243 Win with a fast twist

[22vartarg]

Thinking of building a 243 Win with a 1:8 or 1:7.5 twist barrel for long range at 1000 yards. Shooting 105 to 110 grain bullet. Main issues would be low amount of recoil, very good accuracy with hand loads, good supply of brass and staying with a 6mm bullet. Am I missing another caliber? Already have a 6mm Creedmoor.

 

[Rob01]

Nothing wrong with a fast twist .243. Started using one in 2004 in matches. It did great for me. Main problem with the .243 is factory barrels are slow twist and no good match ammo so people pass it over but if building a rifle and loading ammo it will do just fine. I shot 115 DTACs in mine with a 7.5 twist.

 

[B23]

Since you are wanting to shoot the heavies for LR usage I'd take a look at the 6-284.

If you want to go the other direction on case size any of the 6BR variants are good as well as David Tubb's 6XC and the 6x47 Lapua is no slouch either.

The easiest to get top quality brass for, at least right now, would probably be the 6-284. You can pretty much always find 6.5-284 Lapua brass.

 

[Jeff Porter]

John Whidden has been very successful with a .243 in Long Range.
I have a .243 gas gun that is way more accurate than a gas gun should be with 108 ELDM and his load of N160

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[10XSHOOTER]

You might think of a .243 30* improved.
I've also had Great luck with a .243 WSSM shooting heavies. 115 Dtac's
40.5 gr H4350 with molly bullets

 

[Bill Norris]

Build it. It will impress you. My custom build 243AI BR 700 has a 1 - 7.5 TW 26 inch Krieger barrel and I shoot up to the 115 gr. Bergers @ 1/4 MOA and 80 gr. Bergers @ 1/4 MOA at 100 yds. as well. Hoping to get it out to longer ranges soon.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

Thinking of building a 243 Win with a 1:8 or 1:7.5 twist barrel for long range at 1000 yards. Shooting 105 to 110 grain bullet. Main issues would be low amount of recoil, very good accuracy with hand loads, good supply of brass and staying with a 6mm bullet. Am I missing another caliber? Already have a 6mm Creedmoor.

Yes, your MISSING, the 6 XC for,.. MUCH "Better" Barrel Life than, the .243 Win. or, the 6 Creed.
IF wanting, more Velocity and better Barrel Life with, .. SPEED go,.. 6 SLR ( Blown out .243 Win. W/ 30* shoulder )
The 1-7.5 Twist, .104 FB, works very "Well" for Me with, 80 gr. Varminters to, 108 grain, Elite Hunter Bullets.
The 6 XC is, Sweet IF, you can "Live with" 100 FPS Less than,.. the 6 Creed.

 

[Bob3700]

The 6XC is good for about 2200 rds when shooting 105-107gr. bullets. The 243 SLR is a little bit less. I have been getting 1500-1700 rds. with my SLR shooting bullets in that wt. range. From a mid to long range competition perspective, the 243SLR is every bit as good as a 6.5-284 with a better bbl. life. I think that the 243 Win has better brass quality (Lapua) than the 6XC. It will also drive heavier bullets faster with less pressure and extend the life of your brass vs the 6XC. All that said, if you are not looking at 115gr. bullets at top velocities, the 6XC us a pretty proven cartridge. Hard to beat it on any given day.

 

[SecondsCount]

My gunsmith talked me out of 243 into a 6X47L. I find it to be less sensitive to load changes compared to my 243 experience.

That said, my next 6mm will probably be a 6GT.

 

[6fatrat]

7.5 twist is what you want for the heavier 6 mm bullets in the 243.
I get 3000+ rds before a slight set back.
Steve Bair

 

[243Lapua]

I got a 243 1-8 twist Broughton Barrel .268 tight neck, fully custom built by Mike Bryant, shoot like a Bench Rest, extremely tight groups, and I mean dots. 105gr Berger VLD Hunting, 4831SC. I use it for hunting.

 

[Cade]

I built the 6mm Remington on a long action with 8 twist Lilja. Long action lets you use the longer heavier BC bullets.

 

[Rob01]

You can load up to 115s without issue in a short action .243.

 

[swd]

A Dasher or BRX will get you 95% of the speed with better accuracy, barrel life with 5gr less powder every shot.

 

[Liven The Dream]

I went 6 Remington Case 1-7.5 1000 yard Rifle 115 D-Tacks .
Hammer Short Barrel life on 2 Barrels .
My Dashers make it to 1000 yards and cheaper all the way around ?
My one Gunsmith ran a .243 shot Big Scores at 1000 with 105 HB for 500 - 700 then set back ?

 

[Zero333]

Shilen 8" twist barrel 243win with factory hunting ammo...
5 shots in less than 10 seconds with a hot barrel.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

Fill that 243 case up with N165 and enjoy the ride, allot of things contribute to barrel life not just the size of the case. Buy 243 Lapua brass, load Lapua brass with favorite bullet and shoot your 243, easy and straight forward.

 

[NZ_Fclass]

Don't discount the 6SLR. Easy to form cases - you just need the FL die, to convert 243 brass to a 30 deg shoulder and a longer neck. Run it on H2231SC or Reloader 22 with heavy bullets at around the 3000fps mark in a 7.5 twist. There a couple of different reamers available with varying freebore from Manson's

 

[xdeano]

I use to shoot a 243 factory sako. Switched from factory to a custom built in 6SLR. Pushing 105s in an 8twist. It shoots scary little groups.

Last summer I built a 6T for my son on a 7.5twist to shoot the 88grn hammers and 105 bergers. It shoots them both very well, just not with the speed of the 6SLR. I'm still a huge advocate of the 6SLR. It gives you velocity with a long neck and 30 degree shoulder, its basically a 6xc long.

Brass is easy too, just run your brass through a sizing die and it does everything, you have to run new brass through a die anyhow to straighten out the necks, so why not make something of the trip. Just cheap 243 brass reshouldered with a long neck.

There is another one called the 6 CM (competition match) not creedmoor! It utilizes a 243 brass also but blows out the shoulder to 31 degrees, so fireforming is involved, much like a 243AI at 40 degrees.

I did a ton of research on 6mm performance and all the benefits turn back to the 6slr. Its just easy.

Xdeano

 

[22vartarg]

I thank everybody for their suggestions and ideas. Since I’m already set up for a factory 1:10 243 Winchester, I think I will stay in that direction because I have plenty of brass and I already have a dies set. I have ordered a faster twist barrel and will put together the build and see how it performs.