New 243 at the range

[Jackmonkey]

Today I finally got a chance to take my 243 carry rifle to the range to try out several brands of factory ammo and a couple of custom loads at 100 yards. The rifle is a factory Remington 700 SPS with some aftermarket pieces. The build can be found here:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/new-243-carry-rifle-139684/

I tried out the following ammo:
Federal Deer Thugs 95 grain
Federal Fusion 95 grain
Federal Vital Shock 100 grain Sierra Game King
Hornady Whitetail 100 grain Interlock
Hornady SuperPerformance 95 grain SST
Hendershots 95 grain Berger VLD
Hendershots 105 grain Berger VLD

I couldn't find any Winchester or Remington ammo to try and had already spent a crap load of money.
I shot 4 sighters at 50 yards to verify the scope was on target then went to 100 yards.

-The first pic is the Deer Thugs. I was very happy with this group from a $23 box of Walmart ammo.
-The second pic is the Fusion ammo. Holy cow! Another sub MOA group from factory ammo.
-The third pic is the Vital Shock ammo. OK, still an MOA group with a bascially factory rifle and ammo but not as good as the first two.
-The next brand of ammo I tried was the Hornady Whitetail. This gave me a 2 MOA group so I will give this to my niece to try in her rifle. I did not post a pic of that group.
-The fourth pic is SuperPerformance ammo and once again, I was very happy with a sub MOA grouping.
-The fifth pic was a shocker to me. That is 95 grain Berger VLDs loaded by a local gun shop called Hendershots. I wanted to see if it would shoot well out of my 1 in 9-1/8" barrel. I think I may have found my ammo for this season and I will have to figure out their recipe so I can duplicate it.
-The last group I tried was the 105 grain Berger VLDs, also from Hendershots. I didn't have high hopes for it and was not disappointed when I saw them key-holing the target. I did not post a pic.

Overall I am very happy with this rifle and the ammo I tried. I have never had a factory rifle shoot this well, especially with so many different types of ammo.

 

[jonbearman]

I think I would be sure that the 95 bergers are true hunting bullets and if so have Hendershots load you a box or two and stick with them. If not the federals shot a little high but they are centered very well at just about an inch high which is good for a further shot. Your gun is typical as most remingtons shoot pretty darn good right out of the box.

 

[paulT]

95g Bergers are outstanding in my Blaser 243 10 twist rifle.

 

[BoydAllen]

What powder did the gun shop use for their 95 grain loads? I have some of those bullets.

 

[idahoorion]

The 95's both in VLD's (target and hunting) shoot great in my Savage 9.25 twist. The two flavors shoot to just a bit different impact. So a scope adjustment is needed. Hunting VLD's are hard to find right now. I shoot them out to 1K
I've pushed them with both H4350 and H4831sc, I thought the 4831 load was more accurate so just have been shooting it. They fly true. Norma brass and S and b primer. BTW, they were good up close but I did the Berger vld test and actually saw better accuracy with a bunch, (I do mean a bunch) of jump. so that's where I shoot em.

Idahoorion

 

[Jackmonkey]

What powder did the gun shop use for their 95 grain loads? I have some of those bullets.

I don't know and they won't tell me. :-\

 

[Jackmonkey]

I just found some Berger 95 grain VLD Hunting and Hornady 87 grain VMax bullets at Natchez.

 

[Terry_M]

That is very good for a factory out of the box rifle.


Congratulations on your shooting, and your very fine shooting new rifle.

If you get out and confirm drops at longer distance please update the thread. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to see what it can do at 200, 300 or farther.

 

[jotrot]

that turned out very nice and it shoots good to.
enjoy

 

[expiper]

Jack,,,dont worry,,,they are not the only people that can load good ammo for a .243 !!!! YOU can also ,,,,use max loads of H-4350 or H-4831 SC and you will get similar results,,,jump em ~.030-.040"...Roger

 

[Jackmonkey]

Roger, I'm not worried. I just don't have dies yet. I ordered some today along with some Bergers. I also have about 9lbs of H4831sc. I actually bought this rifle to use the action as a donor for a custom build. I didn't want to buy dies for a 243 if I was going to change cartridges. I was going to stick to factory ammo but after seeing how well it shot Saturday I'm going to keep it and burn the barrel out of it!

 

[kevwil]

Looks great!

 

[nockhunter]

I'd go with the Fusions, I see that stuff everywhere. Something to be said about finding a plentifull, not too expensive factory ammo that shoots well.

Mike

 

[Shotshaper]

Forgive me, I'm coming to this string late. I have a question, is Hendershots the sporting goods store I'm familiar with in Hancock, WV?

 

[boltgunluvr]

As another one posted, you can load as good, if not better ammo. Jump in and go for it. Have fun.

 

[Jackmonkey]

I have not updated this post in a while. Since then, I have purchased dies for a .243. Initially this was going to be a donor action for a 6CM or similar build. I didn't want to invest in .243 dies just to get something different in less than a year. Once I saw how well the .243 was shooting I decided to just shoot it till the barrel gets worn out. I was able to quickly produce a load with 95 grain Bergers that is giving me 1/2 MOA at 100 yards. I have not had time to tweak it for better accuracy yet. Groups were under 2 MOA at 350 yards but that was mostly due to me and the conditions that day. This is a deer hunting rifle and shooting a 6" group at that distance is totally acceptable for me. I did not get an opportunity to test it out during deer season this year. The bucks just did not want to cooperate with me.

As far as Hendershots goes, they are located in Hagerstown, MD.
http://www.hendershots.net/
The first box was loaded with 95 grain Bergers in Privi Partizan brass. They won't tell me the rest of the components which is fine. This box gave great accuracy. I was disappointed in the second batch of ammo I purchased from them. It was loaded with Hornady brass and was at a different OAL. I don't have the numbers handy now. The velocity was substantially different and group size was much larger. That was the point that I decided to buy my own dies and make my own.

I appreciate everyone's response to the thread. I am shipping this rifle to my smith next month to have some accuracy work done to it and will update after I get it back.

 

[Eric Leonard]

pull a bullet from the first batch and weigh a charge and you should be able to figure out what it is,,

 

[Shotshaper]

Thanks for your comment. That is in fact the same Hendershots, they just moved east about 20 minutes. Good shooting.