Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 243 Load For Deer

Sorry so large.
This off a 20" barreled rifle too

Oh and I think the c.o.l shown is what I measure my bullets too.
In my case it would be the ogive.

Shooter Pro Shop had those 6mm 95 NBT for under $10 per 50. Not bad for shooting practice. I got my son shooting his RAR Compact 243 with these bullets and in three shots, 2 were touching and the other went out by 1". Never dialed in the load to get smaller group since he was shooting it more than me. Anyway I have on hand about 12 bags of those bullets for my 243.

A bunch of deer have been killed with the Sierra 85 BTHP. I load that bullet with 45 grains of W760, and my son uses it for deer and coyotes. It has been my go to load for checking the accuracy in every 243 I've had. I currently load for 4 243's, 58 to 95 grain bullets, but no other bullet will outshoot the 85 grain Sierra. I prefer 90 or 95 BT's, but wouldn't feel handicapped in the least with the 85 grain.

Seems a pretty bad way to do it. Some guns like different things.

Just like you liberals???? Right?

That was an emotional repsonse, when being told what you are doing is wrong. I would guess you are the liberal. You may vote R. But have a problem with emotions.

You should have thanked me for pointing up your screw up. You have the opprtunity to learn about guns, if your emotions don't get in the way.

Before you go on ignore, like the other pricks on here, please tell us how old you are. I'm guessing 15.

Just what we need, another Troll Expert on everything...

They've been kinda like weeds lately, look and there they are...

Probably R Ginther or one of those election season trolls who is just bored
and can't think of nothing better to do this summer with his time...

which means it too hot for him outside..

Go on a shooting forum, or just google articles on worrking up loads. They don't just use the same one for every gun. Even people who don't reload should know enough to try a few brands.

Its not rocket science.

Ya it might be to hot. I hate when it gets much over 70. Friday was 50s, and nice.

Been on the forum less than 3 weeks, and already giving condescending "advice" and acting superior.

This is common advice. I am not givng my personnel opinion or anything I have come up with on my own. To most people this is just common sense.


Anyone who has shot a little bit, will know guns are unique. Sure you can shoot factory ammo just fine. But that is not a test of the accuracy of the rifle.

Go on shooting forum,and tell them your way of testing rifle accuracy.

This year a max charge of R26 and 95 grain BT and Partitions plus 100 grain Hornaday BTSP. should be over 3200 fps but haven't clocked them yet.

Hey look here. Personally I go 3-5. But I get the point, you can elimate loads quick. Otherwise you can spend an hour on load, that is not very good.

I can tell you from nearly forty years experience doing handloading and load development that there are what I'll call reference loads for the purpose of this conversation. These common loads have been found to work quite well by enough people in enough rifles over enough of a time span to merit the title. For the obtuse out there: I am not saying that one particular load will be the very finest in every example of a rifle for that cartridge. Slight variations in charge weight***, overall length and the like do make a difference in getting that last bit of precision. Here's an example of what I am saying: If you have a 30-06 and properly assembled cartridges with a 150 grain bullet on top of 52 grains of IMR4064 don't shoot pretty darn well in it then a lot of "handloading community" experience has shown the problem is much more likely to be with the rifle, scope or shooter than it is the load.

Similar for 55 grains of IMR4350 under a 130 for a 270 Winchester.

Similar for 41.5 grains of 4895 under a 168 in LC brass for a 308 Winchester.


*** I don't mean so slight as to require weighing every charge once a load is established.

I agree there are good references points to start. Personally I start with IMR4350 in 30-06. Unless it is a real bad gun, you really are not testing it. I got two 22" 1:10 twist 30-06s, one likes partition and one interlocks. Same loads. My 700, just doesn't shoot partion worth a crap, and even then it seems to like some speed. Maybe if I would have pushed the partions past published data. But hornady are 1/2 the price and work, and not considered a bad bullet.

I suppose someone could just right the 700 off, if they were choosing between rifles. Most of us are working up loads for guns we already own, or for someone we know.

We agree on one thing, lots of pricks on here. I think ignore lists are for pussies though.

I am just passing along standard practices.But it upsets you.

For years I shot corlokts. Someone suggested years ago to try them. Killed more deer than CWD. So I get the idea that a common round can be good enough. Just not what I would consider for testing a rifle.

Who knows, maybe some days I have worked up bunches of rifles, I will say that this bullet is a metric. But judging how people work up loads for rifles, I am just not sure about that.

Seems pretty logical actually. A load that is a proven shooter in several guns is a great place to start. If it doesnt shoot well at all, other things could be the problem, before tweaking loads or trying various bullets