Suggestions for .243 Varmint bullets...?

Mount Sweetness

Mount Sweetness

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I am trying to find a light flat shooting .243 bullet that I can shoot at high velocities for varmint hunting.
I am looking for longer bullets, the 62gr Barnes Varmint Grenades are .965in long, the Nosler 55gr Silvertips are .864in long......light bullets in .243 are hard to find around 1 inch in length.
I am thinking that the longer bullets may stabilize better in my Savage Model 14 with 1:9.25 twist.

Any suggestions on accurate flat shooting .243 varmint bullets to use in a 1:9.25 twist?
Or will shorter bullets still stabilize at high velocities between 3600 and 4000fps?

Anyone have experience?
 
55 gr Sierra BK's

out of my Rem 700 9.25 twist with 20" Pipe and H380 cloverleaf at 100 yards and are coming out at over 3700. Groups start opening up if pushed harder than that.
 
I had a 243 with a 1:9 1/8 twist, it shot 55 gr Nosler BT well, 70 gr Nosler BT even better. It's a very good twist rate for shooting almost any bullet. Probably ideal between 70 & 90 gr
 
My sons .243 has the same twist and it loves 65grn Vmax's and Varget powder. 5/8" 5shot groups @ 100yrds with a 22" sporter barrel. The 65's are .835" and the 75's (shoots them well also) are .931"

Good Shootin'

Tim
 
I have pretty much the same twist as yours. Nosler (CT) Bal-S'Tip 55's pushed by H4895 can reach 4050+ accurately if you want and they shoot fine @ 3800 with RL-15 for me. SubMOA no sweat.
 
I'll be experimenting with the 55gr Nosler SilverTips and the 70gr Nosler Baltips. Hoping to get something shooting flat. If these two don't cut it my next option will be the 65gr V-max.
I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Thanks for your help!
 
.243

I have one that likes the 87g V-max as well. Have not had a chance to try them on anything but paper but they seem to group nice.
 
My savage with a 1:9.25 shoots best it seems with heavier bullets.. some loads i've tried are.

55g Sierra BlitzKings with H4895, Shoots about MOA (about 4000 fps)
75g Vmax's with IMR4895, shoots 1/2 - 3/4 MOA (about 3400 fps)
100g Hornady BTSPs with IMR4350, shoots under 1/2 moa (about 2900 fps)

Seems the cheapest bullets have shot the best, though im pretty sure its just the weight. All of these loads were max or near max. I'd like to try some 105g Amaxs next....
 
Mount Sweetness said:
I am trying to find a light flat shooting .243 bullet that I can shoot at high velocities for varmint hunting.
I am looking for longer bullets, the 62gr Barnes Varmint Grenades are .965in long, the Nosler 55gr Silvertips are .864in long......light bullets in .243 are hard to find around 1 inch in length.
I am thinking that the longer bullets may stabilize better in my Savage Model 14 with 1:9.25 twist.

Any suggestions on accurate flat shooting .243 varmint bullets to use in a 1:9.25 twist?
Or will shorter bullets still stabilize at high velocities between 3600 and 4000fps?

Anyone have experience?
Click to expand...


You got to be kidding, long, which equals heavy bullet at 4000 feet per second. My suggestion is to find a bullet that groups tightest and learn how to shoot. My wife owns two Sako L57's and I have yet to find a load that these suckers wont shoot in to a one hole.
My favorite load was Hornandy 70 gr. SXSP, but they made a mess out of foxes and coyotes, so I switched to 75 gr. VMAX. Knocks them down good and leaves usable hide.
OK let me have it.
 
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