.243 to .308? Thoughts please.

[songdogslayer]

Greetings,

Well, I've determined my .243 Win has its best days behind it. I really like the caliber and I'm wondering if it would be better to have the barrel set back,cut new throat) or have it re-barreled to a larger caliber? The current rig is a Savage BVSS Model 12 with a 26' stainless fluted pipe. Used to shoot awesome, now shooting not so awesome.
I've been considering ordering a replacement barrel from Shilen, too, but I've heard it takes an awful long time to get your barrel . . . and I don't know the first thing about switching them out.
Any suggestions? ,yes, I've tried different loads - powders, primers, bullets, COL, neck trimming for uniformity . . . it's the gun, not the gunner).
Thanks for any input . . .
-Scott

 

[colliers_customs]

you never said what you use the rifle for.

Jake

 

[cliffy]

I shoot a .243 Winchester as my main deer hunting caliber, yet I have been considering the massive power increase of a .308 Winchester. Will I give up my .243 Winchester? NO! Will I add a .308 Winnie Pooh? MAYBE. Reloading .243 Winchester for years has made me a believer of its prowess with correct bullets for the application. Heading toward more recoil within the .308 Winchester makes me a bit apprehensive. I have a weak heart due to a severe Heart Attack in 2000. Thanks to being right eye dominant, since I could not tolerate the recoil though my left shoulder where the 'heart attachments' are located. My right shoulder can take a lot more shock than my left. Give up my .243 . . . Never: Add a .308 with 165 grainers, I want to test a few first. Cliffy

 

[songdogslayer]

cc, I had a paragraph written which described exactly what the rifle is used for and then thought to myself 'these guys aren't going to want to read this . . . ' and deleted it!
I live in NE Montana, lot of ranchers out here and a lot more coyotes. I call coyotes a lot - but I also have many, many places where I can setup with my LRF, spotting scope, anemometer and my cheat cards to smash coyotes from 'stand off' range. The shots can be anywhere from 400 to 700+ yards. The rifle hasn't been the same since I took it after prairie dogs a year ago and let someone else shoot it. And boy did they shoot it! Made that bolt action sound like an auto-loader. I was off in another section of the doggy town with my .223 and when I heard them bangin away I headed back . . . told him that's too many rounds in too few seconds for the rifle to tolerate! But the damage was done, I believe.
There you have it . . . someone please play taps as we lay this barrel to rest.

 

[songdogslayer]

cliffy, I have a .338 Win Mag in Browning Safari Classic tucked away in the gun safe for my larger game. I have shot at least a half dozen white tail and muleys with my .243 though - usually directly through the heart if they are outside a couple hundred yards, inside that range & they get it in the neck.

I would like a .308, however. Never owned one, but I know it has to kick a lot less than my .338 Win Mag!

 

[colliers_customs]

6 one half a dozen the other. that being said my choice would be the 308 just cause of cheaper brass and longer barrel life. that is just me like i said both will work great for what you want.


Jake

 

[SomeFool]

Scott.. I had the same thoughts .. I took an old Savage that was a .243, and after the accuracy had faded, I bought a drop-in .308 win and a muzzle brake. Not to start a debate over calibers, but in hindsight I think I might be happier now with a 7mm-08, or .260. The very next project rifle I built was a fast twist .243 to replace it.

 

[jlmurphy]

I have a varmint .243, heavy barreled .308's and to tell the truth, the one I usually end up shooting is the 6.5x55. A very forgiving cartridge, 100 grains for varmints, 140's for long range, doesn't kick much, much better for long range than the .308, better in the wind than the .243.

 

[jo191145]

http://savageshooters.com/SavageForum/index.php/topic,14194.0.html

Need Savage barrel? Call Jim. The link is for instock customs ready to ship.
Changing a barrel is super easy once you get the original off. They can be awful tight sometimes.

 

[sandrifle]

I just recently posted this reply to someone asking a similar ? on another forum, but was rebarreling a mag faced long action. I was just trying to point out the lack of real need for a magnum level cartridge when the "girly" but awesome 243 does what magnums couldn't. Don't underestimate a cartridge until you have proved it inadequate. Try a Broughton, Bartlein or Krieger barrel in an 8 twist and use 107 MK or Berger 115s and you will be amazed and I like you cannot shoot anymore recoil due to a neck injury and surgery. As an ending detail for the below, the steel plate penetrated was 3/16 mild, I think I have pictures showing the splats vs. holes I can scan to show the proof.

Go for another 243.

Well I guess I'll jump in and add to your confusion of long range caliber selection. I'm a nobody, haven't killed anyone in the "Sand Box", but over the last 20+ years I have shot a lot of steel targets with various cartridges and bullet designs in the quest for the ultimate setup to defend the planet from armor plated alien invaders from space. I had my eyes opened one day when I was showing off shooting a 300 Win Mag at 1750Y with 180 Ballistic tips and 190 MKs, when a newbie to long range shooting showed up with his newly acquired $5k rifle which he had been shooting at "his" standard of long range of 800Y. We challenged/ encouraged him to try our 1750 target after helping him get setup with his scope and he connected to our amazement on his first round and then proceeded to do so 3 additional times.

Sorry to drag out the drama so far to what it actually was that he did this with but I just want you to have the same feeling of complete let down that we did at the time about our ultimate setups. Anyway the real bummer was that his rounds actually penetrated the steel and ours would only take the paint off the plate and in the case of 2 impacts in the same location the plate might get deformed by the 190s.

My whole point of all of the preceding is to open your mind up to thinking outside the box so to speak. He was shooting a standard 243 Win chamber with 107 Sierras. I know you are dealing with a mag faced long action re-barreling project but you might want to rethink altogether. In addition it is a very common caliber/availability, relatively decent barrel life and low recoil and fun to shoot even without a brake. Sectional density is often overlooked, 6mm is a great long range choice, look at how popular the 6BR has become at 1000Y. Run the ballistics with of the 115 Berger against the 6.5s and 7s figure in the cost of magnum performance, components, barrel life, recoil and it becomes hard to justify all the excess to gain so little over the woman's and beginner kid's kids deer rifle cartridge the totally forgotten 243 Win. Sell you action to someone who needs a magnum and build something fun to shoot that will kill armor plated aliens at a mile.

 

[watercam]

As the proud owner of a match rifle in .243 that gets shot a LOT (2000 rounds to date - during a match it will see twenty to fourty rounds rapid fire regularly) you might consider polishing the bore before you dump it. Rough throats are a big deterrent to good accuracy. Get all of the copper out and hit it with both JB bore cleaning/polishing products. Then lap with 600 grit lapping compound (Brownell's brand works great) on a patched brush up and back maybe ten times and clean. The next patch you run through it should feel like it's riding on glass.
If you have 2000 or more rounds through it then yes it's done. If not it may come back. I do the above every 500 rounds or so with no other cleaning and the gun has shot .5-.7
moa throughout its life. Or get the .308 you really want.

 

[Steve Blair]

I'm biased toward the 6mm Remington and currently own two. With greater powder capacity and 9" twist, they are a bit more versatile than the .243. I also own four .308 rifles and consider that cartridge among the best. As Jake noted, this is an application question. Since it is a Savage, you can own several barrels and switch them easily.

As for barrels, I have found the McGowen barrels to shoot well and are reasonably priced.

 

[Rust]

Get a replacement barrel from one of the better suppliers of pre-chambered Savage barrels, a Go gauge, barrel nut wrench and screw the barrel on yourself.

Stick with the .243. You are familiar with the cartridge, and it's done everything you've needed it to do so far. IMO the .308 isn't any better a deer cartridge than the .243 with a 95 or 100 gr hunting bullet. And for varmints the .243 has superior ballistics.

 

[cliffy]

Rust, you nailed it. Never surrender a good .243 Winchester. With a Point Blank Range of 236 yards, a 90 grain Swift Scirocco II bullet, backed by 44 grains of H4350, will take a Pronghorn or Muley at 300 yards with no fuss because it's so easy on the shoulder and harbors over 1300 ft/lbs of energy at 300 yards with a 3.6" bullet drop which is easy to compensate for via two clicks of the average scope sighted for 236 yards or 35 yards (samething). Cliffy