Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Youth loads for the .243 Winchester with 85g SGKs

My nephew, who turned 11 in January, loves to hunt. His grandpa bought him a Remington Youth rifle in .243. Cody is very recoil sensitive, so I wanted to start him with reduced loads for whitetails. I have read/heard good reviews of the 85g SGK bullets and want to give them a try. Most shots will be within 100 yards, so that bullet at a reduced velocity should still be enough bullet for Kentucky whitetails.

I have most powders, so does anyone have any youth or reduced loads for the .243 with 85g SGKs?

kyreloader,
Unless you're gunshy (pardon the pun) of loading reduced loads using Blue Dot, contact Seafire (member here) or search for his Blue Dot range report with the .243 Winchester. I load and shoot Blue Dot in my .260, .308, .30-06, and 6mm PPC for reduced recoil/muzzle blast loads, and for cheaper target practice with a given rifle. It will be perfect for your application - as long as you adhere to the recommendations given by Seafire - charge one case, seat the bullet, repeat. Don't exceed 60% of the case capacity in the given cartridge or you begin asking for trouble!
Selmer

I already shoot some of the .223 Blue Dot loads, so I do not have any problems shooting his loads for .243. I will try to do a search and see if I can find them.

Anyone have any loads for SR4759?

How reduced are you trying to get?

Speer shows 19 grains of IMR4198 at 2005 fps with their 85 grain bullet.

Nosler shows 32 gr. IMR3031, 33 gr. IMR4895 and 33 gr. IMR4064 with 85/90 grain bullets as being the most accurate charges with those powders and all show 2800 fps or slightly higher.

mathman might have hit it perfect with the 3031, 4895, and 4064. I can run the 85 gr. SGKHP out of my 6PPC at 2785 and the recoil is negligible - it might be just the ticket. Of course you can run a little slower and use the 4198 load or Blue Dot as well - less powder = less recoil. I have the Blue Dot data for the .308 Win and .260 Rem. The top end limits are the same because of the cartridge size - 22 gr. is all you want in the case at most. I use 20 gr. of Blue Dot with a 100 gr. Ballistic Tip and it yields 2600 fps and terrific accuracy in my .260 Rem.
Selmer

I think 2700fps would be a good number for both report and recoil.

I have IMR4198, Blue Dot, 4064, and SR4759, so hopefully I can find something in there that works.

Any more ideas?

I'd start with Blue Dot personally. You should be able to get at least 2600 fps out of it, and that will kill any deer within 200 yds if you put the bullet right behind the shoulder in the boiler room. The 4064 might be a good place as well. Let us know how this turns out!
Selmer

Well folks...

Seafire is back from 6 weeks at Scout Camp with Seafire jr, where I served as the Camp Medical Officer...

So back on topic...

With the 85 grain Bullet

With Blue Dot, anything between 15 grains up to 22 grains is usable... work up of course... large rifle primers are just fine..

As far as SR 4759, that is another dandy powder.. I have been using a lot of that also...I have 15 to 16 lbs at least of both on hand...

with SR 4759, a charge between 15 grains and 25 grains will produce a very accurate and capable load... work up per usual..

IMR 4198, H 4198, or RL 7... you can use between 20 to 30 grains... I normally use 25 to 30 grains...in the 243...

with 25 grains of IMR 4198 and an 80 or 90 grain ballistic tip is a seafire favorite, as is 30 grain of RL 7 with either bullet...

the Sierra 85 grain HP is a great bullet.. I just have a preference for the 80 or 90 grain ballistic tips...

don't overlook the 87 grain Hornady SP either...

good luck for your nephew Cody...

I settled on Seafire favorite of IMR 4198 at 25g. In Cody's Rem770 this load is right at 2500fps, the report is minimal and accuracy is less than 1 MOA. This load shot better than the loads I tried with Blue Dot, SR4759 and IMR4064. I shot 4, 5 shot groups at 100 yards which averaged at 0.9 MOA. I was having trouble with the trigger and havent shot groups with a 9x scope in a long time. All in all, I am happy with the load and now I just have to talk his parents into letting him have it before Christmas, so I can take him youth season in October. I think the 85g SGK at 2500fps is plenty for whitetails at l00 yards or less.

The last group I shot with this load. I wanted it to be about 1 inch high at 100 yards. I shot the 4 shots together, then I put 4 clicks up and shot the 5th shot. After that I put 1 click left. It should be ready to hunt.




Thanks for everyones help, I will hopefully have pictures to post later.

One thing to add about the youth 243 (I got my son one for his first hunting rifle) is it is a hellaciously loud gun, and that muzzle blast has as much to do with being gunshy as the tap on the shoulder.

As to loads, he seems to shoot the 85 gr barnes tsx over a max dose of H-4350 as any other load. He really likes shooting the 75 gr V-max over a max dose of RL-15, less recoil and excellent accuracy.