long bullets that dont stabilize.

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So i bought this Forbes 243.Awesome little rifle. tried the 103 gr ELDX. They keyholed with every load. I am guessing the twist rate is not tight enough?
I measured the twist in the barell . 1-10 . 0r 1-11 as far as I can tell.
Thinking of a shorter bullet choice..
Any Ideas that may work out in this rifle. Loads or bullet choices.

Thanks Chris.
 
Anything over 100gr is on the long and heavy side for a 243. I'm a little surprised you aren't having more success as the popularity of the 243 Win. over the 244/6mm Rem was that it had a tighter twist for heavier hunting bullets as compared to the Remington.

If driving them as fast as possible isn't working for you trying a shorter bullet of the same weight could work. Going to a flat base instead of a boattail might do it.

Otherwise it's a matter of working you way down the list until you find shorter bullets that are happy in your barrel.
 
vagrantviking said:
Anything over 100gr is on the long and heavy side for a 243. I'm a little surprised you aren't having more success as the popularity of the 243 Win. over the 244/6mm Rem was that it had a tighter twist for heavier hunting bullets as compared to the Remington.

If driving them as fast as possible isn't working for you trying a shorter bullet of the same weight could work. Going to a flat base instead of a boattail might do it.

Otherwise it's a matter of working you way down the list until you find shorter bullets that are happy in your barrel.
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Because the 6mm rem had a 12 twist.

For those long bullets you'll need a faster twist. Stick with 100gr soft point or go lighter if you need a plastic tip.
 
My Savage 243 with 1:10 really likes the 87gr bullets and as they work so well on deer and coyotes I have never seen the need for heavier ones. 87gr V-Max for coyotes and, I know everybody hates them, 87gr Berger Hunting VLD for deer. Both are stupid accurate and shoot to within an inch of each other at 100 yds. I have shot coyotes with the Bergers, hugely destructive, but would not think of trying a V-Max, also pretty destructive on coyotes but I don't do hides, on deer.
 
hometownhero said:
Because the 6mm rem had a 12 twist.

For those long bullets you'll need a faster twist. Stick with 100gr soft point or go lighter if you need a plastic tip.
Click to expand...

The 244 Remington had a 1 in 12 twist.
The 6 MM Remington had a 1 in 10.

I have yet to try the 85 Grain Barnes

When I tried the 115 barnes in my 25-06 they would not stabilize but the 100's are fine.

With many rifles it is a fine line. Some 243's have a 9 1/8 but generally 1 in 10.

For rapid expansion the 80 Grain Remington Power Loc HP is great. Years ago it was Remington's version of their match bullet.
 
I would guess that you would require a 1:9 twist min with those bullets to shoot well. With the 1:10 twist that Forbes have and long bullets you be limited to 90g. Might be possible to try Barnes tsx 85 or a Serria 87g or 90 eldx. It might be possible to shoot the 103 in a 1:91/8 twist barrel.
 
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It's not so much about the weight of the bullet but more about the length of the bullet.
As mentioned before try a soft point flat base as they usually are shorter.
 
horseman2 said:
The 244 Remington had a 1 in 12 twist.
The 6 MM Remington had a 1 in 10 twist

When the 244 came out it did indeed have a 1 in 12 inch twist and the 243 had a 1 in 10 inch twist. The 244 would stabalize up to 90 gr bullets while the 243 would handle 100 gr bullets and that made it a lot more desireable as a varmit/deer rifle. When Rem dropped the 244 headstamp and brought out the 6mm Rem it came with a 1 in 9 inch twist
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