My dad recently shot a big mule deer with .243 100 grain moly coated nosler partition premier Federal ammunition the buck was on

[rudyglove27]

Agreed with herbie57_57 answer above and A + 1 for you sir!!!

[steve182]

Del., Man is there any gun you don't have or have had? I'm sure i'm not the only one here jealous of all your great guns, great hunts, custom rifles, wildcats, improved loads, etc. More power to you buddy, you've obviously been there done that in almost every situation. But you don't really represent the average shooter/hunter. I mean that in the nicest possible way. I feel like a real greenhorn when i read your posts.

[streack]

Jim in MO: I read the question a second time after I posted and when I saw moly coating and Nosler I instantly thought WBST without processing Partition before I answered.

[kjflorian]

I know people that use the .243, I was just never a big fan of them for deer. Sounds exactly like previous posts mentioned, the bullet did not have enough kinetic energy to bust through the shoulder. Shot placement sounds like it could have been better, maybe that quartering away shot to get behind the shoulder, but it does seem odd it didn't get both lungs. Good news is you got the deer.

[prairieghost]

att: Sportman Matt- you don't know jack about .243's. 85-100 gr bullets will take down an elk with proper bullet placement (no not just a head shot) and is certainly capable of hammering a mule deer. like others posting here, i've taken dozens of mule deer, all with one shot from a .243 and none have gone more than 15 yards after impact. Also, there is no such thing as a 150 gr. .243 round. a 100 gr round will punch through a shoulder blade, both lungs and the exit hole will be bigger than quarter on the other side.

[Del in KS]

I shot 5 or 6 deer with an 85 grain partition from my 6mm X284 win. (very simular to a 243) and never recovered a bullet. All but one dropped in his tracks. Something is amiss here. Perhaps he is wrong about the bullet.

[Ed J]

I think he hit the shoulder blade or some other leg bone. I think a 243 is the smallest caliber for deer, but then I have killed them with a 25-20 in a 92 Win. I know lots of guys who use the .243 with no problems.

[Jim in Mo]

P.S. But he said Partition.

[Jim in Mo]

streak,
Winchester never did moly coat their bullets. They had a proprietary coating that did not foul the barrel like the moly did, which is why the Barnes moly coated bullet is no longer on the market. It messed up your barrel and you couldn't get it off without work and expense.
I do agree if he was shooting Ballistic Tips it may have expanded to soon, which is why I stay away from them, but I've heard other extol their virtues.

[streack]

Jim in Mo: If he was shooting Winchester Balistic Silver Tips, those are moly coated Nosler bullet. If thats the case, those bullets are designed for rapid expansion, if he hit the heavey bones in the shoulder there probably was not enough energy to allow the bullet to travel much further in the body cavity; thus only making its way to one lung.

[buddyboy564]

some people think that a .243 wont do the job for deer but I dont think that is true. a better grain would be a 150 grain.

[Jim in Mo]

Who said the bullet didn't penetrate? Maybe the angle of the shot made it impossible for both lungs to be hit.
Did your father moly coat the bullets himself, I haven't heard of that coating in a while especially from Nosler?

[platte river rat]

My wife has killed almost 50 mule deer with a 243 handload with a Speer 105 grain bullet---none of them went over 5 yards .

[elkslayer]

the .243 is enough gun for deer and the 100 grain bullet does the job perfectlyy. Having killed large mule deer and whitetails out to 150 yds I know this to be true. I can't explain why you bullet didn't penetrate because my shots have always passed through the deer.

[tourneyking734]

i say to just amp it up and use a 270 or 308