.243 Winchester

S

soup

Active member
Folks ,

I'm loading for a Savage 99 in .243 Win . Its a 10 twist , I've got Nosler 100 & 85 grain Partitions and 90 grain Ballistic Tips .My intended use is WT Deer hunting in the 150 to 200 pound class and punching paper . I've got 4064-N160-H4350 - Varget .
Do you think the 10 twist will stabilize the 90/95/100 grain bullets ? Would you feel its enough for that size deer hunting ?

Thank you in advance for your time help and consideration .

Semper Fi
Soup
 
Started my son out @ 8 with a 6mm Rem. shooting 100 gr. NP's and he killed a number of bucks in the 135# field dressed range without much drama. 4350 performed well in the 6mm. Built the rifle w/either a 1/9 or 1/10 Shilen barrel which shot 87 & 100 gr. bullets very well.

Regards,
hm
 
I shoot Varget with 87 grain VMax's in a 1-9 twist Ruger M77 tang safety. They shoot slightly under half an inch. I use H4831sc for 100 grain Sierra spitzer boat tails. I get great accuracy with both of these. I can't help you with the deer hunting aspect as mine is for coyote and paper punching. I can't see an 85grn Partition at 3,150fps bouncing off a deers side though.
 
Last edited:
With my M70 Win, 10 twist, I use 95gr Ballistic Tips and 95 Partitions over H4350. Both shoot better than any of the 100gr bullets I've tried. Haven't had one stay in a deer or antelope I've tried them on, including some pretty big bodied bucks here in Kansas.
For a lighter coyote bullet, mine likes the 70 gr TNT over Varget.
 
I use 4350 with 58-100 grain bullets in 9.5 and 10 twist barrels with excellent results as for deer hunting the 95 Nosler BT work real good most are DRT or bang flop.👍🏻
Handi204
 
It should work fine with those. But be careful taking loads off the internet for your 99. Work up your load carefully. I'm a 99 fan and while they are chambered for modern cartridges they won't take the pressure a bolt gun will. I took in a 99 with a broken extractor and made a new one for it and grabbed some ammo for my bolt 243 and the first shot locked the gun up, I had to load under max for it, it was accurate and worked very well, factory ammo was just fine in it..

Over the years I've hunted with 99's in 243, 25-35, 250-3000, 300 Sav.(my favorite), 308 and 375 Win.
 
Last edited:
Love those 99's ! My brother has a 243 and loads 100 gr Speer, but has only killed paper so far. I have a 250 TD, 300 I use quite a bit, and shot my only lion with a 303TD.
 
With the 10 twist I would prob stay in the 85-95gr bullet range. As SDcoyotecaller said, try the 85gr sierra. They are awesome on deer! I would also look at the Berger 95gr Classic Hunter. If you have 4350 you should be in the game. I would also try H414 or the 4064.
 
I've got a pair of Tikka's in 243, both 1:10 twist. I'm able to shoot up to 100 gr, but get better results with 75 to 90 gr bullets. I've shot 4064 and get good results (under an inch), but gets better groups with Varget. I'm not looking for all out velocity, just the best groups so I'm not near book max load. I've used Sierra and Nosler bullets primarily along with some Speer (75 gr HP shot incredible!). As for deer in SC, 243 works well as long as the shooter does their part. Landowner I hunt with and his grandson both shoot 243 using factory ammo, grandson uses a 16" barrel single shot youth model. Both get quick and clean kills with less than 100 yards tracking. Should work well with any of the bullets you listed in the 85 gr and up range, good luck with it!
 
Back
Top