rdish50

Hello again frizz,
just a friendly reply to let you know i called sierra today at about 1:00 and they told me the same story they did several years ago....they recommend the 85 grain H.P.B.T. GAME KING(designed for deer) in preference over their own 100 grain GAME KING bullets for the same reasons they gave me the fist time i called them...of course,that doesnt indicate to me that the bullets you yourself use wouldnt be very good ones as well ..I think you said 100 grain Game Kings were the ones you use....and even if the 85 grainers kill a little bit quiker...big deal...as long as they hold together well on impact, i would tend to think the 100 grainers would generally be a little more reliable overall.even if you had to walk an extra 20 yds to find your deer....anyhow....,i dont think .243 is a bad caliber for deer sized game....I am a deer sized game,and i sure wouldnt want to be sshot by a .243 rifle....however,i personally and no b.s. involved ,lost one deer...a nice buck,shot at close range with .243 100 grain winchester power points....now you can argue as long as you want, that i didnt hit him correctly,but i tell you for sure i shot him mid chest, broadside behind the shoulder...a standing shot and he ran off ..i found him wounded, but he ran again and i was unable to get a clear shot again due to the heavy cover...then my daughter shot a doe ..perfect shot again..mid chest,behind the shpoulder..found 300 yds away....broken ribs on the surface....so yes, if you are going to use just any old bullet, .243 isnt minimal......,it ought to be outlawed for deer, ...i never had this problem with larger calibers)...but if you have good sturdy bullets it is a very potent deer killer...I WOULD NEVER USE A VARMINT BULLET IN .243 FOR DEER..PERIOD..END OF STORY!!!!

swampdog_

rdish50,I loaded up some 100 gr. Nosler Partitions once.A friend of mine and myself were on a ridge when I saw a decent 8 pt. about 175 yds. away.I cut loose on him and he went down at the crack of the rifle.We went down to the creek saw blood ,But no deer.My friend looked up the other side of the ridge about 75 yds. away and put one through his ribs with a 30-06 .We got the deer but could only find the 06' holes( in and out).When we got home and was skinning him out I heard something hit the floor.Danged if it wasn' t the most perfectly mushroomed 100 gr. partition you ever saw.[]I could not believe it.I had hit him in the neck and the bullet did not exit. The bullet even weighed 100 grs.The partition did what it was supposed to do, ( remain intact)But Did not perform well for me.Go figure.Anyway I have yet to find one of the hornady' s to check out and they always leave a good fifty cent size exit hole.JMHO

rdish50

wow swampdog,...now you got me thinking...the neck of a deer is a very tough bony part of the deer,but i sure would have thought the nosler would have done the trick even at 175 yds...in other words what i am gathering here is that sometimes a little fragmentation might be good for a quiker kill ,but a person definitely wouldnt want anything too explosive(my own thoughts here)...maybe the best thing we could do to be fair and humane to the deeer population is start shooting them with a 30-06....as your friend did!.....thanks for the reply and take care....P.S. ...i did have good results with the hornaday .243 100 grainers in factory shells called light magnum...i dont know the exact type of bullet they wwere for sure but i assume they were interlocks

swampdog_

rdish50,Yeah that' s what I thought when I shot and the deer hit the ground.Done deal.I guess it is the mass of the bullet.I have had several deer carry off a 6 mm round ,Even when hit top dead center.I put them up years ago.Went to the .264 Mag. loved it .Then went to " Baby Doll" my 7 mm Rem. Mag. I have not tracked anything in a long time.

XTP

....surface wound??...broken ribs?......was the deer wearing Kevlar!!???

rdish50

Well i really dont know what he was wearing exept hair,but i can tell by your comments you are skeptical of my statements,and also dont believe a word of it....thats your choice...there is no way i can prove my statements to you....i have no desire to critisize .243 caliber as i own one ,and i like the rifle and its low recoil...there are a hell of a lot of other experienced hunters out there like myself, whom have had strange things happen with .243....but of course there are those perfect hunters out there whom never have a problem with anything...i am not one of them......believe what you want...makes no diff to me

swampdog_

As a matter of fact I have seen things done to a deer and it still tote it off that you would not believe.Anything from one that was hit just enough on the belly that it opened up like a zipper dragging entrails for almost a mile to a guy shooting one between the eyes with a (no doubt) .243 at the just perfect or not so perfect angle to where it knocked all of the bark off of the deers forehead ,Knocked it out as cold a a creek rock.When he got to the deer it woke up stumbled around some and he had to kill it.I looked at the forehead,and it was just a nick.You stay in the woods long enough you tend to see some pretty odd stuff.

rdish50

Thanks Swampdog,
I appreciate your support.....

nevets

I use 100 gr for deer. never had one go more than 20 yards after being hit.