.243 Soft Point: Bugged or just garbage?

[Daddy Kermit]

As the title says, I've come across some issues with the soft-point ammo for the .243, I was in Hirschfelden hunting Roe when I took a shot at a Roe buck that was directly facing me but it ran off even after a very clear heart shot.

Tracked it down probably a quarter-mile or so to find it dead, went to see the x-ray of the shot and it looks like it only went a half-inch into the chest then stopped? I'm absolutely confused as to why a round behaves this way? Shooting a class 3 animal with a class 2-6 round shouldn't just stop right after penetration.

[Freewheelin' Freddy]

Hi,

Almost if not all soft point ammo aren't very useful, best is to stick with polymer tip ammo for all your weapons. Even for lung shots it is better not to use soft points. In your case the 2.43 is more than enough for roe deer but would be too light for classes 6 animals, it's better to stop at classes 5.

[DarkFalz]

Soft point ammo underperforms almost across the board in this game, especially when it comes to frontal shots. That’s why most people use polymer tips almost exclusively. If soft points are all you have access to, just stick to broadside lung shots until you’re able to make the switch to polymer tips.

[Haraidon]

A soft tip for shooting from the side into the lungs or into the cervical vertebrae from behind, a polymer tip for a frontal shot into the heart, or a shot into the heart from the side through the shoulder.

I've been running a lot with the Ranger .243 and it's my favorite weapon for universal use. I started playing with him and even after 500 hours I periodically take him with me.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3378152618

Yes, the statistics are not very good. But it is worth recalling that this is a starting weapon. And until I learned how to shoot them accurately, I made a lot of mistakes. At first, I hated this rifle. But now it's one of my favorite weapons for its versatility.

But the main disadvantage of this weapon is its low kill rate for grades 5-6. Even with a successful shot (except for the cervical vertebrae), the beast can manage to run back several meters. I would recommend using Ranger 243 for grades 2-4, but ignoring the shots to the heart. You just have to accept it. After all, this weapon is for beginners, not for experienced shooters.

And the caliber .223.... I hate it. Absolute garbage. I shot coyotes with this caliber from the side into the lungs. It seems to me that if you poke an animal with a stick, you can make a deeper wound than with this garbage.

[Geronimo]

The difference between soft point and polytips in this game are not realistic.

But I also think that most players don't really understand what those differences are supposed to be in the first place.

Think of the soft point as basically a shrapnel kill. It's not meant to penetrate. You don't throw a grenade and expect it to hit the heart.

OP doesn't seem to realize this difference.

Any bullet designed to explode on impact is meant to do extensive 'external' damage hopefully causing much blood loss and initially shocking the animal, potentially allowing for followup shots because this often drops the animal briefly. It can also cause more disabling muscle damage.

The mistake most make is using it on large animals with a large body cavity and expecting it to penetrate far enough to reach an organ. It won't. Just like a shotgun blast of birdshot won't.

Use soft points on small game at close range for the purpose of getting those follow ups. Never expect to see penetration or organs hit.

It is true that this type of ammo in this game is underpowered as far as hitting power goes.

There's no shock and awe like there should be.

Poking with a stick/spear is more about penetration. More appropriately, think of soft points as poking with a meat tenderizer.

[Daddy Kermit]

Originally posted by Geronimo:

The difference between soft point and polytips in this game are not realistic.

But I also think that most players don't really understand what those differences are supposed to be in the first place.

Think of the soft point as basically a shrapnel kill. It's not meant to penetrate. You don't throw a grenade and expect it to hit the heart.

OP doesn't seem to realize this difference.

Any bullet designed to explode on impact is meant to do extensive 'external' damage hopefully causing much blood loss and initially shocking the animal, potentially allowing for followup shots because this often drops the animal briefly. It can also cause more disabling muscle damage.

The mistake most make is using it on large animals with a large body cavity and expecting it to penetrate far enough to reach an organ. It won't. Just like a shotgun blast of birdshot won't.

Use soft points on small game at close range for the purpose of getting those follow ups. Never expect to see penetration or organs hit.

It is true that this type of ammo in this game is underpowered as far as hitting power goes.

There's no shock and awe like there should be.

Poking with a stick/spear is more about penetration. More appropriately, think of soft points as poking with a meat tenderizer.

Alot of the ammo is represented inaccurately, which is why I bring it up. I've used .243 SP to take down mule deer in past hunting trips and it worked great for a heart shot from the front, but in this game it can't even take out a deer half to 4x as small?

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Daddy Kermit:

Originally posted by Geronimo:

The difference between soft point and polytips in this game are not realistic.

But I also think that most players don't really understand what those differences are supposed to be in the first place.

Think of the soft point as basically a shrapnel kill. It's not meant to penetrate. You don't throw a grenade and expect it to hit the heart.

OP doesn't seem to realize this difference.

Any bullet designed to explode on impact is meant to do extensive 'external' damage hopefully causing much blood loss and initially shocking the animal, potentially allowing for followup shots because this often drops the animal briefly. It can also cause more disabling muscle damage.

The mistake most make is using it on large animals with a large body cavity and expecting it to penetrate far enough to reach an organ. It won't. Just like a shotgun blast of birdshot won't.

Use soft points on small game at close range for the purpose of getting those follow ups. Never expect to see penetration or organs hit.

It is true that this type of ammo in this game is underpowered as far as hitting power goes.

There's no shock and awe like there should be.

Poking with a stick/spear is more about penetration. More appropriately, think of soft points as poking with a meat tenderizer.

Alot of the ammo is represented inaccurately, which is why I bring it up. I've used .243 SP to take down mule deer in past hunting trips and it worked great for a heart shot from the front, but in this game it can't even take out a deer half to 4x as small?

I use the Ranger alot but I will use the polytips. The soft points in this game are just not capable of regular kills.

It's not impossible for a soft point to reach an organ, as with your Muley, which BTW, IRL are much bigger than the COTW versions. But the soft point design is intended to expand on impact, which naturally decreases it's momentum

[Daddy Kermit]

Originally posted by Geronimo:

Originally posted by Daddy Kermit:

Alot of the ammo is represented inaccurately, which is why I bring it up. I've used .243 SP to take down mule deer in past hunting trips and it worked great for a heart shot from the front, but in this game it can't even take out a deer half to 4x as small?

I use the Ranger alot but I will use the polytips. The soft points in this game are just not capable of regular kills.

It's not impossible for a soft point to reach an organ, as with your Muley, which BTW, IRL are much bigger than the COTW versions. But the soft point design is intended to expand on impact, which naturally decreases it's momentum

I'm just saying the ammo in this needs to be tweaked a fair bit to represent penetration values more realistically. Some of the other guns tend to underperform in this game compared to their real-life counterparts as well, leaving me to use things like the .50 musket for whitetail and forgo using other rifles.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Daddy Kermit:

Originally posted by Geronimo:

I use the Ranger alot but I will use the polytips. The soft points in this game are just not capable of regular kills.

It's not impossible for a soft point to reach an organ, as with your Muley, which BTW, IRL are much bigger than the COTW versions. But the soft point design is intended to expand on impact, which naturally decreases it's momentum

I'm just saying the ammo in this needs to be tweaked a fair bit to represent penetration values more realistically. Some of the other guns tend to underperform in this game compared to their real-life counterparts as well, leaving me to use things like the .50 musket for whitetail and forgo using other rifles.

I do agree, but just saying that penetration is NOT the expectation when using expanding heads.

As for the muskets, don't even get me started, lol.
They ruined them completely.

Ballistics overall in this game are subject to way too much constant experimentation and alteration to be reliable.

[JtDarth]

Originally posted by Daddy Kermit:

Originally posted by Geronimo:

The difference between soft point and polytips in this game are not realistic.

But I also think that most players don't really understand what those differences are supposed to be in the first place.

Think of the soft point as basically a shrapnel kill. It's not meant to penetrate. You don't throw a grenade and expect it to hit the heart.

OP doesn't seem to realize this difference.

Any bullet designed to explode on impact is meant to do extensive 'external' damage hopefully causing much blood loss and initially shocking the animal, potentially allowing for followup shots because this often drops the animal briefly. It can also cause more disabling muscle damage.

The mistake most make is using it on large animals with a large body cavity and expecting it to penetrate far enough to reach an organ. It won't. Just like a shotgun blast of birdshot won't.

Use soft points on small game at close range for the purpose of getting those follow ups. Never expect to see penetration or organs hit.

It is true that this type of ammo in this game is underpowered as far as hitting power goes.

There's no shock and awe like there should be.

Poking with a stick/spear is more about penetration. More appropriately, think of soft points as poking with a meat tenderizer.

Alot of the ammo is represented inaccurately, which is why I bring it up. I've used .243 SP to take down mule deer in past hunting trips and it worked great for a heart shot from the front, but in this game it can't even take out a deer half to 4x as small?

A lot of people on this forum seem to have some weird almost fudd-lore like justifications to excuse where this game messes things up horribly.

Basically, nearly EVERY 'common' caliber's IRL soft points have penetration more in line with this game's polytips.

[Daddy Kermit]

Originally posted by JtDarth:

Originally posted by Daddy Kermit:

Alot of the ammo is represented inaccurately, which is why I bring it up. I've used .243 SP to take down mule deer in past hunting trips and it worked great for a heart shot from the front, but in this game it can't even take out a deer half to 4x as small?

A lot of people on this forum seem to have some weird almost fudd-lore like justifications to excuse where this game messes things up horribly.

Basically, nearly EVERY 'common' caliber's IRL soft points have penetration more in line with this game's polytips.

Exactly, I've seen several people on here talking about how .223 can't even kill yotes reliably, yet I've dropped about a half-dozen of them last year with one, the only thing I see in response is "Don't use soft points lul" when you can easily take one out with them irl.

But hey, what do I know? It's not like I grew up around FFL holders (my father being one for almost 30 years) and getting to see the "latest and greatest" in hunting technology, from ammo to camo was something I did on the weekends

[JtDarth]

Originally posted by Daddy Kermit:

Originally posted by JtDarth:

A lot of people on this forum seem to have some weird almost fudd-lore like justifications to excuse where this game messes things up horribly.

Basically, nearly EVERY 'common' caliber's IRL soft points have penetration more in line with this game's polytips.

Exactly, I've seen several people on here talking about how .223 can't even kill yotes reliably, yet I've dropped about a half-dozen of them last year with one, the only thing I see in response is "Don't use soft points lul" when you can easily take one out with them irl.

But hey, what do I know? It's not like I grew up around FFL holders (my father being one for almost 30 years) and getting to see the "latest and greatest" in hunting technology, from ammo to camo was something I did on the weekends :emofdr:

While I didn't have access to the 'latest and greatest', I grew up with hunting and fishing, and a lot of games manage to irritate me with some of the really basic stuff they manage to screw up.
I don't think there is a critter in NA that I wouldn't trust a 7.62x54R to take ethically from a neutral encounter.
Obvs, I wouldn't trust it on an angry bison, brown, or moose charging me (outside of something like a .50bmg I don't think there is such a thing as enough gun to trust a single shot there), but as a general 'you pick the shot' situation, there is nothing a Mosin with decent ammo can't handle in the US.
This game spent literal YEARS with it being inferior to .303 british and standard .308. Like, just WHAT? Don't even get me started on how unreasonably alert a lot of the animals in this game are. A deer is not going to bolt from seeing a person across a field 200+m away. I've personally sat in a cornfield after harvest, with a lawn chair, plainly visible, and snapped photos of deer that were close enough to peg in the face with a can of pop.

I swear, real world knowledge is a curse more often than a blessing in supposed sims.