BAR White gold medallion (ammo?)

[Archer26]

Well I found the gun I want and now I need to get some insight.

I got a hold of a browning bar white gold medallion in .243. Does anyone know what the twist is on these guns? Or what grain it might prefer?
I want to use 55-58 grain loads for coyotes. But I gotta a feeling it may like the higher grain. I'm not as concerned about small groups as I am not shooting 4-500 yards. 2-250 at most and a good solid 6" grouping will suffice on a yote or groundhog.

If I decide to use it for deer I will without a doubt use 95-100 grain.

But I'm curious if this gun will digest the lighter loads with decent accuracy.

Any help or info would be great.

Thanks. Archer.

 

[ORD]

Should be a 1:10 twist if I remember correctly. I can't recall what the mag limitations are for that particular BAR, but it really shouldn't make much difference in .243Win.

Your top end in terms of max bullet weight will vary somewhat depending on the specific bullet design, but I know many folks running 100gr flat-base bunting type bullets with good success on everything from yotes to medium-sized game. I personally think that you'll fare better running pills in the 80-95gr range. The 87gr Hornady V-Max bullets are a great all-around combo for a .243 for coyotes!! Same thing with the 85gr Gamekings and other like bullets.

As for the REALLY lightweight stuff like the ~55gr fodder you are talking about...I haven't run anything that light so I can't speak from experience. I'm betting you'll probably be "ok" but performance may suffer somewhat in that range.

 

[Archer26]

Ord, what do you mean by "performance may suffer"? The only I'm thinking about the lighter stuff is
1) flatter shooting for shot judgment.
2) less chance of a ricochet as I am in a populated area.

I know a lot of guys have good results with a bolt action and light pills. But the semi auto part is what I'm wondering about. Will it be less accurate with lighter doses or will it digest them just the same?

 

[Archer26]

I know my bolt action loved the 95gr XP3's. But I really like the superformance 58's from hornady.

 

[ORD]

Sorry...should have been more specific.

I mean in terms of both reliability (fairly lightweight loads like that may hamper reliable cycling/operation of the rifle) and in terms of accuracy as the 55gr stuff is fairly lightweight (although certainly not outside the realm of "reasonable" for a 1:10 .243), the bullets are shorter, may jump further to get going, etc., which may all hamper you being able to get the most out of the lighter, shorter pills.

As for the Superformance stuff...BE VERY CAREFUL TRYING TO RUN ANY SUPERFORMANCE STUFF IN ANY SEMI-AUTO!! It has caused issues in SOME rifles and I am not honestly sure where the BAR stands as far as those issues are concerned.

 

[Archer26]

Ok. Now I'm following you. I'll have to do some more research. But the bar should be fair with 75gr then right?

 

[ORD]

75gr should be fine.

 

[Archer26]

Ok. Thanks.

 

[Archer26]

Any other words of wisdom out there?