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243 light loads tests and results

hawaiipighunter
was wondering if anyone has tested the gamut of 55, 58, 60 70 75 grain loads in the 243.

i purchased a box of winchester supreme 55 grainers, shot 3 times to verify zero on the gun, made minor adjustment and i an ready for hunting. i was very surprised that at 100 yards it shot only 1 inch right of zero. gun was sighted with 100 grain winchester pp last.

i have not taken game yet (coyote, ground squirrels, jack rabbits, prairie dogs) so i dont know of its effect.

thanks in advance,

kyle
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • gunzforever
    i want to know what the velocity of those bullets are
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  • D.S.COLE
    Ive been using the 55gr ballistic tip in my 243 with 43 grs of IMR 4064 and it shoots fantastic.Velocity is around 4000 fps and it shoots 3 in one hole @ 100 yds. the hornady 75 gr SST also does very good.

    <BR>
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  • hawaiipighunter
    have you killed game with those bullets? [
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  • D.S.COLE
    These light bullets are designed to blow up on impact . they are deadly on varmints ,I have killed numerous prairie dogs and woodchucks with them .
    Larger animals, deer etc. Should be taken with heavier tougher bullets to insure a clean kill. Fox or coyotes can be taken with them.
    They are safe to shoot around farm animals and urban sprawl as you cant get a richocet from them.

    <BR>
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  • sandwarrior
    Hawaii,

    I would say the lowest I would use is a 75 gr. for deer, Although I reccomend going to 80 gr. and above and specifically a hunting bullet, in this caliber. I have always found penetration with the .243 never to be a problem. Expansion and energy absorption is the problem with this caliber. Most of the deer I have shot with 75 and 85 gr. bullets had 2 or 3 exit wounds on the backside. Meaning the bullet fragmented and didn't transfer energy to the animal but, luckily, did do extensive damage internally. I don't think I would trust anything less than a 95-100 grain hunting-specific bullet for hogs as their skin is a little(lot) thicker than deer. IMHO, and past experience,
    I would use 75 gr. and down for varmint only. The lightweight bullets are great varmint bullets out quite a ways.

    Added 8-19-05 0800 hrs.:

    Hawaii,

    To get this more on track with your question, we used a lot of 70 gr. Hornady Hp's for varmints out in NV. Specifically jackrabbits and coyotes. The results on such game is 'devastating'. At 300-400 yds .243 bullets dismember jackrabbits and leave large holes on the backsides of coyotes. If you plan on taking any fur from the coyotes I would use a much lighter cartridge.

    The key here is to get a twist in your barrel that will better accomodate lighter bullets specifically, i.e. 1-12 twist instead of the normal 1-10. If not, stay with 80-90 gr bullets and find a ballistic program/calculator and figure out your drops to as far as you feel comfortable shooting. The .243 will destroy varmints easily out to 1000 yds. if you can shoot that well. Most good shooters I know top out for prarie dogs around 600-700 yds. and 6mm bullets are doing their part when they hit them. If a load is what you are looking for I have two in the light bullet category that I use. 42.5 gr. of IMR 4895 behind a 70 Hornady HP (velocity unchecked-pre chrono days for me), and 41 grs. of VV N150 behind a Sierra 75 gr. Varminter for a velocity of 3328 avg out of my rifle.
    -Good luck and good shooting.

    We have the second amendment so that all the rest are secure....UNK>
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  • hawaiipighunter
    sandwarrior,

    my deer loads are 100 grainers. now im converting her over to varmint. i used the remington extedned range 105 grainers a few years ago. with all the deer that rifle has killed, i cant tell the diference between 9.99 100 grains psp or 25.99 105 grain hi tech goodies. a well placed shot does it!

    i just have never harvested anything with the light stuff. im anxious to see the hits on coyotes. i may just go back to 100 grainers for the price and use them on coyotes

    kyle
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  • Geri
    I use 85 grain barnes X for deer and antelope. The 75 grain HP and 80 grain sp work great on the varmits.
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