Powder for 243 project help

[JohnH]

Friend came by and left his 243 and $100 for supplies. What to get???? Will WC820 work for cast loads? How about the slow stuff like 5010, WC860 and WC870? Would we be better off with a cannister grade powder for our first trials?

[Harry Callahan]

Depends on what you're loading for. I like AA2520 and Varget for varmints and H4350 or H4831 for bigger game. If you're shooting cast, you might look at IMR4759 or AA5744.

[9.3X62AL]

John--

Your boolits will be in the mail tomorrow. I've used 12.0 x Alliant 2400 with these RCBS castings in my 243, giving around 1700 FPS and 1.0"-1.5" groups at 100 yards pretty consistently. These loads jack up ground squirrels right well, too.

During work with 3 different 243's, I have gotten MUCH better accuracy with bullets weighing 85 grains or more than I did with lighter bullets. Favorites in the j-word persuasion are the Sierra 85 grain JHP, Nosler 95 grain Ballistic Tip, and Sierra 100 grain spitzers--both flat-based and boat tail. IMR-4350, IMR 4831, and WC-852/slow are my j-word bullet fuels in this caliber.

[David R]

My 243 has a 1 turn in 9.5 inches. That is fast for a 243. Will it shoot heavy lead boolits too? It likes factory 100 grain the best. I see RCBS has a 95 grain gc mold.

[StarMetal]

David

When Winchester came out with the 243, Remington countered with the 244, which later got renamed the 6mm Remington, I'll explain. Winchester had a fast twist from the beginning so it would handle light varmint bullet up to the 100 grainers for deer hunting. The 244 did not, it had a slower twist and would not shoot the heavier bullets satisfactory. So Remington realized this and renamed the cartridge and put a faster twist on the rifles for it. So...yes your twist will handle the heavier bullets. Don't feel your 243 is the only rifle with a really fast twist, most all the military 6.5 of yesteryear have twist of 7.5 to the 8's. AR15's have 7 twists. My 260 Remington has a 9 twist.

Joe

[Maven]

JohnH, WC 820 works very well in the .243Win., but avoid WC 860 and IMR 5010 like the plague! You'll have so much unburned powder and powder dented cases as to make you question why you even thought about using it. While 860 & 5010 are OK in larger cases with heavy CB's; i.e., perhaps nothing smaller than the .25-06 or 6.5 x 55mm, they're very inefficient in the .243.

[StarMetal]

Paul,

Not to disagree with you but I've found my 5010 to work and burn better the more overbore the cartridge is. In the 30-06, 8mm Mauser, 8x56 Austrian...it does leave alot of powder. But boy does that stuff shoot good and clean in my 260 Rem and 7x57 Mauser. That's with lead loads too. No collapsed cases either. The one and only thing I've found true that I've read here, from Oldfeller by the way, was that it was dirty in the sense of fouling like blackpowder. In fact Oldfeller calls it White Powder. You really do need to clean your rifle fairly quick after shooting this stuff. I've also found that putting like a tenth of a gr of some fast burning powder in the case first, like Bullseye, 231 WW, etc., made a world of difference in burning up the powder and didn't notice a darn thing different in pressure or shooting.

Joe

[carpetman]

DavidR--Will the RCBS 95 grain gas checked work in a .243? Does that mean there is another mold????? Dep Al took first place honors at Winnemucka with that. This is humpteenth time I have posted this---but here goes. Go back to 1967 Lyman Manual(44th Edition)and it lists a charge of 13.0 to max of 18.0 of IMR 4227 with 95 grain cast. Then go to Lyman Third Edition Cast Bullet Handbook(first printing 1980 and latest Nov 1999)and the new data for same bullet and same powder(IMR4227)shows starting load of 19.3 and max of 24.5. That's right,new start is above the old max. I have gone from the old start to the new max in .5 increments and the results were fair until 23.5 which was magic. Above 23.5 they were off the paper. Never seen .5 make so much difference.

[carpetman]

Dep Al took first place honors at Winnemucka*******

******* To be noted Starmetal was not in attendance at Winnemucka

[9.3X62AL]

A few years ago, Carpetman sent me some of the RCBS 95 grain spitzers in .244" caliber. These were immediately accurate and successful in my Rem 788 x 243, and I've won group-size shoots at NCBS this year and last year using 12.0 grains of 2400. This year's results were 1.02", and that sort of performance is typical of the boolit as long as I do an unforgiving sort-out for visual flaws. I reject about 20%-30% of my castings eyeballed in this way.

[David R]

Hey Thanks guys, looks like another project. I have the 22-250 nailed down and am not going to change a thing. Shot 5" 10 shot groups at 100 with it today off hand. Good load, good rifle.

243 this fall, Maybe try again with the enfield too.

[donald duck]

I have been loading .243 with 7.5 to 8.0 grains of Titegroup behind an 89 grain gas checked bullet. I think the mold was intended to cast 90 grain bullets but mine turn out to be 89 grains. This load has been fun to shoot and fairly accurate at 50 yds. dd