Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Hornady 243 70 grain SP loads?

I need something that will shoot good in my Savage 9.25 twist bull barrel.

70 NBT or 75 Vmax, try em both and see what perks. 70 TNT will perk as well.

Dober

Dober,

I have 600 of the 70 Hornady SPs, so I need to use them up fire forming for my AI and doing double duty as a varmint round.

I've settled on using H414, a skosh over book and I'll see what happens.

Still haven't had time to try the 308 bullets you sent to me for the Montana.

44.5g of H414 with a Fed 210, bullet seated touching the lands

45.5g of H4350 with a win primer, go up to 47.0g, see what it likes

39.5g of IMR 4350 with a Fed 210

These have been some of my loads in a Rem 700.

Oops sorry about that, thought I was missing something..grin

I'd suggest using the 70 Horn sp...

Dober

Its been a few years since I shot 243 Win but the "club" load was 39.5 grs IMR 4895 with a 70 gr SMK or Nosler BT. This load shot well under MOA in 7-8 different 243 Win rifles. I never clocked this load but guess the MV was 3300ish from a 22" barrel.
I used it in a M70 XTR and shot many groups that went under .5" The Hornady 70 SPX was awesome on woodchucks. I recall only 2-3 bullets exiting, the rest stayed inside them.

JD338

i've got a husky 243 that loves 38,1 gr of 4064 with a 70 gr. bullet.

Ed

That was one helluva bullet. I shot it in a 6BR, until Hornady discontinued it. Once they did that, I sold the BR.I REALLY liked that bullet.


The 65 Vmax just didnt' shoot as well in that rifle, and the rifle just wasn't the same with the plastic-tipped stuff.It had to go.

A load that's shot really well in a couple of .243's is 41.0 grains of Varget. It's both fast and accurate.

John, What's the OAL on that load?

Depends on the individual rifle's chamber. I usually just seat 'em about .03" from the lands and see what happens.

Understood.

I'm a bit higher than MD with the varget but then the 70 gr. TNT I use has a short bearing surface. I'm getting just over 3400 in a 22" M70. Speer I think it is goes to 42 gr. with the 70s.

Well,

The 24"Savage bull barrel TMR rechambered to 243 AI for me seems to like 47.0 H414, 70 Hornady spire point, WLR primer, Win 243 cases @ 2.615 inched OAL as a fireforming load.

I think I'll load a few hundred of these for shooting varmints this weekend.

Three shot group from yesterday at 100 yards:

I've used 47grains of H4350 and the Speer TNT on foxes many, many times. The accuracy is superb and the destruction is spectacular. Furthest shot i've taken with this combo while lamping foxes was at 300yds. That TNT left a hole so large on that fox you could have thrown a brick through it.
I can't endorse that sort of performance enough.

I run 47.5 grains of H 414 with a 75 grain HP, and get similar results...small tight groups like that...

same with Speer 70 grain TNTs...

I shoot the 70 gr Sierra Blitzking over 40 gr of Varget. Tiny groups out of my T-3 Lite Tikka. 75 gr V-Max is almost as good.