Author Topic: 85 Grain Partition on Deer? (Read 3784 times)

goodconcretecolor · « **on:** September 16, 2007, 05:00:00 PM »

My son's 243 does not like 100 grain bullets(3" groups ) but loves 80 grainers (0.75" groups) Would the 85 grain Nosler patition be a good deer load. Where we hunt, anything over 150 lbs live weight is a big deer, 200lbs is a giant.

demented · « **Reply #1 on:** September 16, 2007, 05:46:15 PM »

Buddy uses 60 grainers in .223, kills the heck out of them. Hit them behind the shoulder, they don't go far.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #2 on:** September 16, 2007, 11:33:35 PM »

should work fine

Brithunter · « **Reply #3 on:** September 17, 2007, 12:13:17 AM »

Quote from: goodconcretecolor on September 16, 2007, 05:00:00 PM

My son's 243 does not like 100 grain bullets(3" groups ) but loves 80 grainers (0.75" groups) Would the 85 grain Nosler patition be a good deer load. Where we hunt, anything over 150 lbs live weight is a big deer, 200lbs is a giant.

Hmmm this is one reason I am not fond of the .243. they seem to be fussy like this and until recently had not owned one. now I have a .243 and a 6mm Remington.

The 6mm Rem has been giving me fits finding bullets and loads which it will shoot well. The thing I have noticed is that in my particular rifle powders make a big difference in accuracy! even with the same bullet.

A 85 grain bullet that is not of varmint type will kill a deer just as dead as a 100 grain bullet providing it's applied to the kill zone that is.

I friend had a Ruger No1B in .243 that was like your sons, 85 grain bullets shot groups that would almost be one hole yet 100 grain bullets were even worse than your sons, his groups with the 100 grain bullet were more like 6". I have not fired my .243 yet as it's on my licence for collection only. Once I get this 6mm Rem all sorted out I may swop them over and have the .243 to play with for a while.

Questor · « **Reply #4 on:** September 17, 2007, 05:20:33 AM »

I know a guy who has shot elk with them. He's been happy with it. I prefer something that guarantees a good blood trail.

ncsurveyor · « **Reply #5 on:** September 17, 2007, 05:42:30 AM »

I know two guys that use them for deer.

Religiously.

flintlock · « **Reply #6 on:** September 17, 2007, 05:46:19 AM »

The 85gr Nosler should work fine....I have killed 30 or so with the Federal Premium 85gr Sierra HPBT, might want to try them as well....

PartsMan · « **Reply #7 on:** September 17, 2007, 11:52:06 AM »

My brother used 70 ballistic tips on deer and has for years.

huntswithdogs · « **Reply #8 on:** September 18, 2007, 09:46:37 AM »

I killed more than one deer with an 87gr HP. The Nosler should do ya OKAY. I do have question though. What powder and weight were you shooting with the 100gr pills? I've seen only one 243 that didn't like 100gr bullets, to start with. My Mark X doesn't like BT bullets in the 100gr but shoots great with flatbases.

HWD

Will_C · « **Reply #9 on:** September 18, 2007, 11:40:26 AM »

That is my .243 deer load.I found that my Browning groups the 85 grain partitions better than the 95 or 100 grain Partitions, so I load the 85 and go hunting.
Will

goodconcretecolor · « **Reply #10 on:** September 19, 2007, 02:20:26 AM »

I tried Federal Premium factory loads with moly-coated Nosler partitions (100 gr.), Loads with IMR 4350 and H414 with Hornady interlock and Nosler partition 100 grainers. None gave better than a 3" group @ 100yds.

wtroger · « **Reply #11 on:** September 19, 2007, 07:16:12 AM »

You have got to have a fast twist rate for a 100 gr 243 to shoot well 1-12 won't usually work and 1-10 is marginal.

rickt300 · « **Reply #12 on:** September 22, 2007, 04:52:29 AM »

My experience with rifles that don't shoot well with certain bullet weights usually need the barrel carefully recrowned. The smaller the bore the more difference an uneven crown makes.

Longfin · « **Reply #13 on:** November 10, 2007, 04:19:31 PM »

The 85 grain Nosler partition is the bullet we settled on for the 6mmTCU rifle that my daughter uses. Holds together well and I have watched her drop nine deer with it. All one shot kills. Makes me wonder why I have a 45-70.

ccoker · « **Reply #14 on:** November 12, 2007, 04:59:36 AM »

try a box of Federal 80g sps, the cheaper stuff, used a Speer hot core
my sako 243 loves that round and Texas Whitetail never make it more than a few seconds on their feet when hit with a lung/heart shot

rickt300 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 13, 2007, 02:40:00 AM »

[quote author=Questor)
I know a guy who has shot elk with them. He's been happy with it. I prefer something that guarantees a good blood trail.

Nothing gaurantees a good blood trail, not even the presence of a large exit hole. It ups the odds a bit but there is no gaurantee. I don't like the partition in 6MM due to the narrow wound channels after the first few inches, if you use them much you will switch to a heavier rifle in time thinking the 6 is not big enough but the problem will be the bullet not doing enough radial damage.

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 13, 2007, 11:39:58 PM »

Short answer - the 85 partitions are an excellent hunting bullet. They are a well constructed bullet. If that is what shoots best in your rifle, use them and do not feel under gunned. Bullet placement is as important as bullet construction.

Brithunter - The older 6mm Rems had a slower twist rate. They were intended for varmints, not thinking that they would be used for deer. While the 243 came out with a 1-10" twist that could handle heavier bullets. One reason the 243 was much more popular than the 6mm. Remington wised up and modern 6 mms have faster twist rates.

coyotejoe · « **Reply #17 on:** November 14, 2007, 06:06:22 AM »

I don't agree that Remington envisioned the .244 as strictly a varmint round. They produced a 90 grain load for deer right from the start. It was a very good load and no one who actually used it had any complaints but the gun gurus spread the word that the 100 grain bullet was a better choice for deer, even though the early Winchester 100 grain bullets often failed to expand at 200 yards or more while the Remington 90 grain had no such problems. Thus the .244 was unfairly bad mouthed from the start. Now the pendulum seems to be swinging back, with 80-95 grain bullets becoming popular in the .243. In truth, 10 grains difference is no difference at all. That is not to say that different BULLETS make no difference, just that it is not the 10 grains weight which makes the difference.

ccoker · « **Reply #18 on:** November 14, 2007, 06:18:06 AM »

when I got my Sako 243 I was talking with my dad about loads for it and he highly recommended 80-85g bullets for it
I didn't know what I was shooting when I used on of his growing up but I know I never really thought about range or anything..
just put the crosshairs on the neck and slowly squeeze the trigger
deer or hogs dropped, spun around and then stopped moving within a few seconds...

he tells the story of a guy from I believe Minnesota or Michigan, a friend of his that was a retired game warden who INSISTED on shooting 100g bullets in his 243
perhaps the deer up there had thicker hide than our Texas whitetails..
but he would hit them in in the ribs and it would poke a hole and they always had to track his deer
people shooting the lighter 80 - 85g didn't

this was back in the 60s and early 70s, so, perhaps the 100g of old just wouldn't open up well

goodconcretecolor · « **Reply #19 on:** May 03, 2008, 03:50:15 PM »

Just an update. 42 gr. of IMR4350 behind the 85 gr. Nosler Partition gave 1" groups at 100 yds.

Selmer · « **Reply #20 on:** May 03, 2008, 04:17:09 PM »

Sounds great, now go kill deer! I'll be using this bullet out of my 6PPC on mule deer this fall.
Selmer

jhalcott · « **Reply #21 on:** May 03, 2008, 05:18:17 PM »

I used the Sierra 85HPBT to kill a bunch of white tail deer. We started using them after trailing well hit deer using the 100 grain bullets. The results were few trailing jobs and VERY short ones at that!

tvc15 · « **Reply #22 on:** May 04, 2008, 01:57:09 AM »

I was struggling with the 100 grain and 4350 (2-3" at best) just shot some new loads with 4831 and the groups went down to .75-1.033" BTY The rifle is Remmington 22" barell with a 9.5 ( I think) twist rate.

Got some 85 sierria HPBT I may try them next. TVC15

rifleman · « **Reply #23 on:** May 04, 2008, 02:35:51 AM »

I also had good luck with 100 gr bullets over H4831. It took me a few combinations to find it though. I also tried H4350 and Varget.

goodconcrete, I haven't seen that you have said what twist rate your 243 is. If it has a faster rate, it should shoot 100s just fine.

Dave

coyotejoe · « **Reply #24 on:** May 04, 2008, 05:36:08 AM »

Rifleman, I'm not aware of any .243 caliber rifle ever built with a "slow twist". You are saying 100 grain bullets should shoot well, but he is saying they do not. Now which of you is likely to know more about his rifle? The point here is "why insist on making it shoot a 100 grain bullet when it likes 85 grains and they perform just fine on deer?"

rifleman · « **Reply #25 on:** May 05, 2008, 03:15:57 PM »

Thanks for the tip joe. I'll try hard to remember that little gem!

aldar · « **Reply #26 on:** May 07, 2008, 03:17:12 PM »

another good powder to try with the 100gr bullets is RL22. I gotten real good results using a near max load under 100 gr SP's in my .243

BBF · « **Reply #27 on:** May 08, 2008, 01:34:43 AM »

Two answers to the same situation. Small bullet where most of the energy comes from the speed.

Big bullet(caliber) were a good part of the energy comes from the mass.

Re .243 for longer ranges, why not, close up shots you can do better with something slower and more caliber

flintlock · « **Reply #28 on:** May 08, 2008, 01:37:45 AM »

Because deer don't always step out where you expect them to....

yooper77 · « **Reply #29 on:** May 08, 2008, 09:11:04 AM »

My 243 Winchester loves any bullet weight from 70 to 100 grains using IMR 3031, 4350 & 4831. It doesn't like the lighter 60 to 55 grain bullets. I didn't try some 55 grain Nosler Ballistic tip with reduced loads of IMR-4227. It was a ok load, but nothing compared to my old 70 grain Hornady SXSP with IMR-3031.

The 244 Remington was a flop and the 6mm Remington was never a hit like the 243 Winchester. Of course any of these cartridges can be tailor loaded to the rifling twist rate.

The 85 grain Nosler Partition is perfect for deer hunting with the 243 Winchester.

yooper77