Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles need .243 load info

Just picked up a Rem 700 .243 and I am planning on reloading for it. So I will be buying some brass and bullets for this gun and need to know what you like for varmints and such. For deer I will just shoot 100gr Hornady or Sierra. The powders I have that might work is IMR4064, H4350, H450 and H4831. Thanks in advance.

A subscription to loaddata.com costs less than 1 printed loading manual and will give you several hundred loads using your components for that cartridge.

have always had good luck with h4831

Ed

h4350 and varget have both been good for the .243's i have loaded for. try the 85 grain barnes everyone seems to like, and i have had great luck with the sierra 60 grain hollowpoint on varmints and targets. the 85 grain sierra game king is good as well, can do double duty and do varmints or deer. both i have loaded with varget for my pet loads.

You can find some good info here:

.243 Win Cartridge Guide

Sierra load data here:

Sierra Load Map

Also check out the Nosler site and Hodgdon Data Center for loads.

my 700 varmint heavy 26" shoots these great
58 vmax with varget
87 Hornady hp with H4350
95sst with R17 great deer load 3100+ fps

for some reason sierra's data is always way slower than others. wonder what's up with that.

I have a Remington 700 in 243. It likes to shoot an 87 gr Hornady V Max, with 44 gr of IMR 4831. Great groups. Shot a doe in Alabama this year with it. Didn't take a step and just dropped straight down. Dead before it hit the ground!

I just noticed that I responded to a thread from 2007. Go figure!

My favorite deer load in our .243s is a 95 grain Partition over 42.5 Grains of RL 22 in W-W cases with Winchester Large Rifle primers.

The newest edition of the Nosler manual shows this as a maximum load. Start lower and work up, especially if you substitute other components for the ones that I use, watching for signs of high pressure.

Dittos on Varget & Barnes. That is the combination I used in my .243 on a muley buck this year. But I used one of the old blue moly coated ones.

Another bullet you might want to try is the Speer 85 gr BTSP. I have used it very successfully on deer.

I currently shoot 42 gr. of H4350 under an 85 TSX. I've had luck in the past with 42.5 gr IMR4831 and an 85 Partition or a max load of IMR4350 with a 85 Partition

I'm a 4064 guy. although 4350 is popular and does a good job..

4065 is using less powder, less throat erosion over time IMO.

If I need faster velocity with heavier bullets I tend to load H 414.. or RL 19.

Seafire, I was too (and still am in some applications) then I tried RL15 and am a convert for loads needing a similar burn rate.

Ive got a few 243s and love em all as all are top shooters and the first powder I ever tried was IMR 4350 and it shoots so dog gone well in all my 243s that I just have not bothered to try somthing elseyou know the ol slang if n it aint broke dont fix it kind of a thing and I match the bullets I shoot to the twist rate in the bore but I almost only shoot Sierra bullets thru my 243,4350 powder and sierra bullets takin names and kickin butt..

I'll second the 58 grain Vmax over Varget.

I really like the 100 gr. Sierra Pro Hunter as an all around bullet in my .243. It's hard to go wrong with IMR4350, but I am also fond of IMR4320.

44.5 of H4350 and 44.3 of IMR 4831 give excellent accuracy with the 85 SGK HPBT at about 3200fps and 42 IMR4831 and 39.7 RL17 at 3000 fps with 95 Berger VLD hunting bullets, also... Either would be and excellent hunting round and give almost one hole accuracy in my Icon with 1/10 twist... Using Lapua brass with 210M primers .010 off the lands with both loads...