87 gr V-max and a 243.

[Tack-243]

Had a thought today about how fast I am pushing my 87 Gr bullets in my 243. I am getting a inch and a half group at 200m with my factory Remy VLS and when pushing them around 3450 fps I consider that not bad. I however was thinking if I slow them down would I get better groups because I don't believe speed is everything and if I can get better groups I would be happier with that.
Regards.

 

[sunray]

You might get a smaller group with a match bullet, but those V-Max bullet groups are fine. A 1.5" group at 200 is sub-MOA, leave it alone.

 

[kombayotch]

I find they shoot better at around 3300 fps.

 

[Ron AKA]

You may want to consider doing a ladder test to find what velocity your barrel likes. Here is one method to do it.

http://www.desertsharpshooters.com/manuals/incredload.pdf

And another method here:

http://www.optimalchargeweight.embarqspace.com/#

They are variations of the same thing. Shoot at 200 meters, or better still 300 meters to get the best results. I used the three shot per load method, and individual targets at 300 meters. I don't have a scope quite good enough to be able to record each bullet hole location at that distance.

What you are looking for are flat spots where velocity goes up but point of impact does not. Here is the result of one of my tests: