.243 need help please

[Terrytf]

I have a savage in .243 I shoot the 80g ttsx out of it (I have to shoot lead free) 1.5" at 100 yards is as good as it gets . this is not good ! the barrel twist is 1 in 9.5 I'm looking to rebarrel it should I go to 1 in 8 . I have some emails out to a few barrel makers but holidays making it slow . and I would like to see what some of you guys say before I get the wrong twist and this thing gets worse . I have done ladder loads short and fast -short and slow and long and fast - long and slow and every thing in-between I have tried nosler's no luck tame results so after 200 round I went and stayed with Barnes ttsx did a ladder set 200 rounds powder and col nothing better than 1.5 in worst was 3" 3 shoot group

 

[liltank]

I would find some of the Hornady GMX and Nosler E-tip ammo and give it a try. Might be surprised to find it might shoot in your rifle. Try some others before you rebarrel.

 

[Terrytf]

I have tried the others same results . 100g lead bullets shoot great but all lead free stuff dont shoot . I'm guessing its the wight to light .

 

[Terrytf]

Nosler's e tip come in a 90 g but they would not group ether. that's why I picked one and tried from there . the barnes shoots out of all my others without a problem even my 7 out to and past 1k

 

[backwoods83]

Simple fact is some barrels just won't shoot mono metal bullets. Your savage should be 1:9.25 and that is fine to stabilize 80grn ttsx's or 90grn e-tips, they may be copper fouling your barrel very quickly.

 

[Brimm]

it is not hard to replace a savage barrel, Brownells sells a great re-barrel kit with everything you need for about $200. I had the same problem from a 22-250 savage and I got a good copper solvent and ran about 90 soaked patches thru it before it was not blue.......re-shot my test loads and low and behold it grouped!!! Super clean that barrel before you spend the $!!!

 

[CLP308]

I had similar issues years ago with the original 90gr XBT. I scrubbed the barrel several times even soaking it over night to remove the copper. After that I got .25" groups for 15-20 rounds and then back to cleaning. My rifle is an old Rem 788 carbine w/18" bbl in 243. Clean clean clean & then try again. Good luck.

 

[Shortmagman]

You have gotten some good advise so far but I have a question. Have you worked with the seating depth of the 80 Grain TTSX bullets? I have shot a lot of Barnes TTSX bullets and so far I have not had a gun that I could not get to shot within one inch at 100 yards. My grandson just took his first deer with a 80g TTSX bullet out of a Ruger .243. It did a number on the deer and without much work I was able to get this gun to shoot moa with this bullet. Follow Barnes advise and seat the bullets 50 thousand off the lands and then move them either in or out and you should be able to find a sweet spot.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

The gents in the previous posts are dead on. My hunting partner, my father & I all shoot Barnes bullets (for hunting) & i've learned the fouling lesson the hard way... several times

While reading your post I can't help but wonder; you stated that your rifle shot great with 100grn "conventional" bullets... Did you thoroughly clean the bore before shooting the Barnes? If not, I guarantee your bore is rediculously fouled (ask me how I know). As the two bullets use different hardnesses of copper & they actually can/do layer on top of each other. The "conventional" bullets being harder, they can actually help to strip more copper from your Barnes leading to very bad fouling.

You can also try the 85grn TSX, which has a great reputation as well.

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