Gave A Ruger Precision Rifle in 243 Winchester, a try.

dthunter

dthunter

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I was pleasantly suprised when my LGS had one of these rifles in stock!

The rifle has come up in many posts all over the internet. But very little on the 243win.

One of the features that helped me make my decison to purchase the 243win was the 1:7.7" twist rate. Perfect to stabilise the heavy vld bullet types.

The action has fed the loaded ammo flawlessly so far.
I have shot maybe 15 groups of 5 rounds, and the average of the whole lot is almost exactly 1.010"
Not too bad. 8-9 groups were near the 0.650" - 0.750" average.

The rifle ia very comfortable to shoot, and stays relatively still through the recoil sequence. Very happy with my choice thus far.

Now to see what she will do at extended distances!



 
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Those look amazing. I have one of those on my "bucket list" of guns for the next year or two. Never a real fan of .243 but one in .308 win makes me drool. A .300win mag would make me giddy.
 
Nice rifle, with all the positive reports on these rifles, and my continued positive experiences with Tikka target rifles, I wonder why I continue to build custom rifles? I am and have been a 260rem fan for years, but one of these in 6.5CM might just find a new home sometime soon.
 
yes, I am hand loading for it. I have tried H4350,W760,H4831,CFE 223,and Varget. i started off fire forming with 100 grain Speer btsp bullets. They shot ok.

I have recently tried a 68 grain berger hp seated .005" off the lands. I shot 9 different test loads too see if anything stood out. One group had a nice tight cluster and then threw one a full 1" high right. Damn it! lol!
The H4350, CFE223, and Varget shot really nice though. they averaged around 0.800" for all those groups.
The wind was fairly strong and switchy today, so it was hard to keep the groups consistently small.

Varget shot in at 0.640",and 0.767"
H4350 shot in at 0.825"
CFE223 shot in with mixed results at 0.721 and 1.245"
W760 also shot into 0.908 and 1.338"

Overall, I have an idea of what I will continue with. Now to do some shooting at 2,3,4, and 500 yards. These 68 grain bullets are just gopher medicine for now.

in a few weeks, I should start working with some 107's for longer range steel plates.
 
Try heavier bullets like 105 hybrid and 115 dtacs with H4831sc or RL26 and you will awake a monster.

I've tuned load for my good buddy 243 RPR and this thing shoot great.
 
Thanks kevin, that is my plan for sure.
I havent seen any R26 in these parts, so thats out of the question for now.
I have most burn rates, so I will be experimenting allot! Lol! I am looking forward to it!
 
Debated getting the RPR or the Tikka T3 CTR. Ended up with CTR for the 260Rem (Like Lapua brass over Hornady). Would have been a tough decision had the RPR came in 260 instead of 6.5CM. First 5 5-shot groups were ~0.6MOA .
Crashman said:
Nice rifle, with all the positive reports on these rifles, and my continued positive experiences with Tikka target rifles, I wonder why I continue to build custom rifles? I am and have been a 260rem fan for years, but one of these in 6.5CM might just find a new home sometime soon.
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Once I burn through all the 308s the 260 will be the mainstay. 140gr 6.5mm same ballistics as ~200gr 308 but way less recoil. Similar price in reloading, what's not to like unless foot/pound at impact is an issue.

243 sounds good minus the barrel burning.
dthunter said:
I can see myself purchasing a second barrel in 260rem in the near future!
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I JUST THOUGHT I WOULD DROP A LITTLE UPDATE!

I had the opportunity to try some Berger 115 Grain VLD Match bullets today.
The 1:7.7" Twist seems to like them so far!

I tried R22 and H1000 for the first trials.

My seating depth I went with was 0.020" off the lands.

I thought I would just drop a picture with targets and all set up with a little ambiance! LOL!

Much faster than typing! For load data and load stats, it is recorded on each target.

Two targets "Appear" to have only 4 rounds in them, but rest assured I fired 5 shots on each string.

I am very pleased, and hope to test a few more powders before I start to stretch it out much further to see if the best test loads maintain their "stuff" over distance.

Hope you like the report!

 
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dthunter said:
I can see myself purchasing a second barrel in 260rem in the near future!
Click to expand...

I have the RPR in .243 Winnie and like you, I'll wait until a .260 Remmy barrel comes up in "Plug and Play" mode! :)

Mystic Player has something in the works right now with "Shilen Pre-fit" or something like that! So I will just have to be patient and see what turns up. In the meantime, I have to get experimenting with some hand loads..... :cool:

I'm running Hornady 105 grainers HPBT !

Cheers,
Barney
 
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Great to see people enjoying the 243 RPR. Target, Deer and Coyote gun all wrapped up into one awesome package.

Getting .9 to 1.1" on factory loads. About to try Sierra MK 107gr with Varget when the time permits.

Thanks for the report.
 
That would be a great option. Luv to get a 243 with a 260Rem barrel option.

Did a little research, def. not as simple as DTA or XCR with loosen and tighten bolts.

So are folks plans to shot out the 243 (should be easy with hot load), then rebarrel to 260.
TacticalTeacher said:
I have the RPR in .243 Winnie and like you, I'll wait until a .260 Remmy barrel comes up in "Plug and Play" mode! :)

Mystic Player has something in the works right now with "Shilen Pre-fit" or something like that! So I will just have to be patient and see what turns up. In the meantime, I have to get experimenting with some hand loads..... :cool:

I'm running Hornady 105 grainers HPBT !

Cheers,
Barney
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