New to 243, some questions.

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Calum

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Well today I picked my new to me deer blaster up at the local post office.

A little H&R handi rifle in .243.
Wow what a neat rifle.

Thanks badbrass. :)

Anyway I'm totally new to the 243 ballistics so I was wondering when I do get it to the range...what distance should I sight it in at?

I'll be using a Bushnell red dot or a 3x9 x40 scope.

The average sighting range for Deer here on Van island is 20 to 200 yards.
I won't shoot at stuff beyond 300 yards until I really know the rifle and my capabilities with it.

I think I'll be using the 95 grain bullet weight for our local tiny blacktail deer, store bought ammo at first until I get dies and such.

Anyway any info or tips would be great. :)
 
I just started to play with one myself - 16" barrelled Ruger compact. Ive enlisted the wife's help to fill some deer tags !!

Now I just need more time to work up a proper load. Im just going to dial it dead on at 100....she will never need to shoot farther than that where we hunt.

100 grain bullets and h4831 for now. Might have to try some hodgdon's reduced loads if push comes to shove.
 
A .243 that is 1.5 inches high at 100 yards will actually be about 6-7 inches low at 300 yards depending on the type of bullet used. Just take a look at the ballistic tables.

I would suggest a 100 grain Nosler Partition or Speer Grand Slam over a good dose of H1000. You will get approx. 3000 fps. Sight in for 3" high at 100 and you will be in the boiler room on a deer at any reasonable distance.

If you don't handload, there are many good premium loads out there.
 
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"...Sight in for 3" high at 100..." Yep. On target, on deer sized game, out to about 300 with no hold over. 95 and 100 grain bullets drop like a brick past there. Mind you, Handi-Rifles don't have great barrels or triggers. It may not be accurate enough for 300 yards.
"...or a..." Go with the scope. Red dots cover too much of the target at 100. Usually about 4" at 100. Have a 2.5 to 8 Scopechief(they were much better scopes 30 years ago) on my rifle. 3 to 9 will do nicely though.
"...Sunray suggesting..." That'd be rediculous. Just like your comment. Been shooting and loading for the .243 for over 30 years.
"...I am also sure he will..." A personal attack from a moderator?
 
sunray said:
Have a 2.5 to 8 Scopechief(they were much better scopes 30 years ago) on my rifle. 3 to 9 will do nicely though.
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I have an old very used 3x9 scope chief II (with command post) that I got a few years back for my .22's, and it turned out to have pretty clear optics, decent eye relief.

I might try it just for the hell of it on this rifle if the eye piece turns out to be too large on my Bushnell dusk to dawn scope.
 
.243

I always wanted to play with the .243 as well. But being a cheap son-of-a-gun, I picked up a discount Stevens 200 from SIR before they became Cabelas. I scoped it with an econo Simmons 4-12x40mm AO that was also on discount from a local gunshop. Picked up an assortment of .243 factory ammo cheap at local gunshows to try out & to get some fireformed brass from. Have also since acquired a set of .243 dies to workup some loads when I get around to that.

Also, I agree the older Scopechief scopes are diamonds in the rough if you can score one at a gunshow.

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
Congrats on the new toy, one of my favorite cartridges.

I've always sighted mine in about 1.5 inches high at 100 yards. If you want a fun round to play with I like the 55 grain ballistic tip around 4000 FPS. The rifle I used to use had a 26 inch barrel and yours has a 22 I think but you could still get those little buggers humming along. Very little recoil and very good accuracy and they do wonderful things to little critters. :D

Oddly enough my last .243 was a 700 and I tried to use the 95 grain ballistic tip and it just didn't like those. Too bad too cause I really like that purple tip.
 
I just started working up a load for my "new" 243 as well using Sierra Game kings 100 gr and Reloader 22 powder. My rifle didn't like the starting loads very much as my groups were terrible until I broke the 2800 fps barrier at 43.4 grains of powder, when the shots all went into the same hole! Max load is 43.8 according to my load data, but I ran out of time and didn't get to try that load.
So far, I'm very impressed with the accuracy, and can't wait to see what this gun can do on deer in the fall.
 
proonur said:
I just started working up a load for my "new" 243 as well using Sierra Game kings 100 gr and Reloader 22 powder. My rifle didn't like the starting loads very much as my groups were terrible until I broke the 2800 fps barrier at 43.4 grains of powder, when the shots all went into the same hole! Max load is 43.8 according to my load data, but I ran out of time and didn't get to try that load.
So far, I'm very impressed with the accuracy, and can't wait to see what this gun can do on deer in the fall.
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You didn't say what kind of a rifle you have. That 100 grain bullet probably wasn't stabilized with the low powder charge. It had nothing to do with what your rifle liked, it likely was just a case of not enough speed to stabilize the heavy bullet.
If you have a strong bolt action rifle, that slow powder should drive the bullet into, or very close to, 3100 feet per second. There should be no change in accuracy of the rifle between 2800 and 3100 fps. If there is a change and the groups open up, the rifle is badly in need of rebedding.
 
H4831 said:
You didn't say what kind of a rifle you have. That 100 grain bullet probably wasn't stabilized with the low powder charge. It had nothing to do with what your rifle liked, it likely was just a case of not enough speed to stabilize the heavy bullet.
If you have a strong bolt action rifle, that slow powder should drive the bullet into, or very close to, 3100 feet per second. There should be no change in accuracy of the rifle between 2800 and 3100 fps. If there is a change and the groups open up, the rifle is badly in need of rebedding.
Click to expand...

Exactly right. It says on the box for the bullets that BC is only .430 when the bullet travels more than 2800 fps. I was just working my way up as always when loading for a new rifle, that's why I started with a "slow" load, which proved to be less accurate. The max velocity for this bullet on the load data chart from Sierra is actually only 2900 fps at 43.8 gr of RL22. I'm sure that the rifle (Browning X bolt) action could handle the pressures needed to push the bullet to 3100 fps as you say, but I'm not prepared to go there as the accuracy is already good enough.
 
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