Let's be realistic

[Ksmirk]

Evening fella's me with another question opinion related post

I am in the process of building a 243 and would like to try out the 115 Dtac's out, I just got my barrel a Bartlein 1-7.5 twist med palma so should have no problem stabilizing the 115's but am going to build this so I can try out some of the PRS shoots so a break would be nice so that I can spot my impacts would like to go with a 24" length so that after the break I'll be around the 26" overall length BUT to the realistic part what are the chances of driving the 115's to 2950fps with the 24" barrel? I'm thinking I'll have to go with a 26" barrel and skip the break BUT if it can be done in a 24" that would be awesome.

OAL length of the round will have to fit an AICS mag.
The reamer I have with the 107SMK's to the lands was 2.890"
I've still got around 6# Retumbo I shot from my other 243 but it had a 27" barrel.

Fella's thanks for the advice in advance I really appreciate it and sorry for the bother. Later,

Kirk

 

[loneranger04]

First off, to be truthful, I'm not currently shooting this caliber however looked hard at shooting it so I looked at ballistics from every direction I could think of. The fact is 2850 should be fairly easy to reach and maintain with barrel erosion and that means you are having to hold .1 mil more in a 10mph cross wind and .6 more in elevation at 1000 yards than running it the extra 100 Fps. When it comes down to it is not worry as much about the speed as I would accuracy.

 

[Ksmirk]

Thanks! I like those kind of answers... get my mind out of the clouds and back grounded. Thanks. Later,

Kirk

 

[Dusty Stevens]

3000-3100 is no prob with 115 dtacs and rl25. You can get more but please be careful

 

[Ksmirk]

From a 24" tube? velocity isn't my main goal I've just heard the 115's are happy in the 2950 area. I would like to see the 2950 or a tad more but I'm not going to push it as it always seems that the results are mostly not worth the hassle when at 2875 it would put bullet after bullet thru the same hole. Later,

Kirk

 

[Cakes]

Kirk- I've shot the 6SLR which is basically a long necked .243 and never found a descent load above 3000' with the DTAcs, I do know some have. For me the RL powders didn't work. This was with 30" barrels. Probably 4000 rounds thru them and did find some loads @ 3050 but just too hard on brass. I settled on H1000, H4831sc, H4350 around the magic 2950-2980'. Now if you step down to the 105-108 range then we find some very nice loads @ 3150's. DTac's get seated somewhat deep if you need them mag length. I was easily getting 8-10 firings, annealing every 3rd before the primer pockets got too loose..even with Tula's! 24" barrel will be tough IMO to get the speed you're looking for. Good Luck, Eric in DL

 

[Ksmirk]

I really liked the looks of the 6SLR but I already have the stuff for a 243 so thought I'd save me some money my last 243 had a 27" barrel and it shot wonderful at 3050fps with the 107's, yes I could push it faster but the accuracy just wasn't there! from what all I have been reading and from past I'm thinking I'd be best to go with a 26" barrel and well skip the break. Appreciate the opinions and advice! have a good one. Later,

Kirk

 

[taliv]

which matches do you plan to shoot?

with the exception of a few matches that are extremely barricade heavy, longer barrel won't hurt you a bit in PRS, especially with a brake. I've run 29" barrels with a 9" suppressor on the end, though you need to be fairly tall to do that

there's really only 2 issues with barrel length in PRS matches. 1 is having to stick the barrel in small barricade ports under really fast time constraints and 2 is making sure your muzzle doesn't drag the ground when the rifle's slung.

so being realistic, how much time do you think it will cost you to move an extra 2 inches or even 4 inches in and out of a barricade port?

 

[Ksmirk]

taliv I've been thinking about that and truth don't think I'll have that much problem! I'm not real tall 5'11" and thinking about the guys shooting a 24" barrel and suppressor I shouldn't have THAT much of an issue... after all it's about getting your hits from what I've seen and been told by my buddies that shoot PRS. I'm looking at the APA little bastard break as I used a micro bastard on a 6mm wildcat I built on an AR and it work great! had a muscle break on a 7 WSM so right now sort of a heads or tails toss up

I appreciate the reply as it makes me think I may be on the right track. Later,

Kirk

 

[jsthntn247]

I shoot a straight 243 with Dtacs in tactical matches. The reamer had a .090 freebore and my loaded rounds measure 2.840 to a hard jam. This gives .040-.050 short of mag length which is perfect. My barrel is 24.75" long and I'm running them 2940 with 45.2gr of H-1000 and 0 pressure. Retumbo should work also but you might be compressed as I am very close to being compressed in Lapua brass now. Also do not make the mistake and get a "match" reamer if you plan to run Lapua brass. Make sure your reamer print says .472 on the body near the case head.

 

[Canadian bushman]

Why not run a 105?

 

[germanlongbow]

I shoot a 243 AI with 1x7.5 5R Bartlein with 115 DTAc's and RL 25 at 2980 prefireformed and 3030 after fireformed. The tube is 30 inches. I know its longer than the 24 your attempting. I also shoot suppressed. Its a long rig but a pleasure to shoot. Im not pushing the 115's that hard so you should be able to get pretty close to 2900+ in yours. Scott

 

[Ksmirk]

I'm sure I will shoot the 105's and 107's BUT I'd like to shoot the 115 DTAC bullets, from what I understand (take that comment loosely) the BC of the bullets start to shine around the 3K velocity, now I've not ran the numbers and figured out just how much the additional BC is REALLY going to help and truth don't even know if it will be worth the effort. Later,

Kirk