243 ammo

[roosterslayer]

Anybody ever used Winchester 95 grain silver tip on whitetails? I have taken a few deer with this caliber just looking for some advise on ammo. want something that will leave a decent blood trail. any help will be good. thanks

[harvey lee]

I use my 7mm from time to time and purchased a box of this ammo for deer.

I had shot two deer with these bullets and I threw the rest away. I thought they were one of the worst bullets ever made for a deer shell.

[Archerysniper]

I would suggest a box of 100 grain Rem corelokts,the 85's work but the 100's hold up much better.

[PFUNK]

I have been shooting 100 grain winchester powerpoints the last two years with wonderful results. They are about the cheapest factory ammo i have seen, but they group well for me. I moved to montana for college but didn't have a rifle. My grandpa lent me a .243 he had. I shot a doe that dropped in its tracks, a 5x5 mulie buck that died in its tracks, and the elk in my avatar photo that dropped after running 100 yards. I shot twice at the elk... one round passed through and the second was in the off side hide. I have no need to try spendier ammo at this point.

[Selmer]

The 95 gr. Silvertip is Nosler's 95 gr. Ballistic Tip with Winchester's proprietary coating. The 95 gr. BT is the heaviest jacketed bullet in the 6mm Nosler BT lineup. Cross section one - you'll findout that half of the bullet weight is the jacket. They are GREAT performers on deer-sized game and will give an entry and exit on any reasonable shot angle. If you're into the Texas heart-shot, spend a few more dollars and get the 100 gr. Nosler Partitions. I've only recovered two out of a couple dozen deer and antelope I've shot with them.

[harvey lee]

Selamr, the reason I do not care for these silver tips is I shot 2 different deer at 40 and 70 yards.

Niether deer had an exit wound and it was a bit of a tracking job. They were not shot in the shoulder and in the boiler room. One went 50 yards and the other about 60 or maybe a bit longer with almost no blood trail in snow. That's with a 7mm.

From what I could see when I gutted the deer and butchered it, the bullet entered the deer and simply exploded apart into tiny pieces. I was not impressed at all.

May have been the worst bullet I have ever used on a deer with my 7MM.

[huntnfish]

I shoot 95 grain Federal Fusions in my 243 and haven't had a deer go farther than 50 yards. I have had a few people that didn't believe I was shooting "a little 243" because of the exit wounds.

[End of the Line]

If you're talking about the Winchester Ballistic silver tips, it's all I use for deer hunting. I use them in my 7mm Mag & 25-06, and now this year my son is going hunting for the first time and he'll be using them in his .243, love 'em!

[harvey lee]

End of the line

Have u had any issues with those bullets clearing both sides of a deer?

[sportfish]

Harvey , I think a 7 mm was never made to be a MN gun , almost every deer I have seen shot at 50 yards or less never passed throw . the bullet just blows up .. I don't use any bullets with the plastic tips in MN after having a few misses , I felt the brush was deflecting the bullets more then it should have on some longer shots throw the woods ..

[grapeapplepie]

I've been using this exact round in my .243s (yes, I have two) for the past few years. I agree with harvey lee in that blood trails haven't been the best, even with well placed shots in the deer I've harvested. What he said about the shell exploding on the inside and tearing up the insides is was what I've seen too; finding pieces of the shattered shell within the deer cavity. That being said, recovery hasn't been hard as the deer haven't gone far after being shot.

My assessment is that it gets the job done and it shoots nice groupings on paper for a factory load. If, however, you will be shooting this round in an area where "deflection" is a concern, a different round may be a better choice.

[harvey lee]

Harvey , I think a 7 mm was never made to be a MN gun , almost every deer I have seen shot at 50 yards or less never passed throw . the bullet just blows up .. I don't use any bullets with the plastic tips in MN after having a few misses , I felt the brush was deflecting the bullets more then it should have on some longer shots throw the woods ..

I do not use this rifle in MN. Not quite sure why a 7mm could not be used in any state. If I am hunting in Mn where there is thick cover and a good chance of hititng some brush, I move to a more open location. I will not take a questionable shot at a deer that I could end up wounding.

The Hornady shells I use have no issues passing through a deer from 30 to 300 yards.

[charliepete]

You always used to hear how a 30/30 was a good brush gun because of the rounded nose bullets typical of the caliber due to lever action use. I actually saw a test done in Outdoor Life a few years back and they found speed and weight were the biggest predictors in rate of deflection not bullet shape. The 30/30 didn't "bust brush" as well as the 308 or 30-06. I'm with Harvey though, if I don't have a clear unobstructed first shot I don't pull the trigger.

[Washing Lures]

The best bullets I have found for my .243 are the Hornady GMX copper. They made fantastic exit holes on two whitetails last year.

Good Luck

[rockman]

Harvey , I think a 7 mm was never made to be a MN gun , almost every deer I have seen shot at 50 yards or less never passed throw . the bullet just blows up .. I don't use any bullets with the plastic tips in MN after having a few misses , I felt the brush was deflecting the bullets more then it should have on some longer shots throw the woods ..

I a bit late to this party, but one of my relatives has deer hunted with a 7mm for years in MN, and has never had any issues with bullets exploding, or disintegrating at shots of 50 yards or less. He runs Remington Core-Loks through that gun, and quite a few deer have been harvested using them. No ballistic tip bullets for me. Been using boat-tail soft points for years, and those are good enough for me. May try copper bullets eventually, but not in a hurry to do so.