The title says it all really, I am using H414 at the moment and I spotted these Noslers and could not resist, is barrel life an issue with these bullets??? any thoughts please or Favourite loads would help.
Many thanks Bob

Bob, This is going to sound like "flaming" but it's just my thoughts!! 55 grain grain bullets are for 22-250's an 220 Swifts!!! The .243 and 6mm's shoot the 70-87 grain pills for the most part, better than the "itty bitty" bullets!!! And the long range accurracy(and killing effect) of the 80-87's in the 6mm family will most certainly ascertain more "user appreciation" than the little pills will! Yeas it's fun to see the 4000, 4100fps(even more....BTDT!!!) velocities pop up on the chronograph but the "in the field" performance is not what you will acheive with projectiles more suited to caliber!!! Go ahead and J.I.M.S folks!!! If you want to shoot little bullets, shoot them in little guns!! GHD

I tried them for a while, and got them to shoot pretty accurately, but I started having some concerns about seating depth. In order to have them about .025" off the lands, I ended up with only about 1/32" of bullet shank gripped by the case neck (new barrel, by the way). It just seemed like I should have a little more grip on the bullet. I was also using H414, WLR primers, but I can't for the life of me remember the powder charge. I ended up switching to the 87grain Hornady V-Max. It just seems like it will have a little more punch on a coyote than the 55 Ballistic Tip will.

I'd keep the 243 in the 70-100 grain bullet range. If you really want to have a gopher popper, you might consider a 22-250 or 204; I don't have either by the way, but a savage 12vlp single shot in 204 is on my Christmas list.

So what was going to be on the receiving end of this weapon of choice? That might help to clarify the bullet selection a little for you.

Best of luck,
irwin

Well, I don't use the 55 grn Nosler but I use the 58 grn Hornady all of the time in my 243s. The BC isn't the best but out to 300 yards they explode ground squirrels as well as or better than, any other cartridge I've shot. I load mine to 3800+fps with IMR4064 and the terminal performance is awesome.

Bobbd ,
I use them with 46.5 gns Varget in my .243 AI with Lapua cases and Federal Gold Match primers . Velocity is 4030 FPS and accuracy in the '3s for 5 shots at 100 yards . Overall length is 2.625 which is absolutely nowhere near the lands and who cares ? I can safely get over 4200 FPS but accuracy goes off . You should be able to get close to 4000 FPS in a standard .243 . Have read that others get great accuracy with the same load . I regularly use the load on rabbits at 395 yards with a good deal of success.

quote:

Originally posted by bobb d:
The title says it all really, I am using H414 at the moment and I spotted these Noslers and could not resist, is barrel life an issue with these bullets??? any thoughts please or Favourite loads would help.
Many thanks Bob

NO experience with such a projo in .243, just a thought! It's way too light for a 6mm bullet!!

The SD is only .1330 - not much better than a .50 cal round ball!!

But the BC is .276 which is as good as any 55gn .22 bullet commonly available . SD is a great measurement to use for potential penetration but how much do you need on a 5 pound varmint ?

quote:

Originally posted by Bushchook:
But the BC is .276 which is as good as any 55gn .22 bullet commonly available . SD is a great measurement to use for potential penetration but how much do you need on a 5 pound varmint ?

You are correct, little penetration is needed on a varmint. I'm surprised that bullet has such a high BC. Interesting!!

I have used the Nosler 55grn bullet in my wife's .243Win rifle for a couple of years now. The accuracy from her rifle isn't "benchrest grade" - but the accuracy is perfectly fine for her/my applications. I decided to use this combo for general varminting and an occasional coyote. The load was worked from H380 powder and a standard CCI large rifle primer, with Remington cases. Nosler lists data in their manual that is far above the charge I ended up using. I found some data for a 60grain jacketed bullet that listed pressure and extrapolated out a rough beginning and a rough ending. I used my chrono to bring the velocity to a moderately reasonable level of 3635 avg fps. Nosler's manual, to me, seemed a bit extreme. The load worked out to be 48grns of H380. For the sake of saving $$ and wear and tear, not to mention temp variations. I backed the charge down to 47grns and the load ended up at a standard deviation was 7.81, extreme spread of 17.02 with 5 shot groups. This load didn't group as tight as the 48grn load but it still printed under 1/2" at 130yds (as long as I didn't have coffee that day!!)

Bullet seating depth is a problem in my "book". I like to have more purchase on the bullet than these little bullets allow. For the sake of feeding and safety I seated my slugs to a COAL 2.565". At this depth I felt there was a compromise in the accuracy dept. but it made me happier that there was a little more neck tension.

Why did I try these pills instead of the usual (for me) 85 grn bullet load? I ended up with 300 bullets in a trade with a co-worker - he couldn't get them to group out of his rifle. I might also mention he is more critical of the group size of the finished load than I am. My co-worker isn't happy unless the groups are easily way under 1/2" @ 100yds. Where I am WAY happy with groups of 1/2" out of my wife's gun.

The rifle is a Musketeer II from Interarms "all stock with no modifications done to the gun". Eventually it will experience some free-float barrel work and maybe some trueing of the action....depending on how the gun behaves after the stock work.

If your interested in downrange performance.....well, quite frankly it is nothing short of fantastic. The .243 with heavier bullets obviously works very very well. With the lighter ones everything is just more violent. This load has worked well at 250-300yds on coyotes. Penetration is not always complete with broadside shots thru the ribs at those ranges. If your looking for a pelt harvest this is NOT the bullet I would recommend for coyotes. A heavier bullet in the 6mm bore is what I would recommend for fur/pelt harvesting. Pest/critter dispatching is dynamic and decisive. Are there better bullets for the .243, I would say yes. I wouldn't recommend these bullets for any animal larger than a coyote. For target shooting - frankly I think there are better bullets out there with better target bullet qualities and with less throat erosion potential than the 55's. They are quite fun to play with though!!

Hope my rambling answers some of your questions.
Sorry for the long post everyone.....
Happy shooting and hunting!!
Eric

I have used both the 55 and the 70 grain B. Tips in my .243 HB. Surprisingly, the 55 does just a shade better groups than the 70, although both are outstanding. I'm moving back to the 70 exclusively, however, largely because it just seems to give more spectacular terminal porformance on prairie dogs than the lighter bullet. Now -- don't get me wrong: Either the 55 at 3935 fps or the 70 at 3600 fps will separate a PD into two distinct "halves", but the 70 seems to provide more gratification by placing the halves at a greater distance from one another and giving more "hang" time. Maybe it's just been happenstance, but it seems that all of the shots that have elicited the biggest whoops from my group of fellow shooter/observers have come with my .243 and 70 grain Ballistic Tips.

As others have observed, while the B.C. of the 55 grain Bal Tip is no doubt excellent for its weight, there's no way that a bullet of the same shape and weight will have a greater B.C. with a .243 diameter than with a .224 diameter. Nosler's advertising and promo boys have taken a little license with this one.

I shoot a lot of the 55grainers, mainly because I originally got a couple of thousand of them at a very very cheap price over at Nosler's seconds store in Bend... at the right place at the right time sort of thing...

I find them not only accurate, but also do the job intended of them... Originally based on "statistics" I would not have gone that small.. but a good buy on them, let me play with them, and disproved all the stuff that "statistical experts" would have you believe that are wrong with them...

Contrary to the gentleman above also, I have found there accuracy in one rifle to be the best when moved at a charge of 50 grains of H 380...
This rifle is a real problem child, Like 3 to 4 inch groups with about everything! But it shoots the 50 grains of H 380 and a 55 grain BT into one hole at 100 yds.... same with a 58 grain VMax, and 60 grain Sierra HP...Go figure, but who cares, use what works!

Download below 3000 fps, it is also a nice bullet for accuracy yet still performs a lot better than anyone would give it credit for...on a lot bigger animal than anyone would give it credit for...
( I don't feel like dealing with the trolls, so I won't say what for, but it will easily drop an antelope sized critter.... )

If you got some and don't want them, then seafire will take them from ya! Email me and I will recycle them ( thru my 243's) for ya!

cheers
seafire

I am using the 55 gr and 58 gr bullets in a 243 with good results. The traditional weights should carry better but I stopped at the new light ones as I can see them hit from a high combed Kimber.

At least one manuals suggested seating depth for these bullets seems quite deep at first glance but it's the place to start. Without running for the book my guess is that it's 2.6" or less! I tried seating them way out and then deep and deep is so good that I am all set.

A theory has been floated that the 55/58's are overstablilized for long range shooting. I have only targeted them at 200 yds and on test shots and game around 350 yds. My twist is 1-10" the 58 VMax's starting velocity is a modest 3750 fps from 44.5 grs of 4064 from a 22" barrel.

The 55 grainers actually shoot a little flatter over 400 yards in my rifle than my external ballistics program suggests they should . B.C. can't be too far off quoted .276 unless my chronograph consistently reads low .
Who said the ogive on the .22 calibre 55 gn Noslers is the same as the .243 ?