Thread: Reloading .243, tricks, tips and advice

If shooting goats use 75gr Hornady . 300m watch the red mist appear. Devastating pill.

That heat will erode your chamber throat before you can say "Jack Robinson" if you keep on shooting past those first three rounds without cooling down. Which is why I would go for something burning less powder at more gentle pressures for culling, like 222 or 223. Goats won't know the diff. Heat is the enemy of barrel life. For goat culling at closer ranges there's a lot in favour of lever action in Pistol calibres, like 357mag.

Originally Posted by Jhon

That heat will erode your chamber throat before you can say "Jack Robinson" if you keep on shooting past those first three rounds without cooling down. Which is why I would go for something burning less powder at more gentle pressures for culling, like 222 or 223. Goats won't know the diff. Heat is the enemy of barrel life. For goat culling at closer ranges there's a lot in favour of lever action in Pistol calibres, like 357mag.

Absolutely. The problem is where I do a lot of the culling, the goats can quite often be out past 200m. In my experience there, the .223 has been absolutely fine in the past for everything up to 200. Between 2-300, it’s marginally ok for nannies and kids, but not ideal on the Billy’s. I like to know that when I need to take an animal, goat or fellow deer at 300m or more, I can dispatch it quickly.
As you say, the .223 is the ideal, but I just need something with a bit longer legs now (the goats are way faster at climbing hills than I will ever be haha).
Cheers,

Originally Posted by Cigar

Varget is AR2208 repackaged.
There is a shipment of ADI powder due this month.

Good to know! I have seen some on my travels. I’ll pick it up when I’m there next.
Cheers

Originally Posted by JohnQT

Thanks for the advice everyone involved.

Given that the Hornady Precision Hunter preformed the best out of the factory ammo, would it be fair to assume that setting the seating depth die to the same OAL as the precision hunter loads could be a good option to start with length? Even with a Speer SPBT that is 85gr (not 90gr as the eldx).

as I said earlier...given SIMILAR shape projectile the point your die contacts the oglive will be similar...so its a safe assumption the jump to lands will be similar too,
either it works or it wont...but it will give you a good place to start...Ive done it for years and actually have kept a single 130grn silvertip round to set dies for .270win and it works for every projectile Ive used other than a 110grn varmit or a 170grn round nose...

Originally Posted by JohnQT

Given that the Hornady Precision Hunter preformed the best out of the factory ammo, would it be fair to assume that setting the seating depth die to the same OAL as the precision hunter loads could be a good option to start with length? Even with a Speer SPBT that is 85gr (not 90gr as the eldx).

No. I would not make that assumption.

Gonna disagree with Micky on this one. The manufacturer will provide a minimum length (that will probably shoot OK) and by adhering to that, you won't risk jamming bullets into the rifling like you're going to risk with this "set up your die off of one type of ammo to try and get the same jump with another" lark.

Seems like you want to copy "something" to give yourself some kind of head start but you don't need to. You'll be better off sucking it up and starting from a clean page. There's several quick and easy methods to work out the maximum length in your chamber. You can then start at the mfg suggested length, 20 thou off the rifling or whatever.

It's a Tikka, unless you're single feeding, anything loaded to max mag length will still be well away from the lands.

Originally Posted by JohnQT

Thanks for the advice everyone involved.

Given that the Hornady Precision Hunter preformed the best out of the factory ammo, would it be fair to assume that setting the seating depth die to the same OAL as the precision hunter loads could be a good option to start with length? Even with a Speer SPBT that is 85gr (not 90gr as the eldx).

The 87g Vmax sounds absolutely devastating! Gutted that I cant find any around these parts. (pun fully intended).

I think I'll give the Speer 85gr SPBT a go and see how it reacts.

Given that ADI powders have disappeared across the country, does anyone have nay suggestions on other options? I have seen some Hodgdon Varget and 414 about

ADI2206H, ADI2208, ADI2209, ADI2213, ADI2217, IMR4320, IMR4451, H4350 and RE22 have all given me good service in 243 over a number of different rifles and a number of decades of on and off use.
The tougher the bullet, the less likely I'm gonna use it. My favorites: Sierra 85sp, Hornady 87vmax, Hornady 87hpbt, Berger 95vld, Targex 95 rbt.
Wallabies, Reds (including big animals) Fallow and Tahr have all fallen to those pills (Vmax for hoppers only unless neck shooting)

Reloading for my basic 243's. Dad used variations of the 4350 in 70's and 80'. I've been using H414 / W760 (2 names same powder) for mid range pills. Spherical so it works well in a powder throw.
And just used book recommended. COAL, smaller bullets have a huge jump heavy ones don't.
Nb, ideally look up the recommended coal from the bullet manufacturer as mixing COAL even for bullets of the same weight can cause issues due to bullet length and shape, length of bearing surface in the lands etc.
My custom 243 is a different kettle of fish. But once I established that the max COAL in the mag is still not jammed away I went. Need to check if changing bullets. I was using W780 but now use Reloader R26
Z

Originally Posted by JohnQT

...I do a reasonable amount of goat culling out to 350/400 meters and knocking over the occasional fellow. ..

Um, that's called murder in legal circles

Don't know if anyone has cone out with this but maybe if you need to shoot longer strings you need to move to a heavier barrel that will adsorb more heat.
Assuming you are culling or day walk hunting then an extra pound or so in the barrel is not so critical.
Zq

So the latest update is that I managed to find 500gm of Varget/2208 and have bought some Speer 85gr SPBT projectiles to start with.

Now the interesting bit, Speer recommend (for this specific bullet and powder), a start load of 37.5gr and max load of 41.5gr.
Hodgdon state a start load for an 85gr bullet of 34.3gr and a max load of 36.5gr.

Normally I would just find the medium/average of the start load and work from there. However, the start load according to Speer is 1gr more than the max recommended load from Hodgdon. And with a 7 grain difference between the lowest charge and highest charge, I really don't know where to start as that is a massive range!

My head says to start low at around 35.5gr (middle of the road according to Hodgdon). However, that is 2gr below the Speer start charge.

I get that these are conservative and it will take some 'trial and improvement', but this is two very different load ranges...

And I quite like the way my face is configured, so if I can avoid having it redesigned by Hodgdon/Speer would be great

The Hodgdon data is for a Barnes TSX. That is a copper monolithic bullet which is longer and tougher than your average jacketed lead bullet of the same weight. This means it takes up more space inside the case and is harder to drive down the barrel, meaning more pressure.

That's why the Hodgdon data is significantly lower - the two bullets are not comparable. Use the Speer data.

The Speer data is for that exact bullet, the Hodgdon data isn't, so I would tend to go with the Speer data. The Speer bullet may be softer or have a smaller bearing surface than other bullets of that weight.
Also, the Hodgdon data is the same as the ADI data (because ADI make the powder for Hodgdon) and on the ADI website the 85gr data is for the Barnes TSX, which is not your typical lead core copper jacket projectile.