- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Seeing that I had a long running hole in my collection to handle varmint duties and still be able to take deer, I picked up a CZ 557 Lux short action with detachable mag. I could use some advice on ammo and loading.
Picked up my first 243
- Thread starter The Kurgan
- Start date
- Location
- Western Manitoba
I perhaps make it un-neccessarily complicated - my last "store made" rifle was a Ruger Compact (16.5" barrel) in 243 Win, with a 2-7x33 Leupold scope. I thought it was about the perfect "old guy's" combination, for what I do. Now I have a 24" 257 Robert's barrel on order for a Mauser 98 - so that too was touted as the ideal "varmint + deer" combination. My intention is 95 grain Partition in the little 243 Win and 115 Partition or 117 grain Interlock in the 257 Roberts - whichever I can find a good load for. Just do not see self using either for varmints - I would most likely take the 223 Rem or a 22-250 with 50 or 55 grain V-Max or B-Tip - whichever that I have on hand. Actually, next time in gopher patch will likely be with an aperture sighted 9.3x57 and 285 grain cast bullets - just because.
I do load .243" 55 grain V-Max with start load of Hunter powder for my grandson to use in his 243 Win - seems to scare hell out of gophers and various varmints on the other Grandpa's farm, I am told. More importantly, gives him a chance to practice handling larger cartridges than .22 rimfire - loading magazine, etc. - where do you stow spare rounds, or spare magazine - does it do you any good in a hurry? - and to learn to pass up shots that he knows he can not make or that has the farm dog is down range - all realistic "hunting" stuff that he does not normally get at a shooting table at a range.
I do load .243" 55 grain V-Max with start load of Hunter powder for my grandson to use in his 243 Win - seems to scare hell out of gophers and various varmints on the other Grandpa's farm, I am told. More importantly, gives him a chance to practice handling larger cartridges than .22 rimfire - loading magazine, etc. - where do you stow spare rounds, or spare magazine - does it do you any good in a hurry? - and to learn to pass up shots that he knows he can not make or that has the farm dog is down range - all realistic "hunting" stuff that he does not normally get at a shooting table at a range.
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I am loving the 6mm or .243 joy.
Running the 75 gr. Vmax booolit for the coyotes , exiting around 3000 fps… nice and mild. Nothing fancy. No barn burners. Just accurate and flat enough shooting.
Also running the 95 gr. SST booolit for deer, but that’s merely a back up rig. I’m a .45-70 fan boy to the big boomers get the nod in the bushy hunting areas of WMU 47 south of the French River, ON.
And here are the big boomers for bush pushing and parking my old butt at ground level…
Yeah, the .243 is a super rig for both worlds…
Peace Be The Journey!
Cheers, Barney
Running the 75 gr. Vmax booolit for the coyotes , exiting around 3000 fps… nice and mild. Nothing fancy. No barn burners. Just accurate and flat enough shooting.
Also running the 95 gr. SST booolit for deer, but that’s merely a back up rig. I’m a .45-70 fan boy to the big boomers get the nod in the bushy hunting areas of WMU 47 south of the French River, ON.
And here are the big boomers for bush pushing and parking my old butt at ground level…
Yeah, the .243 is a super rig for both worlds…
Peace Be The Journey!
Cheers, Barney
Attachments
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Really excited for a replacement varmint rig. My last one was a Zastava LK22H in 22 Hornet. Not enough power to reach out, but a fine round for under 150 metres. I have a few boxes of Remington 80 gr PSP's to try out in the new CZ 557 which has a 1:10 twist.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
I do not know if the Remington .243" 80 grain PSP are marketed as a varmint bullet or a deer bullet - sure would be nice to find one loading that would work for both. Way back "in the day" (late 1970's), I was trying to find a suitable bullet for my wife's 19" barrel 243 Win - I settled on an 85 grain Speer SPBT, which was advertised as a "game" bullet. She took a mule deer buck with a single shot through the chest, and about 15 years later our son took his first white tail - a doe - with same rifle and same bullets - also with a single shot through the chest. At the time, there were other brands of 85 grain bullets, but all were listed as a "varmint" bullet.
One of my favourite cartridges. The 243 benefits from great Lapua brass and a wide bullet selection. I have been shooting the 77gr Lapua OTM lately; very accurate on paper. You can get most powders to work but my favourite is imr4350. The 80 ttsx is what I’ve loaded for wolves which have been elusive.
cdn1canhunt
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- southwestern ontario
65gr V-Max 44 gr IMR 4350. 4 hits covered by a quarter at 100yrds
Medium burn rate powders seem to work best. 80gr bullets offer the highest BC
You honestly can’t go wrong with the .243 something you want to shoot will shoot well.
Enjoy!
Medium burn rate powders seem to work best. 80gr bullets offer the highest BC
You honestly can’t go wrong with the .243 something you want to shoot will shoot well.
Enjoy!
I shoot the 6mm Remington, which is only slightly faster than the 243. I shoot 2 bullets for
varmints, the 75 Speer FBHP and the Nosler 70 ballistic tip. Both are deadly accurate, and
devastating on crow sized varmints, and up to and including coyotes.
For deer and similar game, I have 3 solid choices: The 95 or 100 Partition, or the 90 grain
Swift Scirocco II. These generally kill deer like you pulled the rug out from under them.
I'm sure the similar weight Accubonds would work well also, but have not used them on game.
Enjoy your 243! It is a great chambering that serves for a wide variety of game. Dave.
varmints, the 75 Speer FBHP and the Nosler 70 ballistic tip. Both are deadly accurate, and
devastating on crow sized varmints, and up to and including coyotes.
For deer and similar game, I have 3 solid choices: The 95 or 100 Partition, or the 90 grain
Swift Scirocco II. These generally kill deer like you pulled the rug out from under them.
I'm sure the similar weight Accubonds would work well also, but have not used them on game.
Enjoy your 243! It is a great chambering that serves for a wide variety of game. Dave.
john-brennan
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island B.C.
I find the 55gr BT fpr pests and 90gr accubonds for deer and antelope in my tikka t3x .243 both very accurate
Dalyarcher
New member
- Location
- Clinton, BC
factory rounds, I was shooting Hornady Whitetail 100 grain interlocks with great range success, have not put anything down with them yet. I am just starting the reloading journey and plan on working a load with 70 grain Speer TNT hollowpoints for coyote and was considering 85 grain Barnes TSX for bear. I have a Remington American Predator with a 4-12x44 Vortex on top. Its a fun rifle at the range and I am going to load some introductory rounds with trailboss to get my 9 year old behind the rifle.
sharp shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Essex county (Ontario)
I have two and I love both. I only load them as Varmint and target rifles. I shoot 55 grain and 70 grain ballistic tips. Varget with the 70’s and 4166 with the 55’s. Most powders worked well but the two mentioned worked really well. The Browning HB Safari loves the 70’s and the Belgium BAR loves the 55’s. Photo of a 5 shot group with the Safari HB. There was a staple on the edge of the group which ripped the paper making it look bigger.
The 243 is a great cartridge as others have said. And some good recipes that I am noting as well as I am about to start reloading for the 243. Mine I had rebarreled to a 1:8 twist and it likes the 90 - 100 gr bullets but have not really tried the lighter ones yet.
On the ammo side, I found the Sako 243 ammo was superb. You can sometimes get a deal on it which it even more attractive.
T3X Rifle (Krieger barrel) and 100 gr Sako Gamehead available at most Cdn Tires. Love the cartridge. Results at 100 m.
On the ammo side, I found the Sako 243 ammo was superb. You can sometimes get a deal on it which it even more attractive.
T3X Rifle (Krieger barrel) and 100 gr Sako Gamehead available at most Cdn Tires. Love the cartridge. Results at 100 m.
Attachments
I almost bought a 243 over Christmas to go with all the loading tools and brass I have for that chambering. After having a quick look around I realized that 6mm bullets were pretty much N/A in Canada right now. While I do have some bullets here for my 6CM, I don't have any others for another rifle so passed on the purchase.
For years, I was smugly biased against the 243 and other 6mms as I owned a much cooler 257R which was in my mind a superior chambering. I rationed that the 100gr 6mm was too small for deer while the 25cal 100gr was perfect. <eye roll> Slowly I realized that the 243 really did offer a few real advantages over the 257 and was offered in a LOT more rifles. Live and learn.
The only beef I have about the 243 is that the 700 S/A mag box at 2.8" really limits seating out longer bullets, thus the reason for the 6CM here.
For years, I was smugly biased against the 243 and other 6mms as I owned a much cooler 257R which was in my mind a superior chambering. I rationed that the 100gr 6mm was too small for deer while the 25cal 100gr was perfect. <eye roll> Slowly I realized that the 243 really did offer a few real advantages over the 257 and was offered in a LOT more rifles. Live and learn.
The only beef I have about the 243 is that the 700 S/A mag box at 2.8" really limits seating out longer bullets, thus the reason for the 6CM here.
I shot .243 rifles for most of my life... very pleasant cartridge to shoot, very flat shooting and accurate in the rifles I owned. Bullets and brass are readily available too. I have been without a .243 for a few years now and it happened gradually over time... I found that I was doing all of my predator and the bulk of my range shooting with various .22 centerfire cartridges and my preference for hunting deer sized game begins at 6.5mm and up... so my .243 and 6mm Rem rifles were just not getting used. However, I am in the same situation as SuperCub, in that I have dies and bags of .243 brass and bullets in my shop... it is only a matter of time until I pick up another .243.
