Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .243 & Barnes 85 TSX-What powders have you tried?

And what is working for you? The newest manual only shows four or five powders and I only have two of them.

Well I decide to do a load today using my stevens 200 243 cal rifle using 85 gr TSX bullets. I used H4895 powder which is a little fast however, it shot a great today.




Shot a 3 shot group .249" group. If you look close two bullets through one hole. Seems the recoil is softer, need to chorny the load now,

44gn of Varget will get that bullet humming around 3400fps.

JW

Is this your load? Because I can't find any published data that shows more than a 38gr charge.

I havent shot the 85TSX, but have been shooting other brands of 85 grainers with 40.0 Grains of 4064 behind them..

I just worked up a load with the new 80 TTSX and 41.0 gr. of 4064...shoots EXCELLENT..and I cant wait to chrono it....it is sizzling!

ingwe

The best powder for the 243 for me, has been IMR 4064 with the 80 to 90 gr bullets.

I use IMR4895 with the 85TSX in my son's 243Win.

RH

I have four .243s and with two shooting the 80gr TTSX and two shooting 85 TSXs I find 38 or 38.5 is what works for all of them. I do not believe 44 would be a safe load.

Ok, I'm getting frustrated. I just loaded the 85 TSX seated .050" off the lands with 38gr of Varget, 46gr of RL 19, and 44 gr of VV 160. All loads would not group under 3-4". I guess I need to seat them kissing lands? Comparably, the Hornady 95 SST seated kissing will do 1.5" on a windy (15mph) day.

My Sako is best with TSXs, 38.5 Varget and .005 off. My Howa is best with TTSXs, 38 Varget and .010 off. My Remington 7600 is best with TSXs, 38.5 Varget and somewhere around .050 If I remember right. My U9 like TTSXs 38 Varget and .085. The U9 can easily throw 8 inch groups with the wrong depth.

Just rechecked "my" loads. it was 44gn of Varget for 3380fps. Shot well too.

I do not reference reloading manuals when I work up loads. I like to know what hterifle likes, not what some legal department determined as a place to stop. I have got the hang of it. If my rifle maxed out at 36 or 46, I would stop. 3400fps was a common velocity for htis bullet weight 30 or 40 years ago. Still works today.

Rifle was a Mark X Mauser with 24 inch barrel.

JW

Varget and hunter have both given me good results, 44gr of varget seems steep but 38 and 40 grains both work well for me.