243 20in barrel loads

[terez]

Putting together a lightweight 20in barrel 243.

I know it'll be loud and lose a bit of extreme fps off the top but I'm building her anyway!! LOL

Looking for a proven/suggested handload to burn up the powder quicker and be effcient as possible in the 20in tube.
The barrel is a factory 20in youth sps sporter barrel as a new take off.

Will shoot whatever bullet weight/config does well out of it....shooting coyotes and other smaller varmints and possibly deer in the fall if a heavier bullet will shoot well out of it.

What twist are the 20in sps sporter barrels?

'preciate any help here....

 

[257Roberts]

My BLR shoots 90gr. Speer Hot-Cor's at 2950 with 42gr 760. Around 1" for 3 shots.
So far I have not found a 100gr bullet that will work in that rifle.
David

 

[hoochie]

I've found that bullets in the 85-87gr range work best for me. Hit a deer at 120 yards with a 87gr Hornady this year; it took 2 steps and went to sleep.

 

[Silvertip13]

Better success with the 75-80 gr bullets and H4985

 

[AlexF]

The standard Remington 243 Win twist is 1-9.125 which will stabilize a 100gr Nosler Partition or 95gr Berger VLD under nominal conditions.
A short barrel in a 243 Win is not a big issue if you don't care about muzzle blast and concussion.
You should expect a 120-150 fps loss in muzzle velocity compared to a standard hunting 24" rifle.

Here are my favorite 243 loads:

• 38gr Varget, 70gr SMK, Federal match primer
• 37gr Varget, 80gr Sierra Blitz or Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint, Federal match primer
• 40gr H4350, 87gr Hornady V-Max or 95gr SMK, Federal match primer

I've seen these loads shot 1/2-1 MOA 5 shot groups in half a dozen 243 Win rifles.

Start 10% lower and work up your loads, simply use Varget for light bullets and H4350 for heavy 6mm bullet and stay away from H4831 and Retumbo if you're looking to minimize muzzle blast and concussion.
H4831 is a super accurate heavy 6mm bullet propellant but muzzle blast is truly impressive from a short 243 Win barrel.

Alex