87 gr. Hornady Vmax for deer in a .243

[Birdhunter1]

For those of you that use a .243 for deer I am wanting to know what you think of an 87 gr. Vmax for use on them? I have worked up a load that shoots like a dream (in fact I dreamed of a group like this at 100 yards and have done it a few times) and I am getting in the 3100-3200 fps at teh muzzle with it.

I am confident the bullet will do well on a broadside heart/lung shot but what if I take a shoulder shot or a frontal chest shot?

 

[amflyer]

I wouldn't reccomend it. The V-Max is a varnmit bullet, and as such has a very thin, frangible jacket. Move up to the Interbond or spire point in 100 grains and fire away.

 

[dakotasin]

the vmax on deer is asking for troubles... if you've ever had a bullet blow up on deer, you know the agony both you and the deer go thru while you are tracking and looking for sign, etc. if you haven't, then you are likely to find out by using this combination.

 

[sumpnz]

The VMax is a varmint bullet and is not intended for use on big game. Short of a head shot I wouldn't trust one to ethically dispatch a deer. Even slipping between the ribs on an attempted lung shot will still have a high liklihood of leaving the deer with a gaping, but shallow wound that fails to penetrate deep enough to take out the lungs. The deer will die days later from infection unless a lucky cougar or pack of coyotes finds it first.

.243 is a great caliber for deer. Stick with deer bullets and it'll do great.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

The weight of the 87 grain bullet is fine....but the VMAX is a varmint bullet.

There are 87 grain bullets that will work on deer...but the VMAX is not one of them.

 

[deerhunter61]

I am not going to tell you it is a good round for deer. But I have used a V-Max to take my cull buck this year from my 22-250. It did do the job. It blew up the heart. The buck ran about 40 yards and piled up. Would I take it to the field to hunt with when looking to shoot a big nice buck? No. But this time I was hunting hogs and a fox that was appearing at my stand and did not want to damage the fox too much. When the buck walked out...it was still in velvet...it gave me a great shot at about 80 yards and I decided to go ahead and take it. I have always wanted a buck in velvet and had confidence in being able to make the shot. The bullet did the rest and did it well...at least in the instance.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've had excellent results from the Sierra 85-grain HPBT. I pretty much limited myself to mostly neck shots and a few 90-degree cross-body heart/lung shots, though. I won't take an angling shot with that bullet. But, I've tagged some 20+ bucks with it...

 

[Mak92fs]

I watched a savage .243 with a hornady v max molly strike right next to the eye on a whitetail doe aprox 110 pounds and it went down then just hopped up and ran off when we attemped to retrieve it.

 

[interlock]

I think the guys have covered it pretty well. I like hornadies interlock 100 gr (2450) for deer in .243