243 100gr and carcass damage.

cerealthriller

Well-Known Member
I shoot a 243 and use Sako 100 gr factory ammo. I am getting a lot of carcass damage (heart/lung shot) so quite a bit of meat is going to waste.
If I dropped down to a lighter bullet (90gr) would that reduce the damage?
Cheers.
 
I shoot a 243 and use Sako 100 gr factory ammo. I am getting a lot of carcass damage (heart/lung shot) so quite a bit of meat is going to waste.
If I dropped down to a lighter bullet (90gr) would that reduce the damage?
Cheers.

Probably not - in general a 90gr will be going quite a lot faster, which theoretically will cause more damage.

However - this may not be the case in this specific instance. I used Sako 90gr for a while, and found the bullets to be very hard. This meant that they tended not to expand very well, and tended to pencil through. This meant that I had more runners than I'd had with 100gr (even though there was less meat damage).

I eventually gave up on them, and moved to Hornady 95gr SSTs. These work perfectly for me.

I would also recommend Federal 100grs (the standard blue box ones). Worked extremely well for me in my old rifle. The only reason I stopped using them was because my new rifle can't stabilise 100gr rounds.
 
Probably not - in general a 90gr will be going quite a lot faster, which theoretically will cause more damage.

+1

Which round are you using? As far as I can tell from their website, they do an ordinary SP and a bonded SP. Couldn't see a tipped 100gr round but that could be my incompetence.

I'd expect bonded to do less damage than a plain SP, and a plain SP to do less than a tipped bullet.
 
+1

Which round are you using? As far as I can tell from their website, they do an ordinary SP and a bonded SP. Couldn't see a tipped 100gr round but that could be my incompetence.

I'd expect bonded to do less damage than a plain SP, and a plain SP to do less than a tipped bullet.

I have to admit I'm not really sure - I think the Sako 90grs I was using were just SPs. They were very accurate, and worked well if you put them through a shoulder. But through ribs, and they just slipped by with calibre sized entry and exit.
 
not a fan of sako ammo myself
but a 100gr .243 in standard cup and core soft point stuck BEHIND the front leg bone shouldn't be doing excessive damage
weight has little to do with it other than impacting the main factor...velocity
bullet construction, velocity and placement are the key factors

quantify your "lot of carcass damage"

what are we talking here?
bit of bruising or massive holes?
 
I have to admit I'm not really sure - I think the Sako 90grs I was using were just SPs. They were very accurate, and worked well if you put them through a shoulder. But through ribs, and they just slipped by with calibre sized entry and exit.

Well - I did mean for that to be addressed to the OP, but the pencilling is an interesting issue, albeit, one which I'm far less able to explain or understand. :confused:
 
I use the Sako Gamehead rounds as I find them very accurate in my rifle, although like Mungo I find them quite hard. Shot a fox at about 40 yards front on in the chest & couldn't find an entrance or exit wound without skinning it, which I wasn't prepared to do; dropped on the spot, though.

Is it the Gameheads or the Deerheads you're using, what sort of range & have you shot at targets with them? I can't imagine that this would be the case but some 100's & 105's have actually tumbled from my rifle but you'd have seen that if you'd shot at targets & they wouldn't be very accurate.
 
I shoot a 243 and use Sako 100 gr factory ammo. I am getting a lot of carcass damage (heart/lung shot) so quite a bit of meat is going to waste.
If I dropped down to a lighter bullet (90gr) would that reduce the damage?
Cheers.


Federal power shock 100g

groups well in my Sako and meet damage is not bad

I do tend to wait for a good broad side shot and try to go through the rib cage both sides. Catching a sholder (well elbow realy) is the worst

Worst I have had is half a front leg binned when a trainee took a quartering shot with my 243. The buck went down hard but we lost a bit of meet to the dreded red jelly :(

ATB

Chasey
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'm using Sako Gamehead 113E soft point.
Very accurate, and no problem dropping Deer.
Damage is the red jelly, but quite a lot of it.
If shot just behind front leg hitting the top of the heart it extends quite far up under and around 'the armpits' on both sides and affects a lot of meat around the shoulders.
 
I shot a muntjac, almost off the end of the barrel, say twenty to twenty-five yards at most with Hornady 100 grain "Light Magnum" in a .243 Winchester calibre BRNO ZKK and shot it just that little bit back. Dropped stone dead but there was a lot of "greening" inside the chest cavity such that the staler condemned the carcass as unfit for sale and gifted it to me FOC.

Once the "greening" was trimmed out it was fine and I neither got ill nor died. But yes they are, at short range, all .243 Winchester factory loadings very destructive. I don't have that calibre anymore in my battery for that reason.
 
I've been looking at the Sako website and they have ammo called "Deer head" in .243 100gr which is bonded and seems to be a bit slower and have slightly less energy.
Would this be something worth trying?
 
Federal power shock 100g

groups well in my Sako and meet damage is not bad

I do tend to wait for a good broad side shot and try to go through the rib cage both sides. Catching a sholder (well elbow realy) is the worst

Worst I have had is half a front leg binned when a trainee took a quartering shot with my 243. The buck went down hard but we lost a bit of meet to the dreded red jelly :(

ATB

Chasey

I used the same rounds in my .243 and they were very good. I now use them in my .270 as well.
 
found 100gr Rem psp as destructive as 87gr v-max, best overall and most reliable from 20 to almost 300yds was the 80gr sierra varminter. Good penetration, held together quite well with good weight retention and good mushrooming.
edi
 
If you can get geco 105 grn they are brilliant not to much meat damage at all that's what I ended up using before loading my own
 
Resurrecting an old thread...but I’m back to using a 243, but this time I know how to reload (safely if not expertly!)

I too saw a bit of red jelly and bruising damage in the old days with heart and lung shots, and have just see a deer shot by someone I took out with a .243 and same again. I’m wondering if loading a slower 100 or 105gr load would help? Assuming my rifle will stabilise it.

And if so which powders and bullets should I be looking at? I have n160 in stock for my 6.5 (non tactical version ).

edited to add that shots will typically be sub 100m for what it is worth.
 
Resurrecting an old thread...but I’m back to using a 243, but this time I know how to reload (safely if not expertly!)

I too saw a bit of red jelly and bruising damage in the old days with heart and lung shots, and have just see a deer shot by someone I took out with a .243 and same again. I’m wondering if loading a slower 100 or 105gr load would help? Assuming my rifle will stabilise it.

And if so which powders and bullets should I be looking at? I have n160 in stock for my 6.5 (non tactical version ).

edited to add that shots will typically be sub 100m for what it is worth.

N160 is a suitable powder for 100gr bullets, assuming you don’t have a stupidly short/long barrel. Load data on the Vihta Vuori app. Remember that deliberately downloading a 243Win might take you below minimum muzzle energy level in Eng/Wales, though the deer probably won’t notice.

Check your twist rate: my Tikka is very accurate with 100gr flat base (eg. Sierra Prohunter) and boat-tail (eg. Sierra Gameking) but would not even stabilise 105gr bullets.

Whether you’ll notice any appreciable reduction in meat damage is another matter entirely!
 
You're in the clear legal wise at 2,800fps, which is a good compromise speed for .243 100gr bullets. Right on the limit but I have yet to come across any proven tale of a 243 shooter actually being booked for being under the energy limit. Maybe someone will come up with one now!

The challenge you've got is that it's close range shooting, so impact velocity is high. How are you planning to shoot the deer? Prone, offhand, sticks, or a high seat? Not wanting to start yet another chapter of argument (no, really), if you have a good solid rest and all factors are on your side then just shoot them in the base of the neck. Another good shot placement option is to use the angles, when the deer is quartering towards, shoot it in the chest so the bullet exits out through the ribs behind the shoulder, or vice versa if quartering away. Super effective and pretty much guaranteed take out the hilar and drop it.
 
Thanks DN - yes you are right a head or neck shot will probably be the way to go; assuming my new savage is laser guided as promised!
It will be high seat so should be straightforward to do that once I get used to the rifle. I just need it to arrive now.
Interesting the quartering shot I am going to give that a go tomorrow with my non-tac 6.5 if the opportunity presents.
 
Back
Top