.243 loads

[Thumper1991]

I'm sure it has been asked a 1000 times. My friends 12 year old daughter Is going hunting with us this year. I know the marginality of the. 243. But that is what fits her. We are targeting mulie does or any buck For her. Thoughts on bullet and weight. My first thought is Berger Or accubonds (assuming availability ). I don't have any real experience with this round. Shot a few. Know what the ballistic are. Just haven't done any research to put together a load. Seen quite a few deer and cow elk fall to this round. Anyones experience with a quality bullet input please. My concern is since this is a excellent varmint round I don't want incorrect bullet combo (weight). don't know rate of twist yet on barrel. Haven't got that far. Thanks

 

[bbutturff]

Nosler 95gr Partition, 39.6 gr RL-17, CCI 200 primer, COL 2.676 (.020 off lands), 2830 fps, ES 6, SD 3, 0.625" 3-shot group @ 100 yards. Not a particularly fast load but a really great youth whitetail load. My son's rifle is a Savage model 10 with 1:9.25 twist.

 

[Gus McCrae]

The 243 will do the job.

I would stay in the 90-100 gr. range with a jacketed bullet or an 85 gr. Barnes TTSX. IMR-4350 and IMR-4831 are good powders to start with. An Accubond, Partition, SST, or Sierra Gameking would all be good choices and I've even heard from quite a few people that Sierra's 85 gr. HPBT is lighting on deer although I haven't tried it myself.

I just worked up a load of 42.5 gr. of IMR-4350 under a 90 gr. Accubond and it's giving me under 0.5'' groups and 2900 fps.

 

[Catbird]

I've had alot of one shot kills using 43.0 gr of RL22 behind a 95gr BT with CCI200 primer. Recoil in a 243 is light with any load, it is a great choice for a beginner or anyone for that matter. Shot placement is important,a hit just behind the front leg lets the air out and they don't go far.

 

[johnnyk]

Thumper,
I'm shooting a 26" heavy barrel M70, .243 and get great accuracy from the 85-95gn range. The Sierra 85gn GameKing is unbelieveably accurate. So much so it should wear the MatchKing moniker. I have heard good reports from other fellow hunters here in NC about the killing ability of this bullet. I have not shot deer with it but have shot it out to 500yds with several groups less than 2.5". Have not shot it farther than this and not sure I'd shoot a deer any farther than this. I'm loading 37.0gn of IMR3031 w/BR2 primers at 3231fps, getting .381". I loaded and shot 36.5-38.0gn, velocity ran 3213-3363fps and accuracy never got over .752".

I also shoot alot of the 90gn Ballistic Tips w/44.0gn of H4350 & BR2 primers. During testing accuracy ran .1785" for this load at 3180fps.

Had good accuracy with this same bullet and VihtN560 and BR2's. I loaded 40.5-44.5gn w/velocity running 2798-3134fps. I settled on 43.5gn for a good mix of veloctiy (3099fps) and accuracy (.2275").

Good luck. JohnnyK.

 

[Rustystud]

Determine the rate of twist of the .243 you are going to shoot. The early .243s had 12-14 twist barrels. The would not shoot the heavy bullets and this gave the .243 a bad rap. When I build .243s now I use 1:8, twist barrels. The 85-100 grain bullets work superbly in the .243. 85 grain Barnes XXX, 90 grain Scirocco, 90 grain Accubond, and the 85-105 grain Partitions. All work great in a fast twist .243.
I like H-4831SSC, H-4350, N-160, and Winchester 760 powders.

Nat Lambeth

 

[roninflag]

95 partition. I/h4350 . I4064, varget.

 

[stacey]

Very accurate youth load ," without any recoil ". I developed this load for my 8 Yr old son, witch will be going deer hunting this fall. His rifle is a youth model Weatherby 243 WIN. a "Very" light rifle. I used 34.0 Hybrid 100, with a CCI large rifle primer and a Nosler 100 grain Partition bullet. Seat bullet at standard COL. This little gun shoots" Just Absolutely Great" I have not had time to checked the velocity yet . Should be around 2500-2600 ft . Witch is fine for hunting in a wooded area. The longest shoot would be no more than 60 Yards.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

The 243 win is not marginal by any definition! There are so many great choices out there for her, I would personally consider her build and attitude before anything else. The last thing we want to do is scare her away. I would assume her 243 is a 1-10 twist, as most are these days, pick a bullet in 85g and don't chase speed at all! Keep the bullet light and the powder on the low end. I would suggest a TSX, TTSX, ACCUBOND, SST, NOSLER BT, Sierra SBT, man the list could go on and on for mule deer inside 300m.

Remember this experience is going to be seared into that little girls brain for the rest of her life, girls don't forget like little boys do.

 

[venatic]

80gr Berger and enough H4895 to get about 2700-2800 fps and you are golden.

 

[CogburnR]

One of the guys I hunt with loads a reduced load with the 55g Nosler Ballistic Tip for deer (littler kids). Works fine if they get anywhere in the heart lung area. I think he loads it to 3200fps or so instead of 4000.

If the kid can take a little more recoil the 87g Berger Classic Hunter or 85g Sierra HPBT are the way to go. They work out to 400 yards and more easily on deer so they could also be reduced for shorter range usage.

 

[Freedom2live]

My best load is win 760 44.8 gr with 105 berger vld

 

[ShootnMathews]

My friend and I have both taken a LOT of whitetail deer with 95 Nosler BT's out to as far as 250 yards. (Most shots here are 100 yards or less, unless you actually go find a spot to shoot further). My friend uses IMR 4064 and I use either Varget or 4831SC. And all of these loads are absolutely devastating on deer. I always shoot for a double lung shot but we take other people hunting with these guns a lot, kids,wives, friends or whoever so I've seen people hit game on nearly every part of a deer and rarely ever lose one.

My marlin xs7 shoots them consistently 1/2"-3/4" @ 100 yards
His Winchester shoots them at 7/8"

 

[wadevb1]

My Tikka shoots the 80TTSX over Varget fast and very accurate.