85 gr Barnes for .243 for deer

[summitsitter]

After seeing my sister shoot a small buck the other day with the .243 I bought here I wasn't very impressed with the Factory Remington Accu-points ( In a hurry and had to got factory stuff). Anyways I ordered some 85gr Barnes to load up for her. Anybody got a good standard load. I have never loaded any Barnes bullets, but I think this caliber calls for them. Thanks

 

[40X Guy]

I shoot 85's for deer in my .243 (Nosler Partition) with 44.0 grains of IMR-4350. Very accurate. The Barnes manual calls for 46.0 grains of RL-19 under an 85 grain Barnes bullet. These are the 2 powders I would try with the Barnes 85 grain bullet. I assume you have ordered a box of TSX BT's. Both of these loads are out of reloading manuals and are max, so the usual work up to this load warnings apply.

Frank

 

[summitsitter]

Thanks I'll try the RL 19. I got a couple pounds of it laying around that I'm not shooting in anything right now.

 

[260Ravage]

I load the 85gr. barnes with 38 grains of IMR4064. It is super accurate. Seat them deep.
Ilet mine jump approx. .070".

 

[Bulseyetom]

I second what Ravage says, seat them to jump. Play with the seating depth after you settle on the most accurate charge. If you start with a .070 jump, then you can safely seat farther out until you only jump .010 without increasing pressures. Someplace will be a spot that your rifle will tell you it likes. My 6x47 shoots them around 1/2 moa. Tom

 

[zcrackshot]

I load for my good friends Ruger 243 Win. We loaded the 85 grain TSX over 37.6 gr of IMR 4320. Not the hottest load but it's where his gun shot best. We also jumped them in the .065 range. He shot them for 2 years but after losing 2 deer he switched to 95 gr VLD's and hasn't had one go more than 15 yards since. We load them over 45.5 gr of RL-22 and they shoot great! They also carry considerably flatter at long range than the TSX's. Best of luck to you!