.243 Help

[Dekers]

Chaps, there is Nothing to stop a club official acting as a refereee on a first application (as long as you meet the appropriate conditions), but to retain a FAC for target work then a club official Must be a referee at renewal!

[albob]

The issue I have with the .17HMR is that, whilst I waould love one for vermin control etc and would prefer that over a .22, As I have no permissions yet I think I will struggle to convince plod that I need it for pure target shooting as it's not a round known for that.

 

 

i should read more carefully,i assumed you had vermin shooting.. :yp:

 

al

[Vince Green]

Coming back to the original question. what you were told about .243 ammunition not being available in FMJ is true but FMJ bullets in 6mm (.243) are plentiful for reloading because it is used for benchrest shooting so if you want to reload you will be fine.

 

The question of using expanding ammunition for target shooting is a gray area. They certainly won't allow you it for dedicated target shooting BUT you still need to shoot your rifle on a range to sight it in and to gain proficiency with your rifle so that should be allowed. You need to practice to reach the required standard to take your certification if you want to shoot deer for example. It depends on how much range shooting you plan to do. It depends a lot on what you local police view is on the subject of how much practice is reasonable.

 

The .243 is an easy cartridge to load and a loading press is a lot cheaper than a second rifle. However, you don't really want to do too much target shooting with a .243 because you will fairly quickly wear the barrel out. You can put five years worth of cartridges (compared to deer shooting)through a rifle in a long day on the range if you get carried away.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Vince Green

[Vipa]

Coming back to the original question. what you were told about .243 ammunition not being available in FMJ is true but FMJ bullets in 6mm (.243) are plentiful for reloading because it is used for benchrest shooting so if you want to reload you will be fine.

 

The question of using expanding ammunition for target shooting is a gray area. They certainly won't allow you it for dedicated target shooting BUT you still need to shoot your rifle on a range to sight it in and to gain proficiency with your rifle so that should be allowed. You need to practice to reach the required standard to take your certification if you want to shoot deer for example. It depends on how much range shooting you plan to do. It depends a lot on what you local police view is on the subject of how much practice is reasonable.

 

The .243 is an easy cartridge to load and a loading press is a lot cheaper than a second rifle. However, you don't really want to do too much target shooting with a .243 because you will fairly quickly wear the barrel out. You can put five years worth of cartridges (compared to deer shooting)through a rifle in a long day on the range if you get carried away.

 

Thanks Vince, that makes a lot of sense and is probably where my confusion came from.

 

Good advice re the barrel wear, hadn't even crossed my mind.

 

I think I am moving along the lines of .243 75/25 deer/target or zeroing and .308 25/75 deer/target. DSC1 is booked for April 9th-11th and I have booked and paid for a 2 day stalking break back end of May. Hopefully that should convince plod that I am serious and move them to allow my expanding ammo.

 

Cleveland would appear to be one of the better forces for firearms and if past performance is anything to go by and all being well, I should have my ticket through in plenty of time to get me a rifle, get used to it and use it on my first stalk in May!! (I'm not banking on it however and have made sure there will be an estate rifle available should I need it!)