bullets for a 22" 9.25 twist barrel .243

[mattri]

New Savage has a 22" barrel with a 9.25 twist. What weight bullets should I be looking at to use in this barrel? 55-85? Thanks Matt.

 

[therifler]

Re: bullets for a 22" 9.25 twist barrel

Mattri, it should stabilize 65-77 gr quite well assuming this is .223 .

 

[mattri]

thanks for the reply, can't believe I forgot to list the caliber. I edited the topic now, sorry about that.

What I was trying to ask was what is the spread in weights that this will stabilize? Min weight, max? Thanks, Matt.

 

[therifler]

That makes a big diference 85 -100 and i have seen in some of the rifles i build handle 105's .

 

[mattri]

Yeah that was really dumb of me sorry. So the lightest bullet to use would be an 85 grn?

 

[jo191145]

mattri

I just started with my first Savage 243 9.25 twist 26" barrel.

105 A-Maxs stabilize good from what I can tell so far. I haven't had a chance to fine tune a load but they all make normal holes out to 200yds. Farthest I can shoot at home. I only had one box on hand. fired 90 rds in load development with two powders with some very erratic results.
Towards the end the flyers were up to 24" high at 200. My 6500 Elite had bit the dust!!!
Last 10 with different scope grouped around 1 moa. Basically gotta chuck all that data.
Starting over with the 87's. for now.

It may turn out they're not stabile enough to shoot little groups for me. Others have claimed good accuracy in Sav 9.25's

I tried 8 rds with the 58 V-Max just to make sure they held together.
Nice 2 shot groups anyway:-\ I'm looking for a little more BC with less velocity.

 

[mattri]

OK thanks for the reply.

Now we have a selection from 58 to 105.

 

[jo191145]

OK thanks for the reply.

Now we have a selection from 58 to 105.

YES That is essentially correct. The 9.25 twist might not be perfect (little too fast) for the lightweights. It might not be perfect (little too slow) for the heavies. Mine will shoot them all though.

So far I've had some good results with 68 & 80gn Bergers. All my load data is circumspect though as my scope died somewhere along the way. I also did not spend alot of time on any one bullet. I sort of jumped through the spectrum I had on hand just to see if it refused to shoot a specific length/weight.

Just in case... Length of the projectile is the biggest factor in stabilization not weight. Its categorized in weights just to make things easier for your average consumer. Heavier weight usually means longer pill. Especially years ago before VLD and lead free varmint bullets were commonly available. Nowadays thats not always the case.

My 105 A-Max were 1.22? long. Going by memory, none left to measure. My older lot of 105 Berger are 1.220 on average. Same with my few remaining Berger 108's.
I've seen others claim their 105 Bergs are in the 1.250 range.

The question becomes, What do you want that Stevens sporter to do? Its a great whitetail/coyote gun for little money. 80-100gn "Hunting" style bullets are probably perfect for the 9.25 twist.

 

[mattri]

Good point re application.
I have a .270 that is my deer rifle, this gun will be for target shooting and light varmints. I'm not looking for a hunting round, instead going for max accuracy.

 

[jo191145]

Good point re application.
I have a .270 that is my deer rifle, this gun will be for target shooting and light varmints. I'm not looking for a hunting round, instead going for max accuracy.

OK Matt

Considering its just a pencil barrel sporter rifle target shooting is not its forte. Barrels gonna heat up fast. No Accu trigger and a flimsy stock. I've heard some glowing reports on these cheap guns tho.

My bet would be on the 68gn Berger for max accuracy. I've always found its much easier to get a light/short bullet for twist to shoot accurate than find a perfect load for a heavy/long bullet thats marginal for twist.
Hornady 58,65,75 V-Max are a great economical choice too. The 87 V-Max should be good too but I've never had a whole lot of luck with them even in a 8 twist.
My 14 twist 6BR should shoot 68gn Bergs just fine. It shoots them OK. When I tried the little 58 V-Max in it it just shot any charge weight so much better. So much easier to tune it was'nt worth finding the exact load for the 68 Bergs.

JMO The major key to getting any Savage rifle to shoot great is finding the right powder the barrel likes. Usually its a slightly sooty powder, especially when its new. Helps keep copper fouling in check.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

I have a .243 Win. with a 21" barrel 10" twist and it likes the 70 gr. Nosler ballistic tips. Just had the barrel on this rig recrowned and I shot a .237 3 shot group with the 70 gr. Nosler ballistic tip on top of 39.5 gr. of H4895 RP brass and WLR primers jumped .020", nothin special. I have some 80 gr. Nosler ballistic tips that I haven't tried yet.

Mike