Under max load on game performance with 243

R

ReloadKy

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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?
 
I prefer accuracy over max velocity. It gives me more confidence.

I haven't hunted with that bullet in the 243. In the particular case you describe, it's likely that higher velocity would have resulted in slightly greater bullet expansion rather than increased penetration.
 
I can't speak to the Sierra game king, but two years ago I dropped a 120 lb doe (big for Missouri) with a 243 at about 40 yards. I was using a hornady 100 gr interlock factory ammo, and the bullet left an exit wound about 1/2 inch diameter. There were no bullet fragments, so I believe the bullet held together all the way through.

As BBarn alluded, it may be that the SGK bullet is designed for longer distance shots, so therefore it expands easily at lower velocities. Again I don't have any experience with SGKs. Your son probably impacted that deer at 2700 + fps, which is pretty high.

In my hunting area, we expect that our shots will be 20 to 150 yards. So I always choose a tough bonded bullet when using a high velocity round like 243 or 270.
 
That 100 gr Sierra GK should do just fine for deer. I’ve shot plenty of deer with a similar bullet, a 100 gr Nosler BT, and it worked extremely well. After maybe 5 years using that bullet, I went to the 120 gr BT, expecting even better deer killing performance. The truth is that with deer and hogs, I can’t tell a bit of difference in effectiveness.

After a lifetime of deer hunting (with 35 Rem, 270, 30-06, 260) and somewhere between 200 and 300 deer taken, I have never needed a bonded bullet. You don’t either. But use them if it makes you happy or feel smarter.

I should mention that the neighbor bought his daughter a 243 for deer hunting, and he asked me what bullet I would suggest for that caliber. I recommended that he buy factory ammo with the 100 gr Nosler Partition bullet. I helped skin the deer the daughter shot (at 130 yards), and the wound channel was impressive, though perhaps not as big as I get with the Nosler Ballistic Tips. With the Partition you will almost always get an exit wound and a good blood trail (unless you gut shoot them).
 
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Btmj,

The 700 Compact has a 20" barrel. Based on Hodgdon's data for a 24" tube with a tight chamber, I put the 15-foot velocity at 2582 fps. The impact velocity of that flat base #1540 bullet (they no longer seem to have the #1550 available) at 60 yards would be about 2447 fps. Remingtons have a reputation for long throats, so it might be 100 fps less, at 2347 fps, but I think either number should be adequate for expansion. Sierra could be called to ask what their suggested impact velocity range would be for that particular bullet.
 
I haven't used Sierra bullet's hunting in a lot of years, pre Game Kings. Had a real problem with just how destructive they were! They generally killed pretty quick with a good hit but blew everything to pieces. Never had one exit but then didn't use them hunting much. I've read where a lot of people seem to like the Game Kings, they were as accurate as Match Kings and retained weight, they should be a good bullet.

About under max loads, I don't subscribe to it. I go after max every time but with the condition I need at worst 1" accuracy from it. I see no reason to give up performance in favor of accuracy on game when you can get more than adequate accuracy with one load or another at max performance!
 
The wound the OP describes seems to be all one could want from a small diameter fairly lightweight bullet. I used the Sierra 90-grain HPBT a lot on feral goats out of my 6mm Remington to good effect and similar performance. Realize that not every bullet from any mid powered rifle will pass through on every shot. As mentioned above, if you desire complete pass throughs on most every good hit go with the 100 Partition.


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I prefer accuracy. I load 34.5 gr of 4064 with 100 gr Nosler Partition bullets for my grandson. He has taken 7 or 8 mule deer with that load.
 
Accuracy. Getting a bullet to do what you want is far less velocity (not that its not important but if its up there no) than it is all the factors involved.

The bullet did its job, nice if it goes out the far side to leave a blood trail but then would it have done its inside job right?

While it was as poor a hunt as you will find quality wise, my brother and I had shot a moose (the only hit of any consequence was my brother show blew its left rear leg below the joint off)

Blood everywhere, we trailed that guy a mile and he ended up in a creek. We scared him out of the creek onto the far side and in the end he let out a god almighty beller and jumped back into the creek.

There was zero blood left in that moose when we pulled him ashore and cut him up, none. Not a clue what powered him after the first 5 minutes. It was dark and we could still follow the blood trail. This was at least 1.5 hours after he was first shot. Beyond amazing.

What do you do about an animal that should have died in minutes? Not a clue (good shooting of course helps a lot and there was none that day)
 
39 grains of IMR4831 is a tick under current minimum(39.2) for a 100 grain bullet. Max is 43.0, not 40.8. According to Hodgdon.
Not enough to worry about though. Differences in manuals.
"...should produce velocity of about 2760..." Not out of a 20" barrel. Hodgdon used a 24" barrel for their tests with 4831. I'm suspecting Sierra may have used Hodgdon's data, but look at the barrel length they publish using.
"...did not produce a complete pass thru..." Doesn't need to. That deer was dead when its lungs were destroyed. It not usual for a hard hit deer to run 100 yards either.
"...always leaned towards finding the most accurate load..." Keep thinking that way. Accuracy is always more important than velocity.
 
I spread my wings hunting with a 243. At the age of 7 I took three small hill country deer using factory 100gr bullets. A couple years down the road my pop and I started loading for it using the 100gr Nosler Solid Base.

We always worked up our loads and used mostly H4831 since it was on hand for loading other calibers. When Nosler came out with the 95gr Ballistic Tip I switched to it over a load of H-4350. Initially I found it to be really destructive, and after only a couple of deer I switched to the 95gr Partition. It seemed to be wonderful.

When my daughter wanted to hunt at age 6 I dropped the load down using H4895 to around 2650fps and went back to the Ballistic Tip. It worked perfectly on shots out to her max of 100yds with her shots staying mostly around 75 or less. I have since used a similar load using the Hornady 90gr bonded version for my three grandsons. All made clean kills on a couple deer each and a couple 80ish pound feral hogs thrown in.

Like mentioned above, you have to consider the impact velocities when dropping your loads down and use bullets which will preform accordingly. Often some of the more fragile bullets will be stellar performers at lower velocities. It is a balancing act, and even with the best of circumstances, and top notch components things don't always go like they should. Practice is key for the younger hunters and if they aren't comfortable putting in plenty of bench time results can also suffer.

Good luck with your youth and be patient and forgiving. They pay far more attention to making you happy than you will ever notice.
 
ReloadKy said:
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?
Click to expand...
A double lung shot may or may not kill fast.
I tracked a double lung with exit well over 200 yards. That ole buck was shot with a 35 Whelen.
As a side note, the vast majority of my loads are most accurate slightly above max.
 
Two moa will work just fine for any youth rifle and big game. Bullet performance matters with such a small caliber, expansion is necessary unless you believe in magic. To insure adequate expansion, make sure the load meets a minimum of 2000 fps at impact. Yes, some manufacturers say theirs expands down to 1800 fps, but to what diameter? In many cases, “expansion” means it simply exceeds bullet diameter....not very effective.


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