22-243 Middlestead

[Savageseven]

Hi fellow shooters.
Just curious how many here have owned and shot the 22-243 middlestead???

 

[Orr89rocz]

I dont have that exact thing but i have a 22-243 based wild cat. I have not played with it yet. My uncles custom bench gun he gave me and my dad after he passed. I can see what data we have on it tho

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I had one. Fastest ive ever pushed a bullet. I think if you dont already have the dies and reamer its way overkill. A 22-6mm or 22-243 will push a 22 bullet faster than itll group good anyway

 

[Savageseven]

i already bought the dies just waiting on reamer. wanting to shoot 50 and 55 grain nosler ballistic tips

 

[alf]

I had one a long time ago in a 14 twist. 55's at 4100, & 40's at 4600. First coyote I shot at with it sailed right over his back. Wasn't used to fast & flat......

Made the mistake of building it too heavy, so I sent it down the road.

 

[Savageseven]

I had one a long time ago in a 14 twist. 55's at 4100, & 40's at 4600. First coyote I shot at with it sailed right over his back. Wasn't used to fast & flat......

Made the mistake of building it too heavy, so I sent it down the road.

what did you use for powder ? and projectile ?

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

Had one of those and a 22-6MM AI...........Deer hunting, DRT. 75 grn Amax.....loaded hot - 3800fps. Max 5" PBR was almost 350 yards.

 

[Savageseven]

Had one of those and a 22-6MM AI...........Deer hunting, DRT. 75 grn Amax.....loaded hot - 3800fps. Max 5" PBR was almost 350 yards.

1-8 twist barrel ? what powders did you use for 75 A-MAX AT 3800 ?

 

[Charlie-NY]

I have used a 22-243 and 22-243AI extensively for hunting fat PA groundhogs. Used mostly RE22 at the time in an 8" twist bbl with Hornady 75gr A-Max moly bullets. Average velocity was 3,670 ft/sec and the accuracy was unbelievable. I shot my all-time tightest group of .625" @ 600yds.

That load was instant death on even the biggest hogs out to 1,000yds.

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

1/8 barrel 28"....22-6mmAI....Going by memory now....Re17 & Re22 were my go to powders.......Once again........this was a VERY HOT LOAD. Brass was only good for 5 reloads. Mediocre ejector marks but no hard lift for mine. 22-243 was not quite as fast but the deer never could tell the difference.

BTW.....barrel won't last long either.

 

[Savageseven]

1/8 barrel 28"....22-6mmAI....Going by memory now....Re17 & Re22 were my go to powders.......Once again........this was a VERY HOT LOAD. Brass was only good for 5 reloads. Mediocre ejector marks but no hard lift for mine. 22-243 was not quite as fast but the deer never could tell the difference.

BTW.....barrel won't last long either.

Oh gotcha ya i dont use any reloader powder all Hodgdon stuff for me.
H4350, VARGET, H4895,

 

[Savageseven]

1/8 barrel 28"....22-6mmAI....Going by memory now....Re17 & Re22 were my go to powders.......Once again........this was a VERY HOT LOAD. Brass was only good for 5 reloads. Mediocre ejector marks but no hard lift for mine. 22-243 was not quite as fast but the deer never could tell the difference.

BTW.....barrel won't last long either.

Would you suggest H4350 in 22-243 Middlestead with 75 grain A-Max ?

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

IMHO.........I would use a bit slower powder. BUT, the H4350 will work in it........just not the fastest.....Once you get around 3500FPS there is very little on game performance that becomes apparent. Lung cavity is blown into jello at impacts to 350 yards with a broadside shot..........which is what you want with those bullets. Never has a deer take a step after getting get.

I got rid of mine because there was very little difference in on game performance than my 22-250AI........and the barrel and brass last longer too.

I would suggest looking into the Barnes TTSX bullets for deer hunting with something like this too........shoulder shots are doable then if that's your favorite aiming point....plus you get an exit wound, just in case they do happen to run a bit. Which is very doubtful.

In any case........watch those pressure signs. When you hit a max charge with light extractor marks, that's enough (actually it's TOO much, but if your an experienced loader you know when to stop.) I pushed mine harder and got more speed but in the end it wasn't worth the wear and tear to me anymore. Now I use the 62grn Barnes TTSX in my 22-250AI when using a small bore to hunt deer with. Kills just as effectively without all the fuss.

You WILL ENJOY the fun of messing with it though!!!!!! No doubt about that!

 

[alf]

what did you use for powder ? and projectile ?

If I remember right, it was H-414 and Nosler 55 grain Solid Base, which was the pre-Ballistic Tip era.

 

[Savageseven]

IMHO.........I would use a bit slower powder. BUT, the H4350 will work in it........just not the fastest.....Once you get around 3500FPS there is very little on game performance that becomes apparent. Lung cavity is blown into jello at impacts to 350 yards with a broadside shot..........which is what you want with those bullets. Never has a deer take a step after getting get.

I got rid of mine because there was very little difference in on game performance than my 22-250AI........and the barrel and brass last longer too.

I would suggest looking into the Barnes TTSX bullets for deer hunting with something like this too........shoulder shots are doable then if that's your favorite aiming point....plus you get an exit wound, just in case they do happen to run a bit. Which is very doubtful.

In any case........watch those pressure signs. When you hit a max charge with light extractor marks, that's enough (actually it's TOO much, but if your an experienced loader you know when to stop.) I pushed mine harder and got more speed but in the end it wasn't worth the wear and tear to me anymore. Now I use the 62grn Barnes TTSX in my 22-250AI when using a small bore to hunt deer with. Kills just as effectively without all the fuss.

You WILL ENJOY the fun of messing with it though!!!!!! No doubt about that!

Like H1000 or Retumbo or is that to slow ?

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

Something around Re22 speed +/- just a bit.

The Re17 was a surprise how well it worked in the Middlestead for me. But I don't know if it just happened to be a fluke with my particular barrel. It may be worth buying a pound to try it out in yours when you get it built.

Watch your pressure signs........move in small amounts when adding powder.

 

[Savageseven]

Something around Re22 speed +/- just a bit.

The Re17 was a surprise how well it worked in the Middlestead for me. But I don't know if it just happened to be a fluke with my particular barrel. It may be worth buying a pound to try it out in yours when you get it built.

Watch your pressure signs........move in small amounts when adding powder.

Awesome. Ok what powder did you use to blow out the shoulder? Or did you just use reloader 17 straight across?

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

At the time I just used Re22 or Re17.......whichever one I was loading with. If I were doing it again, I would use the COW method and save some barrel life.

 

[Savageseven]

Will barrel make it past 900 rounds you think ? Plan on shooting 55 or 60 grain nosler ballistic tips

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

Depends on what type of accuracy you're after. Mine did very well for 750 or so then dropped rapidly.........the throat was almost non existent then. When I removed it......somewhere around 825 or so it would hold a 1 1/4 group.....but I don't think it would even hold that for another hundred rounds. I used about 100 rounds working up a very accurate load. .25 @ 100yrds was pretty regular. That gave me a barrel life of 650 or so rounds.........If all I did was deer hunt with it, it would have been fine. But I shot it often just for the fun of it.

Allow PLENTY of cooling time between shots and you MAY get 1K out of it....it eats barrels and brass in a hurry.