hey everyone i have a 243 in rem 700sps. i believe it is 1"9 twist. ive been trying to come up with a hog hunting round. ive been loading hornady 100gn interlock btsp. ive tried varget imr 4064 and h4350. my best 4 shot group came from 4350. it was 1.7 moa im just wondering is therea another bullet i could try. thanks

Don't get hung up on the 100 grain bullets

Sierra makes a great 100 grn bullet in the Game King

Look at 90 grn Accubonds and 80 grn TTSX

Disclaimer: I've never hunted hogs, so take this FWIW.

Nosler makes 85 grain, 95 grain and 100 grain 6mm partition bullets. To me, partitions are the original "perfect hunting bullet." Today, others may be as good or better, but IMO you really can't go wrong using a partition if it meets your standard of accuracy.

Which leads me to ask: What kind of accuracy do you feel is necessary? For hog hunting, I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if my load wasn't up to target load standards. Seems to me you have a fairly large kill-zone and if hogs are as tough as I imagine they are, bullet performance is really important.

Based on my personal experience, with the 243 and 100 grain bullets you want to use slower powders like the 4831s and RL-22. At maximum level loads I always get fine accuracy and high velocity (1" groups at 3150 fps). The powders you named are too fast burning for best results.

I used to have an off the shelf Ruger M77 All weather with the boat paddle stock that would shoot (5) 100 grain Rem Corelokts into a single hole that was too small to measure shooting off a solid bench with heavy sand bags at 100 yds. I used Win cases and primers and 40 grains of IMR4350. I believe the rifle was probably just as accurate with Hornady Interlocks but I never shot it off sand bags just a bipod to check the POI. My oldest son, when he was a teenager, shot a whitetail buck at about 150 yds. with the Interlock out of this rifle and we nearly lost the deer. The bullet went through the heart without any expansion. We never hunted with that rifle/caliber again, and sold the rifle shortly after. I now have a 6mm Rem in a model 600 Remington and it is not nearly as accurate as that 243, but I have shot a couple whitetail does with it but used a 70 Nosler BT and it made them DRT. In my limited opinion the smaller bore rifles need a bullet that initiates quicker/easier expansion to perform adequately on larger game.

quote:

Originally posted by Sagebrush Burns:
Based on my personal experience, with the 243 and 100 grain bullets you want to use slower powders like the 4831s and RL-22. At maximum level loads I always get fine accuracy and high velocity (1" groups at 3150 fps). The powders you named are too fast burning for best results.

Yes. Good point.

I'd suggest adding Superformance to the mix. I've found it to give me excellent accuracy with heavier bullets in my .243.

I shoot 95 gr Berger's in my Savage 12 BVSS 243 with H4350. It's a solid half MOA shooter. Have killed lots of antelope and several whitetails with no issues, mostly DRT's.

I have not shot a hog with it yet but, would have no problem doing so.

Sierra game king 100grn with 33 gns H4895 groups 1/2" jc

I have been loading the 100 gr, Hornady BTSP with 41.0 grs of IMR4350 its about 1" MOA
Sierra gave me the best groups..

For a long time we shot 41 and 41.5 grains of IMR4350 and 100 grain Sierra's, very accurate and dependable on Deer and Antelope.
Then I ran into a supply of 90 grain Speer Deep Curl bonded bullets. IMR 4350 still does the trick and with the 85 grain Sierra HPBT we use 43 grains of it.
All sub 1" at 100 yards for 5 shots.

quote:

Originally posted by Sagebrush Burns:
Based on my personal experience, with the 243 and 100 grain bullets you want to use slower powders like the 4831s and RL-22. . . . The powders you named are too fast burning for best results.

+1
IMR7828SSC is another good choice for the .243 with 100 grain bullets.

I have a re-chambered Remington 700, started out as a heavy-barrel 243 and is now 6mm-284. It will not stabilize 107 grain VLDs, shoots 85-grain Partitions well.

I used to own a 243 Win in Rem 700 Classic.

100gr Remington Corloked, Nosler partition, 95 Gr BT & 85gr Barnes X.

H4350 was the best powder.

If using Barnes X bullets, make sure you seat them 50 thou off the lands. For some reasons I hear of 243 Win rifles being sensitive to hot loads and pressure. Not sure why but that is the truth.

quote:

For some reasons I hear of 243 Win rifles being sensitive to hot loads and pressure. Not sure why but that is the truth....

Some truth! You don’t know why, and can’t recite any references but “it’s the truth”! My experience with my Ruger M77 VT is just the opposite, it behaves like any other cartridge as far as loads and pressure is concerned. I had great results with IMR4350, but then I haven’t tried every powder out there...


.

quote:

For some reasons I hear of 243 Win rifles being sensitive to hot loads and pressure. Not sure why but that is the truth....

Some truth! You don’t know why, and can’t recite any references but “it’s the truth”! My experience with my Ruger M77 VT is just the opposite, it behaves like any other cartridge as far as loads and pressure is concerned. I had great results with IMR4350, but I haven’t tried every powder out there...

i did some more testing with h4350. best i got was little over a inch group. now im testing 90gn gamechangers it shot h4350 horrible. wouldn't group at all. i shot 2 groups with imr4064 35gn did 1.2 inch group 36 was all over the place. so far the gun has shot 95gn factory federal fusion the best. i dont know if its something in my reloading process. or i haven't found the right combo yet.

quote:

Originally posted by outback32:
i did some more testing with h4350. best i got was little over a inch group. now im testing 90gn gamechangers it shot h4350 horrible. wouldn't group at all. i shot 2 groups with imr4064 35gn did 1.2 inch group 36 was all over the place. so far the gun has shot 95gn factory federal fusion the best. i dont know if its something in my reloading process. or i haven't found the right combo yet.

I've never used the H variety of 4350 but I know for a fact in several .243's the IMR4350 is a "go to " powder.
What are you doing with seating depth? If you are going with factory OAL change it up and try .010" off the lands then keep working further away from lands if you haven't found "it" yet.

My BDL in 243 had a 1 in 10" twist barrel. My two favorite bullets were the Sierra 70g HPBT for a varmint round and the Speer 105g spitzer for big game. They both shot lights out in my rifle. I remember using IMR 4350 for the 105g bullets and seating the bullets 1/10" from the lands. Got lots of deer, javelina and two elk with that load

i have more testing to do. but im wondering if around 1.2 inch moa is as good as it's going to get with this rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by outback32:
i have more testing to do. but im wondering if around 1.2 inch moa is as good as it's going to get with this rifle.

I would expect better from a Remington SPS unless it has spent its life getting hot on Prairie Dog towns.

See my suggestion 2 posts above.

IMR4350 for everything from 85hpbt (best groups) to 105sp. In a 700V from the 70's.

"I used to have an off the shelf Ruger M77 All weather with the boat paddle stock that would shoot (5) 100 grain Rem Corelokts into a single hole that was too small to measure shooting off a solid bench with heavy sand bags at 100 yds."

Hell, I had one that on the 5th shot, the hole disappeared!

I'm going to try imr4350. my sierra manual doesnt list 4350 for any 90gn bullet. theres verry little gamechanger data out right now. does anyone know where to start with this combination. ive done some searching and theres alot of reports of newer 700s accuracy not being the greatest.

quote:

Originally posted by outback32:
I'm going to try imr4350. my sierra manual doesnt list 4350 for any 90gn bullet. theres verry little gamechanger data out right now. does anyone know where to start with this combination. ive done some searching and theres alot of reports of newer 700s accuracy not being the greatest.

My Sierra manual shows 90 grain bullet and IMR4350 minimum load 37.6 grains for 2700 fps and max load is 41.8 for 3000 fps with an OAL of 2.650".
When developing our load for our rifle with 90 grain Speer bullet we ended up at 41.5 grains.
It is my opinion that you should be able to equal and better any factory load that it shoots well and I personally wouldn't stop until I've got it shooting 5 shots at 100 yards under an inch (if that is something you are capable of doing with other rifles).

thank you this is my only rifle. so im not sure how i shoot other rifles. im going to keep trying until i get under an inch

tried 39 and 40 gns of imr4350 and 90gn gamechangers. absolutely terrible results by far the worst groups. it shot decent with imr4064 but terrible with 4350. at this point im not sure what to do. the best group ive shot is with 95gn factory federal fusion. one thing ive noticed with all the different combinations. this gun shoots better at the lower charges. i have 90gn gamechangers and 100gn hornady btsp. im thinking about trying the lower charges on gamechangers. then trying the hornady.

i just tested 38gns it was better. now i have a new problem. all of the combinations i have tried. theres a flyer every single time even with factory loads. at first i thought the flyer could be me but as i look through my targets every group has a flyer.

I am sort of surprised with you having problems with the Hornady--it is very accurate in my 243's. Does your rifle do well with other rounds? For what it is worth, I used H4831 powder.

Just to be sure to eliminate any mechanical difficulties check the bedding, make sure that it is free floated or if bedded with a contact point that it is stable.
Check action screws make sure they aren't loose, they don't have to be "over tight" just tight.
Check your scope mounts, rings bases make sure nothing is loose.
Finally take a long hard look at your scope, is it of adequate quality to be repeatable shot after shot, if you have another proven accurate and dependable scope swap that on there and see if the " fliers" go away.
I've noticed usually there is an equipment issue if you are experiencing fliers if your reloading technique is without question.
Finally (I mean no insult) look at your shooting technique and habits and make sure you are not varying a single thing from shot to shot.

well guys as ive said im new to rifles. im learning as i go and making silly mistakes. I think i found the reason for my troubles. ive been shooting with my barrel on the hard part of my shooting rest instead of my stock. so ive got some more test loads ready to go. thanks for the help im sure il have more questions

quote:

Finally (I mean no insult) look at your shooting technique and habits and make sure you are not varying a single thing from shot to shot.

We are all still learning (hopefully) and a mistake here and there is expected.
Even the old timers should take a look at their methods from time to time to make sure they aren't slipping up.
Wish you the best on finding your accurate load !

well now im running into a new problem. I have hornady full length sizing die. when i run a case into the die to resize it. about a quarter way up the case it leaves a ring. I cant close the bolt on my gun. running the die up or down doesnt solve anything im confused as what it could be

Quote/
well now im running into a new problem. I have hornady full length sizing die. when i run a case into the die to resize it. about a quarter way up the case it leaves a ring. I cant close the bolt on my gun. running the die up or down doesn't solve anything im confused as what it could be Quote/

Good advice on this thread, however,there comes a time when we have to reach out to an experienced buddy.
Imho if you start off with factory ammo and then use the lee neck sizing dies on your fire formed brass, most of your troubles would go away. By the time you need to FLS you will be an experienced handloader lol, good luck. jc

quote:

Originally posted by outback32:
well now im running into a new problem. I have hornady full length sizing die. when i run a case into the die to resize it. about a quarter way up the case it leaves a ring. I cant close the bolt on my gun. running the die up or down doesnt solve anything im confused as what it could be

Is this brass that was previously fired in your rifle or some other rifle?

If these are from another rifle that has a larger chamber than your rifle they may never fit your rifle.

Make sure your die is adjusted correctly, with no case run the ram to the fully "up" position. Screw the die down until it touches the shell holder, lower the ram then turn it another 1/4 turn.
Now when you raise the ram you should feel it contact then a "cam over" effect.
Now size some brass and run it through your rifle.

try that then let us know the outcome.

this brass has only been fired in my gun. and ive tried what you said about lowering a 1/4 turn it doesn't do anything

Well obviously something has changed correct?
You were able to chamber your loads prior because you were talking about your groups.
Look for what changed.
Maybe take a few steps all the way back to the basics, do you have a good reloading book like a Sierra manual? you need one. Stay off YouTube it won't solve your problem.
Start at the beginning with proper die set up and go from there.
If I were closer I could help but a good reloading book that you read will solve most of your difficulties.

when did i say anything about YouTube. i dont watch reloading on YouTube. I have 3 manuals a sierra the newest hornady and a lee. nothing has changed most the cases are hard to close the bolt. when i fire a case its easy to close. until i run it through the sizing die

I just took the die apart and cleaned it. I noticed the expander ball has a chip out of the top. can this cause the problems im having

I took the die to a friend's house. he has a rcbs cam over press. he set his press to a medium cam over. every piece of brass worked perfectly. I have a lee breach style press that doesnt cam over. no matter what adjustments i make to the die. the bolt still closes hard. so its something to do with my press. ive adjusted the so far up to where it barely makes contact. then I slowly adjust it down little by little clear till it locks up the press. nothing changes in the brass still hard to close bolt. im at a loss as to what going on

DocEd--Be careful on that .243 that the 5th shot the hole disappears. If you shoot a deer with it 5 shots, it comes back to life and runs off.