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That ammo in 120gr for the 7mm08 is the absolute best I've ever used. Every single deer I've shot with that round has dropped in its tracks, it's devastating. Puts heavier 7mm08 loads to shame. But I agree, I think it's unnecessary in a 243.
I've not used the 243 load, but the 7mm-08 Lite was the first SSTs I ever used. One deer and probably 20 to 30 coyotes. I absolutely wouldn't hesitate to use the 7mm-08 or 308 Custom Lite on deer. I do question the need for lite 243 loads. I do also have a few boxes of Custom Lite in 270 and 30-06 bought on super sale but don't believe I've ever shot a single round of either. The Custom Lite line isn't intended for folks with 20 different guns in the safe. It's intended for folks to use that only have access to one gun that might be above their comfort level or to introduce new shooters to hunting with a rifle someone else already has on hand. Beats buying a new rifle. In my opinion.
Thank you for testing these and for your efforts to bring us relevant ballistic testing on hunting loads. I find it very informative! I am a big fan of the Fusion in 243. One suggestion, not criticism, relates to the presence of the small bubbles in the Clear ballistics gel. I have found that melting the blocks at 250 F for at least 7 hours (often longer), the bubbles go away. The bubbles do not affect the performance, only the appearance of the gel, as far as i know. Shooting the bull and tools and targets, and gun sam all have published videos on the reuse of the gel blocks, which i found helpful.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the videos! Regarding the blocks: The majority of my blocks do not have many if any bubbles, the handful that do I purposely use with loads that I know aren’t as popular anyway, I have too much to do and not enough time to re-melt one or two that didn’t get heated quite enough. I film over multi-day periods, often dozens of loads per day, and melt down 9 blocks at a time, two melts per day and have over 75 blocks in rotation. I’m doing this on a scale far beyond anyone else on YT, as a one man operation. If I had more capacity (more electrical circuit capacity, more crock pots, an assistant, my round trip drive to where I film weren’t 5+ hours, etc), I’d make sure every block were perfect, as it stands that juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
@masonleather_outdoors holy cow! That's some serious time and energy. I get the need to prioritize which rounds go into the clearest blocks. 75 blocks in rotation has to be some record! Keep up the great work.
Shocked at the low speeds but I am impressed with the penetration results even with the low velocity. I also have to question the "need" for 243 light ammunition like you mentioned in the end of the video. The lack of kinetic energy is concerning for anything past 100 yards.
You can shoot a 125gr sst from a 300blk at 2250fps and get the same distance and penetration with less recoil. Speaking of which dropped a 130# doe at 201 yards with 300blk 110gr barnes tac-tx yesterday. Complete expansion, recovered the bullet on the ground 10 yards away. Gotta love barnes.
Hey Mason, on some of your videos the ballistics gel is difficult to see through, and a some of them can be helped. If you carry a butane torch, you can heat up the outer portion and it'll become more see through. It won't fix interior impurities, but try it out, man. Take care.
I had never heard of this ammo thanks for the test. I may buy a box of it for my 60 pound nine-year-old daughter to practice with. She wants to go deer hunting,with me but even though I’ve told her the .243 doesn’t kick it still makes her nervous.
@@kenrasmussen4270 because not every hunter is a 210 pound male that can take lots of recoil. People have various medical issues and can take almost no recoil
@@WayStedYou That didn't quite make sense to me. The 95 grain SST bullet is my go to deer bullet and I have killed at least 25 Deer with it. My only complaint is it is not a bonded bullet and sheds its cup.
I have noticed a few of your .243 ammo videos where the velocities are dramatically slow. Has this been the common theme? I know you are running a shorter .243 barrel, but 24in barell like you have mentioned is not making up those losses in box speced velocities. So is this just a random ammo issue, or are all .243s just slow when it comes to factory ammo? I want something in this calibur, and I loved the 6mm remington I first learned to shoot with, and with the 6mm Creed and other 6mm cartridges, it makes you wonder if the .243 is a little defunct.
243 is overbore so it needs a longer barrel to get full burn on the powder, a 20 inch 308 would lose less than a .243 despite being almost the same because it can push on a larger surface area with similar powder amount
None for me, thanks! I might use it for a recoil shy youth for practice or short range hunting. It looks like that’s what it designed for and appears to work inside those parameters. Good video!
I don't notice any difference in recoil with any round of 243 100,95,90,87,85,80. The caliber has very little recoil period, what it does do is kill whatever your shooting at with a well placed shot. Go get your critter its dead. I have killed several deer with this round and it works with pass thru. I am a little surprised at the speed. Thanks for testing it. It is a good choice for small kids. 100 yards or less! Preferably 50 to 100
I mean it's not bad if your kid can shoot and keep it under 150 behind the shoulder its a dead deer. recoil is probably like a 223. if you got a kid a 243 he can grow into full house loads. plus a 8 year old can use it to practice with it and not get shy. and a 243 doesn't recoil to a 200 pound man but a 50 pound little girl it does , plenty!
I wouldn’t never buy any of this stuff in any caliber. I do think a 24” would be close to that 2800 fps. It can gain 50 to 70 fps per inch but even with that this stuff is slow.
I’m really starting to dislike hornday as an ammunition manufacturer, they basically have gone In two directions, super weak explosive ( think SST and eldx ) in standard velocity or they have dumbed down the speeds to less effective, a few years back they loaded the heavy magnum & heavy duty with interbond ( a bonded controlled expansion bullet) but quit making it ! Their African/ safari ammunition is a explosive joke in 375 , 416 , ect , I assume they are trying hard to catch the explosive round market with the exception of the super lite line 😢
I’ve had more deer and pigs drop on the spot with this ammo out of my 243 than anything else I’ve shot them with. My dad borrowed the gun once and rolled a doe with it. For years he went on about how stout of a load it was until I finally broke it to him about it being a reduced recoil round.
Ok, hold up.. The 1000 ft lbs that EVERYBODY uses is , well, bulls**t. Ok, let's take the 10mm pistol round that a bunch of people are using on whitetail, and I've seen shots out past 85yrds with complete pass thru. The 10mm with 180gr xtp bullet at the muzzle is 1200fps. If you extrapolate the information you get 576ft lbs of energy at the muzzle. At 100yrds its 896fps with 321 ft lbs of energy. Now i know its not you saying , oh we have to have 1000ft lbs of energy at the target but come on, lets stop repeating what we all can look up and see its BS. IMHO it is way more important to use the correct bullet for what you are hunting at a reasonable distance. I know guys who hunt with 357mag with 6inch barrel and taking whitetail at 75yrds easily. The 1000ft lbs of energy was started by " hell who knows" but people repeat it far to often. Brother listen, i love youf channel. You show honest facts , the hoof and the bad and thats what keeps us coming back and looking forward to the next video. Hey you wannt to do a cool test?, Design a target that mimics a whitetail standing broadside. Place a flat shoulder bone covered by 2 layers of demin with a huge (4 gel blocks) for the chest cavity, and shoot it with a 9mm pistol at 25 yrds. It has Approximately 254ft lbs of energy at that range. Hope we can help you make this test happen and heck maybe you can do a series on what lt actually takes to pass thru n expand.
Get your handmade leather gear here! www.masonleather.com
Get early access to videos, become a Channel Member! www.youtube.com/@masonoutdoors_masonleather/join
Let me know what you think about the video and please share, it’s a big help!
Visiting the websites above directly supports the channel and helps me bring you more awesome videos!
Mason!! Love what you do!! No bullllcrap, a breath of fresh air
Glad to be of service, thanks for watching! Please share the video, it’s a big help!
i never knew they made reduced recoil loads for the already light recoiling 243 Win, Good Find!
It’s pretty consistent and would make a decent varmint round but you have to ask at what point do you just get a 5.56?
I got a 25.35 Winchester made 1905.26" octagon barrel.deer go down.no recoil.great old rifle.never see test on that round.😮
That ammo in 120gr for the 7mm08 is the absolute best I've ever used. Every single deer I've shot with that round has dropped in its tracks, it's devastating. Puts heavier 7mm08 loads to shame. But I agree, I think it's unnecessary in a 243.
I've not used the 243 load, but the 7mm-08 Lite was the first SSTs I ever used. One deer and probably 20 to 30 coyotes. I absolutely wouldn't hesitate to use the 7mm-08 or 308 Custom Lite on deer. I do question the need for lite 243 loads. I do also have a few boxes of Custom Lite in 270 and 30-06 bought on super sale but don't believe I've ever shot a single round of either. The Custom Lite line isn't intended for folks with 20 different guns in the safe. It's intended for folks to use that only have access to one gun that might be above their comfort level or to introduce new shooters to hunting with a rifle someone else already has on hand. Beats buying a new rifle. In my opinion.
Thank you for testing these and for your efforts to bring us relevant ballistic testing on hunting loads. I find it very informative! I am a big fan of the Fusion in 243. One suggestion, not criticism, relates to the presence of the small bubbles in the Clear ballistics gel.
I have found that melting the blocks at 250 F for at least 7 hours (often longer), the bubbles go away. The bubbles do not affect the performance, only the appearance of the gel, as far as i know. Shooting the bull and tools and targets, and gun sam all have published videos on the reuse of the gel blocks, which i found helpful.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the videos!
Regarding the blocks:
The majority of my blocks do not have many if any bubbles, the handful that do I purposely use with loads that I know aren’t as popular anyway, I have too much to do and not enough time to re-melt one or two that didn’t get heated quite enough.
I film over multi-day periods, often dozens of loads per day, and melt down 9 blocks at a time, two melts per day and have over 75 blocks in rotation. I’m doing this on a scale far beyond anyone else on YT, as a one man operation.
If I had more capacity (more electrical circuit capacity, more crock pots, an assistant, my round trip drive to where I film weren’t 5+ hours, etc), I’d make sure every block were perfect, as it stands that juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
@masonleather_outdoors holy cow! That's some serious time and energy. I get the need to prioritize which rounds go into the clearest blocks. 75 blocks in rotation has to be some record! Keep up the great work.
Glad to be of service!
@@masonleather_outdoorsYou definitely are of service! Thank you Sir!
Shocked at the low speeds but I am impressed with the penetration results even with the low velocity. I also have to question the "need" for 243 light ammunition like you mentioned in the end of the video. The lack of kinetic energy is concerning for anything past 100 yards.
243 need velocity to really work
243 WSSM check It out!!
You can shoot a 125gr sst from a 300blk at 2250fps and get the same distance and penetration with less recoil. Speaking of which dropped a 130# doe at 201 yards with 300blk 110gr barnes tac-tx yesterday. Complete expansion, recovered the bullet on the ground 10 yards away. Gotta love barnes.
Hey Mason, on some of your videos the ballistics gel is difficult to see through, and a some of them can be helped. If you carry a butane torch, you can heat up the outer portion and it'll become more see through. It won't fix interior impurities, but try it out, man. Take care.
I had never heard of this ammo thanks for the test. I may buy a box of it for my 60 pound nine-year-old daughter to practice with. She wants to go deer hunting,with me but even though I’ve told her the .243 doesn’t kick it still makes her nervous.
I like the corelokt and nosler partition in 243
lighter recoiling ammo for the 243 ?? why.
It's for the guys who think it's good parenting for their kids to kill their 1st deer while in Kindergarten.
@@kenrasmussen4270 because not every hunter is a 210 pound male that can take lots of recoil. People have various medical issues and can take almost no recoil
Had not seen the 87 grain SST bullet before. It might shoot well in older 6mm remingtons with slower twist rate.
neither has hornady since identical to the 87 grain vmax with .400 B.C the 95 grain SST has .355 so they are just saying its an SST IMO
@@WayStedYou That didn't quite make sense to me.
The 95 grain SST bullet is my go to deer bullet and I have killed at least 25
Deer with it. My only complaint is it is not a bonded bullet and sheds its cup.
Mason…keep this in mind..the largest deer 🦌 killed in US for almost 100 years was with a .25-20 lever action. It is the person shooting, not the ammo.
And that’s exactly why the bullets need to perform, most people, hunters included, are no marksman.
You tellem Mason!!
I still think this is just a 87 grain vmax since they don't sell anything besides 95 grain sst and they have identical specs to the vmax in B.C
Mason Dixon!
I figure too its for hunting in polulated areas so you dont get a pass through and into someeone elses.property or worse in there house
I found this ammo hits about 6 inches lower at 100 yards when compared to standard loads.
Makes sense
I have noticed a few of your .243 ammo videos where the velocities are dramatically slow. Has this been the common theme? I know you are running a shorter .243 barrel, but 24in barell like you have mentioned is not making up those losses in box speced velocities. So is this just a random ammo issue, or are all .243s just slow when it comes to factory ammo? I want something in this calibur, and I loved the 6mm remington I first learned to shoot with, and with the 6mm Creed and other 6mm cartridges, it makes you wonder if the .243 is a little defunct.
243 is overbore so it needs a longer barrel to get full burn on the powder, a 20 inch 308 would lose less than a .243 despite being almost the same because it can push on a larger surface area with similar powder amount
@WayStedYou Gotcha, that makes sense! I have learned a lot over the years but I am still learning every day.
Hornady website says 24 inch barrel testing 243ammo
None for me, thanks! I might use it for a recoil shy youth for practice or short range hunting. It looks like that’s what it designed for and appears to work inside those parameters. Good video!
If I have a chance to get some I will just to have.
Not for me & mine. Agree 100%.
This is more of a simulation of what this bullet does at range if anything.
I don't notice any difference in recoil with any round of 243 100,95,90,87,85,80. The caliber has very little recoil period, what it does do is kill whatever your shooting at with a well placed shot. Go get your critter its dead. I have killed several deer with this round and it works with pass thru. I am a little surprised at the speed. Thanks for testing it. It is a good choice for small kids. 100 yards or less! Preferably 50 to 100
Why buy your kid a 243 when you can hand them your 556 with a 77 grain SMK projectile?
Because most 556 guns will not stabilize a 77 grain bullet. And I like the 90 plus grain bullets for medium game
Thats about 5.56 nato energy
Not for me
Me neither
@@masonleather_outdoorsyou’re a shooter, not a hunter.
I mean it's not bad if your kid can shoot and keep it under 150 behind the shoulder its a dead deer. recoil is probably like a 223. if you got a kid a 243 he can grow into full house loads. plus a 8 year old can use it to practice with it and not get shy. and a 243 doesn't recoil to a 200 pound man but a 50 pound little girl it does , plenty!
@ it has FAR better ballistics and power than a .223 and people hunt deer with those all the time.
I wouldn’t never buy any of this stuff in any caliber. I do think a 24” would be close to that 2800 fps. It can gain 50 to 70 fps per inch but even with that this stuff is slow.
I’m really starting to dislike hornday as an ammunition manufacturer, they basically have gone In two directions, super weak explosive ( think SST and eldx ) in standard velocity or they have dumbed down the speeds to less effective, a few years back they loaded the heavy magnum & heavy duty with interbond ( a bonded controlled expansion bullet) but quit making it !
Their African/ safari ammunition is a explosive joke in 375 , 416 , ect , I assume they are trying hard to catch the explosive round market with the exception of the super lite line 😢
I’ve had more deer and pigs drop on the spot with this ammo out of my 243 than anything else I’ve shot them with. My dad borrowed the gun once and rolled a doe with it. For years he went on about how stout of a load it was until I finally broke it to him about it being a reduced recoil round.
Ok, hold up.. The 1000 ft lbs that EVERYBODY uses is , well, bulls**t. Ok, let's take the 10mm pistol round that a bunch of people are using on whitetail, and I've seen shots out past 85yrds with complete pass thru. The 10mm with 180gr xtp bullet at the muzzle is 1200fps. If you extrapolate the information you get 576ft lbs of energy at the muzzle. At 100yrds its 896fps with 321 ft lbs of energy. Now i know its not you saying , oh we have to have 1000ft lbs of energy at the target but come on, lets stop repeating what we all can look up and see its BS. IMHO it is way more important to use the correct bullet for what you are hunting at a reasonable distance. I know guys who hunt with 357mag with 6inch barrel and taking whitetail at 75yrds easily. The 1000ft lbs of energy was started by " hell who knows" but people repeat it far to often. Brother listen, i love youf channel. You show honest facts , the hoof and the bad and thats what keeps us coming back and looking forward to the next video. Hey you wannt to do a cool test?, Design a target that mimics a whitetail standing broadside. Place a flat shoulder bone covered by 2 layers of demin with a huge (4 gel blocks) for the chest cavity, and shoot it with a 9mm pistol at 25 yrds. It has Approximately 254ft lbs of energy at that range. Hope we can help you make this test happen and heck maybe you can do a series on what lt actually takes to pass thru n expand.
Just go buy a .270 Win with a box of regular load 130 Gr.