243 bullets

[snox801]

Got them screaming but I like it

Those are easy to make fast. That's the speed out of my ar10 with a 24" barrel bolt gun should do better

 

[Byrdman13]

I've got 10-15 kills so far on the Sierra 90 gr Tipped Game King (Gamechanger). Their loaded ammo shoots 3/4 minute in my gun so I haven't even reloaded for it yet. It's a sleek bullet for 90 grains. Terminal performance has been superb so far. Hits like a hammer at 100 yards. Highly recommend.

What twist barrel are you shooting them from? Haven't tried them yet because I don't know if they will stabilize in my 1:10" barrel

 

[bigred1]

I've hunted deer and antelope with a .243 since 1976. In that time my little .243 has been responsible for the takeing of at least 40 deer and goats not to mention several coyotes. All were taken with a sierra 85 grain soft point. My son now has that M70 and still pulls it and my old hand loads out of the safe come deer season.

 

[Jim’s Hunt]

I'm a fan of the Nosler 95 gr Accubond or 100gr Nosler partitions in both of my 243's

 

[Nimrodmar10]

What is the length and twist of your 243? How's the freebore?

 

[Butterbeet]

I load 243 for several friends used to shoot it often myself. Sierra GameKings 85 grain BTHP are devastating on deer. Rarely had a deer die out of sight, killed my biggest bodied to date whitetail with it a smidge over 200 yards, he didn't make it 20 steps.

When I was using that bullet in a 6mm Remington Ackley Improved, it shot lights out. I talked to a Sierra Rep. about 15 years ago and he told me that at that time the 244 85g hollow point BT was their best selling Deer bullet.

 

[Wildstreak]

We have killed a metric ton of deer with a 243 using 85 grain partitions over IMR4350.

 

[bomberodevil]

I haven't done controlled testing either. Most rifles I shoot are over 3K fps and several I hunt with are well above that, 3200-3500 muzzle velocities. I haven't shot a lot of the SST at long distance but I have with the A-Max at long range and it has the same tip as the SST, I haven't seen an issue that I can attribute to the tip melting at distances of 750 and in but full disclosure those loads are only starting out at 2840. That load falls completely apart between 900 and 1000 yards with bad horizontal and vertical dispersion that isn't there at shorter ranges, some of that could be the tip? The A-Max is also an explosive expander, very good deer/hog bullet for me as is the ELD line when not pushed to warp speeds. The A-Max was mostly discontinued when the ELD line came out, the SST stayed even after the ELD-X came out. Might be worth a call to Hornady to ask what they think?

I find the SST to be more fragile than the ELDX (I don't use the ELDM, but many friends love its terminal performance at range). I do use the SST mainly as a range bullet, and for varmints.

 

[sodakota]

95 grain partitions work well

 

[sodakota]

95 grain partitions work well

 

[Josh06]

108 eldm. I worked up a load for them going 3005 fps out of my 6cm and it was used to take 2 deer this year, both dropped in their tracks. I shot one at 60 yards, bullet recovered under the offside hide, my son shot one at 140 yards, bullet not recovered. Neither deer took a step. Recovered bullet below, impact velocity at 60 yards would have been right at 2900.

 

[emp1953]

I was loading/shooting 100gr Nolser partitions. Accurate and put deer down quickly. Also I raised hogs and used them to put down the hogs. Very effective on them as well. Rifle was a Remington Model Seven 1:10 twist. I had the opportunity to shoot it at 400+ yards and found that the bullet was not stable, It had some yaw and accuracy decreased. So I went to 95gr Partition and it was stable out to 600yds. My self imposed limit on game with that rifle is 350yds. The 95gr was one shot deadly. I also loved the Swift offerings, Scirocco and the A-frame but they were hard to find. The Accubond is very much like the Scirocco. Never tried it in the .243 but I do use it in a 6.5CM.