.243 reload testing, what should i try to test further?

joe-nwt said:
My recommendation is even more simple: throw all those targets away and start from scratch with your scope properly mounted.
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YU THINK!!!! One loose scope ring will send everything to $hit. Tighten it up and start again.

What do you mean when you say " the scope was turned 15 degrees" are you saying the crosshair were not square?
 
Dont forget to clean the barrel very well after each firing with a decent bore brush and the best cleaning solvent you can buy... its very important to accuracy.

After all the bolts and nuts have been tightened you should see a one inch group or better from a 243. Best of luck !..
 
7mmlefty said:
Dont forget to clean the barrel very well after each firing with a decent bore brush and the best cleaning solvent you can buy... its very important to accuracy.

After all the bolts and nuts have been tightened you should see a one inch group or better from a 243. Best of luck !..
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I disagree that he needs to clean the bore after every firing to see 1 inch groups. Any decent gun of mine that shoots 1 inch groups, does so for many rounds. I see cleaning as another variable. If you tell me that you clean after every shot and get 0.2" groups, then more power to you, but to clean frequently to get 1" groups sounds like overkill.
 
I have done a few things to improve on my .243.
Neck size only, used a precision mic to get an exact measurement of what my seating depth should be, use a collet crimp so I get same neck tension. I have used sierra bullets, but I have now switched to hornady 87gr bthp. All my shots touch at 100yrds.
I use IMR 4064.
After using the precision mic, I found that my bullets OAL was actually .070 longer than what the book says. My goups improved so much, it was like a new rifle.
 
7mmlefty said:
Dont forget to clean the barrel very well after each firing with a decent bore brush and the best cleaning solvent you can buy... its very important to accuracy.

After all the bolts and nuts have been tightened you should see a one inch group or better from a 243. Best of luck !..
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I completely disagree with that - completely. Especially with a factory barrel
 
A few shots doesn't make the barrel "dirty."
Accuracy shouldn't be effected until/if metal from the jackets starts to build up in the barrel.
 
H4831 said:
Reloading is not the end all, be all, of accurate rifle shooting. In fact, it is well down the list.
An accurate rifle starts out with an accurate barrel. The barrel and action then must be properly bedded to the stock and it must have a good trigger.
Such a rifle will likely make one inch groups at a 100 yards with run of the mill factory loaded ammunition.
If you think it is important to try and make better groups, you could then play around to no end, with various reloads.
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This is very good advice.

You need to firstly determine the accuracy of the rifle before wading into the fun of reloading. To test the rifle, use a bag, or buy a shooting stand (for the table). Our club has lead sleds, so one can really keep the rifle steady for shooting. The next thing is to ensure the scope is torqued to spec and affixed properly on the rifle.

Unless you have loaded with virgin brass, used the same powder, primer and bullet and trimmed the case to the same lengths - you may have some variables in your grouping. Get some good quality ammo and shoot for groups.

Then shoot some of yours on the rest. Now you will get a picture of how the rifle shoots. If you need, tweek it for accuracy.

Now start working up loads. I like the 243, but I have found that my rifle and it's barrel twist are not happy with the heavier bullets (100 gr). It really shoots the 70 and 85 gr nosler and 75 gr vmax extremely well. The other bullet manufacturers and weights start to open up a bit. Start lower and work up a bit.

Working up loads is kind of like setting the air mixture on a carburetor. you adjust until you have the highest RPM and then keep adjusting until it falls again, then go back to fine tune the peak. The same holds true tweek until the tightest group is achieved and then go a bit more until they begin to open up again. Go back to the peak load and fine tune with seating depth, trim and meticulous powder weight (trickle feed).
 
ya i had about 80 rounds of ammo i bought, various bullet weights and types, tryed what it did and didnt like in each weight class, picked up some 70 grain sierra match bthp bullets, had a few cases and started reloading to see where to start at, i know, tons of variables that could change everything, seemed like the rifle liked my pills about 3200fps any faster and they opened wayy up to 3moa+ so far, ive bit of quite a project, just need the range time to test it all. 300 bullets to try and see what works. Ive got a match hart barrel, it doesnt like factory ammo, too long for the case neck making it not want to extract
 
sobo4303 said:
This is very good advice.

You need to firstly determine the accuracy of the rifle before wading into the fun of reloading. To test the rifle, use a bag, or buy a shooting stand (for the table). Our club has lead sleds, so one can really keep the rifle steady for shooting. The next thing is to ensure the scope is torqued to spec and affixed properly on the rifle.

Unless you have loaded with virgin brass, used the same powder, primer and bullet and trimmed the case to the same lengths - you may have some variables in your grouping. Get some good quality ammo and shoot for groups.

Then shoot some of yours on the rest. Now you will get a picture of how the rifle shoots. If you need, tweek it for accuracy.

Now start working up loads. I like the 243, but I have found that my rifle and it's barrel twist are not happy with the heavier bullets (100 gr). It really shoots the 70 and 85 gr nosler and 75 gr vmax extremely well. The other bullet manufacturers and weights start to open up a bit. Start lower and work up a bit.

Working up loads is kind of like setting the air mixture on a carburetor. you adjust until you have the highest RPM and then keep adjusting until it falls again, then go back to fine tune the peak. The same holds true tweek until the tightest group is achieved and then go a bit more until they begin to open up again. Go back to the peak load and fine tune with seating depth, trim and meticulous powder weight (trickle feed).
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I agree with this. Check all the things that you know make an accurate rifle. Is the barrel free floating, scope tight etc etc. I was having a few flyers with one of my rifles and noticed that the cheap plastic stock was touching. After a little sanding the rifle smartened right up.

G
 
hoochie said:
I have done a few things to improve on my .243.
Neck size only, used a precision mic to get an exact measurement of what my seating depth should be, use a collet crimp so I get same neck tension. I have used sierra bullets, but I have now switched to hornady 87gr bthp. All my shots touch at 100yrds.
I use IMR 4064.
After using the precision mic, I found that my bullets OAL was actually .070 longer than what the book says. My goups improved so much, it was like a new rifle.
Click to expand...

X2 for the hornady 87gr. These are the only handloads i have tested in my .243 so far. 36-37gr of varget about .005" off the lands. Only shooting about 60 yards but almost through the same hole! Definitley need to make sure your equipment is in check first.
 
7mmlefty said:
Are you guys suggesting that a dirty barrel shoots better than a clean one?..

I'll try that. It seems easy to do.
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Yes I am. Only clean when the gun accuracy drops off and I will amost guarantee it will take several rounds down the pipe to get it to settle down accuracy wise.

Exceptions to this are with hand lapped match grade barrels but even then I don't clean often.
 
7mmlefty said:
Are you guys suggesting that a dirty barrel shoots better than a clean one?..

I'll try that. It seems easy to do.
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I never clean a barrel the entire hunting season once I have it grouped. It changes the zero and I want to know where the bullet is going.
I work up a group, clean the rifle, then zero the rifle. I then shoot 50 or 60 rounds after that from various positions and ranges. I KNOW where my bullets are going to go during hunting. Can't do that when you are cleaning after every shot. How can you know that a second or follow-up shot, or even a shot at another animal within a few seconds will go where you want it to?
 
wildcat, I agree that a barrel doesnt need to be cleaned after every shot, but you make it sound like the POI will be way off. For a hunting situation, I cannot see a cleaned barrel causing a person to miss a clean shot. I would think that a more inportant factor would be altitude, and warm VS cold barrel.
I denfinately clean during hunting season, maybe your rifle isnt exposed to rain and snow like mine is.
 
yup i found my reload after another test and went shooting 300m and 400m that weekend and shot really well, my test i had cloverleaf group that i went with. found that shortening my case 0.030 below max spec had the best groups at 38gr varget.
 
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