Fred....the Federal Premium 85 gr loading is superior to the Federal Premium 100gr Nosler Partition, especially once you get past 200 yards...
I've used both in my .243 that I bought in 1980, and have killed about 125 deer with...Within 200 yards the 100 gr Core Lokts, Partitions and the Hornady Spire Points work fine...I've killed 5 deer with the Partitions...and 11 with the 85gr BTHP, one of my hunting partners has killed 6 more...
these deer were killed from 30 to 235 yards, I also have a friend of mine who has killed 3 black bears with this bullet...Buy a box of the Partitions and a box of the 85gr BTHP, sight-in 2 1/2 high at 100yds....then shoot at 300 yards, do this with both loadings and you will see which bullet is better for long range deer hunting....
The 85gr HPBT is faster at 300 yards than the 100gr Partition is at 200....
at 300 the 85gr is still moving at 2600fps....the 100gr is 2300...(Federal Ballistic Table....I know none of these are accurate, but this is used for comparision)....the proof is when you try these bullets in your gun at 100 and 300 yards (redneck chronograph)...the energy at 300 is more with the 85gr than the 100 gr Partition....(1280fpe vs 1170fpe)...so the only question is "Is the 85gr tough enough for whitetails???" Now, I'm not fortunate enough to have 250 pound deer in eastern NC...but for deer up to 150 pounds...it sure is.
Just because a bullet is a hollow point, doesn't mean its a varmint bullet...It also has to do with the size hollow point, the thickness of the jacket and the hardness of the lead core....
Sierra puts out a newsletter...they make the 85gr BTHP....in Volumn 7, No. 4 here is what they had to say....
"Within their caliber and for their weight our toughest varmint and hunting rifle bullets are hollow points. By "toughest" we mean that Sierra hollow point GameKing rifle bullets expand less and penetrate more than their lead and plastic tip counterparts, the Spitzers. That is the opposite of pistol bullets. It is also the opposite of what everyone except those who use them would think of our hollow point GameKing rifle bullets. Still, it is true of each Sierra hollow point from the little .224 40 grain HP through the 165 grain 30 caliber HPBT.
While our flat base hollow points are tough varmint bullets that can put down coyotes, our hollow point boat tails (except for the 55gr. .224 bullet) are excellent medium and big game bullets capable of antelope, deer, black bear, moose, and elk. These hollow points were designed with hard cores and heavy jackets to not only eliminate tip deformation, but also to withstand the higher impact velocities often incurred at the closer ranges. As with books, bullets cannot be judged from its title or a look at the outside." End of quote.
Over the past 23 hunting seasons I've tried every domestic factory .243 loading, except the ballistic tips on deer. If you anticipate shots over 200 yards, the Sierra GameKing 85gr BTHP is the way to go. Period. flintlock
