I am thinking of having my 22-250 remington re-barreled and going with .243AI. I mostly shoot coyotes and was my logic with the .243 is shooting a 70 grain bullet at around 3800 fps. do any of you guys get this kind of velocity out of your .243 AI withthis weight bullet? What twist rate would I want to stabilize this bullet?

Thanks,

Andy.

Oh ya, one more question. Is it as simple as just shooting regular .243 loads to fire-form to the AI?

Then do you just neck size with a .243 neck die?

Andy

Andy, You ever thought of(since you are hell bent on rebarelling) of just rebarrelling to a 22-250 fast twist????????? The brass forming deal wastes bullets, primers and powder!!! BTDT!!! But if you want to experiment, AI your present 22-250!!! Back it off a few 1000's and recut the chamber! You'll have a "new rifle"!!! Barrels wear out at the throat and in the last inch or so of the barrel! (Still not convinced of the "crown damage" that so many folks speak of!!!) And the 22-250 can do anything that the 6's can!!! Bet that comment will ignite some replies!!! GHD

One of the other reasons of going with the .243 AI, is you need at least .24 to hunt big game here in Alberta. I am going to draw an antelope tag next year and I MAY want to use this gun. I may also look for another Remington VSF and just re-barrel it to .243 AI and keep the 22-250. I am a lefty and left hand remingtons have a very limited calibre selection, to say the least!

I've been traveling down the same road. From what I've gathered, the AI might not be the best way to go. If you must rebarrel and must have a 6mm, then get the 6mm Remington in a fast twist. Should still be able to use the 70 gr bullets and I belive it's the 85 gr v-max that has a gret BC for a varmint bullet for those longer shots. That being said, I can't imagine parting with my 22-250 either. It's a coyote killing maching itself.

The .243 AI does have two significant advantages over the 6mm AI . One is availability of Lapua brass . Two is ability to seat heavier , better BC bullets out to the lands and still have them feed thru a SA Remington magazine .
.243 AI feeds well from a .22/250 Rem. magazine but you lose one shot of capacity .
I have a 26 inch with 9 twist and cannot safely get above about 3720 FPS with 70 grainers and find better accuracy around 3500 . Maximum loads don't necessarily coincide with most accurate loads .

Andy- If you do decide to go 243AI, go with a 10 twist barrel. You will be able to shoot 55-100 gr bullets with good accuracy in all the weights. 3700 with the 70gr is reasonable, but it does depend on the barrel. You can fireform factory 243 ammo but you do have to by 243AI dies for reloading.

Andy, listen to Duane... My Cooper 24" will not go faster than low 3600's and the work vs results, i.e., fireforming is not worth the extra steam. The 6 Rem will do it for free! Because the case dimensions are greater with the "improving" of the case your regular .243 dies will not be open enough to allow the neck portion to be sized. Interesting side is that my Redding neck/bushing die will only allow me about 40% of the neck. Good luck, and good shooting.

I have a friend who has a .243 AI and it has become one of his favorites. However, don't expect anything like 3800 fps with a 70 grain bullet, at least not with a "normal" length barrel and "normal" pressures. An improvement of 50-100 fps is all that you should reasonbly expect over a regular .243 (which is, as has been pointed out, in 6mm Rem country). If velocity is truly important, then a 6mm Rem AI is the logical next step.

And yes, making brass can be as simple as firing a regular or factory load. Fireforming loads typically yield as good accuracy and only a bit less velocity as loads with pre-fired brass.

Andy Wiese: I have a 6mm Remington Ackley Improved heavy barrelled Varmint/Big Game Rifle. I get excellent accuracy and brass life with it. I have Hunted Antelope with this Rifle and it worked very well indeed.
It was pricey to have this custom Rifle built but I am glad I did. It is the only Ackley Improved Rifle I own now.
I do not pretend to know if the difference in the Ackley Improved versions of the 243 and the 6mm Remington is worth recommending one over the other.
Gee I wish the Remington folks would offer more Rifles (including the left hand versions) in the 6mm Remington caliber! A heavy barrel 6mm Remington would solve your situation to a "T".
I highly recommend the heavy barrels for Antelope Hunting though as the heavy barrels have served me well in my Antelope pursuits for over 20 years now. I don't Hunt Antelope anymore with sporter weight Rifles.
Maybe your option of doing the 243 A.I. on the Remington 700 VSSF Rifle is the best choice for you.
Brass forming is only time consuming and a minor waste of munitions but it seems to me that my initial fireform handloads in my 6mm Remington A.I. were VERY accurate and I used them to Hunt Vamrints with while doing the fireforming.
So not so much of a waste back then for me.
Again I am impressed with brass life of the Ackley Improved cartridges.
Good luck with which ever way you decide to go!
I would keep the 22-250 and get the other Rifle in the works ASAP!
Have a winter garage sale to help raise funds maybe!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Varmint guy summed it up with wishing remington offered more calibre versions for us lefties! After all you can get any model of bow in a left hand! Anyways, I think that the Remington VSF is ther best platform for this project to start. I will talk to the smith that I plan to use and get imput from him as well.

What other options are there for a SHORT action calibre that will scream a 70-95 grain bullet? Still leaning towards the .243, however I am open to other suggestions.

Andy- as long as you are building take a serious look at the 6/284- It just might be the answer to your question.


http://www.duanesguns.com

Duane-

Will 6/284 calibre feed properly with the bullet out to the lands in a Remmy short action?

Andy

It will work fine with bullets under 100gr- bigger bullets have to be seated so deep that much of the gain in capacity is used up by the bullet. You would want a throat that is set up for the 70-80gr bullet if that is what you want to shoot. If you look on the reloading pages you can see some velocities with a 24" 14 twist barrel. I would probably go with a 25-28" 12 twist for the 70-80gr bullets.