243 Win for Precision .......

[protoolsnerd]

Hi Everyone
I"m not new to precision reloading , but i just inherited my father's old remmy 700 in 243 . Dropped it into and old B&C stock that i had and i'm wondering if i should pursue the caliber as a precision gun. I know it was more classically a varmint / occasional deer gun , and i've seen a couple articles where George from GA said he loves it .

Before i drop a couple hundred on redding dies for it , i'd like to hear what some of the vets think. I love the ballistics of it and you can really send that round SCREAMIN ! . Or would i be better of rebareling the gun in something like 6.5 or that sort ? That would take a while as i have other guns and shooting sports to concentrate one .

Also , i'm having a really hard time finding decent ammo that isn't purpose built for hunting . Are there any normal BTHP rounds for the 243 being produced anymore ? I found a few decent ones from Hornady but they're all for massive expansion, and are around 30 / 20 rounds.

thanks everyone !

Aaron S.

 

[AK264]

The .243 is one of the best but the cartridge burns through barrels. Lapua brass is available for it. Most are using either a 1-8 twist for the 107 SMK weight bullets or a 1-7.5 for the 115 DTAC. The Rem twist is not fast enough to handle those pills and without it... meh. So what you would need to get the gun up to par is a new fast twist barrel installed, a action blueprint, a bedding job, some lapua brass , the dies you mention, a k or so of low drag pills, and a trigger so bout $2k. All IMHO.

 

[Rem7targetactical]

Exactly what he said. ^^^^^^^ I was gonna go 243 at my last rebarrel because its such a great caliber but the barrel life scared me away. (that and I already had all the components and dies for 308 win.)

 

[Nate O.]

The factory remmy is plenty capable...shoot it the way it is a while, then when it won't shoot anymore, spin a new one on. I've got krieger and factory remington varmint contour barrels and they all shoot well. Here's a new load I just worked up for my factory barreled 243 win. 95g. berger vld @3150fps.. i've taken 'em out to a 1000 and they work fine. They don't have the b.c of the 115's, but they still work pretty good. When this barrel is toast, it will be getting a new cut rifle in the same caliber. Nothin' fancy, but it works for me.

 

[shoot4fun]

Outstanding accuracy and launches bullets very fast with little recoil. It does burn barrels out quicker due to the short neck but I wouldn't worry about that. Your factory barrel is likely a 1 in 10 twist and will be best suited to bullets below 100 grains.

 

[boone3380]

My old Remmy 243 was a 1-9 twist, but didn't like the 105 Amax. You might do better with the SMKs, I don't think there as long.
It's been trued and rebarreled with a Rock Creek 1-8 in 243 AI. It may be a barrel burner but not as bad as my 6.5-284 that's ready for a new pipe.

 

[OK243]

Get some 87 or 95 grain bullets and shart shooting. The smaller bullets will help you learn wind.
Even with the small bullets you are still looking at 2000-2500 rounds before the barrel goes. I started out with the same thing and rebarreled with a Krieger 7.5 twist, shooting 115's.

 

[Easy_E]

Honestly 2000 is a lot of rounds for the average shooter to shoot. I thought about different 6mm's worried about barrel life but kept coming back to the 243. I just put a Brux Barreled .243 together and I'm glad I did its a shooter.
I pulled one shot here but after twenty five rounds I found a load.

 

[Captain Kirk]

The 243 is no more prone to short barrel life than a 6x47, 6CM, or any other 6mm cartridge pushing the same velocity. I personally have shot 243 barrels to 2400+ rounds pushing 115s at 3k fps. One needs to take into consideration many things when choosing a caliber, but I consider a barrel a "consumable", just like bullets and powder. The 243 shines at long range when you push the heavies (105-115s) at around 3000fps, but the 115s want a 1:7.5 twist barrel.

 

[protoolsnerd]

I'm not as concerned with the shorter barrel life, i'd be more into what was a better performing cartridge if i decide to rebarrel .

This gun does have a 1 in 10 twist and a 23" barrel. I'll be loading the 95 gr berger vld , as mentioned above. I love the 175 gr berger VLD and 168 gr Berger VLD for my 308. I don't plan on doing a full on upgrade on this gun right now as i don't have the cash. Luckily i had a few things laying around after upgrading my original rem 700 in 308 . ( currently an aics , obermeyer 26" rem varm contour , r&d brake , viper pst 6-24 , egw hd rail 20 moa , timney flat trigger , action blue printed and accurized by southern precision rifles ) I still haven't finished my break in on that barrel .....

My 243 is now in a b&c medalist stock , r&d bottom metal, egw light rail, burris xtreme low rings , undecided on the budget scope , prob drop a timney in there at some point .

I'll be shooting this one until it loses its accuracy without a doubt . Just not sure if i should rebarrel in 243 or 243 ai , 6.5 , or another 6mm variant.

 

[Cobracutter]

What is your experince and how long are you going to realisticaly shoot.

Personaly, I would invest in some good glass and buy a metric shit ton of: 20 rd box - 243 Win Prvi Partizan 100 grain Soft Point PP251 | SGAmmo.com

Cheap , practice ammo that you can save the brass for reloading down the road. You can buy or build some better ammo down the road once your skills are up or you want to reach out past 500yds.

People will complain about the barrel burners but the reality is, Most are not shooting benchrest level and even then, the cost of a rebarrel will be pocket change compared to how much you spend in ammo/ect getting there.

 

[81STFACP]

It does burn barrels out quicker due to the short neck .

What is the physical reason as to why the short neck case burns barrels quicker? Not challenging your statement, just curious. Are there some controlled experiments and hard data out there I can read? Please let me know.

 

[InkedIan]

What is the physical reason as to why the short neck case burns barrels quicker? Not challenging your statement, just curious. Are there some controlled experiments and hard data out there I can read? Please let me know.

I think what he is referring to is throat torching... It's a combination of the shoulder angle and shorter neck that supposedly pushes hot powder and gas directly into the throat instead of down the barrel causing fire cracking and erosion. It can be combated with slower burning single based powders. I started us H1000 with 115gr dtacs and still get good velocity.

 

[protoolsnerd]

What is your experince and how long are you going to realisticaly shoot.

Personaly, I would invest in some good glass and buy a metric shit ton of: 20 rd box - 243 Win Prvi Partizan 100 grain Soft Point PP251 | SGAmmo.com

Cheap , practice ammo that you can save the brass for reloading down the road. You can buy or build some better ammo down the road once your skills are up or you want to reach out past 500yds.

People will complain about the barrel burners but the reality is, Most are not shooting benchrest level and even then, the cost of a rebarrel will be pocket change compared to how much you spend in ammo/ect getting there.

Hi there Cobra ,

My experience is probably intermediate . I've taken classes on the usual . I've been reloading my own rifle ammo for 3 years . Reloading all other calibers for 2 years . I"m fascinated by ballistics . I haven't made the jump to competitive shooting for precision yet , but i plan on it. My overall goal is to shoot one of the major comps at some point GAP grind, bushnell brawl , that kinda thing .

Normally i'll be shooting out to 500-600 but i'm currently bridging the gap to 1000k with my 308 with the new barrel and twist rate . I'd love nice glass but it's not in the cards right now. I can always put my vortex on it for fun. Eventually i'm going to snag a nightforce and the vortex will go on the rifle i don't shoot as much .

I'm not as concerned with barrel burn out as it'll take me a while to run through 2k rounds or so. I"m more concerned with the round being able to go 1000yards plus. I'd like to shoot those matches and it seems that 6mm family is king . Just not sure if 243 is worth getting the Redding competition dies and investing the money to produce great precision rounds if i'll eventually want to move to a dif cart. like 243 ai , 6.5 , 260 ai etc.

 

[shoot4fun]

I think what he is referring to is throat torching... It's a combination of the shoulder angle and shorter neck that supposedly pushes hot powder and gas directly into the throat instead of down the barrel causing fire cracking and erosion. It can be combated with slower burning single based powders. I started us H1000 with 115gr dtacs and still get good velocity.

Exactly what I was referring to.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I say go for it. 243 is a great round for long range, as others said barrel life is the downside but a lot of people have been reporting longer barrel life with H1000. I burnt the barrel out of a R700 varmint 243 running 105 AMAX's and H4350 and it was a laser. The barrel went a little over 1500 rounds before it started opening up. I'm giving it a go again with H1000 and 87gr Bergers in a Kimber Montana.

 

[Graham]

10 twist won't do it.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

10 twist won't do it.

I agree. 87gr Vmax's and Bergers are probably the best thing that's going to work in a 1-10. 87gr Vmax is cheap and has a .400 BC so they're very hard to beat.

 

[scatterbrains]

I just shot my 243 in a match for the first time on sunday and am very very happy i built it up. It ran perfectly and i shot the best i ever have. You wont be disappointed.
I am running hornady 105 BTHP match winchester cases and 41gr of hodgen hybrid 100v. It comes in at 3020fps out of a 22" barrel.
Rifle is a stevens 200 9.25tw in an XLR chassis.

 

[Niles Coyote]

If it shares the 9.125 twist my remington sps varmint has the 105 Hornady A-Max and Berger VLD's will work in it. I use H1000...

my post on the topic
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...56-update-243-remington-sps-varmint-105s.html

 

[protoolsnerd]

Great post Niles. I'm not exactly sure if it's a 1 in 10 , but i know the rifle was bought in the late 70s early 80s and the barrel is 23" long. I have no problem running the 95 berger or SMK , i've had great luck with both. I have to check out the barrel stamping , hopefully it mentions it, but i don't think it does.

If i like the performance of the rifle i may swap it into my aics and run it instead of my 308 , we shall see. Then it is going to have to get the full treatment .

 

[boone3380]

You can call Remington and give them the serial #, they can tell you the barrel twist.

 

[Graham]

You can call Remington and give them the serial #, they can tell you the barrel twist.

Or you can measure it yourself.

 

[varmint slayer]

.243 is a great choice. Good brass available, great ballistics with 105 class bullets, very accurate and easy to reload for. I used H1000 and 105 Amaxs and got right at 3000 rounds through a 27" Brux before I put a new barrel on. Accuracy wasn't to bad yet but I couldn't get the 105s over 2800 anymore and with another barrel on the shelf waiting I just went ahead and re barreled. I was getting 3050 fps for most of its life and then the velocity started to fall and I just couldn't get it back.

 

[protoolsnerd]

WOOOHOOO!!!! 1 in 9 twist !! 105's here i come ! Thanks everyone , i'm very excited to see what i can get this rifle to do.

 

[Jimmy Hog]

You may also try the Berger 95 classic hunter hybrid. Great deer/target bullet with high BC and much less sensitive to seating depth compared to the VLD. It will also stabilize in a 1:10 twist barrel according to Berger. I shoot them in a 243 Ackley and they shoot excellent

Jimmy Hog