Tikka 243 deer bullets

[rms65]

I Got my girl a Tikka 243 compact for deer hunting with plans of using boxed Barnes 80gr TTSX but unfortunately after running a box of them through the rifle it won't print better than 2 MOA. It shoots $16 federal blue box 80 grain and fusion 95 grain MOA. I know looking for suggestions on 243 deer bullets is old hack but I couldn't get the forum search window to stay open. Sorry. Anyhow if anyone has experience with the 243 Tikkas with either the Barnes or northeastern whitetail deer hunting I would appreciate any help.
Thanks

[Wyosmith]

The Fusion probably is good. Go with them

[ripnbst]

Northeastern white tail are not Megladon. Shoot whatever prints best. I’d be thrilled if my whitetail rifle shot the cheap garbage well.


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[rms65]

Originally Posted by ripnbst

Northeastern white tail are not Megladon. Shoot whatever prints best. I’d be thrilled if my whitetail rifle shot the cheap garbage well.


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Thanks. I'm sure most 243 hunting bullets will kill a whitetail at the distances were likely to shoot, 150 yds give or take 50. 300 is the longest deer shot I've seen taken on the property. I thought by using a premium 243 bullet would minimize the chances of tracking into darkness. The property owner only lets us hunt in the afternoon and most deer there are shot just before sundown..

[jmr40]

If they shoot well in your rifle Barnes bullets can be a good option. But I'd have no issue with the 95 gr Fusions either. I think you'll be fine, even at extended ranges.

Fusions are a harder bullet known for good penetration, but somewhat less expansion. You may not get the bang/flop kills that softer bullets often provide, but they won't go far with a good hit.

[ripnbst]

JMR, what Barnes bullets are you speaking of? Most of the time when people talking Barnes, it's the TSX, which is a premium construction bonded bullet that is known for its performance on tough to kill animals. I'll say it again, you don't need real high performance bullets on white tail, and 150 yards probable max 300 yd ultimate max certainly doesn't call for premium bullets. You just need accuracy and retained energy at distance. A .243 is a high velocity loading. That little 6mm class projectile is still cruising right along at 150, even 300 yards. A standard Remington Corelokt, Winchester Super X PowerPoint, Federal Fusion, Hornady American Whitetail, or the like should be just fine. You're not talking elk at 500 yards here.


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[rms65]

It's the Barnes made cartridges with the 80 grain tipped tsx. I heard good things about about them but also read that they require a few fouling rounds of their type to shoot well. Something to do with they're pure copper as opposed to jacketed rounds that use a copper alloy. But nearly a full box down range the accuracy is dismal. Every Tikka I own has preferences but they normally shoot crap bulk ammo at least as good as these Barnes. At $35 a box it's a shame. This little 243 prints other ammo as well as my other Tikkas. I might just stick to CoreLocts, I think they come in 100 grain. The 140 CoreLoct shoot half MOA in my Tikka 7mm-08.

[Dufus]

If you gotta shoot factory ammo, the Nosler Trophy Grade Accubond or Partition can't be beat in the little 243 Win.

[bamaranger]

We have a good bit of .243 slug conversation, so why not have some more? I do not have a Tikka, but do have a Savage 110 with the barrel shortened to 21" (long story) , and an old Mossberg 810m with 20" factory barrel.

As I've posted before, I was a .243 basher, until I grew a bit wiser, shot some deer with them, and watched bamaboy hammer some more, and am now a fan. I believe that I have seen more whitetail bang flops with the .243 than with any other deer cartridge I've hunted. Maybe because I watched as the boy did all his shooting, and I hunt a variety of calibers too, but I am impressed with the .243. All our .243 kills, combined maybe a dozen, have been with 100 gr slugs, mostly 100 gr Nosler Partitions. We have never recovered a 100 gr Partition, getting exit wounds in every instance. I should be completely satisfied with the 100 gr Partition. I have about 60 of them loaded for the old Mossberg, and 40 for the Savage, and should be set with hunting ammo for several seasons.

But despite our success with 100 gr Partitions, I cannot drive them as fast as I'd like from our stubby barreled rifles, and accuracy has always been so-so, hovering around 1.5" MOA +/-. The straw that broke the camels back was the recent rise in component prices..........the Nosler Partition 50 count box runs about what a 100 count box of competitors slugs . ...essentially twice the price.

And so, in typical rifle kook fashion, I have set out on looking for a new slug for the .243's. The MOssberg especially, shows an affinity for lighter bullets, and the 85 grain Partition immediately came to mind, but there was still the price issue. After a good bit of reading, I have bought a 100 count box of Sierra 85 gr HPBT Game Kings. It runs counter culture to my roots, I was raised by a klan of "heavy bullet believers". And the HP design screams at me that it will not hold together and penetrate as it needs to. But there is a good bit of chatter that it will indeed be just fine, and so I will give them a run. I expect higher velocity, better accuracy, and sufficient killing power as long as I shoot well. Our deer do not come all that big, 175lbs being a whopper, and the norm for a 3 yr old buck maybe in the 150 lb range. My .243 shooting is in pretty controlled conditions, food plots and ROW's, typically from some type of support at 100 yds or so. Applied correctly to the ribs or off side shoulder, I cannot see a whitetail escaping.

[stagpanther]

Northeastern white tail are not Megladon

My bit of Maine pride compels me to take exception to this. I'm willing to bet our kids take far more 300 to 350 lb bucks (real wild ones, not farmed on a ranch) on opening youth day here than you Texicans do--and hunting here isn't easy.

[Mobuck]

My perception is 2 MOA is good enough for the ranges a "youth" should be shooting.
From experience, a TTSX may not be a good choice for smaller sized deer and "blue box 80 grain" is a POOR CHOICE for an inexperienced hunter's use.
If you use the Fusion, do the "milk jug test" at a typical impact range on 3 or 4 just to get an idea of what to expect from that particular bullet.

[rms65]

My girl btw is my 45yo girlfriend. She's a pretty good shot. She got a midsized spike buck last year at just over a hundred yards (measured) with an iron sighted 94 lever action 30-30. Shooting offhand from the middle of the driveway no less. She can hit a 6" gong at three hundred with her Tikka. So she can shoot and is not a youth. My fault for not being clearer. Anyway I got her the Tikka to get her something more up to date and to keep her pretty lever gun from getting banged up in the woods.

[Mobuck]

OK, now that Paul Harvey has told "the rest of the story", we can strike my comment about 2 MOA be good enough for the limited range expectation of a "youth hunter" but the rest of my comment is universal. And FWIW, 2 MOA used to be a pretty good group for the average deer rifle.

[Don Fischer]

Doesn't matter much who made the rifle. In 243 for deer I really wouldn't throw a bunch of money into premium ammo. Remington core locks have been doing a good job on deer since before the word premium was invented. I'd give them a try and I would not get caught up in the expensive stuff! Look for most any brand name ammo with 100gr bullet's and you should be good to go. Just find the one that shoot's best!

[rms65]

Thanks, that's the plan now. I was just hoping someone else using a 243 Tikka for deer would chime in to help short cut the process of finding the right bullet. And yes to the other fellow a 2 MOA deer gun will get the job done. Her Winchester 94 proved your point. Ironically it was with a 150 grain CoreLoct. Thus proving the last man right too.

[T. O'Heir]

The brand of rifle is irrelevant. It's pretty obvious that rifle doesn't like solid copper bullets. Federal doesn't say who makes their Fusion or Power-Shok brand bullet, but they're both just lead core SP's. Mind you, they say the 80 grainer is for small game. And .243" bullets of that weight usually are varmint bullets. Your lady(not you) should be thinking 85 grains and up if she's going to use factory ammo for deer.
"...hit a 6" gong at three hundred..." Using what ammo? Not that it really matters. 300 yards is the ballistics limit for the .243. Nearly every bullet weight drops like a brick past there and the energy remaining isn't enough.
"...2 MOA used to be a pretty good group for..." Still is if it's consistent.

[rms65]

The gong at three hundred was very repeatable and it was with the blue box Federal 80 grain soft points. I was told go up in weight by people with experience using a 243. In reality 90% of the deer on the property are shot just either side of a hundred yards so they would probably still be fine. Talking about the gong was just to verify the capability of the shooter and the rifle. And maybe brag about my girlfriend a little. All said and done, I would be more comfortable giving her a heavier hunting bullet that printed MOA. So far the 95 grain Fusion is the heaviest we've been able to try yet. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll iron it all out. And even after all this, stuff could still go wrong

[tango1niner]

My vote is for 100 gr. Nosler Partition. Have been using them for a long time.

[Waterengineer]

Hornady American Whitetail 100 grain group for me.

[gw44]

yes the 100gr Hornady is a good one, so is the Hornady GMX !!!

[rms65]

I'm sure all of the bullets recommended to me in the last three posts will kill deer. I'm trying to figure out if they'll group well in a Tikka. Tikkas like many 243s have a 1:10 twist and I've read that's boarderline for 100 grain. I'm particularly interested if the gentleman with the 100 grain nosler partitions is shooting them though a Tikka. My buddy a long time hunter and 243 fan (for whitetail) swears by the federal boxing of them. I'm just leary of trial and error with $30 a box ammo. I guess there's no way around it other than maybe starting with cheaper cartridges and working up in price. Thanks all for the responses

[stagpanther]

I'm just leary of trial and error with $30 a box ammo. I guess there's no way around it other than maybe starting with cheaper cartridges and working up in price. Thanks all for the responses

Comes with the turf. Every gun has it's own unique appetite--more often than not it will show a marked preference for a particular powder/bullet seating combo. I sometimes have guns that will indifferently spray bullets wide and the magically come together with just the right load. Sometimes it takes me hundreds of reloads to "find the one." Although I don't have one--the folks I know that have tikas in general hold them in very high regard. It's a false economy to buy cheap stuff and hope for great results--in the end you'll spend the same as buying premium ammo by buying more of the cheap stuff. Just my personal opinion--but Hornady is in my book the top manufacturer of commercial ammo--their ammo performs consistently very close to what they advertise when I've measured it--and they do it with powder wizardry that I often cannot match as a handloader in terms of performance and pressure limits.

[rms65]

Oddly, most of the several Hornady centerfire ammo boxings I've tried across 223 and 7mm-08 didn't print as well as some of the cheaper cartridges. Surprisingly I've had the most consistent results from Fiocchi cartridges that use Hornady bullets in them. For instance across 2 rifles Hornadys 75gr HPBT brass cased match ammo prints exceptionally well so I use that for target shooting. But for Varmint hunting I use Fiocchi 50gr V-max because they print more consistently then the Hornadys 55 vmax offering and a lot better than the 53gr Superperformance. My 7mm-08 Tikka shoots Fiocchi 139gr interlock boat tails MOA but Hornadys whitetail with 139gr interlocks spire points are 1.5-2 MOA and the 139gr SST Superperformance is even worse. Meanwhile run of the mill 140 CoreLocts shoot MOA, sometimes half MOA in this rifle. Honestly I don't mind spending cash for quality but I'm just trying shorten my learning curve with someone else's experience. If I come across a bargain that's only a perk. For deer hunting where I'm going to spend a lot of time and effort to make A shot, it doesn't make sense trying to save fifty cents on the bullet. I'm just hoping not to make three or four hundred mile round trips to the range and run $300 of ammo through the rifle to find that one bullet. Ultimately it's my choice and fault for being so damn picky because a 2 MOA round at under 200yds is still a dead deer.

[stagpanther]

Oddly, most of the several Hornady centerfire ammo boxings I've tried across 223 and 7mm-08 didn't print as well as some of the cheaper cartridges. Surprisingly I've had the most consistent results from Fiocchi cartridges that use Hornady bullets in them. For instance across 2 rifles Hornadys 75gr HPBT brass cased match ammo prints exceptionally well so I use that for target shooting. But for Varmint hunting I use Fiocchi 50gr V-max because they print more consistently then the Hornadys 55 vmax offering and a lot better than the 53gr Superperformance. My 7mm-08 Tikka shoots Fiocchi 139gr interlock boat tails MOA but Hornadys whitetail with 139gr interlocks spire points are 1.5-2 MOA and the 139gr SST Superperformance is even worse. Meanwhile run of the mill 140 CoreLocts shoot MOA, sometimes half MOA in this rifle. Honestly I don't mind spending cash for quality but I'm just trying shorten my learning curve with someone else's experience. If I come across a bargain that's only a perk. For deer hunting where I'm going to spend a lot of time and effort to make A shot, it doesn't make sense trying to save fifty cents on the bullet. I'm just hoping not to make three or four hundred mile round trips to the range and run $300 of ammo through the rifle to find that one bullet. Ultimately it's my choice and fault for being so damn picky because a 2 MOA round at under 200yds is still a dead deer.

Absolutely use whatever works best in your rifle. Chances are someone out there will swear what works great for you is crap in their gun. My comments have to do mostly with having measured velocities, standard deviations and component consistency--as well as the pressures they achieve them at--and I haven't seen in general the same level of consistency in other manufacturer's stuff--but then again I haven't measured them all (of course).

I've gotten to the OCD point where any gun except a lever or handgun I'm not happy if I can't shoot sub-MOA with it--and even less happy if it's one I built and can't shoot .5 or less with it. That's at 100yds--I look forward to expanding my disorder to longer ranges when I can.

Your choice of 7-08 ammo is pretty interesting--my BLR has a decided preference for heavier bullets and shoots 162 eld's much better than the lighter bullets I've tried so far.

[rms65]

I didn't know boxed 7mm-08 came heavier than the 150 Federal hot-core. I've even tried 120 grain fusion and Barnes.