243 for white tail- fans and detractors

[blarby]

I don't particularly care for bullets that penetrate a few inches and fragment.

Easy fix !

Buy better bullets

 

[FL-NC]

olkowsr- I have a Remington 700 wally world special, with that crappy remington parkerized treatment that is a rust magnet (so I use lots of motor oil on the exterior metal- problem solved) it is the model with the blind magazine. I replaced the cheap plastic stock with a black/grey laminate one from stocky's for $100- it tightened up the action and groups some, and it looks really nice on that parkerized finish. I replaced the plastic trigger guard with a metal one from Brownells. The scope is a bushnell banner 3-9 with illuminated red/green reticle in Leupold mount/rings. Yep, perfect for me.

 

[CraigC]

Easy fix !

Buy better bullets

Personally, I don't think you should have to use premium bullets like the Barnes TSX for killing 80lb does. The only reason I'm doing this in the .250 is because I really like the rifle and it's an excellent shooter.

Any off the shelf 100gr load should do the job without fragmentation.

 

[FL-NC]

As I stated before, 100 grain power points worked fine for me- never found bullets or pieces of them in any deer I ever shot and they group fine out of my rifle. I'm sure a cheaper imported round could be found at a gun show, but what Wal Mart stocks is doing fine for me. To the best of my knowledge, all white tail deer are constructed out of the same materials.

 

[CraigC]

Like I already said, I had a 100gr Federal come completely unglued on a doe's shoulder. Remington 100gr loads have done similarly out of the .250, on a couple deer and in test media. The 100gr TSX held together, mushroomed beautifully and doubled penetration. For my purposes, the two cartridges are only "adequate" and even then, only with premium controlled expansion bullets like the TSX. If I were stuck with standard off the shelf 100gr loads, I wouldn't bother with either one.

To the best of my knowledge, all white tail deer are constructed out of the same materials.

They are but some have a lot more of it. The average 150lb buck around here would be fine and I took a really nice 10pt two years ago with the .250 but no way would I go after monstrous 250-300lb bucks with a lowly .243 (or .250).

 

[FL-NC]

Craig- I've never shot a deer even approaching 200 pounds. I know they make them, but I never shot one. That being said, a deer that heavy- isn't that weight distributed somewhat evenly throughout the entirety of an animal that is larger in every way that a lowly 150 pounder? Meaning, that the animal's 100 pound (or whatever) superiority isn't strictly confined to, say, the area just behind the front shoulder. Therefore, it seems to me that a well-placed expanding 100 grain soft point generating 1000+ foot pounds of energy out to 300 yards, shattering ribs, penetrating the vitals, causing trauma through massive blood loss and an open pneumothorax (open chest wound with mutilated lungs) would have a similar effect on any size animal in the species. Big or small, I would think a wound of this type would have a similar effect on any deer. Is this an ignorant assumption? I'm honestly asking because I don't know.

 

[CraigC]

More material means more for the bullet to work against. 6" of penetration and full fragmentation might get right to the heart and explode it on a 80lb doe and kill it deader than fried chicken right on the spot. Same load might only wound a 300lb mule deer buck. This becomes even more significant with wild hogs. HUGE difference between a 100lb meat hog and a 400lb bruiser with 2" of gristle plate. Personally, if I can't depend on a bullet to hold together from point A to point B, I have no use for it. Whether it kills the target on the spot or not. Which is why I'm not going to be using the .338cal 225gr SST on elk. Sure, it might work great on a perfect broadside that squeezes between the ribs but what if the bull is a once in a lifetime trophy and quartering away?

Forget energy, it tells us nothing.

 

[FL-NC]

I guess I'll have to take your word for it. The deer (many over 150 lbs) I've killed in Tn, Ky, and NC all ended up with impressive exit wounds and leaking like a fawcett. Most hogs I killed in SC, Ga, and Fl (and a few did hit 400) were killed with either 75 grain 5.56 (with 2 holes) or a 7" bladed Tanto knife to the chest (1 hole). Either way, they died fairly quick, usually noisy.

 

[22-rimfire]

I think the 243 is perfectly adequate for white tail deer. It is what I started with and I have no hesitation suggesting that caliber especially to younger/newer hunters. They however must practice with their rifle. I moved up in caliber to a M700 in 270win and that's where I stopped. At the time, I wanted something with more flexibility than the 243 for black bear and possibly elk. The 243 became my varmint rifle and I eventually decided to sell it in favor of something like the 223. Other than rimfires, I don't keep a bunch of rifles around that I am not likely to shoot.

The problem with new hunters is hitting them right. You take the shot you're presented with and that is in fact why I eventually moved up in caliber to 270 win. In real life, I almost never could scope a bunch of deer out in a field and wait for the perfect shot to present itself. My hunting was mostly in the woods.

That was then. If I had the opportunity for a fair shot, I took it. Now, I don't care so much and pretty much go handgun only. Success is not determined by how many points the antlers have or how many pounds of meat I take home. It is determined by how much I enjoy the day.

 

[homers]

Heaviest buck I ever shot (UP of Michigan) was with a 243 and a 100 grain nosler partition. Field dressed over 200 pounds. Clean shot, good placement, deer dropped in its tracks. Taken many other, mature midwest bucks and don't have any second thoughts using a 243 for deer.

 

[FL-NC]

homers- What was the distance to the UP buck? Did you get an exit wound?

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I like my .243, but don't hunt much anymore. If you want to see some impressive .243 gun work, google "dartman76" or "dartman and the neighbor". It's not uncommon for these guys to shoot coyotes and deer at 600 plus yards with the .243.

 

[olkowsr]

olkowsr- I have a Remington 700 wally world special, with that crappy remington parkerized treatment that is a rust magnet (so I use lots of motor oil on the exterior metal- problem solved) it is the model with the blind magazine. I replaced the cheap plastic stock with a black/grey laminate one from stocky's for $100- it tightened up the action and groups some, and it looks really nice on that parkerized finish. I replaced the plastic trigger guard with a metal one from Brownells. The scope is a bushnell banner 3-9 with illuminated red/green reticle in Leupold mount/rings. Yep, perfect for me.

Nothing wrong with the wally world special as they are made in the same place as the ones at Cabelas... lol

I'm happy you enjoy it.

Thanks,
Ron