I just bought a 243 and am working on some loads. I want accuracy above all. Velocity is not as important as accuracy. I will be shooting paper only with this rifle out ot 300 yards.

I was thinking of the 85 gr Hornday V Max or Speer 85 gr BTSP. Both offer a decent BC (around .4) and decent velocity. Has anyone used these bullets? What powder worked best for you?

I also considered the 105 A max for targets out to 500 yards. I am not sure the 1 to 9.25" twist in my Savage will stablizie them though. Any advice or load data that has worked for you would be greatly appreciated.

My 1:10 twist will stabilize the 100's fine so you should have no problem with the 105's.

For 300 yards just about any bullet will work. I'd find the 75-100 grain bullets that shot the best in that gun and go for it. I've had really good luck with the 70-85 grain bullets using IMR4064 and BLC(2).

For target shooting, the 70 grain Sierra Matchking is hard to beat.

elkhunter

On the Hornady 87 Gr. V-Max I,d work from 41.0 to 42.7 Gr.'s of IMR4350 My 243 seemed to hit a real sweet spot very near 42 Gr.'s. See Hornady Vol. II

Hornady 105 Gr. A-Max IMR4350 38.0 to 41.0 sweet spot near 39.5 for my gun. See Hodgdon edition 26.

Your gun will stabilize the 105 A-Max.

I got my best 243 accuracy with 70 gr Matchkings and 46.0 grains of IMR 4831.

I am going to recommend trying out a load of 47.5 grains of H 414 with a 70 or 75 grain HP bullet....or 46 grains with an 80 or 85 grain bullet...

Work up, but any 243 that I have ever tested it in shot like no other load, in each rifle. I own 6 of them, and have two that are real accuracy pigs.... but they sure like those loads...

Above recommendations are good also....

The 243 is an accurate round, that is for sure.

Berger Bullets 90 gr hpbt match with IMR 4831, BR2 primer. Available at Midway usa. For long range. To 300 yards 68gr flat base hp match berger, IMR 4350 Both will work in you barrel. Berger has a web site, but i could not find the 90gr there, but listed at Midway USA

There are so many good ones in .243. Last Wed. the best out of 4 I tested was the Sierra 80gr. psp. 43 gr. of accurate 4350 , WLRM primer & RP, ni cases.OAL= 2.830" we're talking an 8 shot group at 50 yds. 1/2 the size of a dime. Velocity avg. 3175fps.

Hello,
Kind of like LE270 mentioned, lot of the older shooters will tell you that if the match bullet mfg's name does not start with an S, then you are just shooting for the hell of it. Believe they meant Sierra. Hard to beat when all things are considered, performance, price, availability, quality assurance, etc.

3050F/S IN 243 Ai MAX FOR A 243 WIN IS AROUND 38GRAINS. the black circle holes are sighters.
10 shot groups

Had me concerned by the title of this thread.

BEST: was gonna jump in here and get you to explain your definition of Best.

I see you did, "most accurate".
Not many come out and state what they consider best.

Anyway, I use 35gr 4895 w/100gr and get plumb decent accuracy in my 700. Sure did an instant no twitch job on an antelope a couple yrs ago.

Another load was 46gr/4350sc w/60gr. Detached the head from the body on a coyote at 85yds. This is NOT a fur load!

George

elkhunter,

I have a Savage .243 with a 26" varmint barrel.

It has no problem stabilizing the 105 A-max. A few weeks ago I worked up a load using H-1000 starting at 40 gr. with a 46 grain max in half grain increments.

Every three shot group was sub MOA with the best a .269" at 45 grains, and the worst a .759 group with 42.5 grains.

Hope this helps.

my best load is 40 gr. 4895 and speers 70 gr TNT have many groups out of a ruger vt that are under .2

My most accurate loads in my 243's and my 6mm Rem are with 70 gr Sierra MatchKings and 70 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips.

For paper (or my favorite, groundhogs), either one should work great!