Barnes data for 243 and 85 gr TSX

I'm loading the same bullet in my .243 with 45 grs. of H414. Muzzle velocity is around 3100 ft/sec. I have not seen any data for cartridge overall length.
 
somewhere around 44 grains of H4350 should do 3200 f/s in a 24" barrel 243

I load this with 87 grain Vmax and it does 3175 fps. Start low and work up

OAL will be determined by your rifle
 
My .243 Tikka T3 likes 43.3 grains of H4350 seated .070 off the lands the best....i don't have it chrony'd, thats just the best 5-shot grouping i've achieved so far and it was consistently the best at 100, 200 and 300 yds.
i have some more testing to do by systematically varying the seating depth now that i've found a load.

for me, 43.6+ gr starts to show pressure signs , the group started to open at 44.5, and the bolt extraction gets stiff.
45.5 pulled the extractor out of my bolt....guess i went too far!

the Lee manual says 42.0 to 45.5 max of H4350 for the 85gr Barnes X bullet, and Barnes claim (on their website ) that you can load the TSX 1 grain heavier....but I can't get to 45.5, let alone 1 gr. heavier .

start low, work up. ymmv.
 
Last edited:
steve-r said:
i have some more testing to do by systematically varying the seating depth now that i've found a load.
Click to expand...

Have you tweaked this load any more since?

I too have a T3 .243 glass and pillar bedded that I'm in need of working up a load for. I was just about to load up some 85gr TSX with H4350. Found my OAL to lands to be 2.783 so I'll be seating to 2.733 (for 0.05 off the lands as per Barnes). The road out to the range is a mess atm, so once I can get out there I'll bring out the chrony and see what works well.
 
Just as an update, I started loading these and the 0.05 off the lands they give puts it dead center over one of the groves in the side of the bullet where it meets the case neck. Crimping the neck doesn't help to keep the bullet from sliding around. It looks like I need to go at least 0.07 (or more) off the lands to get the bullet to even seat properly in the neck of the casing.. :(
 
thanks!

I'm just waiting for the roads to dry up and I'll head out to the range. I've loaded up 150rnds, (42.0-44.8gr in +0.2gr increments) 10 rnds of each load.

For the first test I've seated them at recommeneded max OAL (2.710") for the cartridge and will experiment when I've narrowed down the load a bit more.
 
Minimum OAL is 2.560". 46 grs H4350 and 38 grs Varget are giving me 3250 and 3210 +or- 10fps in a 24" bbl Weatherby. The 4350 load is a hair over recommended max, but shoots well, no sign of pressure problems. H414 will give a bit more speed again, but for me accuracy wasn't there and it's an oddball powder anyway. Also like RL powders in most anything, 19 and 22.
 
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