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

Crazy how the loads we all use are so close and the same powder and bullet combinations work in so many guns. My loads are basically the same as the ones above

My deer load---
Rem. 9 1/2 primer
33 grains IMR 4064
95 grain Partition
1/2 inch groups @ 100yards in my rifle

Picture is worth 1000 words.

80TTSX over 38.5 Varget
95BTip over 41.5 H4350
85IBond over 44.0 RL17

I bought 4 boxes of Barnes Vortex 80gr TTSX for the brass. It shoots so well with those that I am only shooting them in my .243. Less than an inch, chronos over 3200 fps with 20" barrel.

Or you can load this bullet with 44.4gr of H4831, Remington brass, and CCI200 primer. It turns groundhogs and coyotes inside out. I've never shot a deer with it, though Sierra has this in their Game King line. It was one step down from max in the Sierra manual years ago and the first group went 5/8" out of my 700 ADL.

According to Sierra, despite it's GameKing moniker, it was designed as a varmint bullet.

How fast is your load? The load I posted above it 2950 fps out of a 24" barrel.

tag

I'm running 38.5 grains of 4064 in mine...got that one off one of the old IMR Brown Sheet load data distributions...

Tag

We have a Savage Model 10 that is a pretty accurate rifle. Actually it has belonged to my daughter since she was 9 or 10 years old. She is now 23 and married and expecting living in another state, so I have custody of the rifle. For deer loads we get excelllent accuracy out of Nosler Partition 100 grain powered by 42.4 grains of IMR 4350. This is a hot load (around 3000) but very accurate. Jessica has killed 22 deer with 22 shots with this load and also the biggest Russian sow hog I have ever seen (heart shot 500+ lbs.)along with a few lesser swine. I carried it as a farm rifle for dispatching problems for a while. For that I found an accurate load using Hornady 87 grain BTHP which was a match bullet I think. The powder for that load was Varget but I can't recall the grains and it is recorded in the load book out in the shop. The rifle shoots well with other bullets but for a deer bullet none shoot as well (sub-minute) as the Partition.

As noted in my earlier post, I'm a 100gr NP guy myself, but I'd be okay with the Sierra PH as well. I sectioned one and as advertised, it has a tapered jacket that is pretty heavy near the base. Ought to be fine for anything a .243 is good for. I picked up 400 blems from Grafs at a real good price and corrected the defects (a a little extra lead at the tip) with my thumbnail in about 10 minutes.

No writer here. Thirty or more years ago, Jim Carmichial recommended any good 100 grain bullet over 42 grains of IMR 4350 and a standard primers for about 3000 fps.

My choice is a 100 NP and it works. So do 95s. My powder is about as old as the advice. New powder may require a bit less? The monolithics had not yet come out.

Jack

Just wondering if anyone tried RL-26 with 95 or 100 gr bullets in the .243? The Alliant manual shows some interesting velocity numbers.

Nothing beats the Barnes 80gr TTSX for deer in a 243, I used 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, killed a few truck load of deer with the Sierra 85gr HPBT, But neither one of them don't even compare to the Barnes 80gr TTSX in a 243. My load in 3 243 is 45grs of RL19 for 3289fps, all three shoot less than 3/8" @ 100 yards. My carry rifle is a Savage Acton with a 26" #4 Shilen barrel, that rifle will shoot 5 shots into a hole that a 338 bullet won't fit through.

43.5 grains of IMR 4350 and a 90 gr Nosler BT or 43.0 grains of the same with the 85 Sierra HPBT. Haven't used the Sierra on game, but the BT is a tough little mother seducer.

80 gr TTSX

45.0 IMR 4831

F210

Lapua brass

Here is a photo showing the major impact to a large feral hog shot through the heart by my nephew (I usually shoot them at the base of the ear and this load works well for that too). The bullet exited.

Nice shot, especially for a lad with no head!😜

This load I would consider a tried and true all time classic with 100 grainers. It works well in all 6-7 243s I've owned plus others I've used it in. It also drops deer DRT.




Another great load is 37.3 gr. 4064 with 85-87gr. bullets. I pretty much only run 87 gr. V-maxes with it now, but Barnes and Sierra have done well also.

IMO, after MUCH toying with many 243s, I'm convinced 4064 is way to go with 80-87gr. bullets. And 4350 with 95-105s. Sure others will work, but these are only 2 powders I bother with anymore. if you want "proven", they are as proven as it gets..........