Fellas. Came across a great deal on a used Remington 700 BDL 243. It’s already heading to the smith to get threaded for my suppressor. And, I want to rechamber it. Question being, what can I realistically change to with a 1-9 1/4 twist barrel? I don’t want to buy a new barrel. Want this to be a cheap, light weight truck coyote/maybe deer rifle. And yes I know, the 243 would do a fine job. But I have a couple already and I want to play with something else. I have a large amount of H4350, H4831sc, Stabll 6.5, Superformance, 8208xbr and RL16. So, 243 AI? 6mm GT? XC? x47 Lapua? What’s my best choice for running 60-90 grain bullets with that twist? Thanks!!
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REM 700 243 rechamber
- Thread starter Jchap01i
- Start date
Ha. Found a store in Tulsa Oklahoma when I was passing through that had several 8 pounders of RL16! And an 8 of XBR. Twas an expensive but great day!
As someone who owns a 243, 6BR, 6x47L, and 244AI, I would probably go 6GT or just leave it in 243.
My 243 is a factory R700 Varmint rifle. It seems to get hot quicker and fouls worse than my other guns, but maybe that's because of the factory barrel. Accuracy is decent, averaging around 0.75 MOA with handloads. Powder choice doesn't seem to matter, while velocity changes, accuracy is about the same.
The slow twist will stabilize the 105 Amax at 4000' elevation, has been accurate, but they are not made anymore. The 105 ELD and RDF are too long and accuracy is poor. The 87 Vmax, 95 TMK, and 95 SMK shoot well.
I wouldn't waste your RL16 or 8208 in it. 4831sc is probably a better fit. N540 and 2000MR are powders that seem to burn cleaner in mine. Superformance is one I have on hand and want to try.
My 243 is a factory R700 Varmint rifle. It seems to get hot quicker and fouls worse than my other guns, but maybe that's because of the factory barrel. Accuracy is decent, averaging around 0.75 MOA with handloads. Powder choice doesn't seem to matter, while velocity changes, accuracy is about the same.
The slow twist will stabilize the 105 Amax at 4000' elevation, has been accurate, but they are not made anymore. The 105 ELD and RDF are too long and accuracy is poor. The 87 Vmax, 95 TMK, and 95 SMK shoot well.
I wouldn't waste your RL16 or 8208 in it. 4831sc is probably a better fit. N540 and 2000MR are powders that seem to burn cleaner in mine. Superformance is one I have on hand and want to try.
Thanks! I was leaning toward the AI before reading that it’s not great in shorter barrels and I’d not really gain much. Having a Sandman L that’s almost 9” long is like the barrel 18-20 inches. GT brass seems readily available. Think I may run that race. I have allot of 90 grain TGK’s. Should make a decent coyote getter.
You don't want to spend a lot of money but you are talking about dumping a ton into a cheap factory barrel to change to a caliber that will do nothing more for you than a .243? Think about it and long and hard before doing anything to that besides threading the barrel. Anything more is a waste of money.
I get along pretty well with the local gunsmith. He said he’d recut my chamber to any of those because he has the reamers on hand for 40 bucks since he’s already doing a R709 7mm SAUM for me. Figure try a new cartridge, if I love it then perhaps build out the rifle with a new barrel. So I’d be out the 40 bucks and cost of dies and brass.
He'd have to set the barrel back and rethread also. He won't be able to just rechamber for a shorter 6GT. Might want to check if that's all going to be $40.
243 AI or 6 CM are probably the only options on the existing barrel. You’re twist rate isn’t going to be great for the longer high bc bullets but you’ll definitely grab some more speed.
