80 Grain Berger Varmints 243 Winchester

[soldierofchrist]

Hey Guys, I was wondering if you had any good loads for the 80 grain Berger Varmint bullet and the 243 Winchester. My barrel has a 1-10" twist and is 24" long. I bought a box of these bullets to use them for coyote hunting and was wondering if anybody has had any experience with them. I have a couple pounds of Alliant's Reloader 17 and Varget, use federal 210M Primers and use Lapua Brass. Any information and opinions any of you have would be appreciated. Anybody that has Quickload data would be thanked immensly as well.

 

[Steve Blair]

I shoot 6mm Remingtons that are 9" twist, but the Bergers should shoot very well in your .243. With a max load of 49.0 H4350, I shot 5 in .167 from my H-S barreled 40-X. That load averaged 3570 fps. Five 5-shot groups averaged .389. Everyone I know, including me, that has used the Berger 80 MV on coyotes swears by them. Good choice.

The attached QuickLOAD PDF shows 44 RL17 at 3300. It is very likely a MAX load. Please reduce to 40 and go up in .4 increments.

 

[soldierofchrist]

Thanks for the data. I have heard good things about the bullet. I was wondering if the 80 grainers like being jumped or seated into the lands?

 

[Steve Blair]

Every rifle is different and experimentation is the only way to determine the best seating depth in your rifle. One of my 6mms works best with a .020 jump and the other just touching, both with Berger 80s. Try those two settings, it is likely that one will shoot well. The 80 MV is a very forgiving bullet.