.243 heavy barrel

[Cubby]

Looking for ideas on a heavy barrel .243, which rifle would you recommend? I'm really set on .243 so no need to offer other calibers.
Budget is under $1000. Main use will be p-dogs

 

[MikeT49]

Find a used short action barrel nut gun. (Rem 783, Savage, etc.) Buy a good aftermarket barrel to your specs and screw that puppy on. When you burn that one up shooting PDs, screw on a new one.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I shoot 243. I have several barrels in 243 and they do perform very well. There are some issues with 243, one being that short neck can make donuts and can be an issue if you have to seat deep enough to mag feed. I would suggest you build a 6xc with one of my Budget Benchrest Varmint Vaporizer (BBVV) prefits for Remington 700. Same performance. Less powder. Inexpensive and still shoots the same bullets the same speed. No short neck issues. No donut worries.

If you are dead set on a 243 my favorite was my 243 Ruger VT. A bone stock Remington varmint SPS would be fine. Even better would be to find a Remington 5r 308 on Armslist and screw the barrel off and install mine

 

[drover]

A couple of things to think about here - Are you buying it for long-range PD shooting using VLD type bullets? If so then you need to give the twist some consideration since it will take a faster than normal twist to stabilize the longer bullets, that will limit your choices or rifles available.

Are you buy it for a high-volume PD rifle? If so do some re-thinking of a 243. While it will work the 243 is not a good high-volume cartridge for PD's, too much recoil, too much powder, too short of a barrel life. In a high-volume PD enviroment it is possible to burn out the throat in a 243 in a days shooting unless you good self-control, which means that you will spend more time waiting for the barrel to cool than you will shooting.

If you are after something for just the occassional PD of opportunity then an off-the shelf heavy barrel Savage or Remington will serve you well enough.

drover

 

[searcher]

I have only owned one .243, a Ruger Varmint-weight model I have had for many years. I am fortunate to own a lot of very accurate custom rifles but I can honestly say one of the best groups I ever shot was with this factory-barrel rifle (changed out to Timney trigger). I'd buy it again - or a Savage. Just remember you won't be shooting the 105 grain bullets with a factory twist tube most likely. I shoot Barnes 62 Varmint Grenades and 55 V-Maxes.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I can't imagine you burning up a barrel in one day no matter how hard you shoot it but I keep hearing that on the internet and I've shot my Barrels pretty hard.

From my testing I really suggest that you shoot at least and 80 grain bullet the 85 or the 87 or maybe even the 90 grain GameChanger or something along those lines unless you're just going to be shooting a couple hundred yards which the light bullets can be really good out to about three hundred and then after that they're just total crap from my testing. They just slow down too fast because of the low ballistic coefficient. You can still get amazing explosions with the 85 and 87 grain Sierra and Hornady bullets and you will make a lot more contacts.

 

[urbanrifleman]

That is kind of the premise behind my prefit Barrel is that you don't have to worry about burning it up if you go on a couple of prayerprairie dog trips and burn up one of my barrels you just call me and I'll send you another one and you can install it in about 20 minutes and you're ready to go. All for the price less than the price of a blank.

 

[Cubby]

This would be in addition to my other 4 p-dog rifles which include, savage model 12 in .223, model 12 in 22-250, ruger rancher in .223, a savage pro varmint in .17hmr, and a ruger m77 in .17hmr.
I have everything to reload 243 is why I was thinking I wanted one. We shoot a lot of p-dogs through out 4 months so maybe I will look at another 22-250 instead

 

[shooter65]

I went the Remage route with my 243.

 

[shooter65]

This barrel would work well for your intended use.

https://www.eabco.net/eabcoaccuracybarrelfitsremington700243winchester18blue

 

[stacy]

This would be in addition to my other 4 p-dog rifles which include, savage model 12 in .223, model 12 in 22-250, ruger rancher in .223, a savage pro varmint in .17hmr, and a ruger m77 in .17hmr.
I have everything to reload 243 is why I was thinking I wanted one. We shoot a lot of p-dogs through out 4 months so maybe I will look at another 22-250 instead

CAN I SUGGEST THAT IF NOT A 243 YOU WANTED AND YOU HAVE A 22-250 ALREADY SCREW ON A 6BR BARREL AND THE REST IS HISTORY YOU ALREADY HAVE THE BULLETS

 

[drover]

I can't imagine you burning up a barrel in one day no matter how hard you shoot it but I keep hearing that on the internet and I've shot my Barrels pretty hard.

I did not say "burn up a barrel", I said burn out the throat.

OP - If you are going to duplicate calibers then why not another 223 instead of a 22/250? Using a 40 gr bullet in the 223 @ 3750 -3800 fps virtually duplicates the drift and drop of the 22/250 with the 50 gr bullet 3800 fps. The 223 uses less powder, has less recoil and brass is more readily available and cheaper.

For heavy PD shooting I take two 223's with identical loads, let one cool while shooting the other one and never have to think about differences in drift and drop between more than one cartridge or bullet weight. It just makes things simpler and more consistent. - The KISS principle.

drover

 

[Ackman]

I can't imagine you burning up a barrel in one day no matter how hard you shoot it but I keep hearing that on the internet and I've shot my Barrels pretty hard.

It's very possible if you shoot it real hard. A real good dogtown and it can happen. Don't know if shooting like that is available today. One friend who's on here has done it many times and would go through a .243 barrel every trip, either scrap the barrel or cut a bunch off and rechamber. I've been in towns like that and could easily have gone through a .243 barrel if it weren't for also using 5 or 6 other guns.

 

[Ackman]

I did not say "burn up a barrel", I said burn out the throat.

OP - If you are going to duplicate calibers then why not another 223 instead of a 22/250? Using a 40 gr bullet in the 223 @ 3750 -3800 fps virtually duplicates the drift and drop of the 22/250 with the 50 gr bullet 3800 fps. The 223 uses less powder, has less recoil and brass is more readily available and cheaper.

For heavy PD shooting I take two 223's with identical loads, let one cool while shooting the other one and never have to think about differences in drift and drop between more than one cartridge or bullet weight. It just makes things simpler and more consistent. - The KISS principle.

drover

The advantage to smaller case cartridges burning less powder. Especially in 110 deg heat.

 

[urbanrifleman]

CAN I SUGGEST THAT IF NOT A 243 YOU WANTED AND YOU HAVE A 22-250 ALREADY SCREW ON A 6BR BARREL AND THE REST IS HISTORY YOU ALREADY HAVE THE BULLETS

The 6bra with zero freebore will smoke a 22-250. I will have those too

 

[K22]

Setting aside the issue of the appropriateness of the 243 Win for high volume varmint shooting, I'd opt for the Tikka T3x Varmint Model, i.e. 24" heavy contour barrel. Trigger is great, extractor design reliable, action smooth as silk, stock stiff enough. I have one in 223 Rem and it an excellent rifle. The high comb is also nice for aligning the eye to the scope.


With IMR 4064 or 4350 and the Sierra 80 grain Blitz bullet it would be quite a package for long range varmint shooting.

 

[WyleWD]

Remington 700 BDL with a stainless Remington contour varmint barrel from Kreiger or a Ruger VT. JME. WD

 

[SBS]

This would be in addition to my other 4 p-dog rifles which include, savage model 12 in .223, model 12 in 22-250, ruger rancher in .223, a savage pro varmint in .17hmr, and a ruger m77 in .17hmr.
I have everything to reload 243 is why I was thinking I wanted one. We shoot a lot of p-dogs through out 4 months so maybe I will look at another 22-250 instead

A .243 is no worse than the .22-250 concerning throat erosion, so if you're doing all right with the .22-250, you'll do fine with the .243. Pair it up with a 87 V-Max and you'll have a superior long range round to the .22-250. Use it for the days when the only shots available are long and the wind is strong. I use my big 6mm's sparingly, but they're the right medicine for those situations. Went through over 2000 rds. at PD's last season and only about 1000 this (Covid thing) and not many with long range 6mm calibers (.243, 6mm Rem., 6mm AI), so they last a long time. When shooting those calibers, I keep a short range rifle close by so I can use it on those that seem to suddenly pop up close. I would 2nd the idea of buying a premium aftermarket barrel since you need as much accuracy as you can obtain for those long range shots. I figure I need under 1/2 MOA out of short range calibers, but 3/8 or less for long range under adverse conditions. I seldom can get that from factory varmint barrels on a consistent basis, particularly in these larger cases.

 

[Bangs OH]

For a thousand bucks, you could buy two .243 Remington 783 Varmints! Check ‘em out.

 

[rjtfroggy]

Not walk around guns but give a look at the Savage VLP or BVSS.
VLP has a detachable mag 26" stainless barrel, laminate stock.
BVSS has a blind mag and the rest is the same.
Both under a $1000 and in stock at Buds Guns, with free shipping.