Lapua 90 grain Scenar bullet for .243 Load Help

[Rickysjr]

Hello fellow shooters! Have you ever tried to find load data for Lapua bullets on the internet? I found one place that Lapua sends you to get load data, however Lapua wants $20 from you to join. I bought their bullets now they want more money from me. Forget that crap is my message to them! Anyway I have purchased 90 grain Scenar for my 243 winchester. The rifle has a 24 inch barrel with a sako action. I have three powders I think should work. IMR 4064, IMR 4350, and H 4350. I am using Federal 210 primers. I would like to try IMR 4064 first, Can anyone help me with charge weight? By the way, I am using winchester brass. I have Lapua brass as well. And, I have CCi BR64 primers as well. Thanks in advance!

 

[Richard Jones]

Vihtavuori has it on their website, albeit with only their powders.

Accurate Shooter on this site.

 

[Rickysjr]

Vihtavuori has it on their website, albeit with only their powders.

Accurate Shooter on this site.

I saw those sites as well. The only problem is I have to buy those powders. On the Lapua site they have all the information except the charge weights. They put question marks in that area! If you click on these then they want $20. What a ripoff!

 

[Jager]

I posted a very long description of using the 90gr. Scenar-L in my old .243 hunting rifle here a couple years ago. I was using Accurate's A-4350, very similar to your IMR-4350, along with Lapua brass and Federal GMM primers. The snippet from that post that you might find helpful is:

"Lapua does not provide load data on their bullets. The Berger 90gr Match BT Target bullet is very similar to the Scenar-L, though, and Berger’s max load for their bullet, using IMR-4350 (similar to A4350), is 42.6, producing 3033 fps.

Another analog is the Sierra 90gr TGK. Sierra lists max for that bullet, using the exact same A4350 powder as I intend, at 43.7, producing 3140 fps."

Here's a QuickLoad print of what that 43.7 charge weight referenced in the Sierra manual (but using IMR-4350 instead of the A4350 they used) would look like. You'll want to build a ladder, starting lower, of course. The 90 gr. Scenar-L is an excellent bullet in the .243.

IMR-4064 might work, but it wouldn't be my first choice. 100% case fill in your Lapua brass would be somewhere around 43.1 gr., with chamber pressure near 80K. To get pressure down to SAAMI max would require bringing charge weight down to around 39.4, which is ~91% case fill.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Rickysjr]

Thank you for your help! I have tried IMR 4350 on some other bullets for this rifle. For 87 grain Hornady vmax with 41.6 grains, it is a GREAT powder. For 90 grain speer sp bullets with 42 grains of powder it is not so good. I also tried 80 grain sierra sbt blitz with 41.5 grains of powder which was so-so but not bad. Lastly, I tried 75 grain Hornady vmax with 45.4 of powder and it was terrible. (Too much powder, I think). I was thinking of trying IMR 4350 with 41 to 42 grains for the 90 grain Scenar L.

 

[Gary in MD]

IMR 4350 is usually an excellent powder for the 243 Winchester. It’s just a matter of finding the (safe)charge that shoots in your rifle. I load 43.0 grains in my 243 with the 95 grain ballistic tips. That’s a max charge but its accurate and a good killing load. You could start a few grains lower and work up slowly.