Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Proven loads in the .243

Since we are in pre-order mode for Pet Loads by John Barsness
and I've just picked up a 700 SPS youth for the common use of my boys, any proven loads for the .243 that might help cut to the chase? I'm looking for one varmint bullet load and one deer load.

I'll be grabbing a couple boxes of factory loads to get brass, any brand to avoid?

Thank you in advance.

I have had good luck with 70 and 75 gr Sierra bullets.

My 75 grain load I will not publish as I am using 4350 (75 gr bullet) surplus powder from the 70's. Check on line with Hodgdons for data.

The second I use 38 grains of 8208 with the 70 grain Sierra and winchester brass. Both loads shoot nice tight groups, with 8208 shooting the best and the 70's have the best BC of the two.

Folks think highly of the blue box Federal Fusion 95s for factory ammo. 41-42 grains of H4350 and 95 Nosler BT are what I would use exclusively for everything considering your twist.

100gr NP over 41gr of I4350 worked well in my Sako (now my son's Sako).

Some prefer Hodgdon's 4350, but I went with what I had.

A Sierra 85 gr HPBT with 37.0 gr IMR 4064 has worked for me in a couple Remington 700 ADLs in .243. I've taken deer at 280, 350 and 410 yards with this load.

Mine likes the 95gr NBT with 41grs IMR4350

For deer, 95 grain Partition over 44 grains of H4831.

For varmints, 80 grain Sierra Blitz over 38 grains of H4895.

I used to use the 85 grain Sierra BTHP for both varmints and medium game, but decided that they were more fragile than I prefer for medium game.

I've probably loaded for more than a dozen .243's over the decades, and aside from the already mentioned 41-42 grains of IMR4350 (H4350 also works) with bullets in the 100-grain range, these have also done very well in more than one rifle, with both outstanding accuracy and velocity:

55-58 grain bullets: 48.0 grains of Big Game
70-grain bullets: 41.0 grains of Varget

Have also had excellent luck in recent years with 95-105 grain bullets using Vihatvuori N560 and Ramshot Hunter. Some rifles do very well with bullets over 100 grains with Retumbo, but the standard 1-10 twist doesn't do all that well with 105+ grain high-BC bullets in most conditions.

I have yet to see .243 that wouldn't shoot a Barnes 80 TTSX 0r 85 TSX into nice tight groups with 37.5-38.5 grains of Varget. I have yet to see a deer that needed a second dose of either.

For varmints, 58 grain VMaxes work well with both 42.5 grains Varget and 14 grains of Blue Dot. 10-12 grains Blue Dot work well with the VMaxes when a little quieter is a little better.

I used to be of the opinion that 4350 was all you needed for a 243. When I started using Varget Things got better. Now that 4451 is available, it has given me better velocity in 243s and very equal accuracy in a couple. While I haven't tested it in all the 243s i have here, I would say it is worth a good hard look.

Damn MD, how long is your drop tube to get 100gr of Retumbo into a .243 case! Must be an AI...

Retumbo was one of the only suitable powders I could find here for a while, and it works pretty good for me although I use a much more sedate 49gr.

Couldn't agree more for the big game load. For varmints I like the 70gr Ballistic Tip and Varget.

100 grain Nosler Partitions do well with 44 grains of H4831. The old, long cut stuff just nicely fills the case. I assume that the newer short cut product would give the same results, possibly with a little more variation because the case is not quite full. I get 2923 FPS.

The load is fairly low pressure, and could easily go up a half grain without approaching the SAAMI limit.

I've killed a truck load of deer and hogs with the Remington 100 grain Coreloct Factory Ammo.
My favorite hand load is a 85 grain Sierra SP with a max load of IMR 4350.
My second favorite hand load would be 41 grains of IMR 4350 with a 100 grain Nosler Partition.

I've also killed a few Antelope with 55 grain Factory Winchester Silver Tip loading, which is a 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Not my first choice for a Praire Goat load, but it will work in a pinch.

Sierra 85 gr HPBT ... 43-44 grs/IMR4350 or 38-39 grs/IMR4064 depending on the rifle.

I have 85 grain interbond and 87 grain vmax shooting in the same hole.

Ditto on the Sierra 85 HPBT and the IMR 4064.

I like the 95 grain Ballistic Tip....

Fueled by 4064 or IMR 4895 or RL 15....

or for less recoil, for kids, new shooters, or the ladies...
30 grains of 4198 or RL 7....

for deer season this year, in 243 I've been toting an 87 grain Hornady SP, ran with a charge of 38 grains of 3031..

The ADL seems to like that load....

Another vote for the 95NBT...since Hornady quit making their 100 grain flat base.


37.0 grains of 4064......

38 grains of IMR 4064 under the 85 grain Sierra BTHP has been very accurate in all 4 of the 243's I've put it through. Of course that bullet ain't good for a goddam thing because of it's comparatively low BC.

95g NBT and 42 grains of imr4350 in my model 7 shoots sub MOA and kills everything I have ever shot at it.
Before reloading I always used winchester ballistic silver tips. They shot about a 1.2 group and also dropped everything in its tracks