243 winchester

I bought 2, 243Win for my grandsons to shoot 10 & 11 ,I loaded a 36gr varget ,under a 85gr Barnes STX, Ty and I shot at 4 deer at 300 to 350 yrs and never drew blood last weekend, am I over thinking this or is this too far or too light a bullet to get a good hit on the deer? I am dead on at 100 yards so charts show a 10″ drop a 300yrds,I’ve killed deer on this stand,w my 30-06 before at this distance. I bought some 95gr nosler partion bullet would these do better? I haven’t shot this gun and caliber over 100yrds yet, I have shot my 22-250 to 300yrds at targets but figuered that was too small a bullet at 55 gr to do a good job on white tails.
Thanks Stan

Stan I don’t have any varget data to share . We load my nephews with the Barnes 85 tsx with imr4831. Tack driver at 44.1gr charge and seated .050 off the lands in his savage. He is getting about 3250 fps and takes pronghorn easily at 300 with his.
As for fragmenting bullets, I hate them for longer range shots. I will never shoot an animal again with them. Solid bullets transfer the energy so much better!

is the nosler a fragmenting bullet? doesn’t it just mushroom like the pointed soft point remington I shoot in the 30-06? it looks the same. here’s the chart for Varget and others ,That didn’t work!

Thanks Stan

What twist are your barrels?

My leading theory is that your barrel twist will not stabilize (or more corretly, is overspinning) the 85 grain bullets and at longer distances your bullets are beginning to tumble and by 300 yards they are off into the wild blue yonder.

There is no chart or way to do this by armchair theory. If you tell me the twist rate, I can tell you if this is more or less likely, but ultimately you have to shoot the distance to know the distance.

I highly doubt bullet performance after actually hitting the deer is the issue. I suspect you are missing and by more than inches.

I have a .243 in Tikka and I have no problem taking out p-dogs at 400+ The cartridge should easily drop deer at 300 with the bullets you are using. The problem almost certainly lies in getting the bullet to connect with the deer.

Grouse

The older 1 is a savage mod 10 left handed wood stock, the new one is last nov. rt hand model 10 w/ a synthetic stock. both have acutriggers ,I thought they were 1 in 9″ twist. I loaded 100 gr sierra last year and some 75gr vmax but haven’t shot at deer till this year, I’m going to get out and try some long range shooting tomorrow if I can. every body has gone home and my buck tag got used today.
Stan

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What twist are your barrels?

My leading theory is that your barrel twist will not stabilize (or more corretly, is overspinning) the 85 grain bullets and at longer distances your bullets are beginning to tumble and by 300 yards they are off into the wild blue yonder.

There is no chart or way to do this by armchair theory. If you tell me the twist rate, I can tell you if this is more or less likely, but ultimately you have to shoot the distance to know the distance.

I highly doubt bullet performance after actually hitting the deer is the issue. I suspect you are missing and by more than inches.

I have a .243 in Tikka and I have no problem taking out p-dogs at 400+ The cartridge should easily drop deer at 300 with the bullets you are using. The problem almost certainly lies in getting the bullet to connect with the deer.

Grouse

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Should be able to notice a slight keyholing on paper at 200 yards and farther

Well I got out and shot on a target at distance boy does it drop off after 200yrds. shots 1&2 are 100yrds, shots 3&4 are 200yrds the bullets in the holes mark 300yrds. I shot some 100 gr bullets at 100y is the 2 holes the 200y is the single hole fired at the little targets.
Stan

OK, so the groups are reasonable and the drop has ben established. The twist rate does not appear to be over-spinning the bullets.

As to why you missed the deer, are you sure it was 300-350? And not 400 or 425?

Grouse

It’s posible I’m way short on distance , my next purchase is a range finder. I was looking and the older savages have a 1 to 9″ twist and the new ones are 1 to 9.25″ twist so I am going too have to check each gun w a load or the next question how much does a 270 win kick for little guys and how flat does it shoot? maybe that ill be my next gun.
Thanks so far Stan

The 243 should be good on deer out to 400yds but I haven’t shot barnes bullets, I usually used factory loaded 85gr SP and HP bullets.

I shot some barnes tsx 70gr through my AR with a 1:9 twist and I think at 250 yards the hole in the target looked like 2 holes touching. The barnes website recommends a 1:8 twist

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It’s posible I’m way short on distance , my next purchase is a range finder. I was looking and the older savages have a 1 to 9″ twist and the new ones are 1 to 9.25″ twist so I am going too have to check each gun w a load or the next question how much does a 270 win kick for little guys and how flat does it shoot? maybe that ill be my next gun.
Thanks so far Stan

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Stan, when you’re talking about consistently taking 350++ pokes at deer–or any game for thate matter–you’re moving into a specialized area where compromises such as lower recoil, lower cost ammo, and to some degree versatility, are hard to come by.

You’re also asking a lot from a very young sportsman who most likely has not had the time to put in suitable practice to be able to reliably connect at such great distances.

If you look at what sheep and goat hunters use–and these are the guys who shoot what they shoot because getting closer is REALLY not an option–you start to form up an idea of what the real long range cartridges look like. .257 Weatherby, 300 Win Mag, 300 Weatherby, etc.

Having shot all of these, I will tell you that exactly none of them are suitable if low recoil is a criteria. Or low cost for that matter, I believe the 257 ammo currently runs $3-4 a round. But they all shoot incredibly flat out to and beyond 400, but at a cost of tremendous recoil and obviously tremendous cost.

So before we start changing up the guns, a couple of questions:

– Is getting closer to the deer an option?

Honestly, I’m not lecturing here, but to me, this is why they call it deer hunting and not deer shooting and IMO you’d be teaching the young hunters a very important lesson: You get deer by hunting them, not by out-equipping them.

Can you move portable stands closer? Ground blinds? Creative land management? Placing the hunters in cutoff positions?

– If you’re going to push a .243 that far, I would test lighter bullets.

– Do you have suitable shooting rests in the stands to produce a steady shot?

– Finally, no matter what distance, practice, practice, practice and record EXACTLY what your rounds do at a given distance. For varmints, my .243 is set up +1 at 100, dead on at 200, -1.5 at 300, -5 at 400, -7 at 450, etc. You have to have this info at your fingertips and you have to have practiced at all distances and including factoring in wind.

Grouse

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For varmints, my .243 is set up +1 at 100, dead on at 200, -1.5 at 300, -5 at 400, -7 at 450, etc. You have to have this info at your fingertips and you have to have practiced at all distances and including factoring in wind.
Grouse

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Grouse: Just wondering what bullet are you shooting for varmints to do this?
My 700BDL .243 is sighted in exactly the same – same results with a Winchester Silvertip 58g Ballistic. If I change up bullets in any manner, EVERYTHING changes.
I love it…. Shootin’ “wood-ticks” at 300 yards!

not to be a smart a== but it’s deer shooting and fish catching.
my boys are 34&35 now ,when they were 14-15 a guy asked if we caught any fish,they said ya we went fishing, just expected to catch fish! I ‘ll get out with my 10 year old grand son and see how well he shoots at distance he’s good at 100yards and in,both my boy were class champs at 10 &11 shooting metalic silohettes. out to 100y with a hand gun 22.
Josh was badger state games ,gold medalist in trap,bronze medal skeet and gold over all when he was 13,so we’ve shot a lot. but i’ve given up trying to shoot deer w a 243 at distance because I don’t want to just wound deer and I think thats all I can expect out of it,so Thanks to all, for the information.
Stan

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For varmints, my .243 is set up +1 at 100, dead on at 200, -1.5 at 300, -5 at 400, -7 at 450, etc. You have to have this info at your fingertips and you have to have practiced at all distances and including factoring in wind.
Grouse

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Grouse: Just wondering what bullet are you shooting for varmints to do this?
My 700BDL .243 is sighted in exactly the same – same results with a Winchester Silvertip 58g Ballistic. If I change up bullets in any manner, EVERYTHING changes.
I love it…. Shootin’ “wood-ticks” at 300 yards!

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50 grain Sierra Blitz King on top of Varget with whatever primers I can find. This load was very tough on P-dogs this summer.

I also have a Windjammer load. A 70 grain BTHP again on top of Varget. Bucks the wind better, but obviously more drop at the outer limits.

Currently working up an antelope load. 85 grain Nosler ballistic tip (purple) has produced .75 x 5 at 100. Have not had an opportunity to test at 2-400, so reserving judgement as a lot of loads look promising at 100.

Grouse