I have killed LOTS of deer in my life but almost all, as in all but maybe two or three, were killed with cup and core soft points, mostly Remington Core Lokts, Win Power Points, or Federal loaded with Sierra Gamekings. And most in 30-06, .243, and .257 Roberts although have killed with several others.

Last year I ventured out and bought some Hornady thing for my son's .243 and had a complete pass through at 160 yards just under the spine. That deer still shows up occasionally on game cams with a very cool scar. We just shot up the rest of them at the range, bought a box of Winchester Power Points, and blasted three deer with the typical good performance.

But I am down to half a box and it's time to order more and I usually order five boxes at a time. And after listening to the Vortex Nation guys endless talk about latest and greatest I want to venture out there.

To be clear, I know I am fixing something that is not broken. Those Power Points and the Blue Box Federals I have before work just fine.

So what say the OB. If the OB was buying new ammo for a .243, what would it be. If I was looking for anything I like complete passthroughs and blood trails and tight groups(don't we all), something the traditional soft points do OK but do much better in bigger calibers.

Right now I am torn between just getting a little tougher soft point, like Sierra GKs or Fed Fusions, or something different like Nosler BTs.

What would you get?

Thanks and I will hang up and listen for a bit.

I think that pass thru and blood trails are often a result of a combo of factors: shot placement/angle, bullet construction, velocity at impact.

But if you're asking for a "most likely to give me a blood trail on a traditional deer hunting shot" (under 200 yards, broad side, Texas size deer)…I'd probably put my money on a tipped bullet.

Ballistic Tip
Tipped gameking
ELD-X

^^^Insert he's right you know gif!

I am going to be using a Remington all copper Core-Lokt this year in my model 70. They now also make a tipped C-L.
Core-Lokt Copper (remington.com)

I've read a lot about that Barnes bullet in the last couple of days. Some swear buy it some say what you say.

It is also only 85 grains in a .243. That's really light for a .243 and must just be cooking coming out of the barrel. Maybe my preconceived notions are wrong on that one but I have to have a lot of confidence giving my kids the go ahead on a shot. Could be anywhere from 40-250 yards


I saw your post on tipped GameKings. Going to read up on them. Difference between the old GKs which I used a lot on 30-06 and the new tipped GKs that I have only shot at the range in 06.

Shot placement is of course always key, the major complaint I have heard from others is that the Barnes does too much damage! I have recovered several TSX bullets (I don't shoot TTSX) they have all mushroomed perfectly! Never had an issue even on light central Texas deer with the bullet opening as designed! Below are some photos of bullet holes in animals ranging from pigs, antelope, central Texas deer and south Texas deer. The bullets just plain work even if shot placement is marginal they still work.

That there is effective. Damn.

Is that with a .243?

I'd probably buy 2 boxes of soft points and see which ones pattern better before with your gun before I buy 5 boxes.

Federal Fusion bullets always seem to do a really good job expanding and just messing stuff up but they never shot subMOA on 3 different rifles. If you're not shooting over 200 yards it's probably a nonissue.

I still use the Winchester Whitetail (accubonds maybe?) and they do pretty well but it's been 5-6 years since I have killed anything with that rifle.

I know you had a bad experience with Hornady but I almost exclusively shoot the ELD-X on my other rifles. They all shoot sub-MOA and I have had 1 out of probably 25-30 animals runoff and that was a 450 yard shot on an Aoudad ewe that I would have found if I looked for more than 3 minutes.

I think the outcome of your wounded deer would have probably happened regardless of the bullet… shot placement is key.

Not sure if that helps but good luck!

I'd buy another box that is green, blue or silver.

ELD-X on a 152lb pig





295lb Aoudad



Almost every animal I have cleaned has the bullet lodged under the cape on the exit side. I can see how people complain about blood trail with them but it's a non issue when 97% of the animals you shoot die in their place.

I'll look for some more pictures but don't have them saved in an easy folder right now.

I like the Federal Fusion for whitetail and hogs.

So a couple of things.

The deer that had the pass through last year with the Hornady was just a freak thing. Son missed the boiler room and shot way high passing just under the spine. One of those 1% chance he lives and that deer hit the jackpot that day. My nephew, who was watching the same deer from another blind, thought it took a ricochet off of a limb too. I switched back to soft points mostly so my son and daughter would be confident. And they went 3 for 3 after that all perfect shots as far out as 190 yards. Now one day I will have to convince my son that Hornady does not actually suck.

Also, I will buy one box and make sure it holds a good group before I buy five more. In my other rifles I can make a box of ammo last years, but with my kids using this one we easily shoot it 30 or so times a season.

Appreciate all of the suggestions and sitting here with a minor summer cold I have plenty of reading to do tonight. Im going to look more into the Barnes loading and the ELDx and the tipped GK. Already dove into the Nosler BT load and that looks like a must try.

I may buy one box of each and a box of Fusions and just geek out on it this year. We will shoot three or four deer and probably that many hogs and coyotes so I should have plenty of chances to change ammo up.

And, to SanAntoneAg, you are probably right. I won't be surprised at all if I end up there. This is all mostly academic and just yacking.

And I just found two boxes of .243 Norma Whitetail in another ammo box.

Maybe I will F around with my 6.5 Swede this winter. I haven't scoped it in 15 years. Have a bunch of ammo from the 80s for it. I don't even know what's available now but I am sure it's a lot.

I used to have a poor perception of the 243. Saw some questionable performance when I was growing up. Then I hunted with a good friend who had a pet 243 and shot nosler partitions out of. That was a game changer! I killed a big axis with it. Hip just on one hip and angled forward in to the chest. Highly impressed. I would also consider an accubond.

Accubond is the only non traditional soft point I have ever bought. I have some for my .257 Roberts. I have shot a couple of deer with it and you are right it is devastating.

oklaunion said:

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I am going to be using a Remington all copper Core-Lokt this year in my model 70. They now also make a tipped C-L.
Core-Lokt Copper (remington.com)

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Why all copper?

Nothing really "magic" is needed to kill whitetails. We've always done the "high shoulder" (almost base of the neck) shot, for years, and eliminated all the "tracking" needed for deer. They fall (and die) right there. This includes 243, 6mm Rem, 25-06, 264 win mag.

Certainly lots better options than Blue Box Federal or standard Core-Lokt's, for stuff like Elk, but for deer, with decent shot placemt, the cheap stuff will do.

Mixture of 257wby, 7mm, 7prc and 300wby.

Not sure what Hornady you were using but the 100gr American whitetail, which is their interlock bullet, has always worked fine for me. That said, I mostly shoot the 80gr TTSX in my .243 now. Will be trying the 95gr nosler BT this year as well.

My 11 yr old daughter just started hunting and had great success this past season harvesting her first 2 deer with those Hornady 100gr American whitetail in .243

Nosler Partition for the win. Load them in my 6.5 x 55, son's 223, wife's .243. She earholes pigs with it.

It was Hornady Superformance.

fburgtx said:

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Nothing really "magic" is needed to kill whitetails. We've always done the "high shoulder" (almost base of the neck) shot, for years, and eliminated all the "tracking" needed for deer. They fall (and die) right there. This includes 243, 6mm Rem, 25-06, 264 win mag.

Certainly lots better options than Blue Box Federal or standard Core-Lokt's, for stuff like Elk, but for deer, with decent shot placemt, the cheap stuff will do.

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I agree. I am not really trying to find anything to kill deer more dead than we already do. That's not really the point. I am just kind of a tinkerer. I used to be a scratch golfer and mostly quit and replaced it with trips to gun ranges. When I played golf I was always testing out new golf balls, gloves, shoes, wedges, etc. Now I am the guy that will buy all kinds of 9mm ammo, sit at a bench from 30 yards, and see which is the most accurate. Then do it again with a different gun. Just, cause.

So I am doing this just because. I have hundreds of rounds of CoreLokts for 30-06, 30-30, and .257 Roberts. But I have an opening here for .243, and actually 6.5 Swede if I want too.

agsalaska said:

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fburgtx said:

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Nothing really "magic" is needed to kill whitetails. We've always done the "high shoulder" (almost base of the neck) shot, for years, and eliminated all the "tracking" needed for deer. They fall (and die) right there. This includes 243, 6mm Rem, 25-06, 264 win mag.

Certainly lots better options than Blue Box Federal or standard Core-Lokt's, for stuff like Elk, but for deer, with decent shot placemt, the cheap stuff will do.

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I agree. I am not really trying to find anything to kill deer more dead than we already do. That's not really the point. I am just kind of a tinkerer. I used to be a scratch golfer and mostly quit and replaced it with trips to gun ranges. When I played golf I was always testing out new golf balls, gloves, shoes, wedges, etc. Now I am the guy that will buy all kinds of 9mm ammo, sit at a bench from 30 yards, and see which is the most accurate. Then do it again with a different gun. Just, cause.

So I am doing this just because. I have hundreds of rounds of CoreLokts for 30-06, 30-30, and .257 Roberts. But I have an opening here for .243, and actually 6.5 Swede if I want too.

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Understood! Keep it "interesting"!

My opinion, rounds that were designed to hit fast with devastating velocity are best served with fast expanding projectiles. They do their work with violent trauma. This works well on our Texas whitetail as long as you dont mind the occasional mediocre bloodtrail.

When we try to make them something they arent, we get into trouble. Like trying to make them deep reliable penetrators via heavy and slow to expand projectiles. The result is the loss of their violent nature in exchange for better penetration.

IF you insist on going this route, I like to drop bullet weight to increase velocity while combining it with a more rigged projectile design. Guys above are right but stick with the smaller 70-80 grain Barnes TTSX,

Barnes VOR-TX 243 Winchester Ammo 80 Grain Barnes Triple-Shock X (midwayusa.com)

For the record, my brother and I grew up shooting 100 grain core-lokt from 16" model 7s. We lost way more deer than we should have. I sometimes wish I could go back and chrono the combo and suspect the velocity was severely lacking.

My kids now shoot 95 grn B-tips from a 24" barrel and the results on tissue are night and day different from the old days.

Ultimately, after what has been hours of reading forums and reading the opinions on this page, the 95gr BTs(assuming Noslers) and Barnes TSX keep popping up along with Tipped GKs and Fusions.

Ive got a website right now that has both Barnes TSX and Federal loaded Nosler 95gr BTs for the .243. I am going to buy a box of each and assuming they are both accurate going to use them both this winter. Il use up those Normas with the kids on the range.

We hunt a LOT and shoot a little in the winter. But we will probably shoot 4 deer and hopefully a couple of hogs or yotes.

My guess is I, and the deer, will never know the difference. But it will be fun to play around with.

any reason not to go with the 85 grain over the 80? Just for ordering purposes. Outdoorlimited doesnt have the 80. Same bullet type I think it's just loaded by Federal?

If there is a reason I certainly dont mind splitting the order up. Just wondering.

85

And yes,

Oh I know. Maybe after my kids are gone. Especially for my 6.5x55. It is hard to find fully loaded ammo for it. I bought that gun 20 years ago, a Win 70, put a scope on it, shot a doe right behind the baseball fields in Franklin at a friends place, took the scope off, and put it in the back of the safe. I am sitting here right now shopping for ammo for it and everything is underpowered.

agsalaska said:

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oklaunion said:

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I am going to be using a Remington all copper Core-Lokt this year in my model 70. They now also make a tipped C-L.
Core-Lokt Copper (remington.com)

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Why all copper?

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I am getting concerned with all of the lead-killed venison I have consumed over my lifetime. My belief is a substantial bit of super fine particles are created upon impact when that tip mushrooms and lead is exposed. Probably paranoid over nothing.

Barnes bullets are an all around good bullet. I have taken countless cull bucks, spikes, doe, coyotes, and hogs with a 55gr TSX out of a 22-250 ranging from 50-150'yards. Blood trail wasnt important because the animal never runs more than a few yards if at all.
ETA: I have had good luck in the past with Nosler Accubonds as well.

I did this years back. Over thought everything and bought the best ammo ever according to articles and shooters and blah blah blah. I started losing deer and having to track. Went back to Remington core lokt and they all dropped dead again. Texas whitetail don't need "better" ammo.