Barnes bullets and the 243

P

pyscodog

Active member
I've never had a lot of luck getting Barnes bullets to work for me but I thought I might try once more in my 788 Rem chambered in 243. I'd like a bullet small enough for predators but large enough for whitetails. Is this possible? I figure something in the 70/75 grain weight. Any suggestions for bullet powder combo?
P.S. the whitetails around here aren't that big.
 
Last edited:

Unless something has changed with Barnes 6mm offerings, you are limited to 80-85 gr. bullets, for game hunting bullets. Their Varmint Grenade line does have a 62 gr. offering with a copper/tin core, but I expect this is too frangible for even small deer. They do have a lead core varmint bullet, in 58 and 72 grains, but that won't be different than other varmint bullets from numerous other bullet manufacturers.

The 80 gr. Barnes TTSX is a pretty mean bullet, even in soft tissue, but way over kill for small to medium sized predators.

I really couldn't recommend any Barnes bullet as a do-all bullet from fox to whitetails. I load 80 gr. TTSX bullets for antelope and northern whitetails, and in that context, is an exceptional bullet. For Predators/Varmints, I load a 65 gr. VMax just because both my 6mm WOA, and my 6mm Rem. love them.

Squeeze
 
I loaded 44.5g of R#19 with the 85g Barnes triple shock with a win primer, accuracy is about 1/2" out of my Rem 700 with the bullet seated 0.050 off the lands.

I would go the 80g tipped triple shock for predators.

good luck
 
Barnes work great out of the 243. I now use the 80gr TTSX, having switched from the 85gr TSX.

They work very well on coyotes with minimal hide damage, so far, out of over 20 coyotes shot with them. Deer die very quickly with a Barnes in the right place.

Several years ago, one of my buddies was the first of us to use a 243 on mule deer. We loaded the 85gr TSX for his Tikka. He got a head-on shot at about 175yds, and the buck dropped at the impact. While gutting, we found a bullet hole through the right lung, stomach and intestines, so about 3ft of penetration. Not bad at all.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top