9.25 Twist in 243 with Hornady 105 grain what now?

waynewjw

waynewjw

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So I’ve been shooting the Hornady 105 grain bullets for a few years now with great accuracy out of my Savage. Hornady stopped making these recently? Now What? I have 100 grain Hornady’s, will these work as well? Also have 105 grain Bergers? Or do I try the 103 grain Hornady’s? As I shoot competition occasionally I’d like to find a bullet that will work without buying hundreds of dollars worth to find a new load. Or is there another brand I haven’t considered?

What say you guys?
 
All bullets are different, they may work the same, they may not, you have to do the tests to see what works in your gun.

For that twist rate 105gr is fast, but it is the length, so compare the Hornady 105gr bullet length to the others and try to find one that is not longer than the 105gr Hornady as that is already on the edge.
 
Check Higginson, they likely have a bunch of the 105 BTHP still in stock, I just got a load for my 6mm CM.
Barring that, depending how far you are shooting, the 87gr BTHP are wicked accurate.
 
You don't mention if you're hunting with these bullets.

The 105 Hornady Amax works well with medium-sized game, such as Deer and Black Bears out past 300 yds. It's a tad frangible for up close and personal shots but because of its SD, there seems to be enough strength there for it to hold together long enough for boiler room shots.

The Hornady ELD replaced the Amax but I've never used it on game.

Your twist rate should stabilize the ELD projectiles.

I've had really good success with the 105gr Speer flat base spitzer spire point bullets out of a Remington 700 chambered for the 6mmREM and Voere chambered for the 243Win. They're not as accurate as the old Amax Hornady but very close.

The 100gr Speer SpSpt boat tail with the same powder/primer, is every bit as accurate in both of my rifles as the Hornady Amax.
 
I'm not hunting with this rifle at all. Not the correct platform (MDT chassis) and way to heavy. I'm only using it for paper and precision competitions. I had some 105's last year or prior when I acquired this rifle and some bullets already loaded. My opening salvo was 3 shot groups between 1/8" to under 1/2" so I've stayed with the bullet, powder load and change up the length to see if I got better results, which I did not. So shooting what worked previously.
 
With the 9.25 twist you are not fully stable with a modern 105 class bullet. They may shoot good but you won’t be getting full bc potential. This will get worse as we move into winter. I would also suggest to try the Hornady 105 bthp as a replacement to the amax as it’s a bit shorter and will stabilize better, but still not fully. Your twist rate is probably better suited to 87 to 95 grain modern bullets IMHO.
Joe
 
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waynewjw said:
So I’ve been shooting the Hornady 105 grain bullets for a few years now with great accuracy out of my Savage. Hornady stopped making these recently? Now What? I have 100 grain Hornady’s, will these work as well? Also have 105 grain Bergers? Or do I try the 103 grain Hornady’s? As I shoot competition occasionally I’d like to find a bullet that will work without buying hundreds of dollars worth to find a new load. Or is there another brand I haven’t considered?

What say you guys?
Click to expand...

Hornady still makes the 105gr Match BTHP, item # 2458
 
waynewjw said:
The bullets most accurate have been Hornady A-Max 105 gr #24562 which are no longer made. I do have 50 qty of Hornady 100 gr. #2453 so will give those a try and see what results I achieve. More testing in my future, more different powders, so back to the drawing board.
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Ahh, the A-Max. They've been gone since 2017 I think. Wonderfully accurate in my 6mm Creedmoor 7.7 twist

In a 9.25 twist 243 I'd probably go with the 95gr Sierra TMK
 
waynewjw said:
So I’ve been shooting the Hornady 105 grain bullets for a few years now with great accuracy out of my Savage. Hornady stopped making these recently? Now What? I have 100 grain Hornady’s, will these work as well? Also have 105 grain Bergers? Or do I try the 103 grain Hornady’s? As I shoot competition occasionally I’d like to find a bullet that will work without buying hundreds of dollars worth to find a new load. Or is there another brand I haven’t considered?

What say you guys?
Click to expand...

Is about my "fear" to finally get a "good load" and then the components that I used get "improved", changed or no longer available. As I get older, gets a bit easier to get hands on "life time supply". Not just bullets - also powder, primers, cases - no telling when they get "improved" or no longer available - at that point, have to go for Plan "B" or "C" and then talk about what it "used to be". For example, is a Win Model 70 that our son has - has been firing 165 grain Speer HotCor SP since mid 1980's - I had bought it new from a store in late 1970's - I have got 500 of those bullets left - when those are gone, a new bullet will be needed - the packages for those Speer 165 SP have changed numerous times - bullet seems to have been the same, though - at least the deer seem to die the same as they always did, when hit decently.
 
If you can find them, these bullets shoot better than I can hold out of my 1-9.5 twist Voere 243Win. I wouldn't use them on anything other than Varmints or paper but they shoot like lazers out of my #2 profile barrel.

Hornady
CALIBER 6mm/243
PRODUCT LINE ELDVT
SECTIONAL DENSITY 194
DENSITY 410
BALLISTIC COEFFICIENT 206
TWIST RATE 1-10
WEIGHT 80gr
APPLICATION Varmint/Target Match
BOX COUNT 100
ITEM #24372
 
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waynewjw said:
Although I’ve thought about it I’m under 300 rounds thru the factory barrel and this platform performs better than I thought it would. The limitation is likely not the barrel but the shooter LOL
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I got 1300 hundred rounds out of a factory savage barrel shooting those bullets. Truthfully it was probably gone a little before that. It shot half moa at 800 in its prime with 105 a max or hpbt.

I test alot of bullets into water jugs. I would not use the 105 hpbt for hunting. It doesn't really open. The a max does well. Even on varmints.
 
Just shooting paper and competition, too heavy a setup to take hunting. 80 - 95 grains with a lot of suggestions as to which is best. I will need to acquire a few different bullets as per previous suggestions and do some serious testing.

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