Hello guys what is everyone's favorite varmit load for 243win.I am leaning towards the hornady and nosler bullets and will be spitting them out of a custom built rifel that is a tack driver.Just thought that I would seek some info on a hot load for the pasture dogs I'll be swatting this spring in Kansas.Thanks for the info.

I shoot serria 80gr blitz using wcc844 at 3220fps. The p dogs I shoot with this load really join the red mist club fast.

55gr. Nosler BT over 53 gr. H380, it'll outrun a Swift!
Yardbird

My HB .243 does exceedingly well with Nosler Ballistic Tips. The 70 grainer can be run up to around 3600 fps from a 24" barrel with any number of medium-to-slower powders. I've been using 4320, but there are others that would work as well or better.

I've just recently tried some 55 grain BT's on paper. Propelled at about 4000 fps by IMR 4895, they make little bitty groups from my gun, fully as good as the 70's. I'm going to try them on pdogs when the weather warms this spring.

Haven't tried the Sierra Blitz Kings, but suspect they would do well. The Speer TNT is an excellent and fairly economical bullet that shoots well in my .243, but not as well as the Noslers (on the other hand, the .224" TNT is the very best bullet in my .222). I've shot quite a few 80 grain Sierra Varminters from my gun; they do "okay" but don't exhibit the gilt-edged accuracy of the others.

But every gun is an individual -- try several combinations to get optimum perfomance.

My 243 shoots fantastic with the 65 grain Watson FBHP bullet. Varget powder has worked best so far.

My 243 loves the 58 grain Hornady Vmax and IMR 4064 powder which groups at .6" @ 100 yds.

My long range load (>400 yds) is the 70 grain Hornady SX bullet with the same 4064 powder and it shoots into .78" @ 100 yards.

I'm going with Hornady's 75 grain VMAX at 3300 fps. Your rifle will shoot it faster than that, I would say. The OCW load is 39.0 grains of IMR 3031...



The 3 shot groups above have not been depth tuned (seating depth adjusted to match the barrel's harmonic). However, the powder charge is consistent enough that even odd cases and odd primers (as depicted) would not move the groups beyond MOA. All three hodge-podge cased and primered groups overlay at .834"...

The Hornady 75 VAMX has a BC of .330, another plus...

Dan

(By the way, more details of the load mentioned above are on my website, on page 4)...

WHAMP: I have a bunch of Varminters in 243 Winchester, 6mm Remington, 6mm Remington Ackley Improved, 240 Weatherby, 6mm Remington BR, 6mm PPC and 6X47. With these Rifles I use the following bullets with excellent accuracy and terminal results on Varmints - Nosler 55gr. Ballistic Tips, Nosler 70 gr. Ballistic Tips, 68 gr. Euber custom bullets, Sierra 85 gr. HP/BT, and the Sierra 75 gr. HP.
If I had to pick one Varmint bullet for all my uses in the 6mm's I would lean toward the 70 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip! Good luck on the Varmints!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

So far the best load I have found is 70 Gr. BlitzKings with Varget loaded to around 3550 fps. I'm still working on setting depth but for now it shoots .5 and under. I'm using this in both my .243 and my 6MM Remington.

i have a remington model 700 adl synthetic .243 winchester with a custom paint job i performed myself. anyway i guess my favorite varmint load so far is the hornady 75 gr. v-max its not loaded hot but really accurate. 37 gr. of varget cci 200 primer remington cases. it shoots under half inch sometimes in the .3's and at the local bench rest matches has averged about .7 for 15 3-shot groups. i have killed two coyotes so far with this combo and it kills them as good as anything ive used. i picked up some 72 gr. barnes vlc burners i was going to try and see if a hot load would shoot good enough to be flat shooting out to about 400 yards on coyotes. i will sacrifice velocity for accuracy anyday so i hope it will like a higher charge of varget than the 75 grain v-maxes did out of my gun. i have been really impressed with this little sporter weight 22 inch barrels gun. i have done no gunsmith work except adjusting the factory trigger to 2pounds 10 ounces. 3400 fps would be nice if i could get the 72 gr. load to shoot .5 to .75 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards. That would be plenty good for long range coyote killin!!!!

70 gr. Sierra Matchkings and Varget work for me.

VarmiNt . With an N.

I have yet to see a 243 that wouldn't shoot a 75 grain Speer HP over 36 grains of 3031 and a CCI-BR-2 primer accurately and with devastating results to the varmint at the end of the receiving line!! Not the fastest load out there(3210fps) but I also have yet to see a groundhog with a chronograph on his ass measuring bullet speed when hit!! haha GHD