What a wonderful site this is!!! I am new to varminting/target shooting and am just looking for some general advice. Through much research and diliberation I have just ordered a remington 700 sps varmint .243(LH). I will be reloading for this rifle but other than my loads what else can I do to make this a 600yd+ gun? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Ben
.243 Advice
- Thread starter benjamin1031
- Start date
Hey Ben! The best advice I can give you is to shoot it and see how it does. I know those rifles don't have free floated barrels from the factory so if it doesn't shoot good right away, I would look at replacing the stock! I was considering buying the same exact rifle but, in a right hand version, and asked the same question as you. The biggest thing that most told me was the stock. Look at the Bell & Carlson medalist line of stocks. If I'm not mistaken they have an aluminum internal bedding block that runs the full length of the stock. If they don't offer one, I'm pretty sure H.S. Precision does. I wish you the best of luck with your new rifle and I hope it shoots tiny little groups for ya! A trigger probably wouldn't hurt things either! You can get a Jewel with safety for around $230.00. Rifle Basix makes a little more affordable trigger too! Once again good luck!
Mike
Mike
benjamin1031: Excellent advice from Mike, and to add: Yes fire the rifle "as is", and establish what it will do, then go to work to improve it. For $70, Neil Jones (Neil Jones Custom Products, Saegertown Pa.) can clean-up and tune your Remington trigger to a minimum of 1#. He has done 5 of my 6 Rem 700's, plus a spare assembly I keep on hand if one should develop a problem. The factory stocks all leave a lot to be desired, the main problem being the narrow, rounded forend. For accuracy testing of ammo, there is too much torque/twisting in the front bag. The B&C Medalist line of stocks (have 3) are very good as are the H-S Precisions (have those also). The wide, flat 2 1/4" forend is a very big advantage. B&C are priced right (about $220), and are usually readily available. H-S approx. $320, usually with a waiting period. My only problem with the B&C is the high cheekpiece that makes it difficult when using the boreguide, and my "Hawkeye" borescope. It's high enough that it interferes having a "straight shot" into the receiver. Must use a very long cleaning rod or one with a small dia. handle that will clear the top of the comb. This post is getting too long, PM me if any questions.
If you aren't hand loading, might want to start. Not a lot of factory match ammo for the .243 and premium ammo is what would shoot the best. Try bullets up to 100-105 gr., the twist in that factory barrel (1-10") probably won't stabilize anything heavier. Try H4831 and Reloader 19 powders.
I actually will be reloading but am a novice so I figured some of the advice might fly over my head. And also will be mostly shooting off of a harris bipod so I'm not sure if the narrow fore end of the stock will be a problem. Back to the reloading... how about die selection? With my .45 acp I really like carbide dies can I do the same with the 243 with good results?
my prefrance is rcbs. i love the carbide die's for pistols but its not necesary for rifle.
get a can of Imperial Case Sizing Wax it makes the brass fit a lil snuger in the die but make half the mess of uther lube's.
with the carbide dies u do not have to use sizing lube with the pistol rounds
BUT with rifles u have to no mater what
get a can of Imperial Case Sizing Wax it makes the brass fit a lil snuger in the die but make half the mess of uther lube's.
with the carbide dies u do not have to use sizing lube with the pistol rounds
BUT with rifles u have to no mater what
I have a number of reloading dies for the 243, and have been pleased with them all. Hornady still has their Get Loaded program that gives you a free box of bullets with their dies...not a bad place to start. In the six or so Savage and Remington 243's that I've played with, the 70 gr Nosler and 60 gr Sierra produced great accuracy and explosive performance on varmints if that is an issue. The BC on the Nosler is much better, so you might start there.
How about bullet choices for a 9 1/8" twist?? I would like to be able to do at least 600yds and I'm not too worried about hitting animals with it, mostly just paper.
My experience lately with the new remingtons as a service center, the best thing that could happen to that gun is a new stock, trigger job, new crown and have the barrel set back 1 turn and the chamber moved ahead. I no its kind of a pain waiting for your smith to get it done but it would be worth the wait.
enjoy.
kyle
enjoy.
kyle
for 600yds i would not go lower than 90gr and 9 1/4tw will shoot the 105Amax. 95gr will be fine...
BC and what your gun likes will be the key from here.
as far as dies,call Sinclair for Forster FL sizer and micro-seater.
and while you're at Sinclairs,get a can of imperial wax! you'll be glad you did.
if you have a forster press,damn! look out!
BC and what your gun likes will be the key from here.
as far as dies,call Sinclair for Forster FL sizer and micro-seater.
and while you're at Sinclairs,get a can of imperial wax! you'll be glad you did.
if you have a forster press,damn! look out!
oh if only my howa was a 1-9 insted of a 1-10
The beloved 105 Amax lol
The beloved 105 Amax lol
I guess my ignorance will have to come out now but here it goes. What is a crown and what does it mean to have the barrel turned and chamber moved forward?
highmaster82
competitive highpower for 45 years
take a dollar bill and see if it will slide between the barrel and forend if it will the barrel is floated if not scrape material away where it binds, this is called floating the barrel,as for dies for the money you cant beat lee dies ,95 grain sierra or berger are the heaviest that will realibly work in your barrel,use a good load of 4350 or 4831 ,for 600 yds most 243 barrels shooting loads like this anly last about 1200 to 1600 shots ,shoot it and enjoy it ,it wont live long,a good .308 barrel will go 4000 to 5000 shots BWD
the crown is the cone shape at the vary end of your barle unles you have a target crown in witch case it wil be flat and slitly recest. floting your barel is the vary first thing you shold do to any rifle unles you have a full langth stok and it is beded a peas of 100 grit sand paper works farly well
The crown is a critical part to your accuracy, its important that the bullet exits evenly. We do remington warranty work and a new crown along with removing 1 turn from your barrel extension and advancing the chamber ahead has proven to make those factory guns shoot a bunch better. It all depends on what it is you want out of your gun?
Ben, might I suggest getting a bump gauge comparator for the .243 Win. cases, a 6mm bullet comparator, and a comparator body! Before you take this gun out and shoot it, take a "new" piece of brass and measure it with the bump guage comparator! After that, load some rounds and go out and shoot this rig! When you get back, measure some of "once fired" brass! Subtract the "new" from the "once fired" and this should tell you how much your brass is growing and whether or not the headspacing is correct from the factory! My Savage 22-250 has about .006" of play in the headspace! From what I've been told, case heads start separating around .008" of play in the headspace! As far as getting the barrel recrowned, let the barrel tell you whats going on! If it doesn't group for shit, and you're doing your part, go ahead and then have it recrowned! No sense in spending money if it isn't necessary! Just my opinion! I almost forgot, get a Hornady O.A.L. gauge with modified .243 Win. case so you can measure the O.A.L. of a loaded round for your gun! This is where the 6mm bullet comparator comes into play! I know this is alot to digest at once but, trust me, this will all help you in the long run! Theres directions with all of these tools as to how to use them. If you get confused, post it on here and we will be more than happy to help! Have fun shootin!
Mike
Mike
Wow Mike, that is a lot to digest. But I appreciate the advice, honestly those are exsactly the little tid bits I was after. This is my first gun to try to shoot long range with so trying to learn as I go. Thanks to everybody. Ben
Mike
.006" headspace while not optimum is not really that bad. For one your assuming your unfired brass is correct. Most likely your Savage chamber is closer to spec than the brass providing it was installed at the factory. I've seen virgin brass deviate as much as .011" in headspace measurements between different manufacturers. Now THATS HUGE IMO ;D
Disregarding any annealing we might do at home virgin brass is in its softest state. If need be it will stretch/fireform much greater distances than .006"
The problem with case head seperation comes from people who do not set up thier full length dies correctly. Continually bump those shoulders back .006" and yes, eventually the brass will stretch beyond its means and seperate.
That being said all my Savage tubes are headspaced for a crush fit on the particular lot of virgin brass I intend to use in that barrel. Keeps stretch to a bare minimum. Factory ammo may not chamber but I could'nt afford much of that anyway
On that brass that was .011" shorter than the competitions. I was not able to adjust my guns headspace quite that low without the bolt hitting the barrel stub.
.006" headspace while not optimum is not really that bad. For one your assuming your unfired brass is correct. Most likely your Savage chamber is closer to spec than the brass providing it was installed at the factory. I've seen virgin brass deviate as much as .011" in headspace measurements between different manufacturers. Now THATS HUGE IMO ;D
Disregarding any annealing we might do at home virgin brass is in its softest state. If need be it will stretch/fireform much greater distances than .006"
The problem with case head seperation comes from people who do not set up thier full length dies correctly. Continually bump those shoulders back .006" and yes, eventually the brass will stretch beyond its means and seperate.
That being said all my Savage tubes are headspaced for a crush fit on the particular lot of virgin brass I intend to use in that barrel. Keeps stretch to a bare minimum. Factory ammo may not chamber but I could'nt afford much of that anyway
On that brass that was .011" shorter than the competitions. I was not able to adjust my guns headspace quite that low without the bolt hitting the barrel stub.
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