer kept moving for a couple hundred yards. It was an evening hunt when I followed the bloodtrail up in the morning I found a gut pile at the end of the trail. I use nosler accubonds now instead.
================================================

Sounds like a Gut Shot - and not a failure of the bullet.

NASCAR
 
Sounds like a Gut Shot - and not a failure of the bullet.
Click to expand...
No it was a 50 yard shoulder shot and the bullet failed. The shoulder shot was all that was available because the rest of the deer was behind a large oak. I have been on enough trails to know the difference between a muscle wound and a gut shot they look completely different and are easily distinguished by the trail they leave.Nascar if you don't know the difference in trails between a gut shot and a muscle wound let me know and I can email you some good information on it.:)That was many years ago when the silvertips were new, maybe they have toughened them up since then. I wouldn't know because I quit using them.
 
My mom used them exclusively for years. She has probably shot 45 deer with them and, she has never lost an animal. Recently she stepped up to 270 due to the number of large wild exotics in our area. My wife shot her first deer with my mom's old 243 and the win bst's the day after Thanksgiving. It was a clean through and through at 115 yards behind both shoulders. Near perfect shot, but the bullet shrapnel ruined the meat on both sides of the rib cage and damaged a lot of the back shoulder despite the good shot. My wife got a 270 a few days later and will be shooting SP bullets. We will save the ballistic tips for varmints and hogs.
 
friend of mine shot a young buck at about 75yds with a 270 and winchester ballistic tip. deer dropped. got up an ran. he came and got me as im better on the trail. when we got back to where he shot it was about 45 min after dark. where he shot there was blood everywhere and a desent blood trail leaving. i followed it for about 100yds as it slowly stopped bleeding. heard something and shined flashlight around and there it was laying about 20yds off. i walked toward it and it jumped up and took off. i could see where the shot hit and the bullet exploded on impact. i found 1 other drop of blood about 200 yards off. needless to say i will never use them. il stick with the corelokt
 
yea il never use them. it was a good shot placement. i SAW the wound when it jumped and ran. but all it appeared to be was a flesh wound. just fragmented on impact
 
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