.243 barrel length ?

[joefish]

more than a few br. guys i have talked to have said that'short and fat is where its at'. rem and sav sell their varmint and target guns with 26-30 inch barrels. there a big diff between 22 and 30 inches. my rem vls has a 26 inch,it weights a ton,ok off the bench,but i want to deer hunt with it. please someone shed some light,its dark in here.

 

[Taildrag15X]

I've hunted white tail for years,still hunting) with a Rem. 20' barrel, both semi auto and bolt action, both work fine. I'd never think of setting up on the line for ANY type of Match/Benchrest Shoot with anything less than a varmint contour.

Your talking about different things in your question, BR shooters are talking about BR, a Long Range shooter will talk Long Range, and a hunter will talk Hunting, and eveyone will have there own idea what works best.

 

[Ackman]

Things that apply to one discipline don't necessarily apply to another. The benchrest guys are shooting PPC's. The .243 uses about 20gr more powder. A 20'-22' barrelled .243 has considerable muzzle blast and isn't real pleasant to shoot.

 

[cliffy]

My .243 Winnie Pooh Remington 700 CDL has a 24' barrel with 1-in-9 1/8' twist and is very pleasant to shoot. No, it's not a 'MATCH' quality rifle, but it is a great hunting rifle. I replaced the Sasquatch Heavy stock trigger with a 2 1/2 pounder by Rifle Basics. I mainly shoot 90 grain Swift Scirocco IIs and 100 grain Speer Grand Slams because this is my Antelope/Pig rig. Scopewise: 4.5-14x40mm Nikon Buckmaster. 4.5 power at 30 yards offhand gives excellent results bullseyewise. I use 12 power at 100 yards for grins. cliffy

 

[joefish]

interesting,would it be a big mistake if i shortend my barrel from 26 to 22 inches?

 

[cliffy]

Do Not Shorten your barrel, as the precision developed within your barrel length is what the manufacturer desired to offer you. We are talking HUNTING GRADE here, not 1000 yard mastery. Within 300 yards makes 20-24' barrels fast-acting and precise enough for General Hunting of BIG GAME. A 100 grain Nosler Partition works well here, while it isn't a 600 yard paper-pecker by any means. Learning what works best for your situation is what handloading is all about. cliffy

 

[cliffy]

From a tree stand, 26 inch barrels CAN work well. From the ground, 24 inches is plenty long for practical ranges of 100 to 300 yards. Whatever you shoot well from an offhand position will suffice. Cliffy

 

[longhunter43071]

20' would kill a lot of velocity out of a .243,cut down your effective range and wow,big muzzle blast.

 

[j_22250]

i was actually thinking about this myself. right now i have a 22in. barrel on my 243 and it's not too bad. the only complaint is when i shoot from a bench i have a lot of muzzle jump. i dont really think you would lose alot of velocity if you used a faster burning powder, but then you would not be able to fill up the case. a smaller 6mm cartride like a 6x47L or 6br would better suite your needs. I'm am currently shooting 37grs varget in my 6x47L.

i've heard of things like ballistic tips not expanding in the ruger short barreled 243's and i think they are either 18 or 19-1/2 lengths.

I've also heard that federal match loads for .308 burn completly in a 20' barrel with no more than 40fps loss from a 24'. I'm sure that the 308 bore diameter contributes alot to the powder burning completely in a shorter barrel.

i like my factory remmy .243 w/22in barrel. it is sort of my go to gun since i dont keep it locked up. I shoot factory winchester ammo and i know that at out to 220 yards a 100gr power point goes completly thru both shoulders of a deer breaking every bone.

 

[Taildrag15X]

j_22250

You should give the Hornady 87gr V-Max a try, it's what I've used to a greater distance, and when placed in the neck just below the ear it drops them without any meat loss.

 

[j_22250]

a shot placed behind the shoulder with the 100gr. PP's doesn't do that much meat damage and is where i usally like to hit 'em. This one i hit a little foward on and was completly my bad. i was really impressed on the bullet performance tho. I shoot 85bthp in my 6x47l and have not had a chance to try it on deer yet. a coyote i shot made a small entry hole with one about the size of a 50 cent piece comming out. So it should do really well on deer. I think the vmax bullets would be great for varmints and longer shots on deer, but i would be afraid of a bad shot in the shoulder not penetrating. I am a great shot and get one hole groups all the time at the range, but sh!t happens and hunting is alot different than shooting targets. I feel like it's better to be safe than sorry. I also perfer BT bullets. jst my personal preference. There is absolutly nothing wrong w/ vmax and i may actually try some in my .243.

If someone was to put a shorter barrel i would definatly recomend a heavier contour. there is not really much difference from a 20-22in. barrel so i am going to leave mine alone.