90gn .243 enough of a round for deer?

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NFHunter
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90gn .243 enough of a round for deer?

#1 Post by NFHunter »

Pre lockdown 2.0 I went to stock up on ammo, along with everyone else it seemed. I usually shoot Sako 100gn Gametip from my Howa 1500 .243 and find these do the job admirably on roe and fallow. I could only get 90gn rounds, are these going to do the business or should I resist doing any further stalking until I get get more 100gn?

My stalking mentor swears by 100gn and dismisses anything else.

Anyone tried 90gn on a fallow buck at 200m?

Thanks
Shoot safe, shoot straight.
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kennyc
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Re: 90gn .243 enough of a round for deer?

#2 Post by kennyc »

if you hit the right place it will work, do you like looking for your deer after you shoot them ?
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kennyc
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Re: 90gn .243 enough of a round for deer?

#3 Post by kennyc »

kennyc wrote:if you hit the right place it will work, do you like looking for your deer after you shoot them ?
sorry got distracted and timed out, this was the full post
if you hit the right place it will work, do you like looking for your deer after you shoot them ? :p
seriously if you have a .243 then I don't see a 90gr deer bullet being an issue, personally I would like to get a bit closer, I have seen Fallow run after a chest shot with a 30 cal that took out its heart and the top of its lungs (it was a through and through shot)
the .243 has been used on more Deer in this country than any other calibre, and unless you are in Scotland where 100grns is the minimum then I would go with whatever is most accurate in your rifle.
(and for big Fallow I would prefer both closer and larger caliber , but thats just me )
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Sim G
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Re: 90gn .243 enough of a round for deer?

#4 Post by Sim G »

Even though .243 will take deer across the UK comfortably, if using 90gn bullets, you’ll rely more on muzzle velocity to make the legal muzzle energy for fallow. This is more critical in today’s fashion of short “carbine” length barrels of 19 or 20 inches. You need 2920fps to make 1700ft/lbs. Test receivers for factory ammunition or load data will generally have 24” barrels.
In 1978 I was told by my grand dad that the secret to rifle accuracy is, a quality bullet, fired down a quality barrel..... How has that changed?

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kennyc
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Re: 90gn .243 enough of a round for deer?

#5 Post by kennyc »

Sim G wrote:Even though .243 will take deer across the UK comfortably, if using 90gn bullets, you’ll rely more on muzzle velocity to make the legal muzzle energy for fallow. This is more critical in today’s fashion of short “carbine” length barrels of 19 or 20 inches. You need 2920fps to make 1700ft/lbs. Test receivers for factory ammunition or load data will generally have 24” barrels.
interesting discussionhere
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