Thread: Chop a .243 ?

243 Winchester- Effect of barrel length on velocity | Rifleshooter.com

Good reading for you there

Originally Posted by Timmay

243 Winchester- Effect of barrel length on velocity | Rifleshooter.com

Good reading for you there

Thanks yes good reading.

Depends why you want to chop it for? For a bush pig it be fine. I personally only bush hunt most of the time so im carrying my rifle most of the time (rather than over my shoulder) and i find it no problem at all with having a longer barrel. My 243 is 22 inch and my 308 is 24 inch and they are both fine in the bush.
It maybe just me, but im a believer in the Cal that you choose to use getting the best perforance out of it. Everyone theses days seem to be obsessed with chopping their rifle, then going to reloading to make up for abit of lost speed etc. They end up for example buying a 3006 and getting the perforance of a 308 out of it or worst.
I suppose the difference isnt huge, and you can have for example a 18 inch 308 compared to a 24 inch 308 and they both knock over a deer at 350m with the same projectile no problem. The fact is thou the longer barrel 308 will have more speed and more energy and a edge in perforance over the 18. I for one will never chop my 308, im getting 2995fps out of SF 150sst projectiles, shooting under a inch and prob has flatter shooting and better perforance than my mates 3006 and most of the 308 out there, small if be it but at least im getting the best out of it.
For a bush pig chopping your 243 will make no difference, if you going to be using it for longer range shots it will and will need a can as the muzzle blast will be loud

Chopped my model 7 243 to 16 handload 87gn hornadys with 2206h still get av 3030fps the deer i have shot out to 200m dont notice the 200 odd fps diff