The 243 & the 75 VMAX

I've discovered that the chamber in my Tikka is short. So far, with 2 different bullets, I have to load my rounds shorter than book spec or they get stuck in the rifling. I have never had this problem before. I have always been able to load longer if I wanted, until now.
 
thatmikeguy said:
I've discovered that the chamber in my Tikka is short. So far, with 2 different bullets, I have to load my rounds shorter than book spec or they get stuck in the rifling. I have never had this problem before. I have always been able to load longer if I wanted, until now.
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My .243 Tikka started out as a .308, rebarrelled to .243 this spring with a take-off Tikka barrel I found on the EE. My gunsmith said all he had to do to get the headspace right was to remove the .308 barrel and screw in the .243. Headspace is spot on, and the rifle is accurate beyond my expectations.
I'm seating my 75 gr V-Max to an overall length of 2.648", which gives me 0.020" jump to the lands. Yours may well be different, barrels are individual things. I think Tikka's QC is excellent, just the same.
The Hornady manual lists two different numbers, one in the initial generic .243 blurb at the beginning which states max COL at 2.710", then in the bullet-specific section for the 75 gr V-Max it specs COL at 2.640".
How long are your loaded rounds?
My base to ogive measurements are irrelevant, I use a home made ogive gauge.
 
I used a Hornady OAL tool. My Sierra 85 hpbt's max length is 2.60" and for the vmax, 2.62". It's not a problem though. It shoots great. Just thought this was odd as I ha e always been safe a book specs.
 
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Since we're all over the map anyway, I've had amazing success with a Nosler 90 gr Accubond over 39.5gr of IMR4831, right out of Nosler's manual. I subbed a Federal 210 primer for the Remington it called for. Your mileage may vary, but my Tikka really liked it.
 
Has anyone tried the Nosler 95 grain ballistic tip with Varget? I'm curious if that would work. If I go deer hunting then I don't want to buy extra powder for that cause that's a very small part of what I do with a rifle. (I have seen Varget loads for that bullet)
 
I've loaded my .243 with 75 gr vmax using 4064, Varget, 4350 and 4320. 4350 being consistently the best and 4320 a very close 2nd. After that Varget, ....4064 performed poorly in 1-9 savage twist. Although it may behave better with a heavier bullet? Or a different twist rate.

65 gr v-max performed best with 4320. One hole groups at 100yrds
Seems best results for me in my .243 have been with medium burn rate powders
 
i had good results with varget, but over 55gr bullets. the faster the more accurate, i my go to load im pushing around 3800ft/sec (as per loading data on hogdens website)
but i found out that same bullet with 4895H works the opposite, the slower velocities give me better groupings
thats coming out of Savage M11
 
That's some impressive velocity. I also find that hot loads with Varget tend to work better. How long is your barrel? That's 22-250 performance except the 22-250 needs a 26" barrel to achieve that.
 
again. that's according to hegdons loading data, i had no chance to confirm the velocity ( chronographer is in my to buy list, unfortunately)
the model 11 has a 22 in barrel, if memory serves me right
 
Does anyone have Varget load data for the 75 vmax? Hornady doesn't list list Varget and from what I can extrapolate from other manuals, max is 41 grains yet I see some guys going as high 42 grains. Currently I'm loading them with 40 grains of Varget at 2.62" long and getting 3320fps which is producing 5/8" groups.
I'm wondering if I can get more speed but it shoots great so maybe I should leave it alone...
 
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thatmikeguy said:
Agreed.
What I meant was that if my group were to tighten by .020" after trying a new primer I would not be convinced it's a better load and certainly won't experiment with hundreds of rounds to determine such. It may just mean I got lucky or I flinched last time. In the competition world this matters. To me a 20 thou difference is nothing. I would still choose the load or bullet I like better.
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Right on, Mike.

Bruce
 
thatmikeguy said:
I shot an amazing group today with my Sierra 85 grain BTHP load.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk2oqfaqkrpytkc/2435Shots.jpg?dl=0
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That's what my groups look like with that Bullet with 760 or IMR 4350 in 3 different 243's does not matter which primer.
Have never been able to get Varget to work for me.
Now that I have moved to Superformance that's a whole new story. It works the best for me and I have just started working with it.

I have always been able to get a one hole one shot group, after that it's always my ability to duplicate that first shot.
4831 I would really like to sit down and chat for a while, to bad we live so far away from each other. We have a lot of the same views.

There is a lot of difference between hunting and bench rest shooting
David
 
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257Roberts said:
That's what my groups look like with that Bullet with 760 or IMR 4350 in 3 different 243's does not matter which primer.
Have never been able to get Varget to work for me.
Now that I have moved to Superformance that's a whole new story. It works the best for me and I have just started working with it.

I have always been able to get a one hole one shot group, after that it's always my ability to duplicate that first shot.
4831 I would really like to sit down and chat for a while, to bad we live so far away from each other. We have a lot of the same views.

There is a lot of difference between hunting and bench rest shooting
David
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Which bullets are you loading with superformance?
 
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