.243 Ammo for deer

[redeye505]

New to the hobby. I just got a savage .243. Anyone have suggestions on ammo. Grain Brand etc. I will be hunting deer. Smaller deer since they will be in the mountains of WV.

 

[dist1646]

I used Winchester 100 gr power points to take my 12 point with a .243. Dropped almost in it's tracks.

 

[Rem700fan]

I use 95 gr. Hornaday sst's on top of varget powder. Buy a couple of different brands with quality bullets in 80 to 100 gr. weight range and see what shoots best in your rifle.

 

[BlackBart]

Good round, heavy bullet is lethal and no recoil.

 

[willy]

100 gr power points on deer-yup. 243 is the only gun I hunt with nowadays. Then I use hornady's 58gr VMAX superperformance for anything smaller. Savage 111 is the most accurate gun I own. Freaking tack driver.

 

[kstone803]

I killed my first deer with a .243 with good ol remington core lokts. You can get them for around 50 cents a round on sale at Dicks. I use a .270 now but still shoot core lokts and have never had a problem with deer running far.

 

[browning guy]

I love a 243 just so you know that little 6mm kills very good. My wife took a beautful Black wilderbeast and a silver metal blesbuck in south africa with federal 100gr 243.

 

[redeye505]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I think i will buy a few different boxes and try them out to see what shoots best. That will always give me a reason to go to the range. Wow that is impressive Browning Guy a wilderbeast. Now that sounds like a good trip. At least now i feel i bought the right gun as well. I had some people trying to talk me into a 30-06. Where i will be hunting probably wont be over 150 yards. I thought the 30-06 was overkill. Thank you again

 

[shaddydan]

I think your best bet would be to buy a 7mm from a guy at work

 

[stu929]

30-06 is a great cartridge but for whitetail 243 is adequate and very little recoil.

 

[FlatsFlite]

You might want to check the twist rate in your rifle. A lot of 243s are 1:10 which is great for weights under 90 grains. My Model 70 is a one-hole wonder with 87s at 100 yards. Using 100gr bullets, I'm lucky to get 4 MOA.

Don't sweat not being able to use a heavy bullet, if your rifle doesn't like them. A 70 Nosler ballistic tip and a number of other choices in under 90gr selection are devastating on medium-sized game -- especially hits in a vital area.

 

[redeye505]

You might want to check the twist rate in your rifle. A lot of 243s are 1:10 which is great for weights under 90 grains. My Model 70 is a one-hole wonder with 87s at 100 yards. Using 100gr bullets, I'm lucky to get 4 MOA.

Don't sweat not being able to use a heavy bullet, if your rifle doesn't like them. A 70 Nosler ballistic tip and a number of other choices in under 90gr selection are devastating on medium-sized game -- especially hits in a vital area.

That is some good info. I will have to take a look at that. I wil try and buy some low grain as well to see the difference.