Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Factory 243 loads

Afternoon Everybody!
I know that some of y'all have 99's in .243 caliber. Now that I have mine, err........my daughter has the 99 I just bought in .243, I was wondering which factory loads and bullet weights y'all have had the best success with. I'm probably going to start with 80 grain Winchester rounds. I don't know if this is too heavy a bullet or not for these little sheep with horns that we have down here.
Anyway, I know every gun has it's favorite round and I'll have to try 'em all to be sure. Just thought somebody would have some experience with this caliber and could share it.
Thanks in advance.

Factory loads? Hunt with factory loads? Do people do that??

Been hunting for 15 years with 243's, only factory rounds I used were the Federal Premiums in 100gr Nosler Partitions. Did the job beautifully, but I rapidly found that it was a lot cheaper to reload my own.

The thing you have to watch for with fast rounds is they may not penetrate real well at close range. The Winchester 80gr has a listed muzzle velocity of 3250fps, it should work fine if you can place the shot behind the shoulder but may not do so well if you nail a bone. This is the difference between premium bullets (and $$) and normal bullets, in my experience.

If you want to go with some factory ammo and you'll be shooting less than 200 yards I'd go with the larger 100gr. Sight in about 1" high at 100 yards and aim dead on from zero to 200 yards. The lower velocity of 2960fps at the muzzle will actually help the penetration.

THAT's the info I was looking for.
At some point before Christmas, I intend to get some 243 and 300 savage dies and get back to reloading. With available bullet choices from 55gr up to 100gr +/-, I just wasn't sure. I've never hunted with a 243, so I really didn't know where to start. It should be great to have 2 99's in the same blind. My 13 year old is wanting to team up with her dad this year and I believe this 243 will be just what the doctor ordered. She will see it today for the first time.
Thanks again!

you gotta get us some pictures of the Savage Cutie,Lt H!

Here is one with some of her USA Shooting and 4-H Medals. Last year took the Gold in 10m Air Pistol in Bowling Green at the USA Shooting Nationals. This year, Silver. Needless to say, We're very proud of her.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q162/Douglash_2006/2007ChampionPicture.jpg

Awesome!!
She a real beauty.Cograts to you all.

The shooting programs are great. My son was on a team for several years. Made the trip to Bowling Green a couple of times. One of his team mates even went on to collage on a shooting scholarship. You've got a real winner there.

What a splendid pic! Its great to see the young ones coming along. Also good to see where my money's going. Every month I send USA Shooting a check. Its a worthwhile cause and a good way to get a tax deduction.