Thread: .243 load development part deux

Wet Sunday. @Zedrex So how did this all turn out in the end. Was there a solid conclusion?

Well????????

@Tahr @Micky Duck
It has been a mission, with finally excellent results, I would have posted sooner but life has been hectic, like 6 countries, 55,000kms and so many time zones I don't even know what season it is....plus I only just managed to get back onto the forum after getting locked out (gag order perhaps? ) I shall update the post over the next couple of days, a LOT has been learned

Ah, your account is back. very good

Originally Posted by gimp

Ah, your account is back. very good

Yes, thanks @gimp

Great....I can finally exhale,holding breath for so long can't be good for one's health.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Great....I can finally exhale,holding breath for so long can't be good for one's health.

SOME ladies may disagree......

TLR Found the projectile the Franchi likes, 10 RND group, sub MOA at 100m

So, in my session before heading overseas for a month, we proved that MY 243 doesn't like the SST, shooting the same load through a Sako produced much better grouping but I hit another issue, had several jams where the bolt of the sako needed applied force to eject the case, this was followed by 2 primers being blown out of the case, hmmm, overload says he. Back to the bench and pulled a couple of rounds, 48gr of powder came out! I must have nudged the weight on the beam scale without noticing. Reloaded with 42.2gr 2209 and called it a day. I have also learned my note taking has been less than thorough,

Following on from this I got sample packs of 85gr Barnes, 95gr ELDX, 90gr Nosler BT, 95gr Nosler BT and Basenjiboy chucked in some 90gr Speers . Had a very illuminating and interesting yarn with Blythe and got 95 and 105gr Targex, the 105 at his suggestion as he's got several 243 shooters getting excellent results with that particular projectile. Then followed an afternoon of case prep and priming, followed by a morning of loading and off to the range. Where the wind had got up, firing the 10 reloaded SST's showed that whilst they were shooting better, good for windage but walking up and down the elevation indicated that wind was marginal, so called it for another day with better conditions, which we got a week later.

Range conditions, sunny with cloud developing, very slight breeze flowing down range

This is the process I followed for each group of projectiles:
Shoot 5, walk down range to see what grouping was like.
Shoot 2nd 5, retrieve target, pull through bore snake with squirt of Rem oil
Barrel cooled between each group of 5 with wet paper towels, after 10 shots also waiting about 15 minutes, wet paper towels did a great job of pulling the heat out, the barrel was only ever "background heat" at commencing each 5 RND group.

Below are the results of that afternoon.









So from what I see the 95gr Nosler Balistic Tip is showing best grouping. At some point I may further develop this round, I would like to shoot it over a chrono to see what velocity I'm getting first and then maybe try different powder loads but right now I'm satisfied that I've got a dependable load shooting sub MOA and one that I'm happy to go hunting with. I didn't plot the flyer on the 95 NBT as that was a "me" variable, for those that are interested, plotting it pulled the 2nd 5 RND group out to 1.3MOA.
Also, the observant will notice that one target has only 9 impacts, caused by me brushing the trigger as I cycled the bolt! It's a first for me and I'll be paying more attention to my cycling action in the future!

Look forward to the hives commentary.

Remember what I pmed you about Nosler. Looking good now.

Originally Posted by nor-west

Remember what I pmed you about Nosler. Looking good now.

Indeed I do, the BT was on the original short list of "potentials" way back when I started this journey and I guess it was just pot luck (along with quite a few on here getting good results) that had me choose the SST as my starting point. In the future I'll be getting samples for any load development, it's been a good learning curve!

Glad you are having some better results - really illustrates the difference projectile type can make (in some barrels).

Originally Posted by earplay

Glad you are having some better results - really illustrates the difference projectile type can make (in some barrels).

I think EVERYONE is glad TBF! lol

30mm at 100m with 10 rounds is great. The Nosler BTs are an excellent hunting bullet.
Quite the journey you've been through.
Will you try the Targex 105gr?

Originally Posted by Dama dama

30mm at 100m with 10 rounds is great. The Nosler BTs are an excellent hunting bullet.
Quite the journey you've been through.
Will you try the Targex 105gr?

I'm pretty delighted that I've got to where I am, it's been a steep learning curve that's for sure!
I did try the 105, see last target!

Ummm I'm not seeing any holes in the last target....?