Stuck with a .243, where do I aim?

[buckslayer]

I have to hunt with a .243 this year.  It is deadly accurate with cheap winchester powerpoint 100 grs.  We have some huge deer on the farm, several 250 lb bucks, and many that are easily 200lb.  Should I keep away from the shoulder, through the lungs and ribs, or should I try to hit the shoulder?  Shots will be under 300 yards, average 150-200.

[flintlock]

A .243 is no different than any other deer cartridge, aim where you usually do...Those PowerPoints are fairly soft bullets...They'll kill just fine but don't always give an exit as often as the 100gr Noslar Partitions or the CoreLokts...

[moorepower]

Heart and lungs. A .243 is quite adequate for a vitals shot.

[Dave in WV]

My experience with the .243 has been great! IMHO you could do worse. I have no experience with the Winchester bullets so I'd not aim for the shoulder. My experience with Remington 100 gr Corelokts is they are fairly tough for a cup and core bullet.

[Darrell Davis]

Well, I have been a 243 owner/user for years,

And the only warning I would render is USE QUALITY BULLETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bullets of the Nosler partition level are great, and if push comes to shove with a bad hit will possibly pull your fat out of the fire.

Lightly constructed bullets offer a great potential for GREATLY excessive meat distruction!

A side to side, behind the shoulder hit is about as good as it gets with the 243, and with a quality bullet of 100grs. will likely give full penetration.

My warning to use quality bullets holds true for all center fire rifles.  Many if not all complaints seen on the forums concerning excessive meat distructions are due to bullet design/construction and not caliber used.

There is no such a thing as too dead, but rifles clear down to the 30/30 can cause great meat loss with a poor hit, just simply because of a bullet with little or no integraty.

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[Ron/Pa.]

   I was always an `06 believer. Due to a bad Shoulder I went to a .243. I firmly believe that the .243 drops them just as fast as the `06. I use the cheapo Federal Power-Shoks and they perform and shoot very well.....

[Darrell Davis]

You'll not find this Ol'Coot say'in the cheap-o bullets won't drop the critters -----------------

providing of course, everything goes well or given enough time for the critter to expire.

However, if you hunt long enough, you will take or see a shot that goes bad, and that is when the quality bullets with integraty pay their way.

It was a cup and core bullet that put me in the Nosler partition camp on my first deer taken with a 243.

And although we have a goodly number of quality bullets today, as compared to the Nosler Partition, Bitterroot and maybe a couple others available back when I took that buck, using bullets of integraty WILL at some point pay for the slightly added cost.

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[wyohandi]

I've killed elk with a .243Win, stick with the 90-100gr bullets, put them in the vitals and you won't have any
problems.

[Spanky]

A .243 will knock the stuffing out of a deer.
Of course shot placement is key (with any caliber). Hit 'em in the vitals and it's meat on the pole buddy.



Spanky

[Catfish]

I always try to double lung. A lot of them don`t go down on the spot, but they never go far and I usually see them fall, plus they leave alot of blood.

[Brithunter]

Actually I find this quite amusing  .............................. In the UK the .243 is probably the most used deer round and where we have red Deer they often go quite a bit bigger than 250lbs. Put the bullet in a vital spot and the deer will die.

[Siskiyou]

I have no experience with the 100-grain WW Power Point in the .243.  I do in the 270 Winchester, and have seen the 150-grain Power Point recovered from a bear.  Typical but weight recovered is 70 % and they expand to about .75 inches in those two calibers.  My #2 brother was so impressed with them in the 270 Winchester that he bought a thousand of the bullets in bulk a few years ago.  

I did not get the good deal but bought the only bulk package of 100 this spring at $17.00 and asked if there were more.  

During my working career I have validated a lot of deer tags.  I would advise against a shoulder shot.  A shot into the heart/lung region behind the shoulder will give you better odds.  A hunting partner’s wife has been very successful shooting bucks behind the shoulder with her 6MM Remington with 100-grain bullets.  The key is to get a bullet into vital organs not waste critical energy on the tougher shoulder.  Dangerous game hunters might go for a shoulder shot, but they are shooting a round that is designed to fully penetrate the target.  There is a trade off with all bullets.

I have not used the Nosler Partition in the 243 Winchester, but in the rounds that I have I believe it has enhance the cartridge.


On July 12, 2010 I test fired factory Federal 100-grain bullets and Remington 100-grain C-L across my Chrony.  My rifle has a 22-inch barrel.

The average velocity from Remington CL was 2748 fps.

The average velocity from the Federal Blue box was 2894 fps and gave the tightest group.

I was a little disappointed in the Remington CL because deer hit behind the shoulder with it looked like they were hit with an -06.

[saddlebum]

I'm stuck with a .243 for deer and antelope hunting too, by choice. It is my favorite medium game rifle.
I use Sierra 100gr bullets. I have never lost a deer or antelope while hunting with it. All with solid chest cavity hits.
My longest shot being a little over 300yds.
If they don't drop in their tracks, they usually hop or stagger around a bit before they drop.
The only one run after being shot was about 75yds after a lung shot. The big bodied mule deer blead out in 75yds and piled up. Blood had shot out of the exit wound about 15ft onto the snow before he piled up dead.
I have never been forced to take a shoulder shot on deer or antelope so I can't speak to that. The shoulder is pretty small and easy to shoot around if the bullet is not up to the challenge. Patience should present a fella with a better shot anyway.
If you can hit the shoulder, you should be able to hit the neck or head, if not a trophy.

I have other rifles but I choose to use my .243 for medium size game. I practice with it in the summer on prairie dogs with 70gr Nosler BT.

[BBF]

Saddlebum:
 Which 100 gr. Sierra. FB or BT?
I've used the FB and found it a very hard bullet that worked well on Mulie's and one Mr. Bullwinkle.

[saddlebum]

I use the Game King boat tail bullets. I appreciate them being a little harder than what I started with. I first started loading the .243 with the old Nosler Solid Base 100gr. That bullet would leave the whole exit wound side of an antelope bloodshot with an exit hole of about 3''.

[Siskiyou]

Saddlebum:
I found your post regarding the “Old” Nosler 100-grain Solid Base interesting.  I have been using them for test.  I selected the middle powder charge from my loading.  I should note the top did present any problem.  These loads were safe using old data but a questionable using current data.  Published pressure is still under the maximum for the 243 Winchester.

The practice load I settled on gives me 3009 fps out of my 22-inch barrel.

I should note that I settle on the 105-grain Speer because it the ballistic champion when it comes to retaining velocity and energy beyond the 400-yard mark.  The magic goal of a thousand pounds.

Now that I have done my testing your post indicates to me that I should hoard the 100-grain SB a while longer.  Any experience with the 80-grain SB?

My experience with antelope is they are a little softer than deer.  I was finding larger exit holes in antelope with the 130-grain Hornady (.277) then I was in blacktail and mule

[Darrell Davis]

In my humble opinion, the Nosler 100gr - used to be a 95gr. - Partition is extremely hard to beat in a 6mm of any kind.

It opens up great and then just keeps charging ahead.

Plus the fact I have also seen remarkable, on game proformence with 7mm and 30cal Partitions.

It will open up as needed at longer ranges, but doesn't explode close in.

Yes, there are other newer bullets which meet those levels of integraty, but the proformence of the Nosler Partition has long been the base line by which other bullets, good and bad have been judged.

It was worthy of that position 40 - 50 years ago, and still there today.

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[Justin10mm]

The Winchester 100gr. Power point is plenty tough for deer, something several big hogs can attest to.     

[fastchicken]

I've shot several whitetail with the .243 100gr Win. PP, never had a deer complain. I stay away from the shoulder, but I do with any caliber, classic meat wasting shot, although I will take about any shot that is presented and have not hesitated to do so with my .243. I have only recovered one of the Win.PP bullets, it was a 30 yard steep downhill, almost straight on shot on a buck that dressed out at 165lbs. Entered the right side of the neck where it meets the shoulder and traversed the body, shattering the shoulder socket [not the blade] on the left side and stayed just under the hide. When I butchered him, the bone was shattered from the elbow to the lower joint, bullet weighed 63 gr.

[emsemt911]

through the front shoulder

[Darrell Davis]

Sorry, but my primary reason for hunting is meat, and a shoulder shot distroys, needlessly, part of that meat.

A whole lot less meet is lost with a through and through BEHIND THE SHOULDER shot!

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[Lloyd Smale]

My first priority when shooting game is a quick humane kill. If that means shooting them in the shoulder so be it. Id rather loose 5 lbs of hamburger then have a deer run off and suffer before i find it. If i have a perfect under 100 yard broadside shot i will shoot behind the shoulder but that doesnt happen very often in the hunting field. Most times my shots are made by figureing where the vitals are and going in at an angle that will hit them. I try to avoid head and neck shots as ive seem game terribly wounded by them. Bottom line is a shoulder shot gives more room for error and puts them down just as fast as a neck shot anyway. When im hunting anything bigger and that includes black bear and a wild pigs i allways try for a shoulder shot to anchor them.

[SHOOTALL]

I would second all Lloyd Smale posted and add that any deer would be hard pressed to tell the difference in a 243 from almost any other deer round.
To turn around what the poster said - is it alright to take a bad shot with a larger bore rifle ? NO !

[anweis]

Well, you've been advised what and where to shoot with that .243. Here is advice  where not to shoot: make sure not to hit twigs or branches, because such small, light, fast, and pointed bullets are very easily deflected or destroyed by whatever is between you and the deer.
My favorite deer rifle happens to be a 6mm Rem. Before i acquired it, it has killed 80 head of large deer, elk, and black bears, with the Sierra 85 grain BTHP or the Hornady 100 RN. I continue to use the 100 gr RN, it is the best bullet in this rifle and... i load it slow, and the shape of the bullet gives me a bit more choice to shoot through leaves, etc.

[257Robt]

Interesting comments on the 243. I am looking at a Kimber Montana in 243 now. I know alot of people who shoot 243's and all use 100g Remington Core-Lokt's with no problems. I have been slow to catch on to the 243 because I use a 257 Roberts though.

   Dale

[JWP58]

I shoot 100gr winchester pwrpoints out of my 600 mohawk. The two deer i have shot with it havent gone further than 10yds (one dropping where it stood).

I love the .243!!

[fastchicken]

My son took a button buck on the last day of the Mo. youth season [1-2-11] with his .243 loaded with a 100gr Sierra Prohunter on top of H4831sc. The shot was nearly straight on @ 120 yards, downhill. Bullet entered dead center of the chest, even with the shoulders, took out the left side of the heart, continued, passing through 7 ribs before exiting the flank and riding the hide to come to rest on the inside of the hindquarter.  Just a small button buck, but that was still a lot of bone that little bullet went through and it weighed 59.5gr in the end.  Impact velocity was around 2480fps. I would not have hesitated to take the same shot on any deer, especially after seeing the job it did. It might not have made it as far on a larger deer, but it'd be just as dead. One thing I will say though is with the frontal shot and no exit there was virtually no blood trail. But who needs a blood trail to find a deer that doesn't make it 15 yards?

[fastchicken]

2nd picture was too big to load with my original post

[jackruff]

I've shot many deer with a 6mm Remington which shoots the same bullet as the .243 just a little bit faster.  Aim behind the shoulder to try for a double lung shot if possible.  But don't hesitate to shoot one in the front.  I had to do that a few times.  No problem.  The deer were just as dead.  Most of mine were shot with 100 grain Reminton pointed soft point core lokt bullets.  Now I mostly use my leverguns in .44 magnum and 30-30 mainly because they are more fun to carry around than my Ruger model 77.

[saddlebum]

fastchicken,
Great ballistic report there chick. I use the GameKings and I have wondered what the bullet looked like after penatration. I have never recovered one. I just know they hold up better than the old Noslers I used to use. Thanks for posting!