This week I messed around with some loads to see if his Dad and I could could get a small framed junior shooting a .243 Win effectively. I had limited powder on hand and could not get my hands on H4895 which you can reportedly load down to 60% of max safely. What I did have was some Trail Boss that I use to load for an antique firearm. Rifle used was a Remington 783 with a stock I unceremoniously modified for a short length of pull with the factory recoil pad re-attached.
End result of loading 100 grain cartridges with Trail Boss? A ton of fun that's what.
Loaded to the minimum powder weight of 8 grains, the shot was surprisingly quiet and recoil was comparable to a .22 LR. The bullet was going just under 1000 fps (and just over on a couple shots). Loaded to 15 grains (just shy of the published max of 15.3) the bullet was travelling at the 1600 fps mark and the recoil was comparable to maybe a .22 magnum. While the purpose of this exercise was to get junior shooting, I've found a neat load to play around with at the range. What I didn't have time to test was the accuracy of the loads. From what I've read online, keyholing may be an issue with the minimum load. These are definitely not big game loads but fun plinker loads.
We got junior started with these TB loads which he loved and got him comfortable with the geometry of the rifle. We then moved on to some loads (min to max) of Varget that I also had on hand to gauge his recoil sensitivity. In the end he was more than comfortable using full power .243 loads in 100 grain. Mission accomplished!
End result of loading 100 grain cartridges with Trail Boss? A ton of fun that's what.
Loaded to the minimum powder weight of 8 grains, the shot was surprisingly quiet and recoil was comparable to a .22 LR. The bullet was going just under 1000 fps (and just over on a couple shots). Loaded to 15 grains (just shy of the published max of 15.3) the bullet was travelling at the 1600 fps mark and the recoil was comparable to maybe a .22 magnum. While the purpose of this exercise was to get junior shooting, I've found a neat load to play around with at the range. What I didn't have time to test was the accuracy of the loads. From what I've read online, keyholing may be an issue with the minimum load. These are definitely not big game loads but fun plinker loads. We got junior started with these TB loads which he loved and got him comfortable with the geometry of the rifle. We then moved on to some loads (min to max) of Varget that I also had on hand to gauge his recoil sensitivity. In the end he was more than comfortable using full power .243 loads in 100 grain. Mission accomplished!
