243 cal. sierra 85 grain sem to be on top

[lonewolf5348]

I been reading on a few different forums seem the sierra 85 grain HPBT seem to be the shooters choice in the 243 cal. for deer flat shooting hard hitting some say the deer never new what hit him

[Ron/Pa.]

Yep, been on a few Forums and they all say the same ,accurate and deadly. Reasoning seems that a heavier bullet, 100 grainers, would give a better performance,guess not?? I am getting back into reloading, if it isn`t too late to purchase supplies, and will try the 85`ers...

[Old English]

I have shot 4 hogs, up to 260lb and a deer with my 243 recently. All handloaded Sierra 85gr on top of AA4350. Very deadly and extremely accurate load, everything I have shot fell down dead. I don't know what else one could ask for?

[ThunderStick]

    For the last 4 years I have been using the 85gr Gameking bthp in .243 myself. I have taken 7 deer. The only DRT shots where the one that was neck shot and one head shot. I don't generaly do head shots, but I thought the doe had been wounded by hunters on the next farm over, and all I could see was her head. The rest where heart lung shots. They never flinched, bowed up, or acted hit. None of them even bolted! They all walked about 10-15 yards and fell over. None exited, even the head shot! I don't recall any of them doing anything more than peppering the off side chest cavity! Don't expect this bullet to penitrate, especially at close ranges! The thing that has me worried is that they almost, without exception, left NO blood trail!
   I guess I would call them effective, but I worry that if the shot isn't perfect that there will be no blood trail. I also avoided any kind of heavy shot with them, shoulder bone etc. I think they would fail if you expected them to have to penitrate very far.
   Before that I had always used the Rem. Core loct 100gr. They nearly always exited and left a good blood trail, but I have lost a deer with these on two occasions at longer ranges. I think the .243 and the GK BTHP is an experts combo. By that I mean, you must disipline yourself, think about your shot placement very carefuly before pulling the trigger, and know the path the bullet must travel to make a clean kill, and don't expect to make ANY kind of raking shot! I,m not a fan of those any how.

   After shooting a .243 for 20 years, I,m switching to a .260 and see how I like this round.

[rickt300]

I used the 85 gr. Sierra BTHP on several deer. I also got quick kills and one exit but the rest were angling shots.  If I were hunting where shots will be under 100 yards I use a different bullet such as the 95 gr. Ballistic Tip. Current version of this bullet is pretty tough yet it opens quickly. So far two deer and both bullets exited, I did however miss a feral hog completely and got very poor bullet performance.

[aglass1987]

thats exactky what i use for varmint hunting. I shot a groundhog at 450 yds with it last year. VERY very flat shooting.

[HogFan]

My dad always used 85 gr. Remington's on deer from his .243. Since has passed on, I am now shooting the 95 gr. Fusions or 100 gr. Cor-lockts on deer with it. I lost one deer, using 85 gr bullets, but come to find out the scope was broken, and I got a bad shot off.

[lonewolf5348]

I did pick up a box of 85 grain HPBT Gamekings to day I gave up on the speer 105 grain SP bullet trying to get them to fly out of the remington SPR18 single shot.I don't know if they will be my deer hunting boolet yet guys say they drop them every time:I know shot placement is the key with this bullet

[Lone Star]

My dad always used 85 gr. Remington's on deer from his .243...

The Remington 80s were varmint bullets. 

Some years ago I used the Sierra 85HPBT in my M788 6mm on several deer and wild goat, but was not impressed.  An accurate bullet to be sure, but then about any bullet is accurate enough for big game.  Every single HPBT bullet broke up and failed to exit, even on one 50# goat.  No major bone was hit on any of those animals. 

This experience squares with what Sierra says in their manuals - the bullet is effective as long as shots are carefully placed.  Meaning - no room for error.  I ended up where many experienced 6mm shooters end up - with the 95 Nosler Partition.



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[roper]

My dad always used 85 gr. Remington's on deer from his .243. Since has passed on,

Rem makes two 80gr bullets they used to make a 80gr match bullets.  It wouldn't suprise me that they made a 85gr bullets as they use to make a 75gr bullet also.  I have some 95gr 6mm BT/120gr 257 BT from Rem far as I know there still making those bullets just hard to get them now.

I tried the Sierra 85gr HPBT back in the late 60's on deer took one deer last time I used that bullet great varmit bullet.

[rickt300]

Calling Remington's 80 grain pointed soft point a "Varmint" bullet is both true and false if you stop there.  You can shoot varmints with it but it will not be the spectacular expander modern varmint bullets are.  I have used this bullet on deer and found that it is every bit as tough as the 85 grain Sierra BTHP, maybe more so.  The PSP 80 grain bullet is an older design and it was relativly thick jacketed compared to other 80 grain bullets because when Remington dropped the 90 grain bullet the 244 was left without a deer bullet and they designed the 80 to take it's place in the line up.  You could say the same thing about the Speer 80 and 90 grain Hotcor bullets, these are both very good deer bullets. If your the kind of guy that is always slamming bullets into shoulder bones then use a Partition or a bigger gun.

[lonewolf5348]

I myself do not favor shoulder shots I try to stay away from them I always favor the double lung  shots or just behind the shoulder for bullet placement even with my 30-06
I taken deer facing me and always aim for a low brisket shot:

[HogFan]

rickt,

  You are correct,it was the 80 PSP's my father used for deer hunting. I found the old box of them at my mother's. My father passed away almost 16 years ago, and the box he had I know are at least 21 years old. He lost one deer with that rifle, but he had moved up to 100 gr. Cor-lockts at the time. I know the couple of doe I shot with the 80 grain PSP's, never moved another inch after they were shot.

[Lone Star]

Calling Remington's 80 grain pointed soft point a "Varmint" bullet is both true and false if you stop there....

Odd, because AFAIK the .244 Remington was always cataloged with the 90-grain bullets but not with the 80-grain bullet, at least from 1972 into the 80s - and I have the Gun Digests to prove it.  BTW there were three different 80-grain Remington .243" bullets, the PSP, the HP and the Power-Lokt.  The HP and PL were strictly varmint bullets, and - at least for a time - so was the 80-grainer.  It is not at all rare for varmint bullets used on deer to give spectacular DRT kills - sometimes.  Kinda like the .220 Swift claims of the 1930s and '50s.

I had never heard the story about the 80-grainer being 'redesigned' as a tougher bullet, I'd love to see the source for this claim - not that I doubt you out of hand.  My father used the 80 PSP on a deer in the 1970s and had poor penetration, switched to Noslers and no more problems.

If you are always slamming shoulder bones you shouldn't be shooting a .243.......


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[rickt300]

The 90 grain bullet disappeared when Remington quit selling ammo named 244 Remington and made it necessary to use the 6MM Remington shells. At that time I had a model 740 chambered in 244 Remington, it shot the 80 grain bullets just fine but the 100 grain bullets were a lost cause. I shot that last doe with an 80 grain PSP bought bulk from Midway and I can't say I got poor penetration with it. I always thought the Hollow point they sold was the Powerlokt.  And truthfully I have reloaded everything I have used for hunting with a few exceptions that basically I was shooting up factory loads for brass and happened to take some hunting. I have so few issues with bullet performance as I don't shoot shoulders and don't care if the bullet exits as long as it does plenty of damage and the deer goes down quickly.  The biggest problems I have had were with bullets that didn't expand.

[roper]

Calling Remington's 80 grain pointed soft point a "Varmint" bullet is both true and false if you stop there....

Odd, because AFAIK the .244 Remington was always cataloged with the 90-grain bullets but not with the 80-grain bullet, at least from 1972 into the 80s - and I have the Gun Digests to prove it.  BTW there were three different 80-grain Remington .243" bullets, the PSP, the HP and the Power-Lokt.  The HP and PL were strictly varmint bullets, and - at least for a time - so was the 80-grainer.  It is not at all rare for varmint bullets used on deer to give spectacular DRT kills - sometimes.  Kinda like the .220 Swift claims of the 1930s and '50s.

I had never heard the story about the 80-grainer being 'redesigned' as a tougher bullet, I'd love to see the source for this claim - not that I doubt you out of hand.  My father used the 80 PSP on a deer in the 1970s and had poor penetration, switched to Noslers and no more problems.

If you are always slamming shoulder bones you shouldn't be shooting a .243.......


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I have a copy of Remington Handloader guide

For the 6mm  they made and sold to the public
75gr PTD. SP
80gr PTD. SP
100gr PTD. SPCL

I have acouple boxes of the Rem 80gr HP POWER-LOKT they were sold in a red box of 100.

They also made different bullet weight for the foreign market that how I got those 6mm 95gr BT

I'm not sure when Remington when to the SPCL for their entire line they also use PSP and P SPCL for some bullets.

As to the ammo that Rem sold some of those bullets may of not made it to the reloaders.  Remington made alot of bullets like the match 52gr and others so you never really know what all was made same way they chamber factory 40x for wildcat calibers that you had to make brass for and some were tight neck rifles.
 
http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/centerfire/core-Lokt.asp