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Posted: 11/5/2009 9:15:10 PM EDT
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I have a pawnshop find that I have adoped as my new pet, a Rem 700adl varmit in .243 win cal. If the serial number charts I found on the net are right, the little gun is 30 years old, but it seems to shoot very well.
I have shot both Remington 100gr and Hornady 100 gr factory loads in it, and it groups about 1 1/2 inches with rem, and the best so far with Hornady is a three shot, edges touching (one big hole) group. What I would like to find is what powders is closest to Hornady to start working off of, and of course what anyones best pet loads are for this cal. I plan to shoot deer and hogs with this gun, and maybe some paper later. thanks..fullclip |
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Well of course nobody can tell you ...what powders is closest to Hornady to start working off of because we don't know, and the powder they use may change from time to time.
However I can tell you that IMR 4350 has done very well for me with bullets in the 85 to 100 grain range. You could use a Hornady 100 grain bullet - seeing as how your rifle seems to like them. I personally really like the premium Nosler 95-gr Partition for game. It is very reliable. I also have had some excellent accuracy with the varmint-oriented Sierra 85-gr BTHP. This bullet combined with IMR 4350 is mentioned in a lot of various sources as being accurate. |
| Like above I started with some 4350. This got me good results. After I ran out of that I bought some Reloader 17. My results were almost identical. I used .38 grains of each powder for 100 grain slugs. The reloader 17 was supposed to give slightly higher velocities for the same powder as 4350, but I honestly did not see much of a jump. |
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We have 2 .243s in the family, a Sako and a Rem 700, neither of which have a heavy barrel. They shoot well with most of the bullets made by Hornady and Sierra. Haven't tried the others. I get good results for varmints with the Hornady 58gr VMAX, 70gr HP and the 100 BTSP. All driven by IMR 4350.
Our accuracy loads with 100gr, are around 42.5/IMR 4350. This is a deadly combo for deer. Dad and I talk to Rich Machholz, one of the ballistic technicians at Sierra on a regular basis. On his recommendation, we tried some 85gr Game Kings, their boat tailed HP. We also drive this with IMR 4350, but when I ran out of it, I subbed in a load of 36.5 of IMR 3031 that Rich suggested. It is working fine. This is also proving to be very good on our VA whitetails. We have gravitated to boat tailed bullets, not for accuracy reasons, flat based work just as well, but for the ease of seating the bullets. All of our loads are based on Remington brass, and RP 9 1/2 primers. |
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Hodgdon, for their relatively new Hybrid H100V, recommends a 100gr Speer BTSP over 43.7C grains of H100V (MAX LOAD), COL 2.650, for MV of 3100FPS (24" bbl).
I am currently playing with an 87 grain Hornady Vmax over 35.5 grains of Varget, but this is probably not a good deer round. |
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For my Md 70 Classic stainless I am loading:
Bullet, 70 gr Sierra Blitzking moly coated Powder, H4831SC, 45.5 grains Winchester cases CCI L/R primers My groups at 100 yards are 3/8" wide x 1/4" high. I use this load for coyotes and wolves. It may not be as fast as other loads but it shoot real well. Good luck with your 243. I have always like shooting the ones that we have owned. |
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