243 for long distance?

I have fooled around with one a bit for shooting out to 700-800 yards and have success with 95 gr A-Max bullets.

The limiting factor if the twist rate, which limits you in most cases to 65-100 grain bullets vs the 107s in a 1-8 twist rate. Some will shoot 100s good others perfer the 75-85 gr bullet (mine likes 75-80 for short distance shooting 100-300 yards)

That being said my savage 243 shot quite well out to those distances and am very impressed with it specialy at 500y.

Other conciderations not that it matters but barrel life is shorter, as well as brass life, and it eats lots of powder for a 6mm. But good luck, with yours you will be happy if you go with a 243
 
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What do you call long distance? The .243 is ok for target shooting at long range, but not for hunting. Energy drops off quickly past 300 yards.
 
243

I just love mine,I was thinking of changing it to a 6.5x47 when the barrel wares out but after shooting it out to 500 yds and all the good reports on diffrent sites I may just rebarrel into 243 again.It rounds out my collection of one Sako 3006 a Tikkatactical 308 and my remington VLS 243 with a new stock.
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530 yard gong and body target
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Most competition shooters don't use the 243 because of the low barrel life. However, a number of tactical shooters are running them for their flat trajectory and lower recoil.

the 243 can be a wonderful LR cartridge with 105/108/115gr bullets at the top of the class. Of course, this will require 8 twist barrels. Easy enough to acquire these days.

It will offer a 100 to 150fps boost to the smaller 6XC's and 6 - 6.5X47Lapua.

Jerry
 
mysticplayer said:
Most competition shooters don't use the 243 because of the low barrel life. However, a number of tactical shooters are running them for their flat trajectory and lower recoil.

the 243 can be a wonderful LR cartridge with 105/108/115gr bullets at the top of the class. Of course, this will require 8 twist barrels. Easy enough to acquire these days.

It will offer a 100 to 150fps boost to the smaller 6XC's and 6 - 6.5X47Lapua.

Jerry
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I would agree that it’s not the best cartridge but since there are next to no competitions in my area I stick with the Tactical side of the game for the fun of it. Say hello to my brother in law if you see him, he’s the Principal at the Summerland Middle school
Cheers
Bucky
:wave:
 
What a gorgeous place to shoot. Looks like you get well over 1 mile into that mountainside clearing :)

I am sure I will meet your brother when my daughter gets to the middle school in a couple of years.

For me the appeal of the 243 would be able to get very nice performance without running super high pressures. I don't believe in running super high pressures in a rig that can see some weather.
Jerry
 
I think in a 243 you would be safe to use an inch less twist per bullet.

Bottom line is the 243 is a very overbore cartridge. It eats barrels and the velocity gains with bullets are not proportional to the increase in powder capacity. From my personal experience and experimentation there is a functional maximum velocity you can use 6mm bullets and the 243 is excessively large for the purpose.
 
I think in a 243 you would be safe to use an inch less twist per bullet.

Obtunded
Just wondering what you mean by that....Mine is a standared VLS 1 in nine I beleive, what bullet would you advise, thanks
 
What do you call long distance? The .243 is ok for target shooting at long range, but not for hunting. Energy drops off quickly past 300 yards.
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Plug in the numbers for a .243 into a ballistics program and you will discover it smokes the 308 Win from the muzzle out to 1000 yds (where the 308 falls flat on its face) and then the 243 keeps going.

I shot a fast twist 243 out to 2000 yds. Try that with a 308.
 
"...ballistics program..." Ballistics programs are not infallible. The fact remains that the .243 loses energy fast and drops like a brick past 300 yards. Nearly 6 feet low at 500 and well under 800 ft-lbs of energy, depending on the ammo.
 
I agree with Sunray, I use my 243 for coyote... I like the 243 for the 250-300 yard shots, never tried anything longer like 500-1000 yards. I just started hunting coyotes this year and yet to get one.
 
sunray said:
"...ballistics program..." Ballistics programs are not infallible. The fact remains that the .243 loses energy fast and drops like a brick past 300 yards. Nearly 6 feet low at 500 and well under 800 ft-lbs of energy, depending on the ammo.
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So does the .308. :p

It is true that Ballistic programs are not gospel, nothing beats real DOPE from the field. However, on paper the .243 is a flatter shooting cartridge than the .308, and I can't wait to get mine up & running and see what she can do!

Cheers.

Tim H
 
Tim H said:
It is true that Ballistic programs are not gospel, nothing beats real DOPE from the field. However, on paper the .243 is a flatter shooting cartridge than the .308, and I can't wait to get mine up & running and see what she can do!

Tim H
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of course there is nothing like real DOPE but if you compare the real results to what you get from a ballistics calculator it's very very close.

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the only experience i have with a 243 was when i was 13ish i watch my dad drop a coyote trotting in the pasture about 500 yards out.

also we need to remember that some people on here are competition shooters and they run there barrels very hard and hot on competition day. so if they only get 1500 rounds before they set there barrels back guess what you or i will be able to run more than double that number.

last time i went out with my 223 i shot about 90 rounds in the space of 4hrs. i could have shot that many rounds in 1hr and really cooked my barrel and in fact reduced it's barrel life.

so a 243 for a varmint/deer hunter is going to last them years. pace your shots. we don't need to fire 20 rounds in 10 minutes;)
 
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