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The first rifle i bought was a Ruger m77mk2 .243 1:10twist. I shot a couple of hundred deer with it over about 14 years using the Hornady 87gr sp. Most were head or top of neck shot to 250m. 3-9 bushnell scope.
I now know i left alot on the table with it by not trying any other pills or having a dial up scope. Then again it did what i asked. I still have it for nostalgia reasons and only take it for the odd goat.
My 6mmCM completely leaves it in the dust with its 1:8twist barrel and longer magazine. An 8twist .243 would be great!
I have noticed the .243 does have good impact shock on animals under 200 yards.but they are still semi gay.
The 100gr Norma was always too hard. No expansion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tentman
Quickest kills I have had with the .243. The 95 grain BT is a great bullet. As is the 85 grain Sierra HPBT; and drive them as fast as you can.
Advice around here suggests your over gunned and should swap it 243 for a 223 instead. ;)
That's exactly why a manly 25-303 is called for.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yesmate
Probably why Tony Orman ,and others ,suggests hitting shoulder bones is best practise with the hundy grain loadsQuote:
Originally Posted by TeRei
Nah just bush hunting ,most shots under 60m and just go for usual mid shoulder placement,just seems to kill well.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7mmsaum
I dont understand the .243 detractors. I have never found the boundaries of it. I can't see where I would shoot a deer with a .308 that would kill it when the .243 wouldn't.
However, some factory .243 ammo is woefully undeloaded and nohwere near what it says on the box. (SImilar to the .223 - I chrono'd some PMC 55 grain .223 the other day and it came out at 2700 fps - on the side of the box it says 3200 fps!
I remember chornoing some .243 I think it was cheap PPU and the 100 grain load came out at 2600 fps. Now, this will still kill deer because I did it, but I used that brass to reload some 90 grain BT's at 3200 fps and it made me feel better.
Gunworks have a shipment of 85gr GMK coming in mid September. Some dude has already bought 4 packets. Probably an undesirable pill because all they do is bang flop.
The Russian heart shot is where a heavier pill will beat a light fast one...but in last dozen years I haven't taken that option. Back a few years when animals were thin on the ground,it was used often as that quick chance was often all I would get for two days hunting.
I started shooting with the 243, 75 gr on goats, fallow and then when the rifle moved to my care I added the Berger 87gr hunter and it's nailed a few red's.
Then I added a bolt action fast twist 243 with 87gr again it dealt to some Tahr and then 105gr bergers and now 108gr ELM-M accounted for a few fellow and some reds. Longest shot has was a goat at 450 mtr, bang flop roll down the hill.
I must admit I have sort of moved on as the 243 is so easy to shoot it's sort of taken the challenge away so I have been shooting the 358Win mostly the last few years but it's only a 300 mtr gun in my hands. about ready to take the 243 out again for another run. have some long range pea fowl that need to be dealt too getting close enough with the 35 cal is a bit hard.
Z.
I’ve just gotten a .243 for the mrs to learn to shoot, unsure what factory ammo to go for, any recommendations from you lot? If nothing stands out I’ll probably just grab a box of fiochi, all my guns seem to all shoot that stuff consistently.
Federal blue box
I would almost bet if put through a fast twist barrel it won't be too hard anymore... And those lovely 80-87grn loads that used to perform well ,suddenly become grenadesQuote:
Originally Posted by TeRei
the fiochi is easy. not to spendy kills shit good .the seller &ballot 100g was ok if you can find it good for roos .
Re ammo, the 95gr SST's are a good bullet but $3.70 - $5 a shot is not cheap.
Fiocchi at 2950 fps and Hornady at 3185 fps.
In practice, inside 200 mtr any thing over 80gr will kill a deer so I suspect I would be shopping on price, particually if some target practice was on the cards.
Z
Yes the blue box federal is a good option, I chrono the 80 gr load recently and it averaged 3187 fps so if it shoots well in your gun it should serve you well.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeightsDrinker
Used to handload 65gn Vmax in the 243 for smacking Wallabies and 87gn SP for anything else
95gr SST factory ammo
https://i.postimg.cc/DydzRT3w/IMG-0621.jpg
that fly is cheekyQuote:
Originally Posted by EmpireSafaris
Strange how if you only reload how you lose contact with the price of ammo.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZQLewis
[QUOTE=John Duxbury;1610912]I dont understand the .243 detractors. I have never found the boundaries of it. I can't see where I would shoot a deer with a .308 that would kill it when the .243 wouldn't.
JD
I don’t understand these people either.
As a wise old fella once said,
“They don’t offer much about the subject,
But they do tell us a lot about themselves”
Cheers MG
Yep I'm hold my hand up, been more than 20 years since I brought anything other than rimfire.Quote:
Originally Posted by TeRei
Got a bit of a surprice when I did a quick look across GC's ammo selection for 243.
Z
ps hehe I did get a shock a year or 2 back when I could not get my seirra GameKings and had to buy some Noslers in 35cal. That made my eyes water.
Looking at some Hammers for an alternative as no one makes a 35 with a BC much over .380 without getting too long.
I used 85 nosler solid base shit bc. But they killed big red stags like over 125 kg everything. Shoulder shots behind should high shoulder and one at a ranged 345 metres that weighed 145 kg head off and gutted. Impressive cartridge that is accurate because of mild recoil and noise. Seen quite a few mates go fucken hare gun then shoot there best group with it. As I said don't knock it...
Doesn’t work on deer
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Very well composed !Quote:
Originally Posted by 300_BLK
A Forum member recommended Berger's. So we loaded up some 95's. Be the worst projectile we have ever used. They just pencil thru big red stags. My son shot 3 big stags in a mob all thru the shoulder and they just ran away. Like the old Lightforce spottie the ammo got hifted into the gorge. Proverbial POS. On paper they might be brilliant but for hunting you might as well use tissue paper.Quote:
Originally Posted by 300_BLK
That would be disappointing alright. Wev'e been using the 105 vld for years close up to far away and they have been exceptional. I wont try and guess at the numbers of animals but its significant. Given they are 8 twist barrels and we are driving them in the high 3100s thoughQuote:
Originally Posted by TeRei
The early bergers had an issue with the cavity being blocked which theory has it caused some penciling issues so needed a clean out . I always checked with a pin to make sure they were clear, the latter ones seem to be much better.
This is one I recovered from the off side of a hind, cant remember the distance. It weighs 42gns so has fragmented and shed 60%.
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Targex use Berger jackets and there is nothing wrong with them. The 95 grn Targex never let me down on hundreds of deer with my little lightweight Browning. Who on the forum has got that gun now?
I've got a few of those Nosler solid base pills that i used back in the 80s and they certainly put them down thats for sure!Quote:
Originally Posted by ariki
Was that a micro medallion?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
Yes. Not sure why I sold it. Had used it for quite a few years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shearer
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This is the only semi-failure Ive ever had with a Targex. Have used many hundreds. .243 95grn. Going away up hill at about 250 yds and aimed between the shoulders. Killed it but quite a big blow up before penetrating.
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I would love to come across a left handed one.
Awesome to see you FINALLY using a half decent knife Bruce....about time you saw the light.hope you didn't slip getting back down the snowy hill face in your crocs???
Funny man. I had decent boots on...Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
At the time there was a thread running on the old forum about those knives so I took that one up there just to get the pic. I carted it around with me for a while and took a few pics of deer holding it. Have just posted one in the current thread.
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A very dead neck shot tahr there,well done.
That hurt my eyes. Dont ever do that again.
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Nice art :) :)Quote:
Originally Posted by sneeze
