Best 6mm(.243) bullet for deer??

[LET EM GROW]

[wolc123]

None, Ditch it and get a .30 cal.  Way to much meat damage with those light little bullets.

[Pygmy]

3 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

None, Ditch it and get a .30 cal.  Way to much meat damage with those light little bullets.

Depends on the bullet....I'm betting that an all copper 6MM bullet at 3000 FPS will do much less meat damage than a standard cup&core  copper jacketed  .30 cal  at 3000FPS....

[wolc123]

7 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

Depends on the bullet....I'm betting that an all copper 6MM bullet at 3000 FPS will do much less meat damage than a standard cup&core  copper jacketed  .30 cal  at 3000FPS....

Could be.  If I had to use one on deer, I would also look for the heaviest bullet I could find.

[Buckmaster7600]

None, Ditch it and get a .30 cal.  Way to much meat damage with those light little bullets.

From the guy who admittedly saw one deer killed by a 243 now tells others from all his experience to avoid the cartridge.


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[wolc123]

 

 

36 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

 

X duplicate post

Edited October 19, 2020 by wolc123

[wolc123]

20 minutes ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

From the guy who admittedly saw one deer killed by a 243 now tells others from all his experience to avoid the cartridge.


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Actually there were two.  They were both given to me by the same neighbor, rest his soul, and shot on the same day.  I butcheted and ate them.  The first was a doe fawn that was struck with a single bullet thru the lungs.  No meat damage complaints there and she died instantly.

He was not so fortunate on the 2.5 year old buck.  That one took 3 bullets.  An old "riddler" like yourself is certainly well aware at how those things go at times.  

His first shot was at a flat out run, which he did not lead enough.  That shot struck the hip and knocked the buck down.  The second shot, while it flopped around, was to the shoulder. The finisher was to the neck.  

The bottom line there was the 60 pound field dressed doe fawn yielded almost the same amount of useable meat as the 160 pound field dressed buck.  

Few know better than you, that you can't always put the bullet in the perfect place.  Heck, I only pulled that off once myself with my 30/06.  That is why I would never use a .243 for deer.

Edited October 19, 2020 by wolc123

[Pygmy]

1 hour ago, LET EM GROW said:

Cool picture  !!

[wolc123]

OK round for women and children, but many better choices if you weigh more than 110 pounds.  

Edited October 19, 2020 by wolc123

[LET EM GROW]

2 hours ago, wolc123 said:

OK round for women and children, but many better choices if you weigh more than 110 pounds.  

Hence the 110 pound 14 yr old in the picture.. Deer are killed with damn near every caliber out there. its a great caliber for a sharp shooting 14 yr old boy. Place your shot properly or know what your equipment is capable of doing and have zero concern.. knowledge and educating oneself, (like im trying to do here with the fellas who are better than me) makes things possible..   

[ncountry]

I've never hunted with a .243.  I have helped drag a lot of deer out of the woods that a close friend shot with one .Seemed pretty effective. Most of the deer fell in their tracks or ran a very short distance..

[wolc123]

39 minutes ago, LET EM GROW said:

Hence the 110 pound 14 yr old in the picture.. Deer are killed with damn near every caliber out there. its a great caliber for a sharp shooting 14 yr old boy. Place your shot properly or know what your equipment is capable of doing and have zero concern.. knowledge and educating oneself, (like im trying to do here with the fellas who are better than me) makes things possible..   

I agree with all of that.  Back when I thought maybe one or both of my daughters might take up deer hunting, I considered purchasing a .243.  I was leaning towards a Ruger American. 

When it became clear that hunting was not in the cards for them, I went with a 30/30 instead, as my second centerfire deer rifle.  I am still waiting to see how that does with the deer meat damage.  Maybe I will find out this weekend. Ought to be less than my 30/06, given the much lower velocity and comparable bullet weights.

The meat damage that I experienced on the two whitetail bucks that I killed with my 30/06 (both with 150 gr federal classic bullets) was minimal, however both of those bullets were perfectly placed, from the given shot angles.

I am used to the recoil of my Ithaca 16 gauge featherlight shotgun, so I barely notice any of that from the 30/30 or the 30/06.  They both feel like p-shooters to me, compared to that slug gun.  I pretty much just shrug it off when I hear folks talking about recoil from center fire deer rifles, or even pistols for that matter.  

My buddy brought over his 44 magnum Ruger pistol for me to try and I was a bit intimidated by it at first, remembering the Dirty Harry movie.  It literally felt like a cap gun, compared to the time I tried a pistol grip on my short-barreled 12 gauge Reminton 870.

[LET EM GROW]

My buddies shoot them with a 22.250 every season.. and they typically drop on the spot.. out to 300 yrds. 

Ive been looking for the ttsx and its sold out everywere.. 

[airedale]

My brother uses a Browning BLR chambered in 243, years ago I loaded up a bunch of Nosler 95 grain Partitions for him, he has taken well over 20 Deer with those loads. He said they pretty much drop in their tracks and loves their performance.

Al

[moog5050]

1 minute ago, airedale said:

My brother uses a Browning BLR chambered in 243, years ago I loaded up a bunch of Nosler 95 grain Partitions for him, he has taken well over 20 Deer with those loads. He said they pretty much drop in their tracks and loves their performance.

Al

Do they leave 2 holes?   Just curious.  Was speaking with a friend yesterday who was shying away from 243 even though his single experience with 243 was a doe DRT.    Not sure of actual bullet used.  He is worried if tracking is needed because it was not a pass through.   

[wolc123]

36 minutes ago, LET EM GROW said:

My buddies shoot them with a 22.250 every season.. and they typically drop on the spot.. out to 300 yrds. 

Ive been looking for the ttsx and its sold out everywere.. 

I had a Ruger model 77 mk2 22/250 for a long time (I traded it for the Remlin 336BL 30/30).  It was an extremely flat shooter and super accurate with a 4-16x Weaver scope. 

It was great for woodchucks.  I thought about trying it for deer, but the scope would have sucked in the woods with it's super fine crosshairs.  It was also just as big and heavy as my model 77 30/06, so there was really no point in me using it.  

I miss that gun for chuck's.  Most that I shoot have been less than 70 yards away, and none ever even flinched after I hit them on center of mass with that.  Now, I aim for the heads with my 10/22, which works ok bit is a little bit tougher shooting.

Edited October 20, 2020 by wolc123

[airedale]

Just now, moog5050 said:

Do they leave 2 holes?   Just curious.

To be honest I do not know for sure percentage wise, I do know he recovered a few on the off side and said they had the typical perfect Nosler mushroom. I have to say this two holes business is pretty new to me, I never paid a whole lot of attention to this notion as to something that was necessary. I always went by what happened when the shot took place, when the animal drops where it stands or runs a few  yards and keels over two holes never entered my mind.

Al

[biggamefish]

1 minute ago, airedale said:

To be honest I do not know for sure percentage wise, I do know he recovered a few on the off side and said they had the typical perfect Nosler mushroom. I have to say this two holes business is pretty new to me, I never paid a whole lot of attention to this notion as to something that was necessary. I always went by what happened when the shot took place, when the animal drops where it stands or runs a few  yards and keels over two holes never entered my mind.

Al

I have always been in the thought of mind that you want all of the energy of the bullet to dissipate in the deer. I get the 2 hole idea for blood tracking but I would much rather the bullet not to exit and the deer to drop within site! 

[airedale]

I have shot my share over the years and the one thing I have found if you place your shot correctly and are using a decent bullet from any manufacturer matched to the game you are hunting, two holes or one hole, the animals do not go far.

Al

Edited October 20, 2020 by airedale

[moog5050]

23 minutes ago, airedale said:

To be honest I do not know for sure percentage wise, I do know he recovered a few on the off side and said they had the typical perfect Nosler mushroom. I have to say this two holes business is pretty new to me, I never paid a whole lot of attention to this notion as to something that was necessary. I always went by what happened when the shot took place, when the animal drops where it stands or runs a few  yards and keels over two holes never entered my mind.

Al

Fair enough and honestly that was my response.   Not needing to track is better than 2 holes but he was worried about a less than ideal shot.  

[wolc123]

It is mostly the spray and pray guys that want the two holes.  If you put your bullet on the right hair, one hole is always enough.

[Buckmaster7600]

To be honest I do not know for sure percentage wise, I do know he recovered a few on the off side and said they had the typical perfect Nosler mushroom. I have to say this two holes business is pretty new to me, I never paid a whole lot of attention to this notion as to something that was necessary. I always went by what happened when the shot took place, when the animal drops where it stands or runs a few  yards and keels over two holes never entered my mind.
Al

The two hole thing depends on the style of hunter you are. If you’re a stand hunter that strictly takes the ideal shots than it’s something of very little concern. If you’re a still hunter/tracker that has to take the shots presented than 2 holes is very important.

I fall into both categories, around home I’ve killed deer with 223 and 243’s and would do so again with zero concerns. That being said I would never consider carrying either of them tracking.


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[wolc123]

My own personal experience with whitetail bucks and centerfire rifles is just two and both had one bullet hole.  The first was quartering away and had an .30 inch diameter entry hole, thru the hide, and over the second last rib.  The bullet did not exit, but lodged in the armpit on the opposite side.

The second had no entry hole, but exited the front of the deer chest near center, making a 3/4 inch diameter exit hole thru the hide.  Both bucks were DRT, and both bullets were 150 gr Federal classics.

[LET EM GROW]

The guys I see having the most issues with 243 bullets are shooting those cheap winchester power points. They put double lung hits on them and the deer still go 40-100 yards. My buddy smashed a stud at 150 yards and connected with the shoulder .. deer dropped.. he left to go get drag help came back buck was gone(he learned) .. He switched to the sst last year and the deer began dropping right where they were hit. With a gun Im not concerned with 2 holes so much as just the gun delivering energy into that animal and piling it up asap. I feel a 2 hole bullet from a lighter weight caliber would be act more like a fmj and not creating the damage wed like to see..

Like last years, my 6.5cm with a 95vmax exploded inside the buck.. damaging everything and he still ran 50 yards or better..  

[wolc123]

10 minutes ago, LET EM GROW said:

The guys I see having the most issues with 243 bullets are shooting those cheap winchester power points. They put double lung hits on them and the deer still go 40-100 yards. My buddy smashed a stud at 150 yards and connected with the shoulder .. deer dropped.. he left to go get drag help came back buck was gone(he learned) .. He switched to the sst last year and the deer began dropping right where they were hit. With a gun Im not concerned with 2 holes so much as just the gun delivering energy into that animal and piling it up asap. I feel a 2 hole bullet from a lighter weight caliber would be act more like a fmj and not creating the damage wed like to see..

Like last years, my 6.5cm with a 95vmax exploded inside the buck.. damaging everything and he still ran 50 yards or better..  

I have heard that the DRT thing, from a chest hit, has more to do with the time that the bullet arrives, than anything else.  If it strikes on the heart's power stroke, the system pressure overloads and it is "lights out" instantly.  

 If the bullet arrives on the heart's relaxed "intake" stroke, the animal will run until loss of blood flow to the brain, regardless of bullet type or caliber.

Edited October 20, 2020 by wolc123