Hornady 105gr BTHP vs. 108gr ELD Match

[Rob01]

No, was just responding to the poster. Sorry for the tag.

Ok just got confused when you quoted me.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Ok just got confused when you quoted me.

My bad.

 

[LOBO2]

Standard .243 Win. I have never like fireforming. LOL

Just wanted to be sure. Thanks.

 

[LOBO2]

Hey bro. I am currently doing some 243 stuff myself. I have a Bartlein 243 1-8 barrel in my AR10 and it shot so good I ordered one for my benchrest rifle. It shipped yesterday!!!

I really think you need to do an honest load workup at 100 first. I posted targets on my load workup for 223A in the 22 forum. Three shots each target. Take the book max load and add .3 grains to it. I would think you would want 40.8 as max with IMR 4350 and 108s. Now subtract .3 and work your way down until you have 8 charges.

40.8, 40.5, 40.2, 39.9, 39.6, 39.3, 39, 38.7 Seat your bullets to touching (like using a Sinclair tool or a split necked case) +.020. We will call this hard jamb.

Start at the bottom and shoot the three shot groups as best you can watching conditions. Do this twice. This is 16 targets total. If you hit pressure STOP. Pressure would be hard bolt lift or really flat primers. I doubt you will see much pressure with these loads. Look for the tight nodes and the scater nodes. You should find a tight node at 40-40.8. Once you know the nodes you can get very serious about choosing a load. Shooting over a chrony can be very educational at the same time.

If you already knew this stuff, please forgive me. I have to do the same thing myself.

Also, you could shoot a 500 yard ladder instead. That is a great way to find the sweet spot also. The loading would still be the same. One shot per charge. Watch for the bullets at the same vertical. Repeat three times.

I appreciate the info. I'm not new to reloading, been doing it since 1997, but I am new to the .243 Winchester. The reason I asked about Robs load being standard or AI is because I noticed it was above what Hodgdon recommends for H4350 & 105 gr bullets. I've noticed that seems to be a common theme with a lot of .243 win/H4350/105 gr loads.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I am getting ready to do a load work up with Vit n160 and Berger 108s. Hopefully this weekend.

 

[bigfella350]

No problem. I haven't tried the 110s but a buddy did in his 6XC and found them very finicky and stopped using them. Tough to tune a load.

They’re very finicky in my custom 243 as well. I have a 7twist barrel and still problems

 

[Rob01]

They’re very finicky in my custom 243 as well. I have a 7twist barrel and still problems

Yeah I think that is the byproduct of pushing the limits of BCs in that weight and caliber. Sometimes the small amount of extra BC points aren't worth the headache and barrel life wasted trying to make it work especially in a 6mm.

 

[bigfella350]

Yeah I think your right. Got the gun at a bargain tho so couldn’t pass it up. It’s a Stiller action, 7 twist shilen bbl, and a whiskey 3 chassis & got it for less than half of what it cost him to build. But yeah to have them feed in the mdt mags I just can’t get them to group consistently day to day and I could single load them but hate to do that. 105s and 108s shoot great at any length tho. I planned on rebarreling to 6.5 for the 147eld anyways, just wanted to shoot the bbl out first

 

[bigfella350]

My savage has a lot longer mag capacity so I might just swap it over to it after seeing if loading into the lands helps any.