can a 55 grain bullet kill a deer?

Originally Posted By: ruger243223Like I have said, there are those with experience and those without. We have shot several deer with 55s out of a 243 and it doesn't explode on impact. We have never had a problem as of yet and we have been doing it for over 5yrs. My son and daughter have both shot deer with the 243 using 55gr Bts, both dead deer. My brother in law would be laughing his ars off if he were reading this as that has been his bullet for yrs. The rifles are our calling rifles and deer rifles so we don't see any need to change. If you have troubles putting the bullet where it needs too be then you shouldn't be shooting in the first place. HAPPY HUNTING

I guess you don't have tree limbs to avoid, or timber to hunt in, in Nebraska. What happens when your 55 grain 243 varmint bullet grazes a small tree limb that you cant see 3 feet in front of the deer? I think the new term is "grey mist." I can tell you this, it will change the point of impact on any bullet, and make an otherwise perfect shot, into a marginal or bad hit. If you read my first post on this thread, you'll see that I said that I had killed 2 deer with a 22 magnum. Both shots were optimum, in the wide open and less than 100 yards away. I shot both deer in the neck and they dropped. I believe those were 40 grain bullets. Having said that, I do not recommend people use a 22 magnum to deer hunt. Just because I've done it a couple of times doesn't make it a responsible choice. I am not a match shooting paper marksman, but I have killed a lot of animals in my life and have lost very few. I do soot a lot because I enjoy it. Since you are apparently calling out my marksmanship abilities, feel free to come visit and we'll shoot all the rounds in practical hunting situations that you want to for $1 a shot, nothing off the bench though. I have a 500 yard range set up in one of our pastures. We can shoot up to 750 yards if you like. I never claimed to be an expert marksman, I'm trying to give reasonable advice to someone who asked a question. Heck, you can kill a deer with pellet gun, but that's not a responsible thing to try and duplicate over and over just because it happened once. Apparently you feel superior to me either in skill or for some reason, and I doubt that to be the case.
 
Out of a .243 I'd shoot a heavyer bullet, why limit yourself to a 55 grain? I shoot 55 grain for deer out of my 22-250 beacuse that's all it can stabalize
 
my post was not directed at anybody but if you would like to try your skill out against mine I would gladly accept the challange. I don't hunt in any brush and don't need too as we have many corn fields here so the brush can stay where it is. Funny how easily you can get someones gruff up. But like I said anytime any place. I love too shoot. HAPPY HUNTING
 
I think it gets down to ethics. The question is will a 55 grain bullet from a 243 kill a deer. A 243 55grain bullet will be designed for varmits and will pretty much explode on contact. You will not get much penetration with it. If you hit the deer in the ribs the bullet will explode and probably destroy the lungs, Dead deer. If you don't make such a good hit and hit high in the shoulder and hit a mass of muscle and maybe the shoulder blade, the bullet explodes and makes a horrible wound. The deer will run off and maybe you will get it and maybe you won't. Make the same shots with a well constructed !00 grain bullet that will give good penetration and both deer are dead.
 
Well, since your post at the top says Re: FurFlyin' I figured you were directing your comments at me. If you were not, then I wrongly crawled you. At any rate, my opinion stays the same, when given the multitude of choices of bullets in .243 caliber, I think it's a poor choice to use a thin jacketed 55 grain varmint bullet to deer hunt with. A 55 grain .243 bullet varmint bullet is little more than 54 grains of soft lead, wrapped in copper foil, with a polymer piston on the end. They are not designed to penetrate, they are designed to fragment on impact.
 
you are correct, but we do mostly calling and prairie dog shooting so I don't want to have to take the time to load a different bullet when I already know where these hit out too 800yds anyways. We don't shoot deer at 800yds by the way but anything out too 400 so far has not faired very well with this bullet. We shot a medium sized buck last yr at 400yds in the boiler room and had the bullet exit. Blood trails are like someones pouring a glass of water out and haven't lost a deer yet but like I said kinda hard to go anywhere in a corn field. But yes they are a varmint bullet. HAPPY HUNTING
 
Originally Posted By: FurFlyin'....when given the multitude of choices of bullets in .243 caliber, I think it's a poor choice to use a thin jacketed 55 grain varmint bullet to deer hunt with. A 55 grain .243 bullet varmint bullet is little more than 54 grains of soft lead, wrapped in copper foil, with a polymer piston on the end......

I'm not arguing with your premise, but I think a little bit of clarity to the bullet construction thought might help with the factual side of this discussion. From having spent quite a few years hand swaging bullets, the bullet jacket will likely weight in the neighborhood of ~15 grains depending on it's length, the polymer tip will weight ~ 5 grains +/- and the remainder will be the lead core. A bullet jacket for any caliber is not copper foil.

Originally Posted By: FurFlyin'......They are not designed to penetrate, they are designed to fragment on impact.

I couldn't agree more with that comment....

-BCB
 
Originally Posted By: Bayou City BoyOriginally Posted By: FurFlyin'....when given the multitude of choices of bullets in .243 caliber, I think it's a poor choice to use a thin jacketed 55 grain varmint bullet to deer hunt with. A 55 grain .243 bullet varmint bullet is little more than 54 grains of soft lead, wrapped in copper foil, with a polymer piston on the end......

I'm not arguing with your premise, but I think a little bit of clarity to the bullet construction thought might help with the factual side of this discussion. From having spent quite a few years hand swaging bullets, the bullet jacket will likely weight in the neighborhood of ~15 grains depending on it's length, the polymer tip will weight ~ 5 grains +/- and the remainder will be the lead core. A bullet jacket for any caliber is not copper foil.

Originally Posted By: FurFlyin'......They are not designed to penetrate, they are designed to fragment on impact.

I couldn't agree more with that comment....

-BCB

I didn't mean that part about the foil literally, going more for the figurative approach. My point was, and I think we agree that bullets are not one type does all things. If they were, then they wouldn't make 20 different kinds. There would be one .224, one, .243, one .277, etc.....
 
Originally Posted By: FurFlyin'Originally Posted By: Bayou City BoyOriginally Posted By: FurFlyin'....when given the multitude of choices of bullets in .243 caliber, I think it's a poor choice to use a thin jacketed 55 grain varmint bullet to deer hunt with. A 55 grain .243 bullet varmint bullet is little more than 54 grains of soft lead, wrapped in copper foil, with a polymer piston on the end......

I'm not arguing with your premise, but I think a little bit of clarity to the bullet construction thought might help with the factual side of this discussion. From having spent quite a few years hand swaging bullets, the bullet jacket will likely weight in the neighborhood of ~15 grains depending on it's length, the polymer tip will weight ~ 5 grains +/- and the remainder will be the lead core. A bullet jacket for any caliber is not copper foil.

Originally Posted By: FurFlyin'......They are not designed to penetrate, they are designed to fragment on impact.

I couldn't agree more with that comment....

-BCB

I didn't mean that part about the foil literally, going more for the figurative approach. My point was, and I think we agree that bullets are not one type does all things. If they were, then they wouldn't make 20 different kinds. There would be one .224, one, .243, one .277, etc.....

Still....if you're gonna make a valid point, facts work a lot better than smoke and mirrors.

Facts leave everyone with the correct information. Smoke and mirrors become facts for some folks who don't know any better.

-BCB
 
Originally Posted By: Don Fischer55gr 224 bullet's and 55gr 243 bullet's are two completely different dog's!

BINGO! One is above the average weight for the caliber, the other is one of the very lightest made for the caliber. Huge difference in what they are designed to do. And what they will do consistently.
 
Originally Posted By: spiaailliSounds like a bunch of people forget how small deer really are, even the big ones.

The whole deer rib thing has to be a joke. Eith that oor that deer was wearing a bullet proof vest.
smile.gif



Yeah, big joke. I'm laughing........
 
BCB, you're right. I forget when I'm on the Internet I'm "talking" to people in text, and it's hard to pick up on whether something I write is literal or figurative. My point in what I said about the foil was to say that the jacket on varmint bullets is much thinner than the jacket on a game bullet. The differences are for a reason. The thin jacket is made to rapidly expand, seperate and allow the lead core to frag. On a heavier constructed bullet, the jacket is thicker and bonded to the core to control expansion, and allow for penetration. Thanks for providing your facts and experience at hand swaging bullets to help me make my point.
 
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