Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles My first Remington Model 700... 243 Win

I've got Winchester Model 70's, Sako 75's, Ruger M77's, Browning A-Bolts and so forth... but never bought a Remington Model 700 in the past 35yrs of doing this.

I got this rifle from a friend, after his father passed on. According to him, this rifle was bought back in the 80's and was either fired very little or possibly not at all. I took it all apart, cleaned everything, lubricated it and then scoped it with a Leupold and took it to the range today. I have one other 243 Winchester rifle and it likes Federal 70gr Nosler Ballistic Tip ammo and I have some of this on hand. So, I took a box and sighted it in today and it shot this 3 shot group below at 100yds. Pretty impressive.

The trigger pull needs to be lightened a bit, it feels like it's 5-6lbs... but other than that, it's a shooter.

Nice.

kwg

Very nice!! Over the years I have had a couple Rem. 243's never had one that was a good shooter.. Other calibers yes, but not a .243..

It's always nice to find a factory ammo that shoots well in a rifle. If not, then it's load development time. I've been fortunate to always find something, either factory or hand load, that one of my rifles likes.

Next task will be to find a deer/antelope load that works in the 90-100gr bullet weight range.

Like a lot of you, I have a wide variety of rifle chamberings, from mouse rounds, up to cartridges for the largest mammals. The older I get, the more I appreciate the dual role that the 243 Win can perform... from varmints to medium sized game. I've used it on prairie dogs out to 500 yds and equally well on deer closer in. It's just such a pleasurable cartridge to shoot and it gets the job done.

I'll tackle the trigger pull this week. I'd like it to be in the 3-4 lb range with a nice crisp break. Shouldn't be a problem.

I respectfully suggest you start your search with the Nosler 95 BT. It may end there.

Vic,

Funny you mention the Nosler 95gr BT. I was on Federal's website last night looking at their other offerings and came across their factory load with this bullet and read the stellar reviews. I'm going to find a box and try it... it sounds like it may very well end right there.

I am set up to reload the 243 Win and do so for my old Ruger #1. I may play around with hand loading for the M700 anyway but it is really nice to find factory loaded ammunition that works great!

Thanks for the suggestion!

UPDATE:

Got the trigger pull gauge out and it was breaking at 6lbs 5ozs. So, I pulled the action, scraped off the epoxy on the adjustment screws and adjusted the pull down to 3.5lbs. Put clear nail polish back on the screws and re-assembled everything. Passed all the safety checks, so it should be good to go.

The 9.125 twist bore should stabilize slippery 105's....

I went and looked on my bullet shelf and in .243, I have 85gr & 95gr Nosler Partitions and 95gr Barnes XFB's. These are about 10 yrs old, so I probably need to look at some newer bullet offerings. That and I have about 800 unprimed brass cases.... of which, 200 are new Federal, 100 new Winchester and 500 LC mil 7.62 brass, neck re-sized, primer pocket decrimped and necks are annealed.

You can shoot deer/antelope very effectively with the 70BT as it is, so long as you don't try to run one up the butt or something.

I went shopping for .243 bullets today and found 2 interesting options... I bought a box of Nosler 95gr Ballistic Tips and a box of Berger 95gr VLD Hunting bullets.

Also picked up another pound of IMR 7828 and a pound of Re17.

So, between the 95gr Partitions, Barnes XFB's and the two mentioned above, I should be able to find a big game bullet it likes.

CheckSix: Good for you and the Remington 700.
If you don't mind my asking, what "model" is this Rifle - and which scope?
I bought a "new to me" Remington 700 Varmint, synthetic, fluted blued barrel Rifle last Thursday - its in caliber 223 Remington and I am just waiting for the wind to calm down some so I can shoot it.
I would be VERY happy if this new to me Rifle, shoots nearly as well as yours!
I am going to fire form some brass with Federal factory ammo and use that brass to make some handloads.
I did set the action screws on my Rifle with my inch/pounds torque wrench and adjusted the trigger on this Rifle to 48 ounces (3 pounds).
I have always had very good luck, accuracy wise, with the Remington 700's I have owned.
I hope your Rifle continues to please you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG,

It's an ADL. I put Leupold VX2 3-9x40mm on it. Just a plain and simple garden variety Model 700 with a basic scope.

Good luck with your Varmint! See if you can find a factory load it likes. Always nice to find something already made that works.

CheckSix, I have a mid-70s ADL. Equipped with a VX-2 3-9X40 CDS.

I got the thing dirt-cheap, and thought it was shot-out, but after a judicious cleaning regimen, the rifle proved to be remarkably accurate, though it fouls in about 4½ shots and it's back to the judicious cleaning regimen.....Actually 40 to 50 rounds and it's time to clean.

It shoots the 95 and 55 grain NBTs into nice little groups, though at different POIs. When the barrel is clean....

I want to try the 70 grain NBT, also.

Vic,

Good to hear! Thanks for sharing.

These things can be the bargain of the century on the used market. I like the best rifles and fancy wood stocks, just as much as the next guy... but functional performance trumps everything, in my book.

The only interesting rifle, is an accurate one. I always try to figure out each new one I acquire. When they shoot factory ammo well, I know I can probably tune in a hand load.

(caution: self-induced thread drift!)
After I get this one settled down, I may go looking for a quarterbore rifle candidate. My rifle collection skips from .243, to .277. I've always fancied a 257 Roberts or on the extreme end, a 257 Weatherby. The truth is, my 270WSM shoots lights out with 130gr bullets and I probably don't really need a quarterbore but there is something intriguing about that bore size to me. Maybe a used Vanguard or a M700 CDL.

To me, there's beauty in SS/Synthetic, though my M700 is CM with the factory camo stock.

One word of caution, if I may.

Don't shoot the Donor! My M700 was going to be a project rifle, but in spite of fouling quickly, it simply shoots too good. .243 barrels can go pretty quickly, and when it does it will probably be rebarreled as a .243.

I like the thought of a .257 Roberts, but on the practical side I would probably try a .260 Rem., due to bullet selection.

LOL! got it! if I buy a donor rifle, don't shoot it.

Yep! I have my share of SS/Synthetic rifles, my most pleasing ones are 2 Sako 75's, one chambered in 7STW, the other in 300WSM. Both are tack drivers. I've got one other that looks a little homely... but it works well, an A-Bolt in 375 H&H.

I have to be completely honest... I shoot a fair amount of heavy recoiling stuff and don't mind it all that much... but... shooting this little 243 Win is such a pleasure off the bench. It is sort of making me re-think my hunting cartridge strategy as I get older. I need to get the 243 out hunting, with a good reliable hunting bullet and see for myself how it performs on game. I read various stories of great, to not so good but the common theme appears to be proper bullet selection.

For load development, I have 95g Partitions, 95gr Barnes X, 95gr NBT and the outlier, the 95gr Berger Hunting. I'd be really happy to get either the Partition or the Barnes to work. I would have confidence in either one, as they have worked well for me in other calibers on game. The NBT makes me a bit nervous, as I've used them for varmints in lighter for caliber bullet weights but not on big game. The Berger is completely new to me and I'm worried with it's length, it won't work in the ADL magazine. I'll mock some up and see what the COAL has to be to get them close to the lands in my M700.

Absolutely!

I have tried the bullets you have listed, with the exception of the Berger, and in addition, the Hornady 100 grain Interlock, Sierra 100 grain Pro-hunter, and the TTSX.

When the smoke cleared, the Hornady, TTSX, and 95 NBT stood out.

The Hornady became unavailable, and occasionally I had issues with full penetration, but more on that later. The Sierra never exited.

The TTSX was more accurate than the TSX, and the 95 NBT more accurate than the TTSX. The only thing I had reservations about was the integrity of the NBT, and field use proven my fears to be unfounded. So, my top two picks, in my rifle, would be the NBT and TTSX, both loads using RL17.

Referring back to the Hornady and Sierra offerings, I don't want to use the term "failure", but an exit is preferred for blood trail reasons. This being due to the terrain I typically hunt, and most shots being at rather short range. The impact velocity was simply too much for these bullets. I have no doubt they will perform admirably at ranges beyond 100 yards, but they are simply stressed at 20 to 40 yards.

I'd be interested in hearing about the Bergers. I gained access to land two seasons ago that has the strong possibility of some shots on out to 400 yards. At that range, I would wonder about the TTSX opening.

Vic,
Thanks for sharing your 243 bullet experience! Very helpful. I take it the Partitions didn't show good enough accuracy.

Edit: In the latest Nosler data book, the most accurate powder for the 95gr Partition and BT, is Reloder 17. So, I picked some up yesterday and will give it a try first.

Actually, the accuracy of the Partitions was good enough, it's just that the NBT was more accurate, though not to a large degree, and I knew that a Partition would blow through a deer at 20 yards. I just wanted to see if an NBT would.

If hogs or bear were on the "to do" list, I would certainly consider the partition, and I also have more faith in its potential long range terminal performance vs the TTSX.