243 ammo

[tigercat]

what factory ammo should i buy for my daughter to deer hunt with the deer up here in maine get pretty big the one i got this year dressed out at 231pds so  dont know alot about this caliber so need some help from you guys that shoot them thank you

[mechanic]

Remington core locs in 100 grain are about as good as it gets. 

[mannyrock]

  If you hand load, I think some of the premium bullet makers may make a 105 grain bullet for the .243.  With deer as large as you are talking about, I would hand load a 105 grain bullet, with a proper load.

[JASmith]

A good heavy bullet in 100 grains or heavier (Core-Lockt, Power Point, Partition, Accubond, etc.) should work as well as anything available in the .243 Winchester.

[Doug B.]

Remington core locs in 100 grain are about as good as it gets. 

Even though I hand load, I would agree.

[Dave in WV]

I do load my ammo and I use the 100gr CoreLokts. My son also uses them and no failures for us. If I had a failure or wanted some insurance on performance I'd use 100gr Partitions.

[Lone Star]

With deer as large as you are talking about, I would hand load a 105 grain bullet, with a proper load.

No offense intended - but how many think that a 5-grain change in bullet weight will make any difference at all in bullet performance on game?  Really, 100 vs 105?   Before Nosler made a 100-grain Partition spitzer we got along just fine with the 95-grain Partition.  No animal anywhere will know the difference.  If one wants to extend the killing power of a cartridge he is far better off choosing a premium bullet than adding 5% to the bullet weight.

All that said, I doubt that a 100-grain CoreLokt or PowerPoint will kill any worse than a Partition or X will.


.

[pastorp]

Don't really think you need a premium bullet for deer. I use either 100gr core-lokts or 100 gr federal power shocks and they work fine. My choice is based on which is on sale at the time.  You really don't need more than this for deer size game.

And before you start telling me about how big your deer are, I have friends that kill their moose with the same bullet in 243. One friend killed a brown bear with his 243. Of course that bear was trying to get in his cabin and the 243 was his only rifle.

Regards,

[mannyrock]

Lonestar,

   Nosler use to make its Nosler Partition bullet in 105 grains.  So, at least Nosler thought that the extra 5 grains made a difference.

   Sure, it was probably not too much of a difference, but 5% extra weight is 5% extra weight.  Maybe the NPs needed the extra weight to perform like they were suppose to?

    And, by the way, particularly in the last 10 years, entire new rifle cartridges have been invented and widely sold, on the premises that they hit 5% harder than an existing cartridge.  This is also the basis of all of the Light Magnum and HE rounds.

   Make no mistake. I love the Core-Lokts.  But with a deer in the 225 pound area, I would just prefer that extra weight in the .243 bullet. Of course, if you make a broadside lung shot, I agree, there wouldn't be that much of a difference.

Best,

 Mannyrock

[George Foster]

I never knew that Nosler made a 105gr Partition.  For all the years I remember they made the 95gr Spitzer and a 100gr Semi Pointed.  When was the 105gr out?

[JASmith]

I never knew that Nosler made a 105gr Partition.  For all the years I remember they made the 95gr Spitzer and a 100gr Semi Pointed.  When was the 105gr out?

I don't remember when the 105 gr was available, but the 100 gr Partition (Spitzer) is available at MidwayUSA:

http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?pageNum=1&tabId=19&categoryId=7241&categoryString=652***19785***9016***&brandId=1758

[Lone Star]

Nosler use to make its Nosler Partition bullet in 105 grains.  So, at least Nosler thought that the extra 5 grains made a difference.

Nope, Speer makes the 105, not Nosler.  I have Gun Digests back to 1969 and no Nosler 105s are listed.   Nosler made the 100-grain Semi-Spitzer for many years, changing to the current spitzer form sometime in the mid-1980s.  They originally did this because of the slow twist rates in the .244 Remington, a full spitzer would not stabilize in some Remington rifles.  By the mid-80s all Remington 6mms were fast twist so Nosler changed to the full, longer shape.  They always had the 95-grain spitzer, catering to those wanting a more shapely bullet short enough to work in the slow twist rifles.  Non of us noticed the difference in killing power between the 95 and 100-grain bullets - because there was none. 

Just because a company offers a heavier bullet does not mean there is any real need for it.  An example is the 140-grain .277" bullet.  I challenge an experienced hunter to demonstrate any real advantage the 140 has over the 130.  The market had more to do with these minor weight differences than any real ballistic difference did.




.

[George Foster]

LoneStar is absolutey correct, Speer made the 105gr in both Spitzer and roundnose.  I never heard of Nosler making a 105gr bullet for the 6mm calibers and that is what I was questioning.

[Preacherman]

Corelok hands down 100 gr
Preacherman

[LilNewt]

I would choose one that shot the best out of it.  What I mean is what will group the best.  I have hear a lot of the .243's and some like certain bullets and hate others.  Accuracy is much more important than weight.

[kudzu]

Fusion  enough said 

[nomosendero]

Fusion  enough said 

That is where I would start.

[mrbigtexan]

federal blue box 100gr. worked wonders on my whitetail this year at 450 yrds.

[yooper77]

The nice thing is any 95 to 100 grain bullet out of the 243 Winchester will cleanly harvest the heaviest deer in the forest.

My 243 Winchester likes any bullets from 70 to 100 grains.  It doesn’t like any bullet lighter then 70 grains.  I tried 55 grain bullets, but they were unsatisfactory at best.

yooper77

[huntswithdogs]

Buying factory ammo, I'd start with the Remingtons in 100grs. Most of the factory loaded 100gr 243s come with basically the type bullets unless you get into the premium stuff. Federal has the Fusion and I believe they have some of the higher end bullets loaded in their premium line of shells.

HWD

[backstrap]

100 grain core lok

[tigercat]

thanks guys i shoot corelokts in my 308 and have shot a ton of deer with them with no failures  no tracking jobs either so hopefully they shoot good in the gun if not i think i will try the federal fusions don't the fusions have nosler partion bullets  in them thanks again

[EdinCT]

    My sons started with a 6mm youth Rem Mod 7,with a 18.5 inch barrel it is a balistic twin of your 243. I loaded the 100 gr partition for their use and watched a least a half dozen deer be killed at from 35 to 281 yards. It was cheap insurance on my part.
  Now my neighbor who shot over 500 dear in his life (owned a Orchard) used a 6mm Rem carbine the last 30 years of his life. He also shoot two cow moose with his little 6mm carbine at long range and all he ever used was a 100 gr cor lokt. I had to ask him one day how far the moose he shot ran he said I hit them in the heart and they fell. Ignorance is bliss.
 I guess what I would say after all that is if the are good shots they will do well with any 100 gr bullet or premium 85+gr.

[emsemt911]

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=141963&t=11082005

My 8 year old started off with this round when he was 7.  Mild kick, accurate, deadly on deer.