243 win

[tdoyka]

my oldest son asked me to load up some 243 to go shooting/hunting groundhog with. i wasn't sure if i had any 243 bullets so i looked in the drawer. i did, much to my surprise, have 243 bullets, 75gr hornady hp that were bought during the mid to late '90s. then i said to myself, i'm probably out of imr4831. i go to the shelf, dig around and find that i do have a unopen can of imr4831. yes, a 1lb can. i must have gotten it in the late '90s too. i load up the 243's with 44.5gr of powder and a 75gr hp. there was 134 bullets and i did every one of them.

i then went to my drawer to find out what else i had. i found 43 of the .244" in 105gr speer rn and i found 13 of the .244" 85gr barnes x-bullet. since there was only 13 barnes x-bullets i decided i might as well load them. so i went back and i found barnes bullets reloading manual no. 1. i had a 243 in rem m7 that i shot a few deer with(85gr x-bullet). they were good enough for hunting deer, but i decided that i should go elsewhere because i could not find the x-bullet to go under 1 1/2" at 100 yards. i don't even know if barnes makes the x-bullet. anyway, i found the load (45.0gr of imr4831) that i used to use. i went to the bench, grabbed up 13 cases, primed them and then loaded them. i'll give them to my son and he can do what he wants, be it shooting deer or targets.

i have .308" 125gr sierra fnhp that would be good for my boy's '06, the groundhogs hate them!!!!

what bullets/boolits do you have but no longer use?

[buckshotshoey]

Have some .243 107 gr HPBT Sierra Matchkings I prob won't use. I tried them, and they grouped ok at 100, but beyond that they opened up. Just don't have enough twist to stabilize them.

[tazman]

I am still experimenting with the loads for my 243 rifles. I have 1 varminter and a standard hunting rifle.
So far the varminter really likes 95 grain Sierra match kings(as in 3/4 inch groups at 200 yards). I tried the 107 Sierra and 105 Hornady match bullets but they just don't group well. Probably not enough twist.
The hunting rifle likes a lot of things. 100 grain from anybody, 85-87 grain from anybody, and 75 grain Sierra hollow points. I am working on a 55 grain load but haven't got it finalized yet.

[goryshaw]

I picked up 1000 Nosler 6mm 55 gr Hotshots this fall. Mostly for use in NRA sporter matches. At 1 match a year, approx 35 rounds a match, I'm set for about 28 years

[Texas by God]

I load 55 Midway Dogtowns for varmints and 95 gr Nosler ballistic tips for deer in my daughter's Boyd's stocked Stevens 200. I still have a box of Hornady 100gr sp from the 1970s($5.65 price tag) and a box of Speer 100gr Hot Cor. Might never use them...... Best, Thomas.

[northmn]

I have too many bullets for my 243. I do not like the 75 grain HP's and have some 65 grain V-Max. After I bought the 65 grain V-Max I found I had some 75 grain v-Max. I bought a 243 a couple of years ago and it came with dies and bullets. I also have some 100 grain Sierra Boat tails and some 95 grain Nosler ballistic tips. For deer hunting I prefer the Nosler 100 grain partitions. I have a bit too many 243 bullets, and though I like the caliber, I will probably not shoot them all. Don't really have the varmints around to use them. I also have a Hani-Rifle that is kind of fun.

DEP

[tazman]

So far my tests with 100 grain bullets indicate that my accuracy is much improved by using a flat based bullet as opposed to a boat tail. Usable range for me is 300 yards on deer sized game. The difference in drop between them is less than one inch at 300 yards. That difference is more than made up for by the improved accuracy since my group size decreased from 2.5 inches to 1 inch at 100 yards.