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Best 243 bullet for deer?
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<blockquote data-quote="davidheart" data-source="post: 2636831" data-attributes="member: 119362"><p>I have to be careful when speaking ill of certain bullets. There's a cult following around particular brands and designs... <strong>Barnes is one of those with a strong following approaching godlike proportions.</strong> But when choosing ammo, you have to look at the bullets construction for its intended purpose, caliber size, speed, and game you intend to use it on.</p><p></p><p>I <strong>personally </strong>feel Barnes current designs (TSX, T-TSX, LRX, & TAC-X) are best suited to be shot in .277 and larger, ultra-light for caliber, and driven very fast. The impact velocity and fluid displacement is what imparts the majority of the damage to the animal, not the mechanical wounding of the bullet itself. Lead bullets fragment/shed and cause secondary damage. Monolithic Barnes, Hornady, Nosler bullets don't... until they do. (Extremely high impact velocities sometimes cause the pedals to flower and break into a single ring which is unintentional by the bullet designer.)</p><p></p><p><strong>I've lost a number of deer</strong> on culling operations to small caliber Barnes bullets, but had success at short range (less than 200 yards) in 270 and 308 Barnes bullets. Larger animals capable of creating greater impact resistance will give you better success using Barnes bullets, but I don't personally trust them. Also, the LRX and T-TSX are nearly identical in ballistic gel at any velocity leading me to believe the LRX line is a marketing concept, much like the previous TAC-X line (which is identical to the T-TSX/TSX line). </p><p></p><p><strong>Personally</strong>, unless using a magnum level cartridge<strong> I </strong>would choose a different bullet manufacturer for <strong>my </strong>copper needs. (Hammer, Lehigh, Maker, Cutting Edge)</p><p></p><p><strong>That's me. Personally. My choice. </strong>Before the flames come out and 100 people say the Barnes bullets are the best thing since sliced bread.</p><p></p><p>That said, the people at Barnes are super kind, have great reloading data, and have treated me with nothing but respect. I'm sure one day they'll come out with another design.... it's just taking them a super long time to do so.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure if I would say lead "bounces" around, but I understand what you're saying. Accubonds (or any bonded bullet for that matter) are super good if you're going to choose lead. The worst I've seen are match style hunting bullets in terms of "pieces" being found far from the bullet wound. I once found the jacket for a Berger Classic Hunter (140gr 270win) logged in the neck of a deer I was cleaning. Entrance was high shoulder... so that's about 10-12 inches from entrance? Match and varmint bullets grenade in animals. It makes a deer DRT if shot correctly, but if not it's a mess.</p><p></p><p>I've had great success with bonded bullets, like the Accubond or Speer Gold Dot with minimal unnecessary damage. However, treat a bonded bullet for deer similarly to how you'd treat a monolithic bullet. Lighter-weight for caliber (but not as light as copper) and driven fast.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="davidheart, post: 2636831, member: 119362"] I have to be careful when speaking ill of certain bullets. There's a cult following around particular brands and designs... [B]Barnes is one of those with a strong following approaching godlike proportions.[/B] But when choosing ammo, you have to look at the bullets construction for its intended purpose, caliber size, speed, and game you intend to use it on. I [B]personally [/B]feel Barnes current designs (TSX, T-TSX, LRX, & TAC-X) are best suited to be shot in .277 and larger, ultra-light for caliber, and driven very fast. The impact velocity and fluid displacement is what imparts the majority of the damage to the animal, not the mechanical wounding of the bullet itself. Lead bullets fragment/shed and cause secondary damage. Monolithic Barnes, Hornady, Nosler bullets don't... until they do. (Extremely high impact velocities sometimes cause the pedals to flower and break into a single ring which is unintentional by the bullet designer.) [B]I've lost a number of deer[/B] on culling operations to small caliber Barnes bullets, but had success at short range (less than 200 yards) in 270 and 308 Barnes bullets. Larger animals capable of creating greater impact resistance will give you better success using Barnes bullets, but I don't personally trust them. Also, the LRX and T-TSX are nearly identical in ballistic gel at any velocity leading me to believe the LRX line is a marketing concept, much like the previous TAC-X line (which is identical to the T-TSX/TSX line). [B]Personally[/B], unless using a magnum level cartridge[B] I [/B]would choose a different bullet manufacturer for [B]my [/B]copper needs. (Hammer, Lehigh, Maker, Cutting Edge) [B]That's me. Personally. My choice. [/B]Before the flames come out and 100 people say the Barnes bullets are the best thing since sliced bread. That said, the people at Barnes are super kind, have great reloading data, and have treated me with nothing but respect. I'm sure one day they'll come out with another design.... it's just taking them a super long time to do so. I'm not sure if I would say lead "bounces" around, but I understand what you're saying. Accubonds (or any bonded bullet for that matter) are super good if you're going to choose lead. The worst I've seen are match style hunting bullets in terms of "pieces" being found far from the bullet wound. I once found the jacket for a Berger Classic Hunter (140gr 270win) logged in the neck of a deer I was cleaning. Entrance was high shoulder... so that's about 10-12 inches from entrance? Match and varmint bullets grenade in animals. It makes a deer DRT if shot correctly, but if not it's a mess. I've had great success with bonded bullets, like the Accubond or Speer Gold Dot with minimal unnecessary damage. However, treat a bonded bullet for deer similarly to how you'd treat a monolithic bullet. Lighter-weight for caliber (but not as light as copper) and driven fast. [/QUOTE]
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