Advice needed please on a suitable round for muntjak

[Double four]

Shortly going for weekend muntjac stalking , never shot one before could anyone please advise me on a proven or suitable round for these ?

I was thinking the .308 might be a bit much ? thought i would take the .243 i have some 70gn bt home loads that i used for foxing very accurate but never used them on deer, some factory remmy 75gn accutips ( v max i think ) that i have shot i quite few roe with but mixed results ie bit of damage to the ribs but no runners.

On the deer i shoot at home its no concern as just discard the damage so i have stuck with the accutips as they are a good fox round too, but i wouldn't want to make a mess of anyone else's deer with them .

just been raking around my loading gear found some speer 90gr spitzers ? any advice on loads or proven factory rounds for muntys would be gratefully welcomed.

The rifle is a Sako 75 varmint. Thanks in advance Df

 

[bow]

hi i have roe& fox with 75gr/87 v-max without a problem. also roe & fox and with 75gr soft points (speer ithink),the later making a lot more damage than the v-max, i have shot roe & fox in scotland with 223 50gr v-max every one dropt on the spot,i havnt shot any munty,s but i dont think you will have any problems with your 70/75 gr loads

 

[Paul at Fechan]

Legal and in the right place

 

[tjwaines]

Take the .308, at least that way you can't be accused of being 'under gunned'. Also I assume you'll be using soft points in the .308 and not ballistic tips, so no worries about upsetting your host if turning up with ballistic tips, some are certainly not happy with guests turning up with them.

Tom

 

[Claret_Dabbler]

The 243 is more than good enough, but use a heavier slower bullet, not a varmint type BT.

87gr SP or heavier.

I shot four at the weekend with a 120gr BT in the 260, none moved an inch from the spot were they were hit, but there was a fair bit of carcass damage. This is a hunting type BT at 2900 FPS at the muzzle.

Previous to this year I have shot about 12-15 Munties all with my 270 and 140gr Interlock. The 270 did less damage than the 260 believe it or not.

 

[splash]

I have shot a few with .308 150 gr sst go clean through exit hole about 1" not much damage [ ribs ] most ran about 30'.
Now use .260 Rem 129 gr sp same amount of damage but 98% drop to shot [ don't ask me why ]
Also have shot them with .22/250 twice lots of damage would not ever take the shot if presented while out with the .22/250.

 

[Grandhubert]

The 243 is more than good enough, but use a heavier slower bullet, not a varmint type BT.

87gr SP or heavier.

I shot four at the weekend with a 120gr BT in the 260, none moved an inch from the spot were they were hit, but there was a fair bit of carcass damage. This is a hunting type BT at 2900 FPS at the muzzle.

Previous to this year I have shot about 12-15 Munties all with my 270 and 140gr Interlock. The 270 did less damage than the 260 believe it or not.

+1

A heavy (or tough) bullet in the 308 is the way to go over a 243 with V-maxes for Muntjac IMO.

I shot three with a 30.06 loaded with 180 grain bullets at around 2500-2600 a couple of weekends ago; a small hole in, a small hole out and a muntjac dropping to the shot was the reaction each time, even if I clipped a bone on the way in. Another guy was using a 243 with 75 grain factory norma V-maxes and it was making quite a mess of the front half. This in itself isn't the problem I object too particularly, it's that around half of these chest shot munties had had their diaphragm punctured by the bits and were a little messy on the gralloch.

They are tough little buggers and can carry lead surprisingly well for their size. Check out the thickness of the hide on a mature buck next time you get a chance too see what I mean.

 

[User00004]

The first Muntys I shot were with a .243 using Federal powershok 100gr (soft point). Wouldnt use Ballstic Tip as their skin is uery thick. 2 of the 3 shot had no exit hole *One neck shot at 15m, the other heart shot at 70m ish) ballitic tips just aint good enough for them IMHO. I'm sure some will disagree........

TJ

 

[trouble]

308s fine , youll get less damage with a big slow round

 

[devilishdave]

I shot a couple last year with .308 165 grain partitions and had very little damage so just stick with that. I know my .243 with 95 grain sst would have done loads of damage to the ribs.

Dave

 

[WARDY1]

Hi mate

I have shot them with a 243 85g sierra hp and all went down first shot, also shot them with the 7mm-08 139's and same effect.

Steve

 

[Double four]

Thanks for the advice and comments, if i get the .308 back in time from threading i will use that as im iching to give it a go .
If not i loaded some 95gn nossler bts for the .243 that it likes, and will use those . DF

 

[308boy]

Take the .308, at least that way you can't be accused of being 'under gunned'. Also I assume you'll be using soft points in the .308 and not ballistic tips, so no worries about upsetting your host if turning up with ballistic tips, some are certainly not happy with guests turning up with them.

Tom

B@@llocks in my experience

 

[dollman]

B@@llocks in my experience

yes thats what i thought
,my mate shoots them with 222 rem 50 grn sp and i use my 243win speer 100 grn btsp but i have never shot them with my 270win yet, steve

 

[pierred]

Shortly going for weekend muntjac stalking , never shot one before could anyone please advise me on a proven or suitable round for these ?

I was thinking the .308 might be a bit much ? thought i would take the .243 i have some 70gn bt home loads that i used for foxing very accurate but never used them on deer, some factory remmy 75gn accutips ( v max i think ) that i have shot i quite few roe with but mixed results ie bit of damage to the ribs but no runners.

On the deer i shoot at home its no concern as just discard the damage so i have stuck with the accutips as they are a good fox round too, but i wouldn't want to make a mess of anyone else's deer with them .

just been raking around my loading gear found some speer 90gr spitzers ? any advice on loads or proven factory rounds for muntys would be gratefully welcomed.

The rifle is a Sako 75 varmint. Thanks in advance Df

I`d go with 87g Hornady soft points shot loads of munties with them and had little to no carcass damage but keep them slow and as previously stated stay away from the nosler spitzers shot my first few munties with them and had a few cut clean in half.

 

[Brithunter]

Hmmm let's see so far I have used on Muntjac:-

.243 Win with 100 grn Federal Despite being a perfect heart shot the Doe ran and dived under a row of Christmas trees and took the dog to find her.

6.5x55 with Speer 120 grn flat based bullets..................... excellent those that did move after the shot did not go far
6.5x55 with hornady 129 grn again good and little movement after the shot
270 Wi 130 grn Nosler Solid base...... excellent drop to shot.
7x57 Hornady 139 Grn BTSP ......... another very solid performer
30-30 130 Grn Hornady Spire Points loaded to 2800 fps ........................ excellent indeed.
308 Win ... 165 grn Speer ............. excellent performer once again
308 Win 165 Grn Ballistic Tip ............. drops them well but far more damage to carcase and mentors comments on seeing ammunition.. You want to gut them as well I see? No he is not a fan of Ballistic Tips.

As for some places not liking Ballistic tips yes it's a fact and I have come across several over the years. Some state that no plastic tipped bullets are to be used. So it's something to watch out for.