I'm going to start loading for my new Savage 12BVSS in .243 soon and I was looking for some suggestions on which powders work well. Right now I have a box of 100 grain Remington Core Lokt and also a box of Hornady A-max. I used to buy my reloading supplies at a nearby Cabela's retail store but their prices have become outrageous lately, so I want to place a big order from Powder Valley.
I realize every gun is different but looking at my Lyman manual it shows IMR 4350 to be one of the most accurate powders tested. I'm trying to make efficient use of the shipping and hazmat fees so I would like to buy in bulk, but I don't want to end up with an eight pound jug of the stuff and find out it doesn't work well.
Any suggestions?

I've had good success with 4064.

The nice thing about the 243 is that the powders that work in it will also work in quite a few other rifles. So if you buy one and it doesn't work for you in the 243, it may in something else.

You've hit on the problem with ordering powder. It takes a prety big purchase to offset the shipping and hazmat fees. If I am buying only 1 or 2 pounds, I just get it at the local shop. Considering his markup, I would have to order 4 pounds to save enough on the price to offset shipping and hazmat. Usually not worth the wait to me.

LWD

I'm loading for two other rifles, a .223 and a .270. IMR 4198 has been working great in the .223 so I plan on ordering an eight pound jug for that rifle. I don't shoot the .270 much but I've been using Hodgdon 4831 in that. I also plan on getting some Blue Dot to experiment with (thanks Seafire!)
I bought the .243 mainly for longer range work with the Hornady A-max and other match type bullets, but I also plan on using it for some shorter range stuff as well. There's so many different powders I never know where to start with a new loading. I got lucky with the .223, the first powder I tried was 4198. Although it doesn't meter the best through my powder measure its worked very well in this rifle.

While the 4350's work well in the 243, for cold weather try VV-160.

With 100 grain and heavier bullets, the slower the better. H4831 is an excellent choice. Use it in both your .270 and .243. You would only need a powder slower than H4831 if you drop to bullet weights below 80 grains. If you like, the Short Cut version is a little easier to work with than the original version with longer granules.

Since you are already looking to Powder Valley do yourself a favor and get about 48 pounds of DP 85 at $69.00/ 8#. roger

Most accurate load in my .243 is Rem 100 gr PSP and IMR4831. S40

H-414 works here as well as a lot of other places.

I like H4831sc or for lightr bullets imr4350

I'm sure all the info you are getting here from the rest of the troop is genuinely good stuff. I would suspect, however, few if any have tried the DP 85. If you want accuracy and far more bang for your buck the DP 85 can not be beat unless you're using DP 86 which you can't buy anymore. I kid you not. roger

Different rifles like different powders I used H-4350 in my 700 Rem. But my Tikka T-3 lite likes H-414, you are wright Vapodog, it works for a lot of other calibers.

6.5 SWEDE.

I like the AA 3100 powerder for 100 grain bullets in .243.

aa2495, imr 4895, imr 4350, imr 4831, h 414,

dito - AA3100 and Nosler 95g partitions

I have 3 243`s, they all love IMR4350!!!

I have been reloading for the .243 for some time now and have had great luck with IMR4895. My daughters rifle loves this powder pushing anything from a 68gr Berger to a 100gr Partician. I am one of those guys that likes to measure every load. The thing I love about this one is that the window of accuracy is a full .5gr. This makes it very easy to laod up a box of ammo.

Matt.

Mine likes IMR 4350, H 4831, IMR 3031, and IMR 4831.

If it won't shoot 100 grain bullets and H414 or 4350, you'll probably save yourself a lot of grief if you sell the rifle. These just always work for me.

H4350 has always worked well for me, so has IMR 4064 for lighter bullets and H4831 SC for heavy bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
I'm sure all the info you are getting here from the rest of the troop is genuinely good stuff. I would suspect, however, few if any have tried the DP 85. If you want accuracy and far more bang for your buck the DP 85 can not be beat unless you're using DP 86 which you can't buy anymore. I kid you not. roger

I agree with Roger. While I haven't tried the Accurate data Powder 85, I do have over 20 lbs of the now unavailable Data Powder 86, which works great in my Stevens .243, as well as in a 6.5x55 and .270WSM. The Data Powder 85 is different, being a ball powder, (Data 86 is extruded, similar to Accurate 3100), but based on the loading data, it should be very similar to Ramshot Hunter, which means it should work just fine in your .243 and your .270 Win. Or you could just try some of your H-4831 in your .243, odds are, it will work fine, and you could just order an 8 lb keg and be done. Of course, if you opted for the data 85 powder, you could get almost 16 pounds for the same price. You could be set for years. You don't indicate where you are located, but it may be that some other shooter might be willing to take the Data 85 off your hands if it proves unsatisfactory in your rifles. The other option is to try to find other shooters to share your order with. Helps to split up the shipping and hazmat charges to make it a better deal for everybody. Works for primers, too.

I like H4350 for an all-around powder. It shoots great with 95gr bullets, 2900fps, and will work with lighter bullets as well. IMR7828 works with heavy bullets, and is accurate and fast. My .243 is a Win M70 and the data in the Hornady Manual uses the same rifle, and it is dead-on with the results I get, and it shoots best with max loads. If only my other rifles wre that predictable, handloading would be alot easier.

I have been using H4831 and Hornady 100g Interlocks with good results for over 20 years.

before ill buy in bulk i will first load test loads and find out what load my gun likes then i will buy in bulk. im not familiar with overseas powders but my loads is as follows
1) 85gr sierra gameking cci250 primer and 39.5gr s365
2) 87gr hornady bthp cci250 primer 37gr s355

my 243 is a bruno with a very tight chamber so it is cloose to max for me but might be halfway for other guns my friend gets the same results as me with 2-2.5gr more should give you around 3180f/sec

Surprised noone has mentioned Rl-22. It has been the most consistently accurate powder in my Ruger 77V .243, as well as giving excellent velocity with 95 and 100 gr. bullets.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided rather than buying a whole jug of something right away I'm going to buy a pound each of several different varieties to test each one out. So far I'm going with IMR 4350, H414, and H4831SC. I'll try to decide on one or two others before I place the order.
I was shooting my .223 yesterday and was very disappointed with my groups. Using 21.3 grains of IMR 4198 my velocities were fairly consistent, ranging from 3130 to 3234 fps out of a dozen shots, but the group at 100 yards was miserable. It seemed to perform better last spring as I was getting several holes touching, but yesterday I was getting 2" groups with only a light 5 mph breeze. Maybe its just time for a good cleaning...but I plan on doing the same thing for this rifle. A pound each of 748, H335, Varget, and Benchmark should give me some better test samples to see if I can improve this rifle.

burned more imr 4350 in my 243 bbr then any other powder,but i tryed reloader -22 with a sierra 100 gr.bt wowser 3-shot''s in 3/8 of and inch at 200 yrds.
regards

I always got great results with IMR 4831 in the .243 Win.