Hi all, I was hoping to get some answers on reloading. I am very new to the reloading thing, but plan on starting to reload a lot! My main round I plan to reload is the .243 wssm and I have been shooting the winchester ballistic silver tips in the 55 grain. I was hoping to find a recipe to copy that round or get really close to it. If anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I got my .243 WSSM when the cartridge was new and there was hardly any load info for it. Consequently I had the "opportunity" to experiment with it a lot. I shot some of the winchester 55 gr. and 95 gr. rounds when my gun was new and mine preferred the 95 gr. The powder that was used in them was not available to the reloader, and I don't think that's changed. The last time I looked on the Hodgon site they had not listed any loads for the WSSM using the new/old W780 powder. I believe the bullets were the Winchester luballoy or else the Combined Technology bullet. The factory cartridges may still use those. I did not care for them and went to Sierra 70gr. MKs and more recently, Berger 88gr High BC flat based bullets, if I'm not using Don Lahr's ( http://precisionballisticsllc.com )excellent 90 gr. match bullet. I've been using FC brass that was built by Winchester to Federal's specs when FC was considering loading the WSSM, They decided against it and sold the leftover brass to Graf and sons. If you can find any of that brass it seems to hold up better than the standard Winchester brass. I did not load any factory WInchester, since at the time it was all nickle plated. I found no difference in group sizes when I loaded my rounds using Federal large rifle primers as opposed to their large magnum rifle primers, except when using W760 and the heavier bullets.

The best groups I ever got using the Sierra 70 gr. was with a load I worked up from scratch using H335. That powder is not on anyone's recommended powders list for the .243 WSSM that I have seen. The 88s and 90s like W760. I did not have much luck with any of the Alliant powders I tried, nor with IMR 4064 or either IMR 4350 or H4350. I'm currently playing around with another not recommended powder, VV n-540 using either Don's 90 gr. FB or Lapua Scenar 90 gr. BT. Seems promising,

My rifle is a 1/10" twist and I'm shooting at 200 yards for group only. If your twist and application is different, you may not want to try any of the loads I have. Load data is still pretty scanty* for the WSSMs since they did not really take off commercially. You might want to take a look here: http://wssmzone.com/main/default.aspx?c=home&n=maint


Hope that helps some..........

* as compared with pages and pages of every powder and bullet suitable for the .308 .223 rem, or .30-06, for example. Vihtavuori/Lapua does not even list the WSSM cartridges in their manual.

Hey vpd42, I do not have a 243WSSM, but I noticed Loads for it in the latest Speer Manual #14. And the Powder web sites should be able to get you up to speed if you don't get a response that does what you are looking for.

Best of luck to you.

I love my .243 WSSM. I have never tried any powder but W-760. I shoot it with all bullet weights from 70gr to 95gr.

I've killed prarie dogs up to Mule Deer with the rifle.

Have fun with it! It's my favorite coyote rifle!

Go to the wssmzone site or the Winchester site and you'll find plenty of data.

Thanks for all the info. guys..... I found a load at Nosler.com they have a pretty cool data sheet for reloading. It had info for all the bullets they make so I loaded some rounds with their info. I used a 55grn ballistic tip varmit round and started with 42 grns of IMC4895 powder. I chose that powder because it was also recommended for my 270 and I reloaded some rounds for it too. I'm going to the range tomorrow to try them out and see what I get. The only difference was the reload infor used winchester WLR primers and unfortinatly the only primers I could find was CCI large rifle. I have not really read anything about them so hopefully there will be no problems.

I also bought some 95 grain rounds to shoot and see if I like them. The reason I was interested in the 55 grain is because a friend shoots them in his 243wssm and that is all he has ever really shot......him gun is a tac driver almost no adjustment in sights from 200 to 400!! Thats crazy! Oh by the way I'm shooting a Browning a-bolt Stalker 2 with a leopold low mount 4.5x14x50mm scope

Welcome, vp. Glad to have a new member. When it slows here, come on over to the Political Forum. Bring your thickest skin, your helmet and the baddest 'tude you might have. Always lots of action over there. New contributors always welcomed...

I went to the range and tried out the rounds I loaded today! the 55 grain bullets with 44 grains of powder were great you could almost cover three rounds with a quarter!! I was very impressed and I did not have to change my scope either hits the same as factory, only tighter!

now I just need to work out my 270 everything was shooting much higher then factory.

Amazing that you could just randomly pick a Load and get a nice group like that. Should be a fine rifle. What will you be Hunting with it?

Hot Core, I didn't find too many loads for the 55 grain bullet so I'm really happy it worked out like it did. I did work up with the powder, starting at about 41 going to 46, but amazingly the load that Nosler said was the most accuarate was. I'm using it to hunt smaller game, like coyote, bobcat, prairie dogs, ect. My buddy has taken deer with his but I'll probably continue to use my 270 for deer or larger game. At least for now.

quote:

Originally posted by vpd42:
...continue to use my 270 for deer or larger game. ...

Good for you. Nothing is gained by using an Inadequate Bullet in an Inadequate Cartridge on Big Game.

Best of luck with the Loads.

Sometimes you stike lucky!! Just out of curiosity--what is your barrle twist rate?

quote:

Originally posted by amamnn:
Sometimes you stike lucky!! Just out of curiosity--what is your barrle twist rate?

Its a 1 in 10

I really enjoy the wssm line of cartridges. Mainly I handload the 25 wssm. All I ever do is partial neck size and anneal after every two firings. Cases last and last and last....