Favorite. 243 Bullet For Killing Stuff

Pretty self-explanatory. I'm getting rained out for bow season. My creek is already out of the banks and there's another 5" of rain in the forecast. My blind probably has a foot of water in it right now.

As much as I'd love to watch my arrow disappear in Kicker's armpit, I don't think it'll happen. That's fine with me because I have much more confidence with a rifle, anyway.

I'll be hunting with my Tikka .243. I have plenty of hogs to shoot at, and of course my buddy Kicker. I've never shot a creature with a .243 so I'd like to hear any success/failure stories with that round, and your recommendations for bullets/ammo.

Let's kill Kicker.

When I had one I used 90 gr accubonds. It worked , but I didn’t try them on many test subjects

I seen a buck almost identical to that one on TBH page.


Oh and there is a an ammo sub-forum for questions like this Jeremy.

Dude. Don't make me post screen shots of our text messages about hot ghost chicks. Where you at 2beez? You're in that conversation.

Jeremy, that one may me a little tough to take with a 243. I can come over and get rid of him for you with my 308. I’ll even haul him away for free.

What a relief! You're a gentleman and a scholar, sir. His grid coordinates are 12345.

Shot 243 all my life. 100 grain Hornady

105gr berger hybrid

85 grain Sierra Gamekings.

I have been sanding cabinets you fool. Can't you read dammit. .243 won't kill anything. No wait that was .223. My bad

I've used 95 gr SST in the Superformance since they came out with that and have never not killed what I've shot.

You're not going to see him anyway so I do not know why we are even having the discussion.

I'm gonna marry your wife.

My nephews have shot and killed several deer with my Ruger 243 Win. I use 100 grain Winchester power points. Had nothing but good experiences with the caliber. It’s great for kids because it is really low recoil.

My nephews have shot and killed several deer with my Ruger 243 Win. I use 100 grain Winchester power points. Had nothing but good experiences with the caliber. It’s great for kids because it is really low recoil.

Me too...favorite bullet.

2nd favorite is the 95 grain Nosler Ballistic tip.

That’s what I’ve always shot in my .243. I have had no issues.

100 grain Nosler Partition

I hand load my 6mm with a Speer 90 gr Speer HotCore. Most accurate and best killer in this caliber.

I still have a stash of Nosler 100 grain solid base bullets that I use.

For bigger deer the 100gr SP recommendations are probably best, IMO. I’m not sure which ones will stabilize in 10 twist, the flat base should for sure but not sure on boat tails. I just saw a report that the new Sierra gamechanger 90gr won’t stabilize in 10 twist tikka, but it’s a long, high BC bullet.


I’ve run Sierra 85gks, Nosler 90 and 95bts through multiple tikka 243s. All were easy to find accurate loads with and produced Good results on pigs and doe. But These bullets, especially the sierra 85might be questionable for a shoulder shot on big buck, I don’t have any experience there.

My current tikka 243 has shot federal fusion factory 95gr only. They shoot well and have worked fine on pigs.
I just mailed it to Morgan to be chopped and threaded at 18.5” so I can hunt muffled. I’ll try the fusion ammo once I get it back. If they don’t shoot well I’ll hand load 90gr BTs

Hornady American Whitetail 100 Grain it 95 grain Winchester Ballistic Tips

95 gr Winchester Silvertips and 100 gr Corlokt's have always been good to me. Never had a problem killing stuff as long as I do my part.

I would use a bigger gun if you have one. I have seen a lot of deer shot with a .243.

Performance ranged from dead right there to running along ways with little or no blood.

Majority of the time deer ran off with minimal blood, but sometimes there was a good blood trail and a short track job.

It’s just a iffy caliber imo. If you have a .270 or something similar it’s alot better.


That’s a nice buck btw

Thank you for that info. I do some have bigger cartridges. I always joke about shooting a deer with my 26 Nosler out of my bow blind at 23 yards. Now that I have my biggest buck on camera, I might actually do it.

I wouldn’t want to shoot a deer at 26 yards with any centerfire rifle other than a 30-30.

But if your joking and have access to bigger calibers I would choose them over a .243

If you are planning on hunting out of your bow blind just use your bow.

If you are going to take body shots, then use a bullet that is designed for that. Barnes has some excellent ammo out there in 243 that is great for those who want to see a blood trail rifle hunting. Great penetration. The Barnes bullets will leave a blood trail in the 243. I don't like blood trails rifle hunting, I want bang flop. The buck you are after, I would put a 95 grain Silver Tip in his neck and watch him drop. Or high shoulder, end of story. Dead deer. IF your range stretches out, then that's another story. I have a lot of experience hunting with the 243, not a damn thing wrong with that round under 200 yrds.

100 g. Nosler Partition. On a similar size deer the high shoulder shot dropped him and the bullet passed through.

That's total hogwash. The 243 is a very effective killer of deer sized game when the proper bullet is put in the proper place. 95g ballistic tips are wicked killers.

If you can't kill a deer with a 243 you need to quit hunting. Shoot them in the neck and no tracking required.

Yes they are. I have killed a lot of animals with them.

One of my neighbors cursed his 243, after missing and wounding a few deer and pigs. I offered to help but hell no. He bought a 300 Win Mag with a Zeiss scope, used it for 2 years and missed and wounded MANY more animals than he ever did with his old 243. I was skinning a deer at camp and he stopped & asked me what I shot that deer with and how far. I said my 243 at about 100 yrds just like the last one. I let him finish his rant and didn't say anything. He said "Man, I need a rifle that I can shoot". My answer was, get a 22-250. If you can't kill a deer with a 22-250 then it's time for you to rewind and re-process everything you think you know.

I've never shot a deer in the neck. I do not enjoy tracking deer though. What part of the neck do y'all aim at?

Side profile, straight down from the ear notch, at jaw line, or above.

Facing you, aim just below the chin.

Back to you, head up, jaw line, up to the top of the head.

That's the brainstem, and it is the main breaker. Better be dead nuts zeroed, and have a very steady rifle, and have great trigger control. Killed lots of does and one cow elk with that very shot over the last few years. No tracking, no torn up meat, no blood during gutting.

I'm with the anti 243 crowd. I can't argue that it won't kill 'em, cause it will. I used to hunt with 243 all the time. Personally, I like a bigger caliber.
If you are going to use the 243, I would suggest heavier for caliber bullets, and pick a tough one. Accubonds would be a good choice.

When you get situated and ready to shoot just whistle at him. When the deer looks at you shoot him in the center of the neck. He won’t move while your shooting and will fall in his tracks.

.243 is not optimal, but it’s fine for the vast majority of deer hunting. My first deer rifle was a .243 and my youngest daughter now owns it. It’s a helluva lot better than the varmint calibers many are using and/or handicapping their kids with these days.

100 gr Partition if the rifle shoots them well.

80 gr Barnes TTSX works well too.

This.^

243 to small for a whitetail deer?

I never said the .243 won't kill a deer.



I stated the issue was with finding them after they had been hit.

A .243 is all my dad would use. He always went for a high shoulder shot with Remington Core Loct 100 grain. Most of the time, they dropped right there. You could always find the bullet under the hide on the far side. If they ran off though, it was usually very difficult to find them.

I hunted with a .303 British and always had a good exit wound and blood trail.

That was east Texas in the 70's. There weren't a lot of deer around there then. If a deer was lost, you might not get another chance that year.

I remember those days of east texas hunting.



Now its changed quite a bit but I was never so happy as when I moved back to SA and much better brush country hunting

I like a bullet that makes two holes. I shoot nosler partitions in nearly every hunting gun I have. Even a 223 will give easily trackable blood trail with 60 grain partitions and good shot placement. Cant tell you how many deer have been killed with ours. I love partitions penetration and expansion guaranteed.

I always shoot shoulders. They have always dropped. I like Nosler bullets for killing things. You will have no problems with your 243. The NBT has worked great in my 257R. If you want a little more peace of mind, use a Partition or Accubond.

I've seen 1 deer shot with a .243 and partitions. Typical of the bullet design, it went thru and thru, hitting the heart. Deer ran quite a ways ( 150 yards ) but there was a good blood trail.

Only thing ive ever seen loaded in that caliber was regular soft points and ballistic tips. This load was a handload.


I'm assuming you can get accubonds and partitions loaded in factory ammo in .243 now

If your rifle likes them, I’ve had outstanding results with Barnes Vortex ammo - 80gr TTSX.

No issues... ever

. One of the dirtiest nastiness rounds out there...exit is a mess!!! Ive been killing the hell out of hogs with this round....

Yessr I've got a couple boxes of them on the counter, and a new 243 I'm setting up for my daughter. I was very impressed with how they did on pigs.

243 was a new round for us a couple years ago. I loaded up a bunch of plain jain Hornady 100gr Interlocks with IMR 4350 for the kids. 7 or so dead deer later I'd say they work. Few DRT's and couple that made it 25-100 yds with a blood trail, always had exit wounds.

Oddest thing was a doe I shot facing me and hit right in the bottom of the chest. She jumped and ran. Founds some hair and bone but no blood. I new which way she headed and the trails so started circling and couldn't find any blood. Finally found her maybe 100yds off piled up next to a tree with a lot of blood right there where she must've stood before she keeled over. Bullet had entered low, cleaved the bottom of her chest where it got some bone and the bottom of her heart, don't know why there was no trail. In hindsight I think maybe I just missed it, no way she went that far with that wound not dripping something on the ground.

You can get them in federal red box. My brother bought a box for the 243 he bought for his boys to shoot, Cabelas carries them in stock most of the time.

For the past seven years, we have used plain old Remington Corelocts, Hornady SST's and Hornady Lite's in our Weatherby. We keep going back to the Corelocts because they group the best, are cheap and easy to find and they do the job. For the shots we take, I'll take a box of the $14-$19 Corelocts over the $30 Hornady's every day of the week.

Six deer and thee hogs and none of them stoped a 95gr.NBT.

The lore is that 95 NBT was designed by Nosler for bigger game, it's made extra tough.

Like the lore about the 7mm 120 NBTs that were beefed up for steel silhouette shooters.

Killed a lot of deer with a 243 going back to my youth, me hunting as an adult with one and my kid's hunting..

Ran all sorts of bullets with them.

I will be running a 6mm Creedmoor AR10 that I recently swapped barrels on (was a 308) and I plan on popping a few does with the 87g Hornady VMax. I won't do shoulder shots at close range with that bullet of course... I shoot from a solid rest and take my time and will pass on questionable shots, I expect to watch them drop in my scope like my dad taught me.

We run 95 grain federal fusion in my kids .243s. Never had a problem with hogs or deer.

100 grain winchester power points for me. ive had great success with them and .243 is my main hunting caliber now.

Look what was announced today.

Thats probably a good one

Remington Corelokts and a 700 243, deadly.

Being a boat tail, they should be using a G7 bc for that ELD-X.

100gr Corelokts and my Savage 110 .243 have killed a lot of deer. Only one I ever had run more than 10-15ft was the very first deer I ever shot, it was a bad gut shot and that Doe only ran about 40 yards.

My son and daughter both use 243 rifles and have for years. The only bullet that I was not satisfied with was Remington 90 Grain Swift Scirocco ammo. It put all of the deer down through the shoulder shots, but all deer were immobile and still breathing after waiting at least 30 to 45 minutes to recover and had to finish them off. I dont think they mushroom like softer bullets out of the 243. Currently use Hornady whitetail loads and they perform great with pass through and great short blood trails on more than 10 deer and numerous hogs.

Winchester ,243, 100 gr power points. My 10 year old grandson has taken 4 shots at game with his .243 from 40-110yds and has harvested 2 hogs and 2 whitetail. All quick clean kills.

Yessr. The 243 has been my go-to for over 20 yrs for MOST of the areas I hunt. I have killed hundreds pigs, deer, and a few large exotics with the 243. I own 3 now between me & my older kids and about to buy another for my youngest Son. He will learn to bang flop with it. I can't help but laugh at some folk's comments LOL. The 243 is plenty for MOST situations, but I will be carrying my 25-06 on one property this year because there is a very real chance at a longer shot and I love that caliber too.

I think I'm in the minority but I'm not an Accubond fan. Shot them out of my 25-06. First few deer were all DRT but they left NO blood on the ground at all. Exit hole was .25", no expansion at all. Always thought to myself that if one didn't drop and it ran, I'd be out of luck. sure enough it happened. Hit one and it ran. Found about 2 drops of blood and that was it.

Now shoot Core-lokt out of that gun and also out of my son's .243. Seem to be great rounds that pattern very well out of our Tikkas and kill stuff dead.

I just picked up 3 boxes of Hornady Interlock 100s on sale at Academy. I figure they'll work as good as anything else.

I’ve had the same results albeit my basis (# of kills) is very limited. I’ve actually had better expansion and wound channels with the Barnes TSX. The AB is apparently a pretty tough bullet.

my main hunting buddy has been using a 20" 243 AR the last few years a lot, killed a lot of deer and pigs with the 80g TTSX. That is an awesome load for the 243!

same results im having in my .257 wby. the bullet mushrooms picture perfect but the devestation isn't there like I would have imagined.

You'll be better off with .243 than 25-06 if your shooting distance. My hunting bullet choices are Berger, ELDx, partition, gameking, pretty much any cup/core bullet for deer.

I know the 243 will reach out farther than 200 yrds effectively, but I've never shot an animal past 200 with that round ever. I have 3x9's on all of my 243's with 100 yrd zero's, and my comfort zone is 200 yrds with a 3x9 scope hunting. I have a bigger scope on my 25-06, and that is a flat shooting gun too. I know a few guys that are shooting custom 243's with handloads and are smoking a lot of the 6.5 Creed guys in long range competitions. I have no experience with that though, yet. I'm just a hunter, I've never competed. I'm sure if I put a bigger scope on my 243 I wouldn't have a problem stretching it out, and I may just do that as I'm getting ready to rebuild ol' trusty anyway.

I will have to dig up some pics later, but the 53 grain v-max in the 243 is a damn grenade on deer. That bullet running at close to 4,000 fps will blow one hell of a hole in a white tail. Exit wound behind the shoulder was the size of a grapefruit at 80 yrds.

3x9 is plenty for 200yds.....set up a target at 200 and do some shooting, you'll probably be surprised.

I have, I shoot 200 at the range and have shot animals at 200 just not further than that.

hwyman shot a big deer with a 50 something grain bullet outta a .243 several years back.


ask him how it turned out....

I like the 100 grain core-lokt

Hey hwyman, how did it turn out?

Ole kicker will not shake off a Sierra 100 grain SBT to the boiler room from your 243.

You better 2 to the body and 1 to the head with that weak 243. Those NE Tx deer are super tough