I have just re-barreled a Remington 722 with a Hart barrel with a 1 in 9" twist, and have chambered it to 243 Winchester Ackley Improved. I plan on using Nosler 95-grain Ballistic Tip bullets and the Sierra 85-grain BT HP bullets. I would like some suggestions for powder and charge weight that would produce accuracy and speeds over 3000 fps. The barrel is 26" long. The rifle will be used on groundhogs, coyotes, and other varmints out to ranges of 500-yards. I'm leaning towards IMR4350 powder. The brass that I have is new Lapua, and is fire foeming very well with 14-grains of Red Dot powder, cornmeal filler a plug of wax.

put togeather a savage 112bvss 26" douglas xx 1:10 243AI.
I fire formed 50 cases using imr4350 44grs and 60gr sierra hp. fired 5 groups for accuracy and they were between .600" and .700"
reloaded 20more and seated the bullet .015 off the lands and shot three groups betwee .335 and .485"
So far its looking pretty good
Tried 85gr sierras imr 4350 loads from 43,44 45,46, and 47grs. groups were around 1"..
I plan on trying some heavier bullets later.

Step, the reason that I don't load and go is barrel wear. I do a lot of shoooting and try to go easy on the barrels. This rifle was a 6MM Remington before I rebarreled. The 6MM had just under 700 rounds through it when it went! It was a cut rifled barrel from Rocky My Rifle works in CM not SS. It had a 1 in 10" twist and shot the Sierra 85-grain BT HP bullets very well. Yes, at 3100 fps + they will give Ground hogs "air-time". At close range (under 50-yards) the will explode a chuck! I never shot this barrel more then 10 times with out cleaning it and never heated it up with more then 7 rounds without letting it cool. However, the accuracy started dropping off and when I took a look with the bore scope it was fried! Better then a third of the way up the bore!!!!!!! That is a short barrel life. I would like to hope that this Hart SS barrel will last longer. So I fire formed the other day three to five shots at a time and let the rifle set outside our shooting shack to cool. It was 20 degrees F outside so I know that I never heated the barrel. Back in the shop I cleaned the bore and took a look with the bore scope. It looked as it did before, bright, sharp, smooth, and shiney! I also shoot a 300 Weatherby Mag Ackley Improved (30 HART Mag). I have to fire form for this round also, and use nearly the same method. I have no great love for fire forming, it's time consuming and a bunch of extra work. It is just that I wish to prolong the barrel life as long as I can.

Hive, If you want to try some heavier bullets take a look at the 95-grain Nosle Ballistic Tip bullet. My shooting partner has been using them for everything from chucks to white tails. They are damn near match grade. We have a place where we shoot out to 1150-yards. They do well out to about 750-yards, and then the wind kicks them around. Give them a try. I think you may like them. Bullets heavier then these may not stablize well in a 1 in 10" twist.

wow 700 rounds. thats scary. the barrel was a 6mm(.244 rem.)?? what powder and loads did you use for the 6?
I am using moly with this barrel and plan on shooting it a lot,
I have some 100gr nosler bt that i am going to give a try.

I'll second that,if my barrel was shot out at 700 rounds, i'd either change barrel makers or revise my loads. Damn.
Stepchild

Sendaro ,
Most accurate load I've found so far is the 55 gn Nosler BT over 46.5 gns Varget for 4020 FPS out of a 26 inch 1/9 barrel . Using Lapua brass and Federal Gold Match primer . Load is mild and puts 3 into 0.25 , 5 into the mid 3's off a bipod over the trunk of my car. Overall length is 2.640 which is nowhere near the lands on my rifle .

Hey Sendaro I have a Remington Sendero with a Hart BBL(26 1/4) Mine is chambered in 6x284 with 1 in 10 twist.Mine is stilling shooting under 1/2 MOA IF I DO MY PART.I bet I have more than 700RNDS thru it.My current load is 52grs of H4350 behind a Hornady 87gr V-MAX for about 3,600FPS.If I had to do it again,I would go with the 1 in 9 twist,and have a Lighter & slimmer fluted Custom BBL my rifle is HEAVEYYYYYYYY. < !--color-->

Ironworker, This is the lightest varmint rifle I have. The barrel is a 26" and .660 dia at the muz. The stock is the org. 722 Rem stock that has been extensivly re-worked. It is slim by varmint rifle standards, and has been hand checkered with 9 flor-de-leis, and one double flor-de-leis. The wood is highly fiugred from the butt to nearly the center of the forearm. It's a pretty rifle. It's the only pretty one I own. The rest all have syn stocks and are working rifles. I place accuracy & powed far above looks, but every rifleman should have one pretty rifle. This one is mine. The old barrel that went in under 700 rounds was not a HART barrel. It was a Rocky Mt Rifle Works barrel. I think the steel was soft. The Hart barrel should last 1200 to 1600 rounds before things start to fade.