Best whitetail/hog round for .243

Okay, with the lengthy thread regarding the validity of the .243 as a whitetail/hog gun in Texas, for those that use it regularly, what bullet do you prefer?

Anything with a partition or Accubond should be more than adequate. I use an 85gr Nosler solid base. It was the predecessor to the balistic tip, and is identical to today's balistic tip varmint except it has a soft point. At close range it goes off like a bomb and gets only 8-10" of penetration, but at close range that's perfect for a double lung on a WT. For larger game at close range neck shot might be in order. At longer range it holds up suitably. I shot a muledeer around 400. It went in one lung and stopped in the opposite shoulder. The deer only took one step. For intentional shots at bone a partition or Accubond would be recommended unless range is great enough to insure a lower velocity at impact. At high velocity the Accubond should be better because there is more bullet available for expansion, but at low velocity the Accubond may not expand significantly, while the partition should still open easily. The partition is in my opinion the best bullet ever made for covering any shot at any distance. With other bullets you need to properly combine shot placement, bullet construction and impact velocity.

100 grain Nosler Partition.

80g TTSX

Had recently been using the 95gr win ballistic tip, and then the 95 gr SST in the Hornady Superformance. But I think I am going to go back to the tried/true Rem 100gr CoreLokt next time we get low on ammo. Cheap but deadly effective.

X2

What is your barrel twist? If it is fast enough you can run those 100's. My custom one is a 12 so I have to stay light.

Shoot 100gr federal soft points and they have taken anything from coyotes to hogs to WT doe/buck.

My gun, savage axis has a 9.25 twist rate and it handles the 100gr bullet just fine. When sighting it in initially, it put 5 bullets inside a nickel size at 50 yards and then just to be sure the bullets were flying true I shot another bull on a different circle/target...I came away very impressed.

You can a still go pretty heavy with conventional hunting bullets and a 1-12. It's when you're talking match bullets and solid copper bullets that a 1-12 becomes limiting. It's all about bullet length. Still the lighter partition(80-85?) is plenty even for larger animals than WT's.

X3 no comparison

That balistic tip is a great bullet for lung shots and/or long range. It's only when you're hitting them on the shoulder bone at nearly muzzle velocity that they cause problems. I've only had two not exit. One was a 150 at 2900fps. It was a quartering shot and the bullet traveled over 36" before stopping in the hide. A buddy barrowed the gun and shot a doe on the shoulder, it exited through bone. The second one that didn't exit was a 125 at 3400fps. It made it about 12". Plenty for a double lung...if only it had hit lungs. Lol. Made for a messy cleaning job. Less velocity would have yeilded more penetration, but a smaller wound channel.

100gr core lok

X4 - Vortex ammo is accurate and devastating

Any Remington core lokt

A 100 grain soft point will work great for both.

85gr tsx

X2

X5 used to use factory vortex. Now I reload it using barnes load data. Both the factory and reloads fly to the same spot.

^^^^ This. No need to over think it.

I use both the 80 grTTSX or the 100 gr Corelokt. Prefer the Hornady for whitetail but as mentioned in an earlier thread shot a large boar with the 80 grain and it went only about 20 yards. As most folks will say, it is all about shot placement! Love the .243 caliber.

I might add that at the end of the day shoot the caliber you are most comfortable with. You will need to experiment with different bullets. Don't over think this though. All legal calibers, with proper shot placement, are more than capable of a killing shot on Texas game. I do stay away from ballistic tips in my .270, but they work great in my .243. Overall, I have had the best success with CorLokt. I have three go to rifles, and use them depending on the hunt, terrain, yardage etc... Love my brush gun 30-30 when still hunting in cover, use the 243 from a blind where I have shots up to 200 yards, and take my Browning .270 for longer shots from across pastures. Heck, sometimes I will take my Mossberg shot gun with a rifled barrel and shoot sabot slugs when I am in a blind in thick cover. Definetely the most challenging with the shotgun with open sights, but one heck of a hunt. My biggest deer in body weight came up north in Ohio with the shotgun. Nearly a 230 lb doe. Either of these guns don't give me issues, even though I have a torn rotator in my shooting shoulder. Of course the .243 is the sweetest on recoil, but my .270 is a beast in terms of a killing machine. The 30-30, well what can you say for a legendary lever action. Hard to go wrong. Heck I may pull the old boy out of the safe this weekend and let him breathe a bit. Has been about six years since he got to shoot a deer, and then a bobcat, all in the same hunt. Good luck to you, you will be fine.

Well, not ever owning a .243 I settled on the ballistic tip the first time around. Can't remember exactly but I believe it was a 70 or 75 grain bullet. Worked out great too. Neither doe my son shot got a pass thru but the bullet sure did a lot of internal damage. One was shot in the lungs at about 65 yards, it trotted off about 30 yards, stood next to some trees, then fell over dead. Turned out to be a lung shot. The second one he shot right in the heart (pretty much destroyed it) at 70 yards shotting from a ground blind and a set of shooting sticks. I was proud of him making that shot, I didn't help him balance it at all (he's 10 yrs old). That deer fell in it's tracks, kicked a couple of times and was done. I might gve the core lokts a go or the tsx next time around. I shoot core lokts from my .270 with great success. Tried a ballistic tip once and dang near decapitated the buck on the exit, lol. Thx for everyone's comments.

Shot placement trumps everything
I have killed a bunch of deer with a 243 since I was a kid, my dad was a light and fast guy and he usually used Sierra softpoints, whatever grouped the best, every time it was a clean kill/

I took a nice buck at 425 yards with my old Sako 243 about 8 years ago with a 100g Winchester softpoint.
This buck was with a 95 Winchester silver ballistic tip back 7-8 years ago ( my son in the pic is now 16)

Good ol' Remington CoreLokt or Winchestor Power Points are all you need.

But if it makes you feel more confident to have the high dollar bullets, then go right ahead. But if you make a bad shot on a deer, the bullet type wont matter.

Go with what is the most accurate and make a good shot.

I like the 80g TTSX because I can run them fast as heck and if my kid hits a big hog's shoulder at 30 yards it is not going to blow up and will anchor that sucker...

Another vote for the Barnes line:

80g TTSX

Hornady 95 gr SST

I use the berger 105 gr hybrid.

Walter

100 Grain BTSP for me. Remington, Winchester or Hornady all load great for me. Put it in the sow's ear hole or the boar's neck (save the skull for a mount!). With either shot, they don't take a step....it is like their legs have been cut off and they drop straight down!

Have shot those big boars in the vitals with a 30-06 and with Barnes.....never found them. Only neck shots for me now!

I've had very good results with the basic Federal blue box Power Shok 100 grain soft points. My daughter shoots those in her Remington 700 Youth, and they haven't failed once. My brother-in-law has had very good luck with the Hornady Superformance 95 grain SSTs in his Savage. Remington CoreLokt are also a pretty safe bet. I just like to use the heavier weight bullets because they carry energy well.

Partition. Believe nosler makes in 95gr would be a Killin fool

Black Hills 95 gr SST.

100grn federal cause im broke and dont have time to scientifically brake down the twist of my barrel or the ballistics of a bullet just put them cross hairs were you wont em he ll go down

Another +1 for the 100gr Core Lokts. I bought a couple of boxes to break in my kids 243 and after getting targets where the holes were touching at 50 yards, I never bothered to look for another round.