Youth rifle season for deer happened a couple weekends ago here in KY. My son was lucky enough to kill his first deer, a 6 pt. buck. He used his Rem model 700 compact in 243 and shot the buck at 60 yards. His load was 39gr of IMR 4831 using a 100 gr Sierra Game King bullet. The deer went about 100 yards before expiring. The entry wound was to top of the shoulder blade and blasted the lungs all to pieces. The bullet did not produce a complete pass thru, it got stopped by a rib on the opposite side. There was no blood anywhere to be found so we walked in the direction that the buck ran and found him. According to Sierra 39 gr of IMR 4831 should produce velocity of about 2760 and energy of 1691 ft.lbs. This load is about 1.8 gr below max which yields 80 more fps and 100 ft. lbs more energy. In creating my own loads I have always leaned towards finding the most accurate load and using it for hunting, instead of looking for the most speed.
So my question is two fold; what has been the experience of users on here of the 100 SGK in 243? Also, do most like to look for the most speed and energy when working a hunting load or strive for accuracy?
So my question is two fold; what has been the experience of users on here of the 100 SGK in 243? Also, do most like to look for the most speed and energy when working a hunting load or strive for accuracy?