New to Reloading
- Thread starter KLS
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BlackPowderBurner
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Check out Gordon's Reloading Tool, it's very cool free software that can help you get started and also play with different variables.
There’s some powders that may work. Now go buy the Hornady manual and memorize the first 100 pages, IME the internet is bloody awful. Burn rates vary between Lot numbers.
Start low and work up.
I own Hornady, Sierra, Speer, Nosler and Western Powders manuals. It’s the only way to see through cartridge and powder favouritism.
Sierra, Nosler and Vihtavuori have free data online.
First step is to buy a reloading manual and thoroughly read it, TWICE.
Then use the data in that manual, or go to: https://hodgdonreloading.com/rldc/
Then use the data in that manual, or go to: https://hodgdonreloading.com/rldc/
tbg@sasktel.net
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I use a program called AmmoGuide Interactive. Tons of cartridges, extensive reloading data, and exact case measurements for every reloadable cartridge. There is a subscription fee, but it isn't much, and is well worth the access to hundreds of loads.
Cool.
KLS, You've come onto a website looking for help, developing a load for your 243 Winchester?
First things first, please describe your cartridge by something other than its caliber. All of the people responding to your request are "assuming" you're looking for 243Win loads.
First off, if you aren't comfortable reading instruction manuals, or perusing the internet, and are a hands on type of individual, then you need to look for a mentor.
Before starting, you need to become familiar with the nomenclature of the hobby. That does more for most people than anything.
One reason some folks have difficulty with manuals or online searches is they don't understand and can't visualize the nomenclature and that throws the ugly spectrum of confusion into the mix.
I would suspect you're going to be hunting Coyotes and other varmints with that bullet?
The 243Win can be extremely fussy to load for and the manual suggestions above are good, if you understand how it works.
You state you're new to reloading? If you purchased a "kit" the kit usually comes with a manual.
What powder do you have available? That would be a big help.
There are a lot of suitable powders out there for the 243Win, and at this point in time, many of them are not available, due to world governments rearming and stocking up their war supplies. When governments order ammunition, everything else comes to a grinding halt in the commercial markets.
Do you have the bullet you list in your hands, and if not are they still available for purchase?
Some powders, with a specific load just seem to shoot well, no matter which rifle they're being shot from, all things being equal.
243Win rifles have twist rates anywhere from 1-8 to 1-15 and most of them don't have any indication stamped onto the barrels, so you will have to measure it.
Most commercial rifles will have a 1-10 twist and this should be reasonably accurate with your bullet of choice.
IMHO, the powder of choice, which seems to work best with bullets under 70 grains, is IMR4350. It fills the case to the best levels for consistent burns, which can be important in the lower temperatures you list. However, there is going to be a noticeable difference in trajectories between -10C and +25C.
There isn't a powder made, that will give you identical velocities at such temperature variations.
One thing that helps with velocity consistency over temperature extremes, is using MAGNUM primers for your loads.
This isn't a cure all, but it does bring the extreme velocity spreads, due to ambient temps down significantly.
The best kept secret, often overlooked by newbies to reloading, is to figure out what you are going after, fastest velocities or accuracy.
When you pick a powder/primer to play with, start with a mid suggested range load, and work up or down from there.
You don't tell us whether or not you're an experienced shooter. That's also important, so you understand what you've got.
That short bullet likes to be very close to the leade for best accuracy, if your rifle has a lot of freebore, or a worn throat, it's going to have issues giving you the accuracy you might need to hit an 8-12cm cross section or minute of Coyote chest at the ranges you plan to shoot.
My last two rifles, chambered for the 243 Win, both had 1-14 twist rates and were dedicated Coyote rifles. Both had 22 inch medium weight barrels. One was a Ruger No1 and the other was a Winchester Mod 70SA. The barrels were aftermarket and cut with the same chamber reamer, which had a "short throat" purposely for short, light bullets.
They both shot one load well. 49.0 grains of IMR4350, over CCI 250 magnum primers in Lapua cases.
This load is close to max or may even exceed it in some manuals, start a bit lower, say 47.0 grains and work up from there.
You're going to find that you will get a lot of bullet jacket fouling with the pressures and velocities you will be getting. There's no way to get away from it, so I suggest you also develop a cleaning regimen that will remove both copper and powder fouling and keep a log of round counts, so you know when you're approaching the point accuracy starts to drop off.
Don't shoot that barrel until it's hot. The type of hunting you intend to do will never require it to get hot. Three round groups are fine, five if you just can't handle it, at most. Your shots in the field will be at "ambient temperatures" You won't get any fouling shots. After the first shot, if you miss, the Coyote is long gone.
So, you want to "know" where your rifle shoots from a cold barrel and if it needs to be pre fouled beforehand for best accuracy.
Some rifles will shoot very well from a freshly cleaned barrel, most won't. I used to take my rifles to the range and shoot a couple of rounds into the target berms, the day before the hunt, and didn't clean the rifle, other than to run a DRY brush down the bore, until accuracy started to drop off.
Save yourself a lot of time and money, sight the load of preference in at ambient temperature, check it on different days with temperature swings noted and if necessary, scope adjustments or hold over notes made/memorized.
First things first, please describe your cartridge by something other than its caliber. All of the people responding to your request are "assuming" you're looking for 243Win loads.
First off, if you aren't comfortable reading instruction manuals, or perusing the internet, and are a hands on type of individual, then you need to look for a mentor.
Before starting, you need to become familiar with the nomenclature of the hobby. That does more for most people than anything.
One reason some folks have difficulty with manuals or online searches is they don't understand and can't visualize the nomenclature and that throws the ugly spectrum of confusion into the mix.
I would suspect you're going to be hunting Coyotes and other varmints with that bullet?
The 243Win can be extremely fussy to load for and the manual suggestions above are good, if you understand how it works.
You state you're new to reloading? If you purchased a "kit" the kit usually comes with a manual.
What powder do you have available? That would be a big help.
There are a lot of suitable powders out there for the 243Win, and at this point in time, many of them are not available, due to world governments rearming and stocking up their war supplies. When governments order ammunition, everything else comes to a grinding halt in the commercial markets.
Do you have the bullet you list in your hands, and if not are they still available for purchase?
Some powders, with a specific load just seem to shoot well, no matter which rifle they're being shot from, all things being equal.
243Win rifles have twist rates anywhere from 1-8 to 1-15 and most of them don't have any indication stamped onto the barrels, so you will have to measure it.
Most commercial rifles will have a 1-10 twist and this should be reasonably accurate with your bullet of choice.
IMHO, the powder of choice, which seems to work best with bullets under 70 grains, is IMR4350. It fills the case to the best levels for consistent burns, which can be important in the lower temperatures you list. However, there is going to be a noticeable difference in trajectories between -10C and +25C.
There isn't a powder made, that will give you identical velocities at such temperature variations.
One thing that helps with velocity consistency over temperature extremes, is using MAGNUM primers for your loads.
This isn't a cure all, but it does bring the extreme velocity spreads, due to ambient temps down significantly.
The best kept secret, often overlooked by newbies to reloading, is to figure out what you are going after, fastest velocities or accuracy.
When you pick a powder/primer to play with, start with a mid suggested range load, and work up or down from there.
You don't tell us whether or not you're an experienced shooter. That's also important, so you understand what you've got.
That short bullet likes to be very close to the leade for best accuracy, if your rifle has a lot of freebore, or a worn throat, it's going to have issues giving you the accuracy you might need to hit an 8-12cm cross section or minute of Coyote chest at the ranges you plan to shoot.
My last two rifles, chambered for the 243 Win, both had 1-14 twist rates and were dedicated Coyote rifles. Both had 22 inch medium weight barrels. One was a Ruger No1 and the other was a Winchester Mod 70SA. The barrels were aftermarket and cut with the same chamber reamer, which had a "short throat" purposely for short, light bullets.
They both shot one load well. 49.0 grains of IMR4350, over CCI 250 magnum primers in Lapua cases.
This load is close to max or may even exceed it in some manuals, start a bit lower, say 47.0 grains and work up from there.
You're going to find that you will get a lot of bullet jacket fouling with the pressures and velocities you will be getting. There's no way to get away from it, so I suggest you also develop a cleaning regimen that will remove both copper and powder fouling and keep a log of round counts, so you know when you're approaching the point accuracy starts to drop off.
Don't shoot that barrel until it's hot. The type of hunting you intend to do will never require it to get hot. Three round groups are fine, five if you just can't handle it, at most. Your shots in the field will be at "ambient temperatures" You won't get any fouling shots. After the first shot, if you miss, the Coyote is long gone.
So, you want to "know" where your rifle shoots from a cold barrel and if it needs to be pre fouled beforehand for best accuracy.
Some rifles will shoot very well from a freshly cleaned barrel, most won't. I used to take my rifles to the range and shoot a couple of rounds into the target berms, the day before the hunt, and didn't clean the rifle, other than to run a DRY brush down the bore, until accuracy started to drop off.
Save yourself a lot of time and money, sight the load of preference in at ambient temperature, check it on different days with temperature swings noted and if necessary, scope adjustments or hold over notes made/memorized.
I assume you have reloading equipment. If not, then that is a separate subject from developing a load.
There is no need to get overly complex. The basic steps you're looking at are:
Check in reloading manual and hodgdon reloading online to see which powders look good with that light bullet. Select powder, find powder, buy powder. Work up a load. If the results are good enough, you're done, but can also try different powders, etc.
If you aren't getting much colder than 10⁰C, you don't need to be overly concerned with temperature stability.
Let us know how you do.
When someone specifies "243 Winchester" what possible assumptions could you make that lead you to something other than 243 Winchester?
How is 243 Winchester different from 243 Win?
"243 Winchester" isn't a calibre, it is a specific cartridge.
When someone specifies "243 Winchester" what possible assumptions could you make that lead you to something other than 243 Winchester?
How is 243 Winchester different from 243 Win?
"243 Winchester" isn't a calibre, it is a specific cartridge.
OP only said ".243" in the opening post. But even then most people would still be able to make that leap of logic to grasp the cartridge being referred to is 243 Winchester.
Perhaps there is another cartridge with 243 in the name that bearhunter is worried might be confused with the 243 Winchester, but offhand I don't know of it. Maybe the ackley version?
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Excellent reply, 58 gr Hornady Vmax are on the shelf. Purchased RCBS rockchucker, 243 Win dies, Frankford arsenal case prep gear, and scale. Waiting on some gear to measure the lands in my chamber to determine proper bullet seating depth. Definitely lots to learn. I have a notebook ready to record notes for rifle use and reloading.
My son has a 223 REM that I plan to reload for as well its 24” barrel and 1:8 twist. I have 53 gr Vmax purchased for it.
Thanks a bunch
Talk to the boys at your local gunshop and ask for a couple of 115grain flat base spire point bullets.
Seat them out as far as you can, but only size about a quarter of the neck.
Just turn out the seating "STEM" but tighten the seating "DIE" to the press as you would normally, or you will have issues with repeatability. Make sure to use the "JAM NUT" each time.
Don't worry about feeding from the magazine. Use this cartridge as a blank, you can fill the primer pocket with epoxy and use it for trigger practice work later. The epoxy will give the firing pin something to come up against and prevent damage.
With a Sharpie, paint all the bullets black.
Single feed, making sure your bullet is under the extractor, then push the cartridge into the chamber until the bullet comes against resistance.
Slowly eject the cartridge and you will see marks on the bullet, where the "OGIVE" engaged the leade.
Take the bullet back to your die and screw down the seating stem ONE TURN, then put the cartridge into the shell head holder and seat the bullet a bit deeper. Repeat painting the bullet and chambering until you no longer see "leade" scrapes on the ejectected round.
This is usually a very good place to start from and often doesn't need much, if any tweaking beyond this point.
Yup, but they may not give him the same accuracy in both rifles. 243Win rifles can be quirky and depending on the barrels, depth of lands it can all go awry quickly.
Your suggestion is good if you're trying to conserve, or can't afford more than one powder, or can't find other powders. Whatever works at the time is always a good thing, in times when components are hard to find.
I'm not a proponent of one powder to cover every, or multiple needs. There are a few out there that do a great job of it, but do it best in a few.
The OP needs to get his best accuracy out of his rifle and it may or may not take a specific powder to do it.
The case capacity differences are huge between the 243Win and the 223Rem and light bullets in one, compared to the other puts it all into a different spectrum. A suitable powder for 53 grain bullets in a 223Win, may not be suitable for 58 grain bullets in a 243Win, to achieve best accuracy in both rifles.
The 53 grain bullet in the 223rem is a mid range bullet weight and long for caliber, in comparison to the 58 grain bullet in the 243win, which is light weigh and short for caliber.
That's asking a lot from one powder, but it might be doable.
The reason the manuals list a lot of different powders for each bullet weight is because the people who wrote them deduced they were "suitable" for each of the bullet calibers/weights they tested. None of the loads guarantee accuracy, but they are great places to start.
Most manuals will "highlight" a specific powder for each bullet weight as giving the best performance out of the test bed rifle they used at the time. Your rifle may not like the same powder/bullet/primer combination.
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