243 reloading help

R

ReloadKy

New member
So my wife has decided that she is going to get a little more serious about deer hunting this year so I am making it my goal to get her a deer. She has shot my 270 before and shot my Ruger American 243 today. She likes the 243 better so this is going to be her deer rifle. My question is what bullet do I go with to reload her some deer loads. My rifle has a 1:9 twist. I have been looking at the Sierra GameKing in 100 gr and the Nosler ballistic tip in 95 gr. I am also open to other bullet suggestions. I have a little time to try and figure it out but I am looking for suggestions from some of you that have reloaded 243 for deer and used the reloads successfully in the field. Help me out please! I am grateful for any insights!
 
I reload for my wife's Ruger .243. I load 100 grain Hornady Inter lock over 34. Grains of IMR 4895. Very mild load that she has zero issues shooting, and will absolutely pound deer and punch through both shoulders. The load has never been bench rest accurate but she keeps her shots at 100 yards or less and is deadly.
 
It’s a super cheap bullet but the Speer 100 grain boat tail soft point (not to be confused with the hotcor, another good projectile) is the most accurate bullet I’ve tried in my old savage 99 .243. It’s a soft bullet. Extremely good for classic double lung shot (much more humane than tougher premium bullets) but probably not the best if you prefer shoulder breaking anchoring shots. For that application the exact opposite kind of bullet might be what you’re after. Barnes 85 grain tsx will have no trouble achieving full penetration from just about any conceivable angle. Haven’t been as accurate in my rifle though, and as velocity falls away this bore diameter becomes quite a slow killer when using such ultra tough bullets as wounding is narrow. So my vote is for the Speer btsp or Sierra game king (or the 103 eld x, 95 btip) pass on less than ideal shots, kill it fast with a no nonsense boiler room shot at conventional hunting distance (inside 300 yards). Many powders work well in .243. I prefer a right full case of slow powder. Superformance, 4350, 4831, 7828, 7828 ssc, rl19, rl22 have all done well. It’s been a pleasure to load for. I want to try the new enduron powders out in it. My only frustration is the short case life and lots of case trimming. That’s mostly because I’m shooting a lever gun with a rear locking action, so the cases stretch a lot more with each fire and resize cycle than in a bolt gun, but even with that said, I don’t think the .243 is an especially good case design when it comes to long reloading life. That gentle long shoulder and stubby little neck are annoying to me. Like you, I much prefer my .270 both for hunting and for hand loading.
 
I'm not sure you could go much wrong with any of the above mentioned bullets.
With my wife's 243 she liked the 100gr GameKings SPBT over a charge of RL26.
 
Yep, lots of good choices. Not that mine are better, but:

100 SGK/IMR-4064/2,950. Shot 1 1/8" but that's including one flier. Four were in one hole.

80 Barnes TTSX/Re-19 or Re-17/3,060. Shoots 1" with either powder.

These are out of a Ruger American. Had it out this morning. Ugly gun, pretty targets.
 
Been using a Speer 105 grain SP with IMR4350 for eons. However, Bambi won't know or care what bullet killed him. Any 85 plus grain bullet will do.
Just remember that she has to sight the thing in. You cannot do it for her.
 
Nosler 100 grain partitions have worked well for me in my .243 for over 30 years and a couple of dozen deer.

I go for the shoulder shot so as to drop the deer immediately and not have to chase it wounded. I have never lost a deer with that bullet and that shot. Break that front shoulder (or both depending on the angle) and the deer won't move more that 25 feet or so.

The 100 grain Nosler minimizes meat loss with the shoulder shot -- you will lose three pounds or so and that is all. For me that is a good trade off as opposed to chasing a wounded deer and perhaps losing it.

Penetration is great so that if you can't get a perfect shoulder shot, the bullet will generally penetrate the body regardless of the angle and drop the deer within 50 yards or so.

My .243 gets the best accuracy with slow powders so I use IMR 4350 or H4831 behind all of my bullets.
 
Any cup and core bullet will work for you, speer, sierra, even remington or hornady bullet will do well. I would prefer to use a partition or bonded core simply because they are a lot more reliable. I don't really think that a polymer tip is needed, bullets these days are well designed and don't need the tip to start the mushroom.

I have found that large charges of slow powder are accurate. Very accurate. Some use 4831, I've tried it and didn't like it. 4350 IMR gets about 3,000 fps and amazing accuracy. I mostly used the sierra 100 BT game king as well, with a near max load of 4350, and have been consistent with MOA groups.
 
Generally speaking bullet makers consider 100/105gr .243 to be deer bullets. Some make 90-95gr deer bullets. Go lighter and they are usually made to be varmint bullets. When in doubt, ask the maker.

Try different brands & weights, until you find one that shoots well enough for your needs in her rifle. I knew a fellow who took 6 elk with a .243 and "deer bullets", but he was willing to pass any but a perfect neck shot.

The .243 has a long and deserved reputation as a good, low recoil deer round, with the right bullets.
 
I have a nice little .243 win that likes 100 grain Gamekings and Winchester Supreme 780, shoots under moa at 100 yds consistently.
 
Back in the mid to late 70's when I lived in Nevada, I used to take some of the neighbor kids out on their first deer hunts. They used my .254 shooting the 100 gr. Hornady Interlocks just fine. Five kids on five different hunts, five shots and five dead deer. It worked for them so should work just fine for your wife. I used it mostly to shoot coyotes on private ranches as a favor to the ranchers. Never did shoot a deer with it for some reason or another. I forge the load but it with either H or IMR 4350. All my years worth of loading notes were lost during the move from Nevada to Arizona.
Paul B.
 
Update: because i have had luck with hornady SST's for other calibers and because my local shop had them in stock i decided to give the 95 gr Hornady SST's a try. I loaded them with 44 gr of R19 (max load per Hornady manual). On my wife's second trip to the range she put 3 shots dead center 2 inches high. the group measured 0.410 inches. I was really proud. My wife really didn't understand how good of a group that was but she liked shooting the rifle. Thanks for all suggestions. I really enjoy being a part of this forum.
 
Glad it's shooting well. Maybe I misunderstood, but didn't you mean to say you worked up to the max load. The way I read it, you went straight to max.
 
If that load ever doesn't work out for you check out 40gr of Imr4350 with a 100 gr Sierra game king bullet loaded to her rifle for length.

My family has a standing 100% success rate with this load in everything from a 1946 Model 70 Winchester to a 1990 Savage 110G on everything from groundhog to whitetail dear.

A water snake, many muskrats, and several snapping turtles at 125yds give or take from our 1 acre farm pond from our front porch.

Disclaimer: The snappers took a few days to come floating up after being shot. That's normal for a turtle.

The groundhogs was our passion in life with the .243s.

Whitetail just weren't a problem worth noting.
 
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