I have read a lot about this cartridge on this site, but I was wondering if it is a finicky cartridge for which to reload. I know that is somewhat subjective. Is there a sure-fire recipe in a certain twist? I have several 243's and am considering a custom build in AI because of the added velocity and I already have most of the setup. The 88 gr Berger vamint bullets look like a good recipe for Indiana groundhogs.
Loading 243 AI
- Thread starter trentalan34
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I have a .243Ai I myself have not found it to be finicky at all. I shoot the 115gr Dtac bullet out of a 7.5 twist Broughton 5c barrel. I use RE-22 as its the best powder I have found. As far as loads go, after fireforming I started at the max load in the book and worked up slowly till i found a sweet spot. I get around 3150fps with the 115gr.
If you are planning on shooting the 88gr Berger bullet, an 8.5 or 9 twist would do.
Jerid
If you are planning on shooting the 88gr Berger bullet, an 8.5 or 9 twist would do.
Jerid
On here, people talk about the inherent accuracy of a cartridge. Would you consider the 6mmBR and its variants, due to their design, inherently more accurate? I have never shot a 6mm other than the 243 and 6mm Rem.
I'm new to the .243 AI. I bought one last month and have been shooting it a little, but due to the weather, I haven't done much with it. I have found that mine is wonderfully accurate but due to the nature of the case, I don't expect that accuracy to last as long as my 6 BR's. Mine was built on a 13 twist and loves 58 VMAX, 60 Burger and 70 Nosler Ballistic Tips. I'm using RL15 just because I had a bunch of it. Today I was shooting 40/RL15, 70 Noslers, CCI mag primers and Win cases. Four groups were all under 1/2 with two of them in the low .3's. I have a 6BR 8 twist being built and I have great hopes for it.
My AI is a factory Barreled Model 700 VS, 1 in 9.125" twist. 75 grain V-Max's in front of 48.5 grains of H414 works real well and shoots nice tight groups. And it blows up smaller critters.
A 85 gr. Sierra HPBT Game king in front of 51 grains of H4831sc is what this rifle loves. .25" 5 shot groups are the norm, I suck at shooting off the bench and this load makes me look good. Plus it kills things well. Took a buck at 404 yards with it this last fall.
No chronograph so I dont know exact velocities. But by zeroing my rifle at 300 yards and measuring the POI at 100 and 200 yards I figured I was getting a touch over 3700 FPS with the 75 grainers and about 3300 with the 85's. One of these days I will get access to chronograph or bite the bullet and buy one and really get stuff figured out.
An older gentleman I know just put together a .243 AI on a model 70 action with a 27" 1 in 12" Lija barrel. With moly coated 65 grain V-Max and 55 gr. Nosler BTs he is shooting right about 1" groups at 300 yards. I saw his targets! I havent asked him what powder and and how much he is using on those loads.
A 85 gr. Sierra HPBT Game king in front of 51 grains of H4831sc is what this rifle loves. .25" 5 shot groups are the norm, I suck at shooting off the bench and this load makes me look good. Plus it kills things well. Took a buck at 404 yards with it this last fall.
No chronograph so I dont know exact velocities. But by zeroing my rifle at 300 yards and measuring the POI at 100 and 200 yards I figured I was getting a touch over 3700 FPS with the 75 grainers and about 3300 with the 85's. One of these days I will get access to chronograph or bite the bullet and buy one and really get stuff figured out.
An older gentleman I know just put together a .243 AI on a model 70 action with a 27" 1 in 12" Lija barrel. With moly coated 65 grain V-Max and 55 gr. Nosler BTs he is shooting right about 1" groups at 300 yards. I saw his targets! I havent asked him what powder and and how much he is using on those loads.
Ackman
Gold $$ Contributor
It's not finicky. That case is semi-improved already. Making it AI blows the shoulder forward, but shoulder dia. and case taper barely change. The AI version is the same only more....a bit more powder and a step up in velocity. I shoot 70's in mine a bit faster than the std. 243 shoots 60's.
I HAVE A 243AI USUING A 29''SPORTCO MICROGROOVE 8-1 BARREL MOUNTED ON AN M17ACTION I PICKED THE ACTION AS IT IS VIRTUALLY INDESTRUCTABLE DUST PROOF NO JAMING I MICRO POLISHED THE BOLT AND ACTION CUT DOWN THE RAMP AND BLOCKED THE MAG.I USE THIS FOR CULLING ROOS MOST OF THE RANGES ARE BETWEEN 300- 400,THE LONGEST KILL WAS 875 YARDS USING A SPEER 80 GRAIN S/P WITH 49 GRAINS OF 2209 ADI POWDER.THIS BARREL HAS HAD OVER 9000 ROUNDS THROUGH IT ,THE CASES WINCHESTER AND PMC THE PMC IS A SOFTER BRASS ,I GET ABOUT 10 RELOADS PER CASE,I NEVER FULL LENGHT RESIZE I ONLY NECK THEM,THEY WILL SPLIT AT THE NECK.I ALSO USE THE 55 GRN NOSLER BALISTIC TIP WITH 55GRNS OF 2209 ADI POWDER (TRIED V-MAX 55GRNS AND THEY DISINTERGRATED BEFORE THE 50 YARD TARGET)THIS PUSHES THEM OUT AT 4300 THIS IS A DEVISTATING ROUND THE HYDRAULIC SHOCK TOTALLY TURNS A ROO TO JELLY I HAVE ALSO USED THIS ROUND ALL I HAD ON ME AT THE TIME FOR GOATS THE RANGE WAS 100YDS BUT ALL THE SHOTS WERE HEAD SHOTS AND IT JUST FLATTENED THEM,THE ROUND IS VERY FLAT AND EFFECTIVE OUT TO 300 WITH NO WIND,BUT IT IS A VERY HOT ROUND ,SO I DONT RUN MANY BECAUSE OF THE HEAT,I THINK THE MICRO GROOVING IS THE BEST FOR GETTING THE BEST OUT OF THE BARREL AS THE BEARING SURFACE AREA IS VERY SMALL.I WOULD TAKE THIS ROUND OVER ANY OTHER EVEN MY STEYER SSG 308 IT IS SO VERSATILE AND FLEXIBLE FROM VARMITS TO DEER ECT.YOU HAVE PICKED A GREAT ROUD STICK TO IT AND ENJOY IT.
I shoot the 70gr sierra blitz king with 42gr of varget powder.
Ackman
Gold $$ Contributor
trentalan34 said:
Mine have PacNor barrels with 13" twist and 9.5" twist. They both shoot about the same but the faster twist is much fussier about powder charge and bullet....it also gets less velocity. I shoot mostly 70's and W760 (48+ gr.) or H414 (49+ gr.) at up to 3850 accurately through the 13" twist gun. With this powder/bullet combination - in my rifles - the CCI250 primer gives much lower Standard Deviation, also a bit less velocity. Chamber is .273"nk, 0 freebore....one rifle uses Rem. brass unturned, the other Win. with turned necks.
I have one built around a Savage target action. The barrel is a 30 inch Douglas XX 1:8 twist. I shoot a 105gr Amax over 38.5gr H414 and 43.5gr IMR 7828 SSC right now, I'm still working on the "perfect load". The groups have been awesome. I had some early trouble with case head seperation. Found out that I needed to make sure that I didn't bump the shoulder back too far when I was sizing. I was causing the cases to stretch in the chamber when I fired. The guy that built the gun for me had me set the sizing die at the point where it just touched the case shoulder. So far that has been the only problem.
243 AI was my first wildcat cartridge. I found it to be a great learning experience, and with a quality barrel, I didn't have any trouble coming up with a half a dozen bullet/powder combinations that shot better than 1/2" groups, and a couple that shot 1/4" groups...with very minimal develpment efforts.
My biggest concern was choosing the right twist for what I wanted. I wanted an accurate barn burner, and inevitably decided on a 1-12 twist Hart barrel finished at 26". It flat out rips 55 grain Noslers BT with 1/4" accuracy at 4200fps. Speer 70 gr TNTs shoot very well, and are easy on the pocketbook, and 85 grain Sierra GameKings absolutely are impressive in terms of their accuracy.
Now my biggest concern is how long will the barrel acutally last. I'm careful not to get too excited and pound round after round through the barrel, because I know at 4200fps the life would not be long.....
If your are looking for pure accuracy, there are better cartridges out there...if you are looking for an impressive combination of accuracy and speed, I found the 243 AI to be a pretty impressive performer.
I'm originally from Ohio, and I think the Indiana groundhogs are huntied in very similar country and conditions. I have not heard anyone impressed at the impact of the 88 grain Bergers, but I understand their accuracy is outstanding. Quite frankly, there are soo many good bullet choices, whatever twist you choose you should be able to find a combination that will work well.
What is your average shot distance? If you are 3-400 yards, you may be happier with a slower twist that will give you a bit more speed.If you have mile long beanfields and expect to shoot at 700-900 yards or more, you will want a something that would shoot a 105 AMax...an 8 twist would be more appropriate.....
MQ1
My biggest concern was choosing the right twist for what I wanted. I wanted an accurate barn burner, and inevitably decided on a 1-12 twist Hart barrel finished at 26". It flat out rips 55 grain Noslers BT with 1/4" accuracy at 4200fps. Speer 70 gr TNTs shoot very well, and are easy on the pocketbook, and 85 grain Sierra GameKings absolutely are impressive in terms of their accuracy.
Now my biggest concern is how long will the barrel acutally last. I'm careful not to get too excited and pound round after round through the barrel, because I know at 4200fps the life would not be long.....
If your are looking for pure accuracy, there are better cartridges out there...if you are looking for an impressive combination of accuracy and speed, I found the 243 AI to be a pretty impressive performer.
I'm originally from Ohio, and I think the Indiana groundhogs are huntied in very similar country and conditions. I have not heard anyone impressed at the impact of the 88 grain Bergers, but I understand their accuracy is outstanding. Quite frankly, there are soo many good bullet choices, whatever twist you choose you should be able to find a combination that will work well.
What is your average shot distance? If you are 3-400 yards, you may be happier with a slower twist that will give you a bit more speed.If you have mile long beanfields and expect to shoot at 700-900 yards or more, you will want a something that would shoot a 105 AMax...an 8 twist would be more appropriate.....
MQ1
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