What are you shooting out of it? Never really hunted with one but will try one this season. Most shots are under 100 where I hunt.

I've always shot Hornady 100gr out of mine. Deer hate em..

Fusion 95 gr, you'll thank me later.

Barnes vortex. 80gr I think.

100 gr. Hornady Interlocks or Nosler Partitions.

Fusion’s

Federal 100gr blue box...

Something around a 100 gr that the gun likes
If you hamdload 95 gr Barnes xlc will do real good

Get a bigger gun. 😀 Nice Sako finnlite in 308 in the classified forum.

I kilt a buncha deer with a 100grn PowerPoint...

I;m partial to the 95 grain Hornady Superformance.

95 grain federal fushions

After you decide on which bullet you'll be shooting start a new thread and ask about the battery life of those little lights you shine around to try to make the blood trail show up.

this is what my 12 year old shoots in his

I’ve shot a deer with my daughters and it left very little blood. Luckily it went 20 yards and DRT.

100gr Hornady is what I shoot in the 6mm. Killed a bunch of deer over the years.

They don't make the best 243 any more . It was a hornady 100gr lite mag . I wish they'd bring them back

Fusions and Barnes and Nosler Accubonds have done as much damage, left as much blood, and killed just as quick as anything else I’ve ever shot deer with..... deer are deer. If they run, they run on some shots...don’t matter if it’s a 180gr 30-06 or a 90gr 243.....good exits make things easier with either.

I went with Superformance SST

THIS^!!

SST is a fine bullet. I just can't find a gun that likes the Superformance Ammo.

I hate having to track deer my son shoots with his .243 I dont think one has ever left a good trail my .308 either drops them on the spot thru the neck or leaves a good tracking trail. if one gets off in something thick after being hit by a .243 you almost need a dog to find it. my son is getting a .308 for christmas because of this.

.95 grain nosler, it'll hook em up

A 243 in the spine is just as good as a 300 win mag in the spine. For double lung shots, I’ve often had a far better blood trail from 90-100gr good 243 bullets than cheapo 150-180gr 308 bullets. All the anecdotal stories aside, where you shoot them and with what bullet, has far more to do with it than the head stamp or diameter of the pill.

After you get done reading all the pecker stretching and the “you need a magnum to kill a deer” replies, get some 80 gr Barnes TSX. Shoot them through the lungs where deer are supposed to be shot. There will be lungs and blood a plenty.

If the 55gr 223 version can produce pass throughs and heavy blood trails, the 243 will do just fine.

I’ll agree that the cup and core bullets are less than spectacular in 243, the Barnes are a game changer.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/wi...243-winchester-95-grain-rifle-ammunition
We’ve been killing deer with 95 gr ballistic tips for years. Never lost a deer with that bullet.

100 gr Hornady

Love my .243 and 25-06. Hornadys and Partitions.
They will Keel.

A few years ago I was helping a farmer shoot deer at night in soybean fields(with a permit). I was using my 243 because it has less recoil and easy to shoot. I started out shooting Hornady Superformance SST. A couple of deer were dirt, but most ran off. When I ran out of the SST’s I picked up some federal blue box at Walmart and started dropping the deer in their tracks. That year at harvest the farmer found a few of the deer that ran off after shooting with the SST. In my opinion the cheap Federal blue box ammo done a much better job of killing than the SST did.

Blue box

Agreed, I have shot them out of several rifles with great results from each. And excellent terminal performance on deer and being inexpensive is just a bonus!

Been shooting the Hornady 95 grain SST's for about 10 years now. As mentioned above....put it about 2" behind the shoulder blade a letter rip....WICKED Lung destruction!!

This!!!!!

80 g Barnes ttsx is the baddest .243 bullet there is if your gun will shoot it

You don't need a Barnes till you take the little 6 after some elk...

I’ve killed 10 bucks with the SSTs out of a 243. My tikka shoots em really good.

All the deer where at varying distances between 30 and 170 yards.

I made a mediocre shot on one (he was quartering to me more than I realized) and had to shoot him again, but he actually dropped about 10 yards from where I shot him, but then jumped up staggering all over the place 30 minutes later when I went to get him. Best I could tell, the bullet entered behind the front shoulder, hit the opposite rib cage and ran toward his rear, exited the stomach and entered the opposite hind leg. The second bullet was true and went through and through behind the shoulder. It was just a weird scenario all around.

Aside from that one, 4 dropped where they were standing. And the other 5 ran less than 50 yards, most of them running less than 30. All had trackable blood trails except one, but I honestly think we weren’t on the trail he took and ran into him before finding his trail. Exit wounds are about 50-50 but regardless, there always massive damage internally.

This ammo shoots great out of my daughter's Remington Model 7.

I think all the kids are big enough to shoot a man's rifle so I hope that this season is the first in many that I will not have to romp through everything on my property looking for some stupid doe one of the kids shot with a dern .243.

The worst offender who is a very good shot....has enough sand in his britches to shoot a .270 this year according to his Daddy. He was near shaving last year I figured on taking him with me and letting him shoot my gun just so I wouldn't have an all night tracking job.

You know what I hate worse than a .243? A kid losing his deer.

Give it a break man...

horseshitt.........

my go to gun is a Rem 700 243 in a youth stock, shooting Fusion 95 gr bullets. Kills like a bolt of lightening. Probably killed 40 deer with it without a loss or even a long tracking job. My grandson Dylan has killed three nice older bucks with three shots. Furtherest any of them ran was 75 yards with good blood.

Fred says it’s good, that’s good enough endorsement for me. I believe I’ll try a box of Fusions.
Any experience with Core Lokts, Fred?

I've shot 80gr HPs by Rem and 100gr Corelocks, both will kill but the 95 Fusions are better bullets in my experience. Plus the Fusions are cheaper than most all the rest. It is a bonded core bullet that performs excellently on deer. And they are accurate out of my gun.

100 grain corelocks have worked great for the last 3 or 4 years for my kids.

100 grain corelocks have worked great for the last 3 or 4 years for my kids.

I’m not picking on corelokts but I’d stay away from all cup and core bullets in small calibers. Go bonded or mono.

Or maybe a partition......but yeah, the unexpected bone or angle, etc can really demolish a fast, light CC bullet, that works fine on all meat and perfect angles. Bonded pills in 243 do what many ‘believe’ a CC will always do, until it doesn’t, from a small bore. The federal fusions do well. You don’t have to spring for Barnes, but if you’re gonna use coreloct or regular federal blue box CCs, then pick your shots, for sure. If you can keep the bullet in one piece/holding weight, a 243 is as good as most other stuff.

I'd use a 95gr Partition if I wasn't using 95gr Fusions.

I'm finding they are accurate in lots of guns. And awful rough on critters. And cheap. And available. I'm a fan.

I shoot 80 grain Barnes TTSX and they will mess a deer up! I’ve had good results with the fusions also.

That's where I'd start. I have yet to find a rifle (and in various different calibers) that won't shoot the fusions well, despite some folks claiming they have. But, even if you do manage to find a unicorn rifle that doesn't like fusions, they're inexpensive so you're not out much.

I’m gonna kill a few this year with the mighty 223 just for you! A 243 with a Barnes is really overkill for AL Whitetails.

Between my wife and myself, we've shot probably 15 deer with her little youth model .243 handi-rifle (ranges between 75ish and 150yds). None went more than about 30yds. I'd guess 8 or 10 of them dropped where they were standing.

Fusions.

95gr.

Don't make it more complicated than it has to be...

as bullets changed over the years my opinion on the 243 has also changed. I have said 30 years ago "if you shoot enough deer with a 243 you WILL lose a deer for no other reason that you used a 243. They, 243s, just wern't reliable. I owned several, and a 6mm over the years. I have killed 19 deer with 19 shots with the 6mm, but I have been very careful on shot selection. I have had a couple of hard recoveries before I went to 95gr Partitions in the 6mm.
I started shooting my current 243 several years ago when I was shooting a LOT of does, 10-20 a year. I went to 95gr Fusions, first because they were cheap, and then because they way outperformed any other 243 bullet except the Partition. I've shot the 95 Fusions for 15 years and never had a bad experience with them, same for Partitions. I find the Fusion loads tend to be a small bit more accurate than my Partition handloads.

I shoot 130 Fusion loads in my 270, along with 130 Partition loads. 140 Partition loads in my 7mm, and 125 Partition handloads in my 264.

80 grain Barnes TTSX entrance....


And it blew the heart in half...

Are y'all still shooting 100lb does with .243's over here on this thread?

Don't make me start talking about shooting a deer with a .22-250 you'll be headed to the gun store like yer arse is on fire..... You can shoot a smaller bullet even faster!

I'm gonna put this right here for you. You can't do this with that pea shooter .243:

I still don't believe you can kill a deer with one of them pea shooters... 😛

Certainly can’t argue with that!!

If he was shooting a 243 he’d actually hit it instead of flinching😉

You'll shoot yer dern eye out fellas... that's all there is to it.

I've shot deer with a 50BMG, didn't die any faster than I have killed em with a 243.

Again: it’s the BULLET, not the headstamp on the case.

In my experience a 243 kills a lot faster than a .50mz loader and just as fast as a .308, 30-06, 7-08, .270, and every other rifle I’ve hunted with. I’ve never felt the need to tote a big bore, perhaps I’m missing out?

I shoot nosler bal tips and partitions... 95-100 gr. DEAD.....
I've seen some pretty gnarly wounds with the 87 gr Vmax as well. My rifle also likes these, so I believe a test is in order.

You’re not missing out. I’ve killed plenty of deer with a .243 (a couple hundred) and they all bled and died just like ones shot with a super duper mega magnum .400 special purpose grenade launcher.

.243 is plenty sufficient for AL whitetails from shooters of all ages, even men who wrestle and play football.

I like 243 BECAUSE I played football and tore my shoulder up. I like the soft recoil.

Well they ok but they never be nothing but a 243 . Just stay away from Texas Heart shots