Thread: 243 on deer

Originally Posted by Shearer

Attachment 274075
250 yards. 108gn ELD-M @2900fps.

Did it work?

Originally Posted by Shearer

Attachment 274075
250 yards. 108gn ELD-M @2900fps.

Great condition.

95grain TMK dropped one last weekend no issue.

Loaded with 42grains of 2209, through a mossberg patriot @ 180 yards.

Originally Posted by gimp

Did it work?

I guess so. The hind trotted about 15m and then fell over dead. That's what I was hoping for.

Worked on this one as well. He was a blood horse.

This is a weird thread. The 243 creates carnage. In fact generally the soup that comes out of an animal is worse in my 243 than my 308 and 6. 5s.
This big guy was a couple weeks back and a really solid beast. The shock turned him into a rocking horse. Stiff as a board for a few secs before ground bound.

This little fella was a bang flop. Needed meat as first stag had turned in the rain and we were in for 2 wks.

This one snuck up while we wear butchering and hit our scent. Started barking so I ran up the hill 100m and snapped him on the escape. Gave him one at 80m through the bush.


Considering these are being shot with a 243 out of a 14.5" barrel(which is a terrible length for the calibre), I don't think there's any debate about it's use on deer.

Bullets do the work, not the brass/headstamp/chambering.

Originally Posted by TeRei

Tikka 243 8T . Is it happening in NZ or is it a Unicorn?

yep I have one.

Best cal ever! My go to for bush stalking. Use 100gr fed powershok softness.. works real well

Originally Posted by ANTSMAN

yep I have one.

Where from. Straight barrel or fluted?

Originally Posted by TeRei

Where from. Straight barrel or fluted?

Guncity do their Tikka elite model in 243 with the fluted barrel in the 1-8 twist. That's where I got mine from. I'm sure other stores have other variants with the 1-8 twist by now.

Originally Posted by TeRei

Where from. Straight barrel or fluted?

From the importer in Auckland- thru HnF, yeah coated-fluted-5 shot mag-braked Strata

Theres some pics somewhere on here- click my username- and last posts

A fast .243 can make more damage than the .308 or a .303.

Using the 90 grain BT or the 85 grain Sierra HP at 3180 fps, I shoot them the same place as I would a .30/06 without thinking about it much.
I was using the 90 grain ELDX but I think its a bit soft for me. I am not shooting things a long way away. (Plus this latest rifle hates them so it doesnt matter)

My first rifle is a Franchi Horizon in .243 and everything I have dropped (bar my FIRST fallow) has dropped on the spot with furthest shot being 285 metres. I use a the 95g Winchester Deer Season and it's bang on the money every time.
I shoot mainly open tops and guts and I prefer to "hunt" rather than "shoot" so I've no interest in shooting something from so far away that it doesn't even know I exist... at some point I may want a diff calibre to go after big reds/tahr but until then I can see no reason to go up a size. My next rifle is likely to be a custom build in .243 for all the reasons I love the Franchi but with less weight.

My 10yr old with his Tikka .243 . Red stag copped 100gn sako powerhead in the throat at 10 m . Didn't like it.