gobblergitter
Senior Member
Hey Guys!
I'm doing this ! I'm reloading for my 9 year old son's .243 and I'm about to lose it!! Last year, I had him shooting a 95 grain ballistic tip. He was killing the deer, but the bullet was not expanding well. When they ran off, and most of them did, they did not leave any blood. We did not lose a deer, but we had to get a tracking dog twice. They didn't go far, they just went into thick areas leaving no blood. All but one were shot just right. Only one was gut shot and she didn't go 75 yards. I was told to go to an 87 grain Hornady V-Max by a friend who has shot these for a while with great luck. He said it would open them up like the larger calibers. I'm loading 43 grains of IMR 4831. The gun is grouping great. As a matter of fact, yesterday morning he shot a buck in the head, intentionally, at about 75 yards. Yesterday afternoon, he shot a doe in the shoulder. I'm ashamed to say we couldn't find her. No Blood! I feel like I need to slow the bullet down to help with expansion. My friend said he shoots 41 grains of Hodgon. I don't know enough about it to understand which powders do what. I use the IMR because I use it for my 270 and 7 Mag. Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to load a few tomorrow with 41 grains of powder and see how they shoot. I'm willing to sacrifice a little on the group size to get bullet performance. I've read the long discussion on ballistic tips a while back. Help anyone!!
I'm doing this ! I'm reloading for my 9 year old son's .243 and I'm about to lose it!! Last year, I had him shooting a 95 grain ballistic tip. He was killing the deer, but the bullet was not expanding well. When they ran off, and most of them did, they did not leave any blood. We did not lose a deer, but we had to get a tracking dog twice. They didn't go far, they just went into thick areas leaving no blood. All but one were shot just right. Only one was gut shot and she didn't go 75 yards. I was told to go to an 87 grain Hornady V-Max by a friend who has shot these for a while with great luck. He said it would open them up like the larger calibers. I'm loading 43 grains of IMR 4831. The gun is grouping great. As a matter of fact, yesterday morning he shot a buck in the head, intentionally, at about 75 yards. Yesterday afternoon, he shot a doe in the shoulder. I'm ashamed to say we couldn't find her. No Blood! I feel like I need to slow the bullet down to help with expansion. My friend said he shoots 41 grains of Hodgon. I don't know enough about it to understand which powders do what. I use the IMR because I use it for my 270 and 7 Mag. Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to load a few tomorrow with 41 grains of powder and see how they shoot. I'm willing to sacrifice a little on the group size to get bullet performance. I've read the long discussion on ballistic tips a while back. Help anyone!!