Hunting & Fishing What grain for .243?

[Monchichi]

I've never hunted before and just getting started. I have a Remington 700 in 243Win. I'll be hunting deer in California (at least for now). What grain should I be using? Also, is 243 good enough if I decide I want to hunt elk? If so, would I have to change grains. I don't do my own loads. I buy factory ammo. Really like Federal Premium. I appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

 

[B.Bates]

Re: What grain for .243?

85g barnes is the bullet i would pick

dont know if you can find loaded ammo but other bullets swift scirrocos, nosler partitions.

i shot alot of deer with a 85g tsx, great bullet, never recovered one.

 

[athanasios23]

Re: What grain for .243?

i like the the hornady 95 grain sst's...you can also get them in Hornadys superformance version. Shot a deer and hog with them and they worked great. I have heard of people saying they shot an elk with a 243 bullet and perfect accuracy and were succesful.... but i myself would use a larger bullet for elk. I would suggest buying a few different box's of ammo and seeing what shoots the best out of your gun. I tried federal premium nosler partions and my shots were all over. Used the hornady and got tight groups..

 

[Grand]

Re: What grain for .243?

With the .243 bullet construction is alot more important than weight. I'd shoot a nosler partition or an all copper slug like the Barnes TTSX.

 

[Guest]

Re: What grain for .243?

95gr SST.

 

[arborpro]

Re: What grain for .243?

I would go the the heaviest hunting bullet that the twist rate on your rifle will stabilize.

Arbopro

 

[Niles Coyote]

Re: What grain for .243?

I will be using 105 berger vld for a mulie in a week. Last year one in our party was using the 95 grain Winchester factory load, he made a shoulder shot and the mulie dropped and rolled over. For Elk I would be inclined to go with a bonded core or solid design of 85 grains or more.

 

[ccoker]

Re: What grain for .243?

Easy, Barnes Vortex loaded ammo with the 80g TTSX
I believe you are required to use lead free aren't you?

This ammo shoots .5 " out of my old Sako 243 and is lights out on deer and hogs

 

[Monchichi]

Re: What grain for .243?

Thanks for the info. I'll probably try some of the ones you suggested and see which shoots best with my rifle.

 

[Taken Out Slak]

Re: What grain for .243?

Remmington 100 grain Core-Lokt never fails. My sons drop deer every year with em.

 

[fdkay]

Re: What grain for .243?

For whitetail deer, any of the hunting specific bullets will work.

Rem Core-loks, winchester powerpoints etc... have been succesfully harvesting deer since the cartridge was created.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with spending the extra money on premium bullets, but they aren't required for deer.

Now, when it comes to elk, I'd use a 95 to 105 grain premium bullet like the barnes, swift, accu-bond or the like.

 

[slowr1der]

Re: What grain for .243?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ath23</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i like the the hornady 95 grain sst's...you can also get them in Hornadys superformance version. Shot a deer and hog with them and they worked great. I have heard of people saying they shot an elk with a 243 bullet and perfect accuracy and were succesful.... but i myself would use a larger bullet for elk. I would suggest buying a few different box's of ammo and seeing what shoots the best out of your gun. I tried federal premium nosler partions and my shots were all over. Used the hornady and got tight groups.. </div></div>These 95 Grain SST's are what I use also on deer. I use my own loads with them, but many of my buddies use the factory offering and we have all had great luck with it. I've read some complaints online of it being too soft and expanding too quickly for some, but I like how they have performed for us. Most of the time there seems to be a pass through, so I don't see the expanding too fast issue. The only downside I see if you call it that is that they do a ton of damage, but that seems to drop the deer quickly. They just aren't good if you plan to shoot deer in the shoulder and get much meat from the shoulders.

That said, several guys have used Winchester Power Points with luck, but I never have used them on deer. They have all switched to the SST's now though, and claim they get better results. I've not seen any they shot with a Power Point either, so I can't comment on those. Ever since I've had a .243 we have all used SST's.