.243win. 105gr A-max & 87gr BTHP
- Thread starter Goose25
- Start date
superd222
CGN frequent flyer
What twist rate is your barrel? You might have trouble stabilizing the 105's if it's not a fast twist (eg: 1:8).
Check your reloading manual - check your powder magazine - find a combination you have - work-up carefully (or within the published ranges)
Since every rifle barrel has it's own natural harmonic and other characteristics, your pet load will suit your pet the best!!!!!
I'm just about to measure powder and stuff bullets into prepped 243 brass myself - for a new toy. Savage 11FL. Comes-up and shoulders very nicely. The (polymer) stock fits really well.
I consulted at least three manuals for load combinations then distilled it down to create a reasonable number of development loads.
Can't wait to de-flower it on a coyote. Hopefully this weekend!
Good Luck - SD
Check your reloading manual - check your powder magazine - find a combination you have - work-up carefully (or within the published ranges)
Since every rifle barrel has it's own natural harmonic and other characteristics, your pet load will suit your pet the best!!!!!
I'm just about to measure powder and stuff bullets into prepped 243 brass myself - for a new toy. Savage 11FL. Comes-up and shoulders very nicely. The (polymer) stock fits really well.
I consulted at least three manuals for load combinations then distilled it down to create a reasonable number of development loads.
Can't wait to de-flower it on a coyote. Hopefully this weekend!
Good Luck - SD
It has a 1:9" twist... optimal bullet weight should be between 85-95gr.... but if I never try the heavier (100+) I'll never know if they shoot.
I usually refer to my 3 manuals (Nosler, Lyman, Speer) to work up a load. I also take into consideration what others have tried.
anyhow... I'm done now.
Some 35 years ago I had a 243 made for me by a well known gunsmith, on a 98 action with a heavy targe barrel. I had been reloading for other calibres for ten years prior to this, but this was my first 243. Since it was for a type of target shooting I was doing, I sold the rifle after the target shooting ended.
Next got a beautiful little German rifle, sorry, forget the name at the moment. Later gave it to a son and bought the Ruger 77.
I've stated this before, but things were done a little different at the time I started reloading. WARNING, WAIVER. Do not load as I have done. Go by your books and load your way.
I work up my loads by taking my loading press and outfit to the range. I load a charge that I know is safe, and fire it. Then, I reload that empty, with one more grain of powder. I keep on doing this, going up one grain at a time, and always using the same brass case. I look for all the usual signs of pressure, but there is one sure sign. I very carefully judge how the primer goes in. If the primer pocket is enlarged, so the primer goes in easier than it did, that is a sure sign of a heavy overload. That is why I use the same case over and over. Other pressure signs always show up for me, before the primer pocket enlarges. As a matter of fact, I have never yet enlarged the primer pocket doing this. When other pressure signs show up I quit, then drop back maybe two grains, for a shootable load.
There is often quite a difference in different rifles, as to what their top load is. The Ruger will take at least three grains more powder than will the German. Thus, I have to very clearly mark my loaded rounds. The Ruger loads would not "blow up" the German, of course, but may stick the bolt. When I check my loads against what a loading book says, it usually shows that the German will barely take a "maximum" load, while the Ruger will be maybe two or three grains over. I have two 30-06 rifles that display exactly the same characteristics.
All this talk about having to get just the right load for "your" rifle, usually comes about because the rifles need bedding. A properly bedded rifle is not very fussy about normal loads. One time when I was working up a load in a 30-06, as described above, with 180 grain bullets, I shot five shots at the 100 yard target, each load a grain of powder more than the one before. When I checked my target I found that all five had made a 1¼ inch group!
Next got a beautiful little German rifle, sorry, forget the name at the moment. Later gave it to a son and bought the Ruger 77.
I've stated this before, but things were done a little different at the time I started reloading. WARNING, WAIVER. Do not load as I have done. Go by your books and load your way.
I work up my loads by taking my loading press and outfit to the range. I load a charge that I know is safe, and fire it. Then, I reload that empty, with one more grain of powder. I keep on doing this, going up one grain at a time, and always using the same brass case. I look for all the usual signs of pressure, but there is one sure sign. I very carefully judge how the primer goes in. If the primer pocket is enlarged, so the primer goes in easier than it did, that is a sure sign of a heavy overload. That is why I use the same case over and over. Other pressure signs always show up for me, before the primer pocket enlarges. As a matter of fact, I have never yet enlarged the primer pocket doing this. When other pressure signs show up I quit, then drop back maybe two grains, for a shootable load.
There is often quite a difference in different rifles, as to what their top load is. The Ruger will take at least three grains more powder than will the German. Thus, I have to very clearly mark my loaded rounds. The Ruger loads would not "blow up" the German, of course, but may stick the bolt. When I check my loads against what a loading book says, it usually shows that the German will barely take a "maximum" load, while the Ruger will be maybe two or three grains over. I have two 30-06 rifles that display exactly the same characteristics.
All this talk about having to get just the right load for "your" rifle, usually comes about because the rifles need bedding. A properly bedded rifle is not very fussy about normal loads. One time when I was working up a load in a 30-06, as described above, with 180 grain bullets, I shot five shots at the 100 yard target, each load a grain of powder more than the one before. When I checked my target I found that all five had made a 1¼ inch group!
I have worked up loads for the 105's out of a 9 twist Remington 26" barrel. The best powders for this particular rifle proved to be H-1000 and H-4831sc. These powders are listed in the Hodgdon's manual for the .243 Win. Start slow and step load to max. then back off 3-4 %. Velocity in the 2900's, .650to .750 Moa.
Good Shooting
Good Shooting
One time when I was working up a load in a 30-06, as described above, with 180 grain bullets, I shot five shots at the 100 yard target, each load a grain of powder more than the one before. When I checked my target I found that all five had made a 1¼ inch group![/QUOTE]
I quite believe this result. It reminds me of some accurate cast bullet results I have seen at 100 yards. One of the most accurate 5 shot groups I achieved in my 06 (0.9 inches; 5 shots), for example, was with a load that varied just over 180 ft/sec. So, one can certainly have loads varying by more than a grain and still see a good group at 100 yards. I found, however, that such accuracy didn't hold up as you moved further out, e.g. 200, 300 yards etc. and certainly not at 500. In fact, I know a few target shooters who do much of their screening of loads at 200 or 300 yards. I'm not sure about the reduction of preference with bedding though. I bed all my rifles and they still show significant load preferences afterward, but for many years now I have been in the habit of bedding a rifle before doing any serious testing. So, I'm not sure whether they show smaller preferences or not.
I quite believe this result. It reminds me of some accurate cast bullet results I have seen at 100 yards. One of the most accurate 5 shot groups I achieved in my 06 (0.9 inches; 5 shots), for example, was with a load that varied just over 180 ft/sec. So, one can certainly have loads varying by more than a grain and still see a good group at 100 yards. I found, however, that such accuracy didn't hold up as you moved further out, e.g. 200, 300 yards etc. and certainly not at 500. In fact, I know a few target shooters who do much of their screening of loads at 200 or 300 yards. I'm not sure about the reduction of preference with bedding though. I bed all my rifles and they still show significant load preferences afterward, but for many years now I have been in the habit of bedding a rifle before doing any serious testing. So, I'm not sure whether they show smaller preferences or not.
