70gr or smaller bullet for deer in 243

J

JustC

New member
I have a pard that has a rem700 built with a FAT Shilen tube that will only stabilize a 70gr pill or less. What bullets do you 243 guys have experience with in that weight range that will cleanly take deer. Some may be at 400+ yds on crop damage permits.
 
70g Hornady SP is the toughest 70g bullet on the market. Barnes used to make a 75g X bullet that would stabalize in a 14 twist.

I would start my hand loads off at 39.5g of IMR 4064 and go all the way to 41.5g in the 243 with the 70g Horandy Sp, velocity will be over 3400 fps when you hit the accuracy node, use a fed 210 or cci 200 primer in either Rem or Win brass.

Shoot the deer BEHIND the front legs in the lungs, you will be happy with the results.

I assume that your friend had a 1-14 twist installed on his gun, right? If he had a 1-12 twist installed, then the 85g Sierra BTHP or a Speer 85g BTSP would be an excellent choice, but they will not stabalize in a 1-14 twist.

Good luck!~
 
It tough to find a bullet that will hold togather in the weight class, most are varmint bullets. You have to have something left in energy at 400 yards to cleanly take a deer. 400 yards and a 243 with 100 grain bullets is on the thin side anyways, 70gr or lighter wont do it IMHO. Not saying it cant be done, but how much do you care about the animals your shooting. I would use another rifle.

OK guys I am ready for it....flame on!
 
My 2 cents; I did just what you are talking about last July. Our plan was to only take very high percentage shots & anchor the deer. Just off the field was very thick cover & of course tracking snow was not available. I used a 308 & the partner a 270. Our shots were 100-150yrds. Not to judge anothers shooting ability & coyotes have to eat but 70 grn or less bullets from a 243 on a 300-400 yrd shot wouldn't be my 1st choice. I know some farmers just want the deer gone. Also with the temps up it's good to line up people ahead of time or a meat cutter to take the deer, right away. We had 3 taken even before they were gutted, & that was fine with me.
 
Furhunter, I completely agree. Even the 70gr. Hornady has a pretty low BC (.278) for trying 400 yard shots on deer. The trajectory is not that bad. If zeroed at 200 yds it will drop about 17 inches at 400 but will only have about 680 ft-lbs of energy. Find another rifle.
 
I got other guns,..I just thought about playing with this one. How about a triple shock,..anyone know if they make one?
 
The lightest TSX I find is the 85gr in .243 diameter. Since Barns bullets are of solid copper construction they tend to be longer than other bullets of the same weight... in other words they will POSSIBLY need an even faster twist than the same weight bullet of normal lead core construction.
 
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