.243 Round Nose bullets?

[anweis]

I know that rifles like .243 are meant to be shoot flat hundreds of yards with spitzer bullets, but i tried the .243 100 grain Hornady Round Nose bullets in my 6mm Rem and found them interesting.

First, they are not really blunt and round nosed. They look more like spitzers with the tip cut off, and they do have a tapered ogive. Second, they do look like tough bullets, with the flat lead tip mostly protected, and the advertised Interlock ring.

I found a load that shoots 8 or 10 of them (slowly, with time between shots, because of the very thin barell) into 1" clusters. Interesting, the trajectory seems flat: my target is a 1.5" orange sticker (you all know those) and the bullets hit inside the sticker if i shoot at 50, 100, or 150 yards.
What boggles my mind, though, is that my load is slow, and yet i get this flat trajectory from this bullet with supposedly cannon ball like ballistics. Oddly, if i replace the 100 RN with 95 grain SST, and keep the rest of the load identical, the rifle will still shoot to the same point, the groups just seem to open to 1.5-2" inches.
I cannot drive these bullet fast; as soon as i add powder and speed them up, i loose accuracy and they end up looking like a shotgun pattern, and a bad one at that. My load probably hurls them at 2600-2700 fps (40.3 grains of IMR 4350).

I am not worried about long distance trajectory. I will not shoot past 200 yards. Most of my hunting is in woods, and i either see deer at 20-75 yards, or i don't.  Furthermore, i often need to plot my shots between branches, through leafs, etc. What i would like to know is this: has anyone hunted deer or pigs or similar game with this bullet? Will they work when so slow? Are these slow expanding, fast expanding etc? 
Does anyone have experience about how they behave when hitting bones, etc?   
Yes, i know, for woods hunting i would do better with a 30-30 with round nosed bullets, or better yet, some 45 cal.
Thanks for your comments.

[Badnews Bob]

That's how I hunt deer with my .243s here in Ky I love big round nose bullets, Deer hate them.

[drdougrx]

Toyed with the idea of using it...but I have hundreds of nosler 95gr BTs.

[cwlongshot]

There have been a couple posts recently on just this topic and bullet. The 100Gr Hornady RN IS a popular bullet for the 243/6MM rem! I have used it for many years with EXCELLENT results!

Also, concerning ranges, in a caliber like the 243, (2800 is magic number IMHO) you will see little to no differences between the RN and a SPITZER/POINTED bullet out to 300 yards.

CW

[pinfish]

After working up a load with them this past summer I probably wont shoot any thing else out of my .243. I shot deer from 30yds to 150yds with the same results (dead deer). All pass throughs with lung and bone all over the ground where they were standing. These bullets have proven to be very accurate at the range and in the field, squrrels and crows hate them too.  My loads are cci 250m primer, 42.5 grns IMR 7828, with mixed brass. vel. around 2800 fps. Hope this helps.

[Dand]

I think a lot of us have forgotten or not been aware how good a rn can be. I picked up some 180 gr rn 30 cal bullets to make practice ammo for my 300 win mag. First load I tried was mild to save powder and my shoulder - they shot great. You might also enjoy the benefit of less damaged meat and deeper penetration using that slow RN in your 243. Just remember if they are going too slow they might penetrate fully with minimal mushrooming. But even there, the RN may open better at slow speeds than a pointy bullet.  And I've read in some .243 /6mm bores the shorter for weight RN may stablize better than a long spire point bullet.

[Doug B.]

All pass throughs with lung and bone all over the ground where they were standing.

What I'm looking for is a projectile that will give pass through and medium expansion. I want to avoid blowing up a ton of meat if possible and yet have a good blood trail in the event I don't have a "bang-flop". I don't honestly know if there truly IS a happy medium. I've found that the round/flat nosed bullets tend to "blow up" at the velocities of the .243, and at this point I would just as soon retain the velocity. I've settled on the spitzer boat tails in 100gr. and they seem to accomplish something near to what I might be trying to accomplish. I really like the round/flat nose in slower calibers however.

[41 mag]

I shot quite a few of them years ago using one or another flavor of 4350 and also AA-3100. They shot as you describe from several rifles they were tried in.

Hope they work out well for you and Hornady doesn't drop them like they have several of the other RN's they made.

[pinfish]

when I started to load for this caliber I would shoot different bullets into a bucket full of dirt. I then found them and checked them out, the hor. RN retained 80% of weight with a nice mushroom, alot like a core lokt reacted in the same test. all deer double lung just behind the shoulder, .243 entrance hole and 2 in. exit. They all generally go about 40 yds and then expire while leaving good blood to follow. Could not ask more from a .22 cent projectile.

[anweis]

Could not ask more from a .22 cent projectile.

Neither could I. This target was at 100 yards. I was thinking of purchasing a neck turning tool, but i probably would be better served purchasing 500 of these old fashioned RN bullets, before they are discontinued.

[anweis]

I've found that the round/flat nosed bullets tend to "blow up" at the velocities of the .243,

I actually need them to do that, to expand violently and cause massive damage, because i am using them to hunt deer in pretty much a suburb. Our deer are small, premium bullets are not needed, but rapid expansion is.

[Steve P]

The slower 2600-2700fps loads with heavier bullets seem to work better on heavier game.  The 75-85 grain pointy bullets at 3000fps+ are great for blowing up varmints, but they destroy too much meat and get bullet particulates throughout the wound channel.  I dont need copper or lead fillings in my teeth.

Use the heavier RN or similar HUNTING bullets for deer and edible game at modest velocities.  Use the lighter "varmint" bullets at fast speeds to blow up critters at long distance.

Steve

[cwlongshot]

I've found that the round/flat nosed bullets tend to "blow up" at the velocities of the .243,

I actually need them to do that, to expand violently and cause massive damage, because i am using them to hunt deer in pretty much a suburb. Our deer are small, premium bullets are not needed, but rapid expansion is.

I have loaded them to 2900 and shot deer at almost hair singing distances and gotten thru and thru penetration. Not once or twist either! I also prefer to shoot for bones, my favored shot is the base of the neck resulting in numerous bang flops. Never once have I had one that I considered to over expand. (I must say that I am quite critical of such things.)

Also did someone mention that this bullet may be discontinued??

CW

[anweis]

Also did someone mention that this bullet may be discontinued??

CW

No, but i am a stockpiling type of guy and round nosed cup and core bullets are not fashionable anymore, so....

[huntswithdogs]

I'm not gonna tell ya to replace your powder, but that's what I had to do to get these to work right. I used IMR4350 for most all of my loads to start off with, then discovered H4831 and H414. I ain't looked back since! Near max load of either powder will cause cute little clover leafs to appear in a target when ya do your part. These shoot better than anything I've ever shot from a 243. I've loaded for and shot a bunch of different rifles in 243 and I keep coming back to these. I think it has a lot to do with the amount of surface catching the riflings.
While bang/flops aren't a common thing, a deer shot with these thru the boiler doesn't make it very far. Shoulder shots ain't purdy! I've not ever recovered one of these either. 2 holes is a common occurence.


HWD