Win .243 Ammo Suggestions Please

[Nick87]

Hornady 90 gr ELD-X have worked well for my daughter on whitetails. She used reloads but Hornady offers that bullet in its Precision Hunter line.

Used the same for my oldest. Performance was

 

[Addicting]

I will second the nastiness of 90g Bergers on antelope. It was quite the graphic kill. I switched back to Nosler BT after that trip.

 

[mtmuley]

I will second the nastiness of 90g Bergers on antelope. It was quite the graphic kill. I switched back to Nosler BT after that trip.

I had some graphic kills but with the 190 Berger in my RUM. Don't think we ever had a 95 grain .243 exit. mtmuley

 

[Deleted member 48080]

I've had fantastic luck with 80 grain hornady copper at ~3400 fps. I've only used the GMX, but plan on switching to the CX when I run out.

It's my go-to deer round.

 

[JLS]

Love the 85 grain Barnes TSX.

 

[Lab]

The guys in my deer camp have killed a veritable freight train full of deer with the 95 grain Hornady SST Superformance in .243.

I 2nd this! Put a hole the size of a grapefruit on my mule deer this year

 

[Lab]

My dad gave me his 1973 Rem 243- This thing shoots dimes at 250yards every year. Flat shooting gun. I use Hornady SST and it destroys anything.

 

[brocksw]

Nosler BT, Hornady SST, sierra 95 tmk are devastating.

 

[mevertsen]

My daughter, dad and father in law have used..

70 grain Hammer Hunter
90 or 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip
95 grain SST
100 grain Sierra Pro Hunter

On deer, antelope and a desert bighorn ewe.

All have worked well

 

[Jbotto]

I'm compiling a list of all of these suggestions, thanks everyone.

I'll be honest, I didn't think there would be half this many responses. My perception going by thread titles was that very few shoot .243 anymore in favor of all of the 6.5, PRC, Creedmoor, AI, etc. Sometimes it felt like I needed to consult a DE&I professional to sort it all out.
Nice to see the .243 Win hanging in there!

I’ve owned one for almost 15 years and I’ve personally never shot an animal with it. It is always the rifle that gets shared or borrowed as I know it’s a solid shooting rifle. When people see how good it shoots with them behind it, their confidence goes through the roof. My wife has shot a few deer and a pronghorn with it, my younger brother used it for years until he bought his own rifle. Some day I’ll have to shoot something with it! I use Barnes 85gr TSX in handloads but only because I’ve stocked up on that bullet for years. Too stubborn to change to the 80gr TTSX now.

 

[275Rigby]

100 gr Nosler Partitions all day long. They break bones and penetrate the tough angles when needed, but also kill quickly with a standard broadside lung shot. Between myself, my hunting partner and our kids, there have been many freezers filled with the help of this little bullet. Mostly deer, a few antelope and at least 2 cow elk that I can remember. Even had complete pass through on a lung shot cow elk @ 270 yds. Impressive little cartridge / bullet.

 

[brendog84cj8]

Got my son a .243 for his first hunting rifle. Worked up a load with the 80 gr ttsx that has been working well.

 

[Redman]

Factory ammo I have had great results with 95 grain Nosler BT on antelope and deer. I reload but haven't done any for my .243 yet...waiting to use up all my Nosler ammo.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

So basically pick an expanding hunting bullet 90-100 grain, a little lighter maybe if using a mono.