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Post by blacktailslayer on Sept 23, 2022 14:30:18 GMT -5
When being used for sheep and goats, I would be worried about how much the light bullet would dance in the wind along with shots that are not perpendicular broadside shots as those almost never happen in the field. My daughter carries a M77 lightweight Ruger in 243 for deer and pronghorns. So far everything she has shot at has died with one shot so the 243 appears to be a great round for deer size game. Her longest shot was at her pronghorn and that was only about 120 yards or so while her three deer were all 50 yards to 50 feet. I reviewed the wounds in all four of those critters and was not impressed by the 100 grainers. Last years buck was a bruiser and was shot square in the neck at 50 feet and it did not go clear through, it barely made it to the vertebrae and it was not a usual lights-out neck shot. Her other deer were behind the shoulder shots and they did not penetrate as much as I would have liked either but the deer died fairly quickly and we did not have to track them far at all.
I would put the 243 in the adequate for deer category per our experience with it. With that said we are going to be either shopping for or re-barreling her rifle to a 260 or 7mm-08, most likely the latter.
Don D.
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Post by starmetal47 on Sept 23, 2022 20:54:41 GMT -5
When being used for sheep and goats, I would be worried about how much the light bullet would dance in the wind along with shots that are not perpendicular broadside shots as those almost never happen in the field. My daughter carries a M77 lightweight Ruger in 243 for deer and pronghorns. So far everything she has shot at has died with one shot so the 243 appears to be a great round for deer size game. Her longest shot was at her pronghorn and that was only about 120 yards or so while her three deer were all 50 yards to 50 feet. I reviewed the wounds in all four of those critters and was not impressed by the 100 grainers. Last years buck was a bruiser and was shot square in the neck at 50 feet and it did not go clear through, it barely made it to the vertebrae and it was not a usual lights-out neck shot. Her other deer were behind the shoulder shots and they did not penetrate as much as I would have liked either but the deer died fairly quickly and we did not have to track them far at all. I would put the 243 in the adequate for deer category per our experience with it. With that said we are going to be either shopping for or re-barreling her rifle to a 260 or 7mm-08, most likely the latter. Don D. I prefer the 7mm-08 as I have one and it wacks deer most excellent. I can say this about the 260 Rem. Remington build it on too short of an action and also the main bullet being a 120 grain. If you reload with a heavier bullet you have to seat it too deep because the chambered them for the 120 grain bullet. Long story short I build a 260 Rem on a type 38 Jap and throated it longer with a throater reamer. With the bullet seated out it blows the door off the 6.5 Creedmoor (which I have that also) because the 260 holds more powder then the Creedmoor. The 7mm-08 is a good choice. My favorite bullet for it is the 139 grain Hornady. Never lost a deer to it.
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Post by todddoyka on Sept 24, 2022 0:27:02 GMT -5
in the early '90s i was using a 243 and 100gr Hornady, Speer and Seirra and a 85gr Barnes X-bullet. i killed some deer, but i had to track them thru the brush. i would do shoulder shot and behind the shoulder shot and they would run, esp the X-bullet. i shot a doe right behind the shoulder and she ran about 300-350 yards thu the brush. the blood trail was spot od blood every once in awhile. i did find her and the X-bullet was like a fmj, a pencil-type wound thru the lungs. i gave up on the 243 and i went to a bigger caliber.
my rem m7 in 7-08 is a deer getter, but i much prefer the custom 98 FN Mauser in 7x57 with 139gr Hornday FN (discontinued). that is true deer gun, but my son has it. i used a TC Encore with a 6.5 Creedmoor (14", 16 1/4" and 23" MGM barrels) when it first came out and while i killed deer with it, i found myself wanting a different caliber. so i sold it. my youngest son will be given a '16 Spanish Mauser in 6.5x55 Swede (Numrich barrel, 3-9x Vortex, Timney trigger, Richards Micro Fit gunstock). the 260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor are good for up to 140gr bullets, but the 6.5x55 really shines on heavier bullets.
the TC Venture in 25-06 (i hate black plastic!!!!) was also good deer gun, but my thought on it was that the 25-06 was almost overbore. what i want to do is take my sporterized '16 Spanish Mauser action and make it a 257 Bob. if you really get into rifle calibers, then a 6.5 Krag (6.5/30-40 Krag) or a 25 Krag ( i have 2 1898 spr armory actions).
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Post by bradshaw on Sept 24, 2022 11:56:23 GMT -5
in the early '90s i was using a 243 and 100gr Hornady, Speer and Seirra and a 85gr Barnes X-bullet. i killed some deer, but i had to track them thru the brush. i would do shoulder shot and behind the shoulder shot and they would run, esp the X-bullet. i shot a doe right behind the shoulder and she ran about 300-350 yards thu the brush. the blood trail was spot od blood every once in awhile. i did find her and the X-bullet was like a fmj, a pencil-type wound thru the lungs. i gave up on the 243 and i went to a bigger caliber. my rem m7 in 7-08 is a deer getter, but i much prefer the custom 98 FN Mauser in 7x57 with 139gr Hornday FN (discontinued). that is true deer gun, but my son has it. i used a TC Encore with a 6.5 Creedmoor (14", 16 1/4" and 23" MGM barrels) when it first came out and while i killed deer with it, i found myself wanting a different caliber. so i sold it. my youngest son will be given a '16 Spanish Mauser in 6.5x55 Swede (Numrich barrel, 3-9x Vortex, Timney trigger, Richards Micro Fit gunstock). the 260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor are good for up to 140gr bullets, but the 6.5x55 really shines on heavier bullets. the TC Venture in 25-06 (i hate black plastic!!!!) was also good deer gun, but my thought on it was that the 25-06 was almost overbore. what i want to do is take my sporterized '16 Spanish Mauser action and make it a 257 Bob. if you really get into rifle calibers, then a 6.5 Krag (6.5/30-40 Krag) or a 25 Krag ( i have 2 1898 spr armory actions). ***** Todd.... curious to hear of your tracking jobs after whitetail lung-shots with the Hornady. Is that the 100 grain Spire Point? An all-time favorite deer rifle is Ruger Model 77 6mm Remington with tang safety and dog leg bolt handle. Only rifle which, in taking a lot of whitetails, I never fired twice, never missed, and never lost a deer. Took lung shots only. Passed upon shots I would have taken with my Husqvarna Mauser .30-06, Ruger .338, SAKO L61 .338, and Winchester Classic .338 Magnums, etc. The discipline of passing up a shot come s from hard hunting with a revolver, and mainly the ethic of studious marksmanship. May have taken a neck shot with the 6mm when none other was available, but really the game was to take out the lungs. I was not a shoulder shooter in those days. Didn’t worry about total penetration: take out both lungs, doesn’t matter whether you have an exit hole. Biologic Death ignores the ideologic argument for an exit hole when oxygen to brain ceases. My M-77 load consisted of pre-Interlock Hornady 100 Spire Point over 46/H4831 for 2,800 fps from the Ruger’s 22” barrel. After half-moon glassing forend, the rifle was woodchuck-head accurate @ 300 yards. Hornady Manual #3 puts that load at 2,900+ from a Remington M700 22”. Before Ruger released the M-77 International Mannlicher 18-1/2” carbine in .308 and .243, I hunted both on whitetail. Same clean result with the M77 International .243 with Hornady 100 Spire Point. Pushed 85-87 grain bullets to 3.100 fps from the 18-1/2” .243, but did not use those loads on deer. David Bradshaw
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Post by todddoyka on Sept 25, 2022 16:31:01 GMT -5
since he was 12yo, my friend has a Rem m788 in 243 annd he kills deer with every year. a 100gr PSP Rem, Win, Federal, PMC...factory load is what he uses. whatever is cheaper, he uses. he shoots behind the shoulder(except 1) and it is DRT or close to it. in 30+ years, he has only lost one deer. he tried to make a headshot at 30-40 yards, but he wounded the deer in the jaw. he tried to find it, but didn't. his cousin killed it with his knife about 2 or 3 days later. he skinned itand he found yellow pus all thru the spine. he called up the PA Game Commission and they took it and gave him another tag. i have had a Rem m700 A, B and CDL and also a Rem m7 in 243 Winchester. every shot was under 60ish yards and the deer ran about 50-125 yards before it died (except the Barnes X bullet, 300-350 yards then it ). i'm going off of memory but 100gr Speer and Sierra PSP killed deer, but the blood trail was spotty. i think it was also Speer that had a 105gr RN that the jacketed was too hard to open up properly. the best bullet was a 100gr Hornady RN with Imr4831 and a blind man without arms and legs can find the blood trail. the Hornady RN, while it didn't instantly kill the deer, it would only go 50ish yards before the deer died. it was shoulder or behind the shoulder shot. i never shot a Nosler Partition or BT bullet in 243 win, mostly because they were expensive. i never did any Hornady pointed bullets either. personally, i don't like the 243 win. it is a coyote, fox and groundhog gun. BUT my friend luvs it as a deer/groundhog gun, so......i will let you decide. in my mind, a deer rifle starts at 250 Savage and it goes up from there.
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Post by starmetal47 on Sept 26, 2022 10:10:25 GMT -5
......and don't forget that the number deer poaching caliber is the 22LR. Yeah Yeah I know, they take only head shots. Just sayin. I feel the number best cartridge, that has a bullet specifically made for it's low velocity and deer hunting is the 30-30 Winchester and throw in the 35 Remington and 32 Special. When the 308 first came on the scene the ammo manufactures load it with the then available 30 caliber bullets for bigger faster calibers like the 30-06 and up and the 308 failed miserablerly on anchoring whitetails quit. I've seen so many deer lost to it or a long long long trailing to find the body. My best friend and I started reloading at a very young age and we knew about things so to say. One day I showed up at his place to go deer hunting. He loved the 308 Win, but he knew back then about the bullet problem. He said the deer aren't going to walk off when I shot them with my 308 loads. I said what did you do. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out some 308 cartridges. He said I loaded them with 150 grain 30-30 bullets. I asked if he loaded them down to near 30-30 velocities and he said he did.
I've seen many deer killed very efficiently with the 243 and 6mm. Don't forget any caliber can fail. I've seen deer hit good with the 7mm mag and walk off. Don't care what anyone says if you have to trail your deer it's easier to follow a blood trail where the deer has holes in it leaking blood.
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