# Working up a load for the .243



## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Getting cooler here in Wisconsin and it has made me think about deer and varmint hunting. Decided to play around with the Remington 660 in .243 and do some load developing. As it turned out the first try would be hard to improve on. 38 grains of H-380 behind a Barnes 85 grain TSX. 

http://s384.photobucket.com/user/Rodhorses/media/DSC09436_zpsc1832a0c.jpg.html


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Looks like photbucket is down for some reason. Try the link again later if it is not working for you.


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## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

great group. dont shoot a 243 but i use h380 a lot. i also really like barnes bullets in other cals. good hunting


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

My 243 load is IMR 4350 pushing a Sierra 85gr. HPBT, I've shot many deer with it, dusted hundreds of crows (yup all the floating feathers makes it look like they were dusted.), ground hogs and coyotes. 
I think the 243 is a very nice round and easy to get different componets to work.
I use IMR 4350 in the 300 win mag, 7MM 08 also.

Tried IMR 4831 Also when supply of 4350 couldn't be replaced..




 Al


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Sure am glad I reload. Not just the cost but the accuracy. So many guys are out there buying a box of shells off the shelf and not knowing if their rifle will shoot them well. Or in most cases not even knowing that there is a difference from one rifle to another.


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

I never messed with .243, but did spend quite a bit of time working with the 6mm Rem. I always used bullets from 70 grains (primarily for Woodchucks) to 100 grainers for deer. Favorite powders are IMR4350 and 4831. I finally settled on 4831 for just about every rifle I load for except for .223.

Chuck


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

I am trying to switch all of mine (270, 3-243's and a 22-250) all over to H-380. I like the ball powder as it feeds so perfectly through the powder thrower. No fooling around dribbling a few more onto the scale. Want to try to get one acceptable load for all of the 243's as it is a hassle trying to keep 3 seperate loads apart. Will use this rifle for my everyday use and the other two for my sons for deer hunting for the few hours they spend at it. The 22-250 is also a one holer with the H-380.


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

I stick with 4895 for my loads. Mainly because I also load for the M1 and M14 gas guns too.

That 85/87 gr pills really seem to do well in this rifle.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Alleyupper - did you group (17) start off on the lower end and work it's way up as the barrel heated up?

See you are in the UP. We have a cabin on the WI MI border south of Wakefield.


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## credee (Aug 17, 2013)

Just watch out and don't shoot a deer with the "blowup on contact" sort of varmint bullet. The latter can let a suffering animal go a long ways. Naturally, when you change bullets-loads, your POI on the target will vary. You need far more precision for varmints than for deer. So if it were me, I'd zero at 200 yds with the varmint load, and just "hold off" whatever experience told me was needed (if indeed, the range on a deer required such, probably wouldn 't). I always have favored the deep penetrating Nosler Partition softpoint for deer.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

That 85 grain Barnes Thriple Shock is a hunting bullet. It is a hollow point and it peels back to the base and stays together. Retains 90% of its mass. Absolutly pole axed my buck last year shot through the ribs fairly far back. Nice exit hole. Had trouble in the past getting a pass through with Sierra 100 grain boat tails in years past.


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## credee (Aug 17, 2013)

I just checked, and just Nosler offers 243 bullets varying from 55 grs to 100 grs. That's probably going to mean a hellva lot of difference in POI, at 200 yds. both horizontally and vertically. Sheesh.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

I must have 10 different kinds and or size of 243 bullets on hand. From 50 years of experience shooting dear, I say that those 85 grain Barnes Triple Shock are the best I have ever used. Expensive but good. When I am just playing around shooting or putting together a varmint load I sometimes use 60 or 70 grain ones. I have a 22-250 that I also plink around with. It shoots pretty well too.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I was useing the shooting to get rid of the powder in those casees and have fun doing it so the barrel did heat up a lot.

I don't fool around fiddling with different bullets and loads for the 243. The 85 HPBT i use has harvested many a deer for me. Dusted a whole passle of crows before I got my 220 swift and kept the whistle pig population down in the hay fields too. 
Reloading book has a chart in it for just about any load for the 243 (and other calibers)you can think of. It list different POA and the bullet rise or drop every 50 yards. All ya have to do is make sure your load matches the books findings at a range then write down that chart laminate it and tape it to the butt stock for ready reading.

 Al


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

I fiddle with different bullets and loads every once in awhile just for the fun of it. 

To get a drop table you do need a chronograph to see how the speed in the book compares to that out of the actual rifle you are using. Different books have different speeds for the same load and the speed out of a 24 inch barrel will be different than that out of an 18 inch. It is all a matter of speed over distance. They all drop at the same rate (accelerate at 32 ft/sec/sec). If you were to shoot a bullet out of a perfectly level barrel and drop the same bullet from your hand at the same moment, they would both hit the ground at the same time (a left over from high school physics).


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

PS - come get some bees out from under our siding.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Credee - of course Nosler has many different weights of bullets as well as the many other bullet manufactures. Anyone that does a lot of loading and shooting knows that different bullets and powder combinations work differently in different rifles. It is also marketing. How many different colored and styled bass baits are there? Catching the fishermen not the fish:bouncy:


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## credee (Aug 17, 2013)

I was referring my previous post about not having enough diff in POI to worry about for deer hunting with heavier slugs vs varmint bullets. I was (probably) wrong on that one. Didn't know that there were sub 75 slugs for 243.  I have not bothered to really look at calibers other than 223 for many years now, mostly due to the many advantages of the AR, the .22lr conversion, suppressor-threaded, sightline above the "can" diameter, superb trigger pull kits, parts kits, 80% lowers, 3D printed lowers, barrels from 7"to 26" or more, it's endless, basically. Makes more sense to me to be highly skilled with one gun, than just partially skilled with many. I'm afield to test my fighting gear,, not to hunt per se.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

As a reloader with a load cooked up from the manual you really do not need the crony. The statement I made earlier applies Book says speed is (for example) 2800 FPS, the chart shows the drop and rise for the bullet speed at different sight in ranges. You need to then test to see if you get the same results at the range. All the crony is going to do it tell you that you really are getting 2800FPS and then you still need to go test to make sure the chart is correct for your rifle.

 Al


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

You are right on Alleyyooper. Us it as a guide and shoot to see where you are.


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

alleyyooper said:


> As a reloader with a load cooked up from the manual you really do not need the crony. The statement I made earlier applies Book says speed is (for example) 2800 FPS, the chart shows the drop and rise for the bullet speed at different sight in ranges. You need to then test to see if you get the same results at the range. All the crony is going to do it tell you that you really are getting 2800FPS and then you still need to go test to make sure the chart is correct for your rifle.
> 
> Al


I also use mine (Oehler 35P) for checking SD and ES for consistency. When I was competing in Silhouette and 800-1000 yard matches, the low stats really helped with long range stringing. With handgun loads, I mostly use it to match velocity of practice loads and the factory SD loads.
Chuck


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Been having fun today shooting paint balls at 50 yards with the .22. Waiting for the wind to go down and shoot some at 100 yards.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Lot of cheap targets falling off the apple trees now. Apple sauce any one?

 Al


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