Reloading .243, tricks, tips and advice

Hey fellas,

I recently bought a tikka .243 superlite and after a day at the range with 7 various boxes of factory ammo, I found some very interesting results.

Firstly, the rifle preformed best with the Hornady Precision Hunter 90gr ELDx (.75MOA). But interestingly it did not like the Sako 90gr GameHead pro (tipped game kings) giving 2” string. Everything else was mediocre, giving me 1” to 2” groups. This was a mix of federal, Norma, Sako and Hornady.

Secondly, the rifle heated up extremely fast!! Within 3 shots it was HOT! Is that normal?

My goal is to reload for it and after the range day, I’m thinking 90gr Hornady projectiles might give the best results. I do a reasonable amount of goat culling out to 350/400 meters and knocking over the occasional fellow.

Does anyone have any suggestions on projectiles, powders and primers that would be suitable for this rifle and the type of hunting?

Especially any experience with a superlite .243 and the recipe for success with it would be ace!!

Cheers,

My Brno likes the 90gr ELD-X, I load with AR2209, Fed 210 primers and Norma brass, 3140 fps.
The Sierra Gameking 85gr HPBT and Prohunter 100gr SP also shoot well, as does the 87gr Hornady varmint, but the ELD-X is my favourite.

My T3 shot very well with both 87gr Hornady Vmax and 90gr Nosler BT pushed by AR2209.

set up your seating die with the factory load that did best...it wont hurt and SHOULD give you SIMILAR jump to lands if projectile is similar shape.
you have a superlight rifle......it was MANUFACTURED to shoot few rounds at a time...weight Vs accuracy......accept it and live with it...you now KNOW it heats up quickly and 2-3 shots is it before it will open up groups.....its not a deal breaker.
if federal blue box WASNT shooting well,personally I would be looking hard at technique and double check all screws including the scope bases themselves.
maybe try a couple of loads at each end of range eg start load and hot load....we dont want to waste what few components we have left chasing tail.
take suppressor off between groups and leave bolt open to help cooling down.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

set up your seating die with the factory load that did best...it wont hurt and SHOULD give you SIMILAR jump to lands if projectile is similar shape.
you have a superlight rifle......it was MANUFACTURED to shoot few rounds at a time...weight Vs accuracy......accept it and live with it...you now KNOW it heats up quickly and 2-3 shots is it before it will open up groups.....its not a deal breaker.
if federal blue box WASNT shooting well,personally I would be looking hard at technique and double check all screws including the scope bases themselves.
maybe try a couple of loads at each end of range eg start load and hot load....we dont want to waste what few components we have left chasing tail.
take suppressor off between groups and leave bolt open to help cooling down.

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Federal fusions shot just under an inch and the blue box shot around 1.5”.
As you say, maybe I’m expecting too much from a lightweight rifle.

Good call regarding the load development. I have read a bit about the Speer 85gr soft point boat tail and varget. So I might try that combo as 2209 seems to be impossible to find

speer spbt will be super soft...ideal goat medicine....any thing from yellown black boxes are great projectiles.....
MOST EVERY .243 I have ever had anything to do with...are tack drivers....there is just something about the cartridge that works.
most arent fussy....and as Ive said elsewhere,how far are you going to shoot??? 1.5 inches at 100yards=300 yards is still a very dead animal.
sometimes I reckon we get all tied up in knots over something that for 90% of shots wont matter a hoot. I know for myself,anytime I miss its because I fluffed the aiming bit,nothing to do with the rifle or ammunition.

if I read your origonal post correctly...400 meters will pretty much be your longest shot......so lets say you have 5 shots at 400 and 25 at under 300 for your day out...........so you only need flashasmichaeljackson loads for the 5 long ones,and any of the above other options would do "just fine n dandy peas n carrots"

I've had very good results in my Tikka with 90g ELDX behind 2209 (Norma brass, CCI primers). Also run the same load with 90g Nosler BTs shooting same point of impact. Both have been very effective on deer out to 350m, goats a bit further out.

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Originally Posted by JohnQT

the rifle heated up extremely fast!! Within 3 shots it was HOT! Is that normal?

Does anyone have any suggestions on projectiles, powders and primers that would be suitable for this rifle and the type of hunting?

Especially any experience with a superlite .243 and the recipe for success with it would be ace!!

Cheers,

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1. Yes, very normal. 40-50gr of powder being blown down a 6mm bore on a skinny "superlite" barrel... That's lots of heat and not a lot of steel to distribute it.

2. More importantly, what can you get right now? Components are scarce. Good news is goats and fallow don't take much putting down so as long as you pick a hunting bullet and not an FMJ or a HPBT it's probably going to work plenty good. There's lots of load data online which is real easy to find and follow.

3. You don't need to follow anyone else's recipe. More often than not, it's a waste of time since no two rifles are alike and odds are even two Tikka 243 superlite's will like different things.

Get yourself some brass of at least reasonable quality, whatever large rifle primers you have / can get, powder with a suitable burn rate (2209, 2213, 2217), soft points or a ballistic tips. Load up a few test groups from low to max and see which shoots best. If nothing is acceptable and you're not sure how to interpret the results, ask for help to adjust and refine.

If you are just culling goats, and not worried about the mess, the 87gr Vmax is absolutely devasting on them, they even kill very well right out to your furthest indicated distance.

I've found them to shoot very small little groups (like any bullet you'll need to find the seating depth your barrel likes of course)

Put one of them in the vitals and they do not take a step, it's like a bomb going off in there. Put a slit in the brisket and just pour the insides out.

Thanks for the advice everyone involved.

Given that the Hornady Precision Hunter preformed the best out of the factory ammo, would it be fair to assume that setting the seating depth die to the same OAL as the precision hunter loads could be a good option to start with length? Even with a Speer SPBT that is 85gr (not 90gr as the eldx).

The 87g Vmax sounds absolutely devastating! Gutted that I cant find any around these parts. (pun fully intended).

I think I'll give the Speer 85gr SPBT a go and see how it reacts.

Given that ADI powders have disappeared across the country, does anyone have nay suggestions on other options? I have seen some Hodgdon Varget and 414 about

Yes they get hot. My little Sav 99 in 243 I shoot is too hot to touch after 5 shoots so I don't do that as I can only imagine the lose of barrel life that causes. (Silencer may contribute to retaining heat as well.)

Goats and Fallow then 70-90gr bullets. I have had very good success with the Berger 87gr VLD hunter. The Sierra 85gr Game king is a great bullet.
My Dad had a lot of success using either 75gr Hp or the Hornady 87gr which is a varmint /medium game bullet.
Z
As noted above the 243 is not normally picky to load for unless you start playing with the long VLD type bullets.

And for deer and goats to 300 mtr then 2" groups are fine.
It's a lot to expect a light factory rifle to shot sub 1" groups outside of a vice and cooling between shots.

RL17, RL16, Superformance - all worth a look.

Varget is AR2208 repackaged.
There is a shipment of ADI powder due this month.

H 414 works awesome with 85-87gr bullets

If shooting goats use 75gr Hornady . 300m watch the red mist appear. Devastating pill.

That heat will erode your chamber throat before you can say "Jack Robinson" if you keep on shooting past those first three rounds without cooling down. Which is why I would go for something burning less powder at more gentle pressures for culling, like 222 or 223. Goats won't know the diff. Heat is the enemy of barrel life. For goat culling at closer ranges there's a lot in favour of lever action in Pistol calibres, like 357mag.

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Originally Posted by Jhon

That heat will erode your chamber throat before you can say "Jack Robinson" if you keep on shooting past those first three rounds without cooling down. Which is why I would go for something burning less powder at more gentle pressures for culling, like 222 or 223. Goats won't know the diff. Heat is the enemy of barrel life. For goat culling at closer ranges there's a lot in favour of lever action in Pistol calibres, like 357mag.

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Absolutely. The problem is where I do a lot of the culling, the goats can quite often be out past 200m. In my experience there, the .223 has been absolutely fine in the past for everything up to 200. Between 2-300, it’s marginally ok for nannies and kids, but not ideal on the Billy’s. I like to know that when I need to take an animal, goat or fellow deer at 300m or more, I can dispatch it quickly.
As you say, the .223 is the ideal, but I just need something with a bit longer legs now (the goats are way faster at climbing hills than I will ever be haha).
Cheers,

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Originally Posted by Cigar

Varget is AR2208 repackaged.
There is a shipment of ADI powder due this month.

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Good to know! I have seen some on my travels. I’ll pick it up when I’m there next.
Cheers

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Originally Posted by JohnQT

Thanks for the advice everyone involved.

Given that the Hornady Precision Hunter preformed the best out of the factory ammo, would it be fair to assume that setting the seating depth die to the same OAL as the precision hunter loads could be a good option to start with length? Even with a Speer SPBT that is 85gr (not 90gr as the eldx).

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as I said earlier...given SIMILAR shape projectile the point your die contacts the oglive will be similar...so its a safe assumption the jump to lands will be similar too,
either it works or it wont...but it will give you a good place to start...Ive done it for years and actually have kept a single 130grn silvertip round to set dies for .270win and it works for every projectile Ive used other than a 110grn varmit or a 170grn round nose...

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Originally Posted by JohnQT

Given that the Hornady Precision Hunter preformed the best out of the factory ammo, would it be fair to assume that setting the seating depth die to the same OAL as the precision hunter loads could be a good option to start with length? Even with a Speer SPBT that is 85gr (not 90gr as the eldx).

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No. I would not make that assumption.

Gonna disagree with Micky on this one. The manufacturer will provide a minimum length (that will probably shoot OK) and by adhering to that, you won't risk jamming bullets into the rifling like you're going to risk with this "set up your die off of one type of ammo to try and get the same jump with another" lark.

Seems like you want to copy "something" to give yourself some kind of head start but you don't need to. You'll be better off sucking it up and starting from a clean page. There's several quick and easy methods to work out the maximum length in your chamber. You can then start at the mfg suggested length, 20 thou off the rifling or whatever.

It's a Tikka, unless you're single feeding, anything loaded to max mag length will still be well away from the lands.

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Originally Posted by JohnQT

Thanks for the advice everyone involved.

Given that the Hornady Precision Hunter preformed the best out of the factory ammo, would it be fair to assume that setting the seating depth die to the same OAL as the precision hunter loads could be a good option to start with length? Even with a Speer SPBT that is 85gr (not 90gr as the eldx).

The 87g Vmax sounds absolutely devastating! Gutted that I cant find any around these parts. (pun fully intended).

I think I'll give the Speer 85gr SPBT a go and see how it reacts.

Given that ADI powders have disappeared across the country, does anyone have nay suggestions on other options? I have seen some Hodgdon Varget and 414 about

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ADI2206H, ADI2208, ADI2209, ADI2213, ADI2217, IMR4320, IMR4451, H4350 and RE22 have all given me good service in 243 over a number of different rifles and a number of decades of on and off use.
The tougher the bullet, the less likely I'm gonna use it. My favorites: Sierra 85sp, Hornady 87vmax, Hornady 87hpbt, Berger 95vld, Targex 95 rbt.
Wallabies, Reds (including big animals) Fallow and Tahr have all fallen to those pills (Vmax for hoppers only unless neck shooting)

Reloading for my basic 243's. Dad used variations of the 4350 in 70's and 80'. I've been using H414 / W760 (2 names same powder) for mid range pills. Spherical so it works well in a powder throw.
And just used book recommended. COAL, smaller bullets have a huge jump heavy ones don't.
Nb, ideally look up the recommended coal from the bullet manufacturer as mixing COAL even for bullets of the same weight can cause issues due to bullet length and shape, length of bearing surface in the lands etc.
My custom 243 is a different kettle of fish. But once I established that the max COAL in the mag is still not jammed away I went. Need to check if changing bullets. I was using W780 but now use Reloader R26
Z

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Originally Posted by JohnQT

...I do a reasonable amount of goat culling out to 350/400 meters and knocking over the occasional fellow. ..

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Um, that's called murder in legal circles

Don't know if anyone has cone out with this but maybe if you need to shoot longer strings you need to move to a heavier barrel that will adsorb more heat.
Assuming you are culling or day walk hunting then an extra pound or so in the barrel is not so critical.
Zq

So the latest update is that I managed to find 500gm of Varget/2208 and have bought some Speer 85gr SPBT projectiles to start with.

Now the interesting bit, Speer recommend (for this specific bullet and powder), a start load of 37.5gr and max load of 41.5gr.
Hodgdon state a start load for an 85gr bullet of 34.3gr and a max load of 36.5gr.

Normally I would just find the medium/average of the start load and work from there. However, the start load according to Speer is 1gr more than the max recommended load from Hodgdon. And with a 7 grain difference between the lowest charge and highest charge, I really don't know where to start as that is a massive range!

My head says to start low at around 35.5gr (middle of the road according to Hodgdon). However, that is 2gr below the Speer start charge.

I get that these are conservative and it will take some 'trial and improvement', but this is two very different load ranges...

And I quite like the way my face is configured, so if I can avoid having it redesigned by Hodgdon/Speer would be great

The Hodgdon data is for a Barnes TSX. That is a copper monolithic bullet which is longer and tougher than your average jacketed lead bullet of the same weight. This means it takes up more space inside the case and is harder to drive down the barrel, meaning more pressure.

That's why the Hodgdon data is significantly lower - the two bullets are not comparable. Use the Speer data.

The Speer data is for that exact bullet, the Hodgdon data isn't, so I would tend to go with the Speer data. The Speer bullet may be softer or have a smaller bearing surface than other bullets of that weight.
Also, the Hodgdon data is the same as the ADI data (because ADI make the powder for Hodgdon) and on the ADI website the 85gr data is for the Barnes TSX, which is not your typical lead core copper jacket projectile.

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Originally Posted by Pommy

The Hodgdon data is for a Barnes TSX. That is a copper monolithic bullet which is longer and tougher than your average jacketed lead bullet of the same weight. This means it takes up more space inside the case and is harder to drive down the barrel, meaning more pressure.

That's why the Hodgdon data is significantly lower - the two bullets are not comparable. Use the Speer data.

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Ahhh, that makes sense. Good spotting, I didn't see that

Teh answer to any question about the .243 is 95 grain ballsitic tip and 42 grains of AR2209
(Or a Sierra 85g BT)

Which i snot very helpful because I just saw you bought some 2208. (I have been looking for some for ages. where did you get it?)

@JohnQT

Out of interest, do you already have a .223 Remington? If yes, what is the twist rate of the barrel?

Disregard the following if you aren’t gonna shoot a .223, but worth bearing in mind.

I use both .223 and .243 and shoot a lot of goats, several hundred a year.

I almost exclusively use the .223 Rem for the reasons above - when culling you need to get as many as you can in one fast-fire session, so as to not make them gun shy. And that kind of shooting kills a .243 barrel in no time at all. As in you will destroy your Superlite barrel in a few hundred shots if you regularly shoot multiple shot strings.

For me, an 8” twist .223, 10 shot mag and a frangible 70gr pill anywhere in the boiler room and it is instant death. Learn your windage, anything within 400m has a one-way ticket to becoming pig food.

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Originally Posted by JohnQT

Absolutely. The problem is where I do a lot of the culling, the goats can quite often be out past 200m. In my experience there, the .223 has been absolutely fine in the past for everything up to 200. Between 2-300, it’s marginally ok for nannies and kids, but not ideal on the Billy’s. I like to know that when I need to take an animal, goat or fellow deer at 300m or more, I can dispatch it quickly.
As you say, the .223 is the ideal, but I just need something with a bit longer legs now (the goats are way faster at climbing hills than I will ever be haha).
Cheers,

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Those who havent shot a lot of goats, can easily underestimate just how 'hard' billys are to put-down, you are on the right-track with .243 for those longer shots. They will only get longer too, once mobs get a bit gun-shy

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Originally Posted by Pommy

No. I would not make that assumption.

Gonna disagree with Micky on this one. "set up your die off of one type of ammo to try and get the same jump with another" lark[/I].

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go back and actually READ what I posted...similar is used for good reason.....any twit will realise a round nose will be completely different to a spitzer....and a 130grn is going to be different to a 170 or 110 grn.......SIMILAR and GOOD STARTING POINT that will either work or wont are relevant bits......
if projectile has a cannalure you can just seat to that depth too.....manuals will tell you that...seating it to SIMILAR depth to a load that shoots well isnt hard to do...
so the OP doesnt need to start from scratch as he isnt at start point,he has already found a load that has merit..there is something about that load his rifle likes...it would be silly to discount it completely in these times of component shortage and stupidly high prices..... thats like not bothering to bore sight before using a target..cause you going to have to fine tune zero anyway........
hells bells I arent a huge EBRG fan but vividly recall shooting goats at 300 yards with one 35 years ago after making ammunition for it using a lee loader and claw hammer....powder was measured with a spoon provided with kit..... sometimes folks over think things and make it more complicated than needed.
we used factory ammunition ,whatever was in shop...and fired 3 rounds to check zero then went hunting....
hopefully next time we bought some more it was same brand......