243 and Berger 90s

[Mudder]

Hi there-
Newbie here. Im working on loads for a 10 twist 243. Its an Ed Brown with a Shilen barrel. Been loading for accuracy for about a year so still learning.

Ive tried Berger 80s, Berger 90s, BiB 95s, 95MKs with H414 and H4350. So far my best success has been the Berger 80s and 90s with about 43g H414. The BIB and Sierra 95s dont seem to be stabilizing in my 10 twist.

What kind of short range accuracy can I expect from a 243? It does not seem like I will be able to get as small of groups as with my my 6BR. Maybe its me

Thank you for any help!

 

[xdeano]

My old Sako 243 loved the 90g Bergers. I was using varget and getting some really decent velocity. They're hell on coyotes though. But grouped great on paper.

xdeano

 

[johnmyers]

Your 243 probably won't shoot quite as good as a 6br but it should do pretty well. 95SMKs stabilized well in my 10 twist and were very accurate. For short range the Sierra 80 Blitz shot better than anything I tried.

 

[WyleWD]

Your 243 probably won't shoot quite as good as a 6br but it should do pretty well. 95SMKs stabilized well in my 10 twist and were very accurate. For short range the Sierra 80 Blitz shot better than anything I tried.

I am a big fan of the 243 with the 10 twist for hunting. I agree with John that the 80gr Sierra blitz bullet is a VERY accurate bullet with the 10 twist. Followed closely by the good old 85gr HPBT by Sierra, which IMHO, is the most versitile bullet for hunting in the 6mm kingdom of bullets. Ive taken everything from Pdogs to large whitetails and a couple pretty fair wild hogs with them and remain impressed with its performance.


Using 95gr bullets out of a 10 twist seems to be about the top of the weight spectrum out of my rifle. I tried them, they were ok close and not so ok at longer distances out of my rifle. WD

 

[Mudder]

Your 243 probably won't shoot quite as good as a 6br but it should do pretty well. 95SMKs stabilized well in my 10 twist and were very accurate. For short range the Sierra 80 Blitz shot better than anything I tried.

I am a big fan of the 243 with the 10 twist for hunting. I agree with John that the 80gr Sierra blitz bullet is a VERY accurate bullet with the 10 twist. Followed closely by the good old 85gr HPBT by Sierra, which IMHO, is the most versitile bullet for hunting in the 6mm kingdom of bullets. Ive taken everything from Pdogs to large whitetails and a couple pretty fair wild hogs with them and remain impressed with its performance.


Using 95gr bullets out of a 10 twist seems to be about the top of the weight spectrum out of my rifle. I tried them, they were ok close and not so ok at longer distances out of my rifle. WD

Thanks guys. What kind of powders are you liking?
I'll probably be shooting 300-500 with it but I'm working at 100 developing loads to start.

 

[WyleWD]

You can start with any of these... ww760, H-414, N550, R-17, 4350, R-15, 3031, in that order. WD

 

[K22]

My model 700 remington with a factory 24" barrel shoots under 1/2 moa with Nosler 90 grain BT's and IMR 4350. The only modification I've made is to restock the rifle with a Hogue full bedding block stock which also free floats the barrel.

I've tried a bunch of powders and found that IMR 4350 works best with heavier bullets (85 and above) whereas IMR 4064 works best with 80 and below although I've used 4350 for 80 gran Sierra blitz bullets with outstanding results. Incidently, that bullet is an outstanding long range varmint bullet. In my rifle it shoots sub 1/2 moa and is very flat shooting.

The 85 grain Sierra BTHP shoots very well also especially with 4350 powder. This is an excellent all around bullet for both varmints and white tail.

The Sierra Pro Hunter 100 grain is another fine bullet and economical to boot. Again - in my rifle it works best with 4350 and is a very good deer bullet.

The 243 is truly one of the greatest cartridges of all time in my humble opinion. I've not experienced the claims that barrels wear out prematurely - for hunting and even varmint applications. I've been shooting the 243 for over 40 years and it's my favorite cartridge next to the 223.

 

[johnmyers]

H4350 usually worked well for me. 4064 used to work well for the lighter bullets but it has changed and is not as good as it once was.

 

[243winxb]

IMR 4831-IMR4350-H4350 all work with 90 gr.

 

[Mudder]

Thanks guys. Seems like a consensus on the 4350. Ill work with that more.

 

[Jeff Peinhardt]

try 44 gr of hybrid 100V.....vg in 243......90gr bergers