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looking for a .243 bullet with the highest bc for 9.25 twist
- Thread starter tn243
- Start date
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FearNoWind
Well-Known Member
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.
Go here:
Shop Shooting Supplies | Reloading | Gunsmithing | Hunting gear — MidwayUSA
Do searches for titles like:
Sierra Pro-Hunter .243
Sierra MK .243
Hornady AMax .243
Berger VLD .243
Nozler Spitzer .243
or just ".243 bullets"
and look under "Technical Information" on each page.
Go here:
Shop Shooting Supplies | Reloading | Gunsmithing | Hunting gear — MidwayUSA
Do searches for titles like:
Sierra Pro-Hunter .243
Sierra MK .243
Hornady AMax .243
Berger VLD .243
Nozler Spitzer .243
or just ".243 bullets"
and look under "Technical Information" on each page.
In all probability you are looking at the Berger 95 grain VLD.
I do not think you will get the 105-108s to stabilize at distance.
I do not think you will get the 105-108s to stabilize at distance.
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
I could not get the Berger VLD hunter 95gr to stabilize in my 26" Savage 12 VLP barrel. Factory Hornady superformance 95gr SST should work good. It did for me. There are 100gr hunting bullets that will stabilize but they will not beat the BC of the SST. The polymer tip does help with bullet expansion and every hit on coyotes was DRT.
The 95gr Berger Classic hunter has about the same BC as the SST so no advantage to the Berger there and SST bullets are cheaper and easier to come by.
I should note that I hunt at 1000ft elevation at temperatures between 25F and -20F. Bullets with marginal stability will shoot better in the summer and at high elevation. So beware doing load development in the off season. Absolutely verify that it is working under actual hunting conditions.
If you want to shoot the 95gr VLD or higher and get decent grouping, you need an 8 twist barrel. I got one and could not be happier with the rifle.
The 95gr Berger Classic hunter has about the same BC as the SST so no advantage to the Berger there and SST bullets are cheaper and easier to come by.
I should note that I hunt at 1000ft elevation at temperatures between 25F and -20F. Bullets with marginal stability will shoot better in the summer and at high elevation. So beware doing load development in the off season. Absolutely verify that it is working under actual hunting conditions.
If you want to shoot the 95gr VLD or higher and get decent grouping, you need an 8 twist barrel. I got one and could not be happier with the rifle.
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
So the factory model 12 VLP has a 26" heavy fluted barrel. Mine was from before when Savage started sandblasting the crap out of everything, so it had a really nice finish on it. I pulled it off and sold it promptly for $180. Current barrels will be worth less. But not worthless...
Then I went to NSS (Northland shooting supplies - no links, use google) and asked regarding 1:8 twist barrels. Jim at NSS happened to have a 26" small shank Varmint contour (about 0.75" at muzzle) with a 1:8 twist and a 243AI chamber in stock. I took it since I had already been waiting some ungodly time for a 6.5mm barrel which eventually I never got. That was $330. Now NSS has CBI (Criterion) and Shilen barrels, and I only ever got 1 6.5mm barrel from CBI because no 6.5 barrels were forthcoming from Shilen in an entire year. It was a problem with a particular lot of bar stock, which I believe has been resolved.
I have several Shilen barrels and I have had negative feedback from members on the forum on them, but all of my Shilen barrels have been reliable 0.5MOA barrels. So far the CBI barrel is 1MOA at best and it is a 6.5x284 so it may only have 1200-1400 rounds in it total, so one cannot spend forever on load development. All I will say is that the CBI barrel which I got after waiting a year for a Shilen which I did not get, is not working out the best for me.
Jim is a great guy to deal with, you just have to actually call him on the phone. His attention to answering emails is old school... Get a new barrel nut and a 1x expense to get the receiver wrench and special wrench for the barrel nut. Even if you have a smooth nut, get the wrench since you will want to use it on the new nut. Then $30 for a go gauge from Manson reamers (one word on google).
If you don't need extra speed and can get a regular chambering, it does save a lot of work compared to the ackley chamber. It is also easier to get dies. But availability was a key thing for me, since I was out hunting coyotes 2 days a weekend.
Then I went to NSS (Northland shooting supplies - no links, use google) and asked regarding 1:8 twist barrels. Jim at NSS happened to have a 26" small shank Varmint contour (about 0.75" at muzzle) with a 1:8 twist and a 243AI chamber in stock. I took it since I had already been waiting some ungodly time for a 6.5mm barrel which eventually I never got. That was $330. Now NSS has CBI (Criterion) and Shilen barrels, and I only ever got 1 6.5mm barrel from CBI because no 6.5 barrels were forthcoming from Shilen in an entire year. It was a problem with a particular lot of bar stock, which I believe has been resolved.
I have several Shilen barrels and I have had negative feedback from members on the forum on them, but all of my Shilen barrels have been reliable 0.5MOA barrels. So far the CBI barrel is 1MOA at best and it is a 6.5x284 so it may only have 1200-1400 rounds in it total, so one cannot spend forever on load development. All I will say is that the CBI barrel which I got after waiting a year for a Shilen which I did not get, is not working out the best for me.
Jim is a great guy to deal with, you just have to actually call him on the phone. His attention to answering emails is old school... Get a new barrel nut and a 1x expense to get the receiver wrench and special wrench for the barrel nut. Even if you have a smooth nut, get the wrench since you will want to use it on the new nut. Then $30 for a go gauge from Manson reamers (one word on google).
If you don't need extra speed and can get a regular chambering, it does save a lot of work compared to the ackley chamber. It is also easier to get dies. But availability was a key thing for me, since I was out hunting coyotes 2 days a weekend.
I talked to Jim yesterday about a varmint contour 243 ai barrel just saving up my pennies. Local smith that specializes in bench rest guns said he would install the new barrel for $50... cheaper than tools but not if I had to rebarrel it again when the barrel is shot out. Are you still using the factory stock?
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
The model 12 VLP has a pretty nice laminate stock. If I do builds on a Savage action, that is usually the stock I will look for. It is also set up for a metal detachable magazine by default, not a plastic magazine like a model 11 or 111. You can probably get the same stock on Numrich, its just not a friendly site to browse.
The heavy barrels are popular and you do not have to special order them. Next time I will do a heavy sporter to get the weight down a bit. Those varmint barrels are heavy and I'm not hunting prairie dogs...
The heavy barrels are popular and you do not have to special order them. Next time I will do a heavy sporter to get the weight down a bit. Those varmint barrels are heavy and I'm not hunting prairie dogs...
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
Back to your original question. I never tried the 95gr Sierra Match king bullets. Their website says 1:9 twist or faster. I have generally found the SMK bullets to be a lot less fussy regarding seating depth compared to Berger and one will often find a good load in a single days work, loading to Sami overall length specification. Then just half grain powder increments, 5 loads to each step. At the time, it was basically impossible to get any SMK bullets at all, but now things have improved.
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
You can find the barrel contour info for Shilen barrels here Welcome to Shilen Rifles, Inc.
The heavy sporter is 0.685 at the muzzle vs 0.8 for a varmint
The heavy sporter is 0.685 at the muzzle vs 0.8 for a varmint
trickytune
Well-Known Member
Surely W3P do a bullet with G7 bc of .850 or better that will stabilise with a 1:14 twist barrel??
