Does any one have some light 243 loads? I am interested in mid weight hunting bullets say 80-90g traveling at speeds under 2800fps. I have read that the 243 is not a good cartrige to down load as wild pressure spikes can occur.

The reason is I need a very very mild recoiling load for my wife to shoot deer with. She is very tiny and is afraid of any thing more than my 8lbs 22-250. I was thinking about a 6x45 but would rather just go out and buy a model 7 youth in 243 and down load it.
Any suggestions?

A .243 with standard factory 100 gr. loads at 8.9#'s of recoil that is only has about 3.4 more foot pounds of recoil than a 22-250 shooting 55 gr bullets.

My suggestion would be to drop back to about an 87 gr. bullets and down load it about 1 to 2 gr. of powder. It should put you within two pounds or less of the 22-250. MV should be close to 3000 fps. I've used a very similar load and it was very mild and a tack driver. Five shots you could cover with a dime in a cheap Winchester 670 carbine.

I doubt you could make even a 6# .243 recoil enough to bother anyone with the heaviest loading you could find.

I do like to get women and kids of any size started shooting the big guns by loading my 06 with 115gr cast RN's and 4-10gr Red Dot.

I've taken 400 rnds to the pistol range and never fired a shot myself. Had them lined up so many I had to limit them to ten shots each and still go home early because I ran out of ammo.

IF you'd cast your own, you could get a cheap mold for the .243. I'd recommend it, especially if you already cast and have some equip.

Like has been suggested above. 75-90gr bullets and charge toward the lower end of the table's should be just perfect. You can't beat the .243 for someone that size and temperment.

Good luck, don't be surprised if she don't out shoot you within three shooting lessons!!

George

Yea, she all ready has the makings to be a great shot. She has only went out with me a few times and can routinely hit empty 12g hulls at 25yards with a scoped 22.

I did consider cast bullets to get her started, I have never cast before and it is a great reason to pick up a pot and some moulds.



If a full power 100g loading in the 243 has 1/3 more recoil than a 22-250 with 55's (what I use) than perhaps a book starting load with 90g will be OK for her. I know that an extra 3.4 ft/lbs is not much to most people. It could be alot for someone with no meat on thier sholder. I guess that I will have her try it out and see.

Gidday Republic of Alberta,

My experience with reduced loads in a 243 is either 85gr sierra hps in front of 39 gr of H4350 or 90gr Speer hotcore in front of 40 gr H4350.

These loads both shoot to the same MPI so can be interchanged in the Rem 700 so are versatile and are devastating on deer, pigs, goats and the like.

Muzzle velocity averages 2770 for both loads and are sub moa out of this rifle.

Give them a go and good luck. Don't worry about the naysayers, a 243 with these loads is more than adequate out to 250 metres for the game you and your wife are after. I suspect that those who poo poo the 243 have very little experience with it.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

PM Seafire/B17G
He helped me with some really nice reduced velocity loads-very accurate and little if any recoil on some.

quote:

Originally posted by Republic of Alberta:
Does any one have some light 243 loads? I am interested in mid weight hunting bullets say 80-90g traveling at speeds under 2800fps. I have read that the 243 is not a good cartrige to down load as wild pressure spikes can occur....

Hey R of A, I've heard the same thing mentioned from time to time about the Pressure Spikes. I've never experienced it in any of the 243Wins I've had, but I work toward a SAFE MAX Load for my use.

I just flipped open the Speer Manual and it has loads listed using IMR-4198 that are well below the Velocity you want and are well tested.

If you go to the Hodgdon web site, you will find special Reduced Loads using H4895. Those loads use 60% of the MAX Load of H4895 and have also been well tested.

And the old faithful Lyman Manuals are always a great source for Reduced Loads.
---

That said, if anyone can't handle a SAFE MAX Load for a 90gr Speer Hot-Cor in a 243Win, then it is probably best for them to work their way up to it before they try to cleanly kill Game.

Nothing will ruin a new hunter more than loosing a head of Game due to an inadequate Load.

Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills to both of you.

If she can shoot the 22-250 well, let her use that for deer. Well placed shots from a familiar rifle will always be better than a poor shot from a larger caliber.

Edited to add that they have both partitions and tsx's for that caliber which would always help.

With a number 80 gr. bullets 27gr 4759 gave great accuracy at around 2900fps.

26gr of 4759 also yieled real small groups with the same bullets.What's nice is there is no danger of throwing a double load even if you reduced it further and it is comparativly clean and mild. roger

Republic of Alberta: bartsche has the right answer here - IMR's SR4759 works great in my .243 - with 80 grain bullets, start out around 22 grains and work up, Accuracy is great, recoil minimal and the barrel hardly even gets warm. Highly recommended.

I have never seen a pressure spike in a 243. I have seen overloads in other rounds and it was not the cartridges fault.

Some excellent advice is already posted above. I am shooting the 55 gr Ballistic Tip over 23 grs of 4759 and it's a very useful mild load out to 200 yds.

Here is my stance on reduced loads.

"reduced loads are something that interests me as well along with cast bullet loads which are similar. Since I have been handloading since March of 1953 it's my 53 anniversary of enjoying the passion that this forum is named for.

Of the accidents that I have seen directly caused by incorrect handloads having a double charge or no charge are the most common. These accidents can blow a barrel off a gun and send parts flying.

So please look into every case after charging it. A pen light is necessary to do this on small calibers. This is crucial.

Back when I started IMR's SR 4759 had been developed for reduced loads. Since the time that I started shooting reduced loads I have never found a better powder than 4759 in terms of bulk, accuracy or safety. It's clean burning as well.

The thing about double charging with fast burning normal density powders is that sooner or later it may happen. With most double charges of 4759 such a double charge will overfill the case. Also the loading density is higher which helps accuracy.

As mentioned the Speer Manuals give reduced loads for some cartridges and bullets and 4759 is a common choice from Speer as well. There is much other published data also by Dupont and IMR before Hogdon took over the distribution of IMR. At the momemt that data seems to be lost by Hogdon.

Here is some data from the IMR handbook for the 308 Win:

"Rem. Case: 9 1/2 PR Hornady 110 SPIRE PT.
.308 Dia.; 24" BBL.; 2.600" C.O.L.

SR 4759 31.0 (grs), 2710 (fps), 51600 (psi)"

"Velocity and pressure readings represent average values obtained under controlled conditions. The values shown may vary substantialy with the components and the reloading techniques employed. We suggest the charge weights shown be reduced initially by 10% to compensate for possible variations from the published data. The loads may then be increased as pressure indications permit."

Here is the data from the same manual for:

"REM. CASE; REM 9 1/2 PR
REM. 150 GR. PTD. SPCL
.308" DIA.; 23" BBL.; 2.700" C.O.L.

SR 4759 27.5 (gr) 2325 (fps) 51550 (psi)"

One can interpolate for the 125 gr bullet.

A while back when Eisenhower was President I noticed that many of the reduced loads using SR 4759 were about half the charge weight that was used for that cartridge with full charges of the usual powders. So I adopted that ratio as my nominal data for 4759. The 50% formula thus means that if the 308 uses 44 grs of conventional powder then half that charge or 22 grs of 4759 would be my load but only for the lighter bullets in that caliber. These have worked out to be final loads that are quite accurate as well.

As for the aiming of reduced loads you can use the bottom plex on your scope if you have that reticule and if it's a conventional variiable you can sight in your reduced load using the top of that heavy section of bottom plex as a post.

Now turn the magnification on your variable up and down to raise and lower the point of impact. A higher power will raise the impact.

Another idea is to only use a particular bullet for reduced loads. Thus in the 243, for instance, I use the 58 gr VMax as the full charge load and the 55 gr BT only for reduced loads to identify the loads.

Good luck and as always be careful."

There's some info on youth loads on the Hodgden's website. Youth info

Basically, as long as H4895 is a listed powder for the cartridge, you can load back to as low as 60% of the book loadings to generate low recoil ammunition.

I've used this with to tame the 270Win for my wife, with excellent results.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
I have never seen a pressure spike in a 243. I have seen overloads in other rounds and it was not the cartridges fault.

Some excellent advice is already posted above. I am shooting the 55 gr Ballistic Tip over 23 grs of 4759 and it's a very useful mild load out to 200 yds.

Here is my stance on reduced loads.

"reduced loads are something that interests me since March of 1953 it's my 53 anniversary of enjoying the passion that this forum is named for.Good luck and as always be careful."

Nicely done. roger

Thanx guys. It appears there is a lot of good data for getting reduced loads. I will follow some of your suggestions.

R/A:

My proudest day of shooting was my first wife's first shot at game. We both shot at muley bucks near each other at about 130-40yds. Killed hers outright where it stood. Mine went about 50 ft before it went down for good.

She was about 18 then, 5'5", maybe 125-30# at the time. I'd only had the old 06 and that was too much for her. Bought an old .303Brit nicely finished for $15. Worked with her til we found a load she could handle that was plenty for deer.
Told her til I get it figured out, it's gonna kick, so just hang in there til it's light enough she could handle it and shoot well. Ended up with 150gr load I can't recall, but, was either 4895 as that was my main powder then, or 4831. That was about 1965. The following year she shot 4 more all one shot each.

We split up in winter of 70, I joined the Army and she played games. Ended up shooting a jealous GI's leg off at the knee!! Court gave her gun and ammo back, as he'd beat on her first. Glad I got rid of her myself!!

I feel if your woman will work with you to develop a good hunting load as this gal did with me. Then you'll both be happy.

Get her to make a pad that will be held in place with her bra strap. Teach her to pull that stock back into her shoulder hard as she can so it don't have a chance to kick.
Get the stock worked over so it fits her right. Those are things you need to work on before reducing loads.

My recoil reduction theories: weight, fit, long barrel, pad, if it still kicks too much, get some mercury capsuls in the stock. Those are the tricks to tame kickers.

Wish you the best and her too,

George

Good reduced loads for the 243 include the powders mentioned above of SR 4759... I like 25 grains....

A little more recoil, but not by much and accurate are 30 grains of IMR or Hodgdon 4198...

Or 30 grains of Reloader 7... which is consistently more accurate than the 4198 powders... but all three are very very good...

As far as bullets also...great for lower velocities in the 243....

try the Sierra 85 grain HP, the Hornady 87 grain HP or SP either work great, The Speer 90 grain SP, or the Nosler 90 and 95 grain ballistic tips...

NOT always considered a deer bullet but works surprisingly well... the Hornady 75 grain HP....

The 75 grain and 87 grain V Maxes are also excellent to use on deer that are antelope sized animals....to say 150 lbs or so...

with a scope zeroed 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, you will have a point blank range of close to 300 yds with an MV of 2700 or so....

and considering most deer are taken at 100 yds or less.. I think the little lady will do just fine.....

good luck and cheers
seafire

Last summer my son and I got pressure sign - stiff bolt lift, flat primers, and ejector smear - before we reached book maximum using IMR4350 under 100 gr Remington CoreLokts and Nosler Partitions. We backed off a couple grains - to starting loads in a couple manuals - and settled for a very accurate 2750 fps. Mild but deadly; two shots, two deer. Also, be sure your wife's rifle is cut to fit her length of pull with a nice recoil pad installed.

Hi Seafire

I am pleased to see Reloder 7 loads for the 243! (Have a tub left over from 22 Hornet loads - didn't really work that well.)

What do you reckon the min/max loads are for bullets from say... Sierra 70gr Match up to 95gr Nosler BT.

Regards...

....Titan

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
Good reduced loads for the 243 include the powders mentioned above of SR 4759... I like 25 grains....

A little more recoil, but not by much and accurate are 30 grains of IMR or Hodgdon 4198...

Or 30 grains of Reloader 7... which is consistently more accurate than the 4198 powders... but all three are very very good...

As far as bullets also...great for lower velocities in the 243....

try the Sierra 85 grain HP, the Hornady 87 grain HP or SP either work great, The Speer 90 grain SP, or the Nosler 90 and 95 grain ballistic tips...

NOT always considered a deer bullet but works surprisingly well... the Hornady 75 grain HP....

The 75 grain and 87 grain V Maxes are also excellent to use on deer that are antelope sized animals....to say 150 lbs or so...

with a scope zeroed 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, you will have a point blank range of close to 300 yds with an MV of 2700 or so....

and considering most deer are taken at 100 yds or less.. I think the little lady will do just fine.....

good luck and cheers
seafire

Any 100gr bullet can easily be loaded to 3000fps. I've never noticed the recoil. But, that's me and I'm used to a .300Win. and sometimes even shoot a .375 H&H but, that's a whole different deal there. Yes, the recoil is a SOB.

George