.243

[rimmie]

Hi all,I'm getting rid of my .223 and getting a .243 so just wanted some advice for homeloads.iv got all the stuff as I reload for my .223.also could I use Viht n133 as iv got 3/4 of a tub for my .223? Any suggestions advice please cheers

[henry d]

Yes if you use a 70gn bullet.......otherwise just send it to me

Edited June 21, 2011 by henry d

[rimmie]

Lol yeah I want to use 100grn soft points

[magnum]

Lol yeah I want to use 100grn soft points

i use 38 gr of h4895 in my 243 with 85 or 87 gr haeds (sierra or v max!!!) and rim primmers

[jamie g]

vit 133 is more suited to the lighter bullets in the 243 range looking at the sierra bullets infinity.

[rimmie]

Thanks mate, any suggestions for 100gn bullets ?

[swift]

Thanks mate, any suggestions for 100gn bullets ?

 

Hi there vit 133 is way to fast for the heavy weight bullets in .243 try H4350 I use it for bullet weight's 80gr and over for the 100gr start with 41gr work up at .5gr

increasements up to 43gr another good powder is H4831 start at 44gr work up to 46gr all with fully pre-pt lapua brass and federal 210M primer's.

[markbivvy]

Lol yeah I want to use 100grn soft points

 

Just out of interest why so heavy please, and what rifle have you.

[rimmie]

Thanks swift,the reason for the 100gn is for deer stalking but mainly foxing my shooting partner uses 100gn and they take no prisoners !!!! Also they shoot very straight im in the middle of starting up a shoot on 800 acres with some friends it's over run with Charlie and there's muntjac so killing two birds with one stone so to speak

[magman]

Just out of interest why so heavy please, and what rifle have you.

 

And may help if we new what your shooting

[al4x]

Thanks swift,the reason for the 100gn is for deer stalking but mainly foxing my shooting partner uses 100gn and they take no prisoners !!!! Also they shoot very straight im in the middle of starting up a shoot on 800 acres with some friends it's over run with Charlie and there's muntjac so killing two birds with one stone so to speak

 

 

ok the shooting straight is an interesting one, 100 grains is at the top of what most factory rifles shoot properly, for foxes you are far more likely to find something like 75 grains works better. I tend to use 85 on most things but for your use its worth getting the rifle and see what works best

[Redgum]

I have tried many differant bullets but always come back to 100gr, at the moment I'm using sierra btsp in 100gr,a good load that works well in my remmie is 41.5grs vit 160, cci primers oal 2.650. Acording to target rifle builders Brock and Norris Vit 160 is probably the best 243 powder. H414 works pretty well to. Don't forget to start at 10% less and work up. Just been experimenting with some 100gr rnd nose sps, pretty accurate but as yet not had a Roe buck come close enough to test the knock down power.

Redgum .243 alternatives.pdf

[rimmie]

Thanks for the replys forgot to mention I'm using a tikka t3

[Redgum]

Thanks for the replys forgot to mention I'm using a tikka t3

You'll have to do some testing, think Tikas are 10:1 twist and have heard conflicting reviews on them liking 100grs, some say they shoot great others like something slightly lighter. Hope you managed to download and open the file I sent you.

[rimmie]

Cheers redgum yes I did download the file very helpful.il have to see what happens in testing with the 100gns my Mates gun is a tikka but it's the older 595 not the t3 and that shoots 100s very well. I think il give the Viht powder to a mate of mine and buy something else like Viht n160 as suggested

[rimmie]

Cheers redgum yes I did download the file very helpful.il have to see what happens in testing with the 100gns my Mates gun is a tikka but it's the older 595 not the t3 and that shoots 100s very well. I think il give the Viht powder to a mate of mine and buy something else like Viht n160 as suggested

[rimmie]

Any more reloading recipes anyone ?

[kent]

Thanks mate, any suggestions for 100gn bullets ?

 

N160 for a fuller case hogdons H4350 for real cold weather with a lower case fill. N160 is by far the favourite powder 85-100 grns

[kent]

Thanks swift,the reason for the 100gn is for deer stalking but mainly foxing my shooting partner uses 100gn and they take no prisoners !!!! Also they shoot very straight im in the middle of starting up a shoot on 800 acres with some friends it's over run with Charlie and there's muntjac so killing two birds with one stone so to speak

 

In that case go 95 grn Nosler b/tips. I have never had the opertunity to stalk Munties as they don't exist here but have killed an absoloute stack of Fox and Roe with this bullet. 100 grn deer bullets are too heavy in thier jacket etc and often fail to expand correctly on fox, when you find one that does it will mangle the venison badly. The 95 grn B/tip is wierd as it seems to handle both well expanding ok on fox yet not mangling and blood spoiling a roe carcass yet. 42.5 grn vhit 160 in mine work it up slowly and use safe reloading practices though

[rimmie]

Thanks mate,it looks like Viht n160 is the way forward il get a tub and start loading

[Redgum]

In that case go 95 grn Nosler b/tips. I have never had the opertunity to stalk Munties as they don't exist here but have killed an absoloute stack of Fox and Roe with this bullet. 100 grn deer bullets are too heavy in thier jacket etc and often fail to expand correctly on fox, when you find one that does it will mangle the venison badly. The 95 grn B/tip is wierd as it seems to handle both well expanding ok on fox yet not mangling and blood spoiling a roe carcass yet. 42.5 grn vhit 160 in mine work it up slowly and use safe reloading practices though

Balistic tips for fox, but for deer? I will not start an arguement with ya kent but I know the deer initiative spit on people who use b/tips on deer. I have shot plenty of muntie with 100gr soft points and they expand well,even better on Roe and Fallow. Some use 87gr b/tips with great success, I did experiment with them but had to much meat damage,initially I thought the 87gr had done less meat damage than 100 s/ps, that was until I examined the inner carcass. Have you ever crono'ed yr bullets, seems a soft load, I'm using 44gr of viht with 100gr soft points.IMPORTANT,DO NOT START WITH THIS LOAD AS IT COULD BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

[kent]

Balistic tips for fox, but for deer? I will not start an arguement with ya kent but I know the deer initiative spit on people who use b/tips on deer. I have shot plenty of muntie with 100gr soft points and they expand well,even better on Roe and Fallow. Some use 87gr b/tips with great success, I did experiment with them but had to much meat damage,initially I thought the 87gr had done less meat damage than 100 s/ps, that was until I examined the inner carcass. Have you ever crono'ed yr bullets, seems a soft load, I'm using 44gr of viht with 100gr soft points.IMPORTANT,DO NOT START WITH THIS LOAD AS IT COULD BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

 

Oh gosh not that old b/tip thing again Listen all it means is it has a plastic tip big game bullets designed for africa are now produced in the same way. The 95 grn Nosler b/tip is designed for deer specifically it is not a varmint bullet. Yes i have chroned it and at just over 3000 fps it is not a light load by any means. Yes it will take more but it is in no way required, generally i find the high end accuraccy node and stick with it IF it is not pushing the limits. Very high or even just high pressure in a hunting load is not good as you can expose the gun and ammo to rain and the likes. The 87 grn bullets with balistic tips would have been varmint specific as i know of no hunting balistic tip in that weight catogory in 6mm / .243" - Hornady have superseeded thier 75 grn v-max with the 87 though and i am thinking perhaps you used this? A few i know have used 95 grn SST from hornady although i only got them to shoot in my gun at blisteringly high pressure and report they do well on roe and Sika - again this is a deer specific B/Tip not a varmint bullet. I am sure there is other good fox and small/medium deer bullets but if you looked at the other 100 grn offerings from Nosler these would not be them, some might even have a soft lead point - BUT the tip itself means liitle or nothing as regards terminal performance on game

[Mr_Logic]

I used a 95 hornady sst to great effect on several roe. It is not a bullet to cause massive internal wounding - just a nice clean kill. My load was 95sst on top of 46gr H4831SC, and it shot < .5 moa all day long from my Howa. I regret ever changing rifle to 308 tbh, such was the goodness of that load!

[Redgum]

Oh gosh not that old b/tip thing again Listen all it means is it has a plastic tip big game bullets designed for africa are now produced in the same way. The 95 grn Nosler b/tip is designed for deer specifically it is not a varmint bullet. Yes i have chroned it and at just over 3000 fps it is not a light load by any means. Yes it will take more but it is in no way required, generally i find the high end accuraccy node and stick with it IF it is not pushing the limits. Very high or even just high pressure in a hunting load is not good as you can expose the gun and ammo to rain and the likes. The 87 grn bullets with balistic tips would have been varmint specific as i know of no hunting balistic tip in that weight catogory in 6mm / .243" - Hornady have superseeded thier 75 grn v-max with the 87 though and i am thinking perhaps you used this? A few i know have used 95 grn SST from hornady although i only got them to shoot in my gun at blisteringly high pressure and report they do well on roe and Sika - again this is a deer specific B/Tip not a varmint bullet. I am sure there is other good fox and small/medium deer bullets but if you looked at the other 100 grn offerings from Nosler these would not be them, some might even have a soft lead point - BUT the tip itself means liitle or nothing as regards terminal performance on game

 

Thanks for the enlightenment kent, though the sierra prohunter 100gr work fine for me I will give the 95gr noslers ago . I will crono my load at sometime just to check it isnt whistling out to fast. Its a load I worked up to, accurate at 41.5gr and then again at 44gr but no signs of pressure at that,thats in a remington case by the way. If the 41.5gr load is getting to between 2800-2900fps thats plenty good enough for me, out of interest what barrel length you using, if its a tika light with a 20inch barrel then thats pretty fast for 95gr.

[kent]

Thanks for the enlightenment kent, though the sierra prohunter 100gr work fine for me I will give the 95gr noslers ago . I will crono my load at sometime just to check it isnt whistling out to fast. Its a load I worked up to, accurate at 41.5gr and then again at 44gr but no signs of pressure at that,thats in a remington case by the way. If the 41.5gr load is getting to between 2800-2900fps thats plenty good enough for me, out of interest what barrel length you using, if its a tika light with a 20inch barrel then thats pretty fast for 95gr.

Ooo, wash your mouth out with soap and water! No way it is a 20" barrel though. If i could lay my hands on my data book i would tell you exact i think its 3012 fps average in my gun, its faster than the pro-hunters though and they are just a tad under 3000 fps. it does run them out faster than quickload suggests though with that sort of charge

 

The correct speed i run the 95's at is 3016 fps with a maximum spread of 21 fps 42.5 grns n160. the 100grn pro hunter gives me 2913 fps with 12fps maximum spread using 41.5 grns ie 1 grn less. I do not find the prohunters as reliable on fox they are i feel a tad too heavy duty for general cavity shots side on, great deer load though and the most accurate load i have for the gun- though watch this space coz i have been getting awesome results with factory loaded fedral 70 grn noslers recently and am waiting of some bullet heads to try some handloads with varget

Edited July 4, 2011 by kent