85 grain Sierra .243 HPBT Gameking

cornstalker

cornstalker

Active member
Just wondering if anyone that has used this bullet has any info to share.

I am looking at using it in a 6mm x 284 for coyotes and antelope. Maybe deer, but I am a little leery when it comes to big muleys.
 
I used them on one coyote, at 20 yards it was about a 2 inch hole, and there was part of a lung hanging out, if that helps /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I have killed coyotes with them out of my 6mm Rem. Definately not fur friendly, big entry, bigger exit. A buddy killed a big whitetail buck last year with one out of his 6br. Full penetration, bullet caught by the hide on the farside. It was a big bodied Alberta whitetail. I currently shoot them out of my 6mm AI, but all paper shooting so far, very accurate bullets.
 
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It is a great bullet. The Sierra .243 caliber 85 gr. BTHP is very accurate and is a useful dual purpose bullet. Any velocity from 2,800 fps up to 3,200 fps and this bullet will work quite well for your purposes. I usually run it around 3,100 fps or a tad more from 22” barrel .243 Winchester rifles. I just got back from the range yesterday with my Model Seven Predator trying this bullet under several charges of Varget, IMR-4064, and IMR-4350. A max charge of IMR-4064 is the accuracy champ. I loaded another fifty rounds with the little Sierra last night under the IMR-4064 load I found that shot so well. I’m going to chronograph this load this weekend. Past experience in .243 rifles lets me know it knocks the snot out of coyotes - pure poison. It is a bullet that can go north to south in a coyote too. Many “varmint” bullets expand so easily and early that a shot at a going away coyote is a real mess and often requires a second finisher shot because the first just didn’t make it up into the lungs, ect. I have shot several Missouri whitetails in the past with this bullet. I don’t smash it into shoulder joints or big bones and raking shots are out of the question. But any decent heart/lung or neck shot will leave you with a deer that got dead very suddenly. In fact, I intend to use it from my Model Seven Predator this year just for kicks and have no qualms about it at all.
 
Many of my customers have been running that bullet in the .243 WSSM AR's that I've built for them. A customer from AZ turned me onto that bullet and Varget as a load, and I have been shooting it as well. Very accurate.

The bob cat on my web site was shot by my customer in AZ with that bullet.
 
cornstalker,
I shot that bullet exclusively the entire time I owned a 6mm Remington.
Accruate and dropped many whitetails with it. One shot DRT.
M
 
Great info guys.

Do y'all think the bullet will still perform at short range at 6x284 velocities?

If I am not mistaken, the 6x284 is only a little quicker than a .243 WSSM anyways...........
 
The 85 BTHP was my favorite bullet for my 6mm's and 243's for over 30 years, mostly for varmint hunting. I've shot at least 20 whitetails with that bullet, without losing any, but I've had to trail a few! Unless the deer was very small, I rarely had an exit wound, so blood trails were not good. Neck shots always dropped them in their tracks, while heart/ lung shots usually had them running a ways....but so will a 270 or '06. It's a good bullet, but not a great deer bullet. If you're not saving hides, I'd think it would be an awesome coyote bullet!
If you're pushing it over 3400, it might open up sooner than what would be best for deer sized animals. I might be wrong, though.
F1
 
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I too use that bullet in both 6mm Rem and .243. Great all around bullet and typical Sierra accurate.



With your cartridge you will be pushing an 85 grain bullet above 3500 fps. Have you tried the 85 TSX? I could not get this bullet to shoot out of my 6mmAI, but the 140 grain version shoots lights out from my 7-08.
 
38.5g of H4895 with a Fed 210 in a 243 is unreal accurate in my 243.

I have read where guys have had great luck with this bullet on deer, but every deer that I have shot ran like a scalded cat and died within 75 yards.
 
This is the ONLY bullet I load in my 6mm and it's like magic for me on all game. Whatever I put the cross-hairs on dies, like right now. It is a little rough on hides but it dropsem like lightning and is very accurate. Lots of people will claim that the heavier pills are better for deer but in my experience the 85gr Sierra and Barnes TSX kill much quicker. I used a .308 and .270 on whitetail for years, the performance of this little bullet changed my mind about the 6mms. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Been taking hogs and deer with this pill for years. It has been my go to gun (.243) since 1992 and I have never had a problem taking game with it. It is also so very acurate.
 
I shot a 120# doe with that bullet at about 150 yards. The gun was a Model Seven youth with a 18 1/2 inch barrel. I hit the deer in the near shoulder, and the exit was through the oposite shoulder. There was lung and bone showing in the exit wound. I wouldn't hesitate to use the 85 HPBT on any deer any where!
Jazzball
 
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