First bullets I ever shot out of my rifle were 100 gr Federal PSP. I emptied the rifles entire magazine into a small Y buck about 75 yards away from me while sitting high in a Norway Spruce once. {a stand built so high up one could get a nose bleed & Minnesota's COLD!! Oh it sure was.} Talk about disappointing ammo. The last round fired I finally broke the poor animals neck. Upon inspection. Ribs primarily and one lone neck shot were accomplished. Not one bullet had expanded out of the four rib hits. Not one!! {In's and out's as I call em leaving pencil size holes similar to a FMJ's wound}
Got some advice from a old 6-MM Rem shooter who happen to stop by that evening to B/S and enjoy a few Shooters of Crown Royal with me.
That advice given:__ If I have close in shots (meaning: 150 yards or less) nothing works better in a 243 for accuracy and expansion than Hornady's 75 gr HP or their 87 Gr HP/BT_ (providing I can reload their cartridges too 3200 fps.} Well gents my reloaded cartridges are indeed a little faster than the 3200 required. Since that tid-bit of advice was given on that snowy evening in November. I have indeed knocked down a lot of Brown with that advice. {No doubt about that!!} Seldom have my deer walked or crawled beyond 50 ft after a single well placed rib shot that almost never creates a exit wound. Those bullets entire built up down range Energy is dumped into the animals cavity and little if any of the bullets Energy escapes as there are no bullet exit wounds.
Many times while field dressing have I seen purple in color hearts & lungs shredded and torn to pieces.
Shots into necks or white throat patch's its a given those deer are hammered to the ground where they stand.
To this day 30 years later the recipe I still (as does my Son also) use is the 75 gr. HP Hornady loaded up with IMR 4831 in a Federal first fired brass that's been trimmed to Minimum tolerance then S/Base resized and fired. There after just Neck resizing is required. And
that is the cartridge I use for hunting. (neck resized one)
That late 80s Old Ruger model 77 will put all its bullets into a grouping about the size of a postage stamp at 100. And do it time after time all day long. Only other rifle I have that can rival is my 270 and only because I have a much better scope on my 270 verses the old (Japan made) Bushnell Scopechief on the 243. Is probably the reason for that.
So all you heavy weight believing bullet fellows plan on tracking those deer you shoot.
Me. I'll just leisurely walk over to my deer's kill site and get busy with my Wyoming knife.
