.243 win lowest grain bullet for Deer?

[jrebel]

My wife shoots 100 grain Winchester Super X and has had great luck.  I was trying to load down 100 and 90 grain bullets for my daughter's .243 but cannot get them to group.  I have moved down to a 70 and 80 grain pill and am loading at mid to high range charge hoping for better groups and keeping recoil down. 

So the question is how low is to low for deer sized game?   

The 80 grain is the TTSX by barnes.  The 70 grain is the nosler partition ballistic tip. 

Thanks

[jason stevens]

My daughter shoots 80 grain for deer and they drop and we shoot 100 grain for elk no problem.

[Emptyhanded]

Ive had great luck with the 85 Barnes TSX. I've killed 5 bucks with them so far with no complaints. The 85 gr partition is another good light weight deer bullet. I shot my biggest buck to date with the 85 partition. I think either of those two would suit you well.


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[bobcat]

The 85 grain Barnes should work great but I'd definitely recommend loading it to the maximum velocity, in order to get reliable expansion.

If you want to keep recoil really low, use a more conventional type bullet that will open up at lower velocities.

I wouldn't go less than 80 grains. The Nosler Partition in 85 grain would be a good choice.

[mountainman]

Third for the 85 gr8 Barnes. With proper bullet placement, it will put them down every time! But as always, some are sure to argue that lol!

[wsmnut]

4th for the Barnes.

 

Wsmnut

[Bofire]

 :)I shot a 2 point Blacktail, 200 yards, 243 80 grain blue box federal ammo(cheap). The deer was laying down looking at me, he was lined out straight away his head in line with his body. I shot him just under the nose. He flipped completely over end wise, belly up, not a kick. I was impressed with the impact. By the way I have a target with 10 of those in under an inch, I use quite a bit of that ammo if shooting factory loaded ammo.
Carl

[Gringo31]

Had a buddy how had loaded some 55 grain loads at over 4000ft for antelope does.  Don't think one ever took a step.  He vowed to never do it again because of the noise.

[Biggerhammer]

Nosler 90gr Accbonds or a 87gr Hornady. Both perform well on deer.

[jrebel]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.  I am trying to keep the recoil as low as possible for my daughter.  She will most likely be shooting a whitetail for the first go round so gonna give the 70 and 80 grain bullets a go round at the range.  I will post pictures of how the loads worked up.   

[jasnt]

My friend shot his deer this year with my rifle and a 64gr Berger BR column at 80 yards. Buck dropped in its tracks!

[Rainier10]

87 grain Hornady SST for my daughters rifle.  She has knocked down 3 whitetail does and one mule deer buck, none of them went more than 20 yards.  One of the whitetail was a 240 yard shot.  I even shot a whitetail doe with it this year after she dropped hers.  It is a deer killin round for sure.

[deadlift]

If you keep the shots close, I'd try the sierra #1505 70gr SMK and shoot for low shoulder shots. Just what I'd do.
Chris
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