I recently picked up a Stainless Synthetic Model 7 in .243 and wanted to use up some old SR4759 I had on the bench. I want some light loads to start my 9-year old off with. I don't have any data for this powder/cartridge combo, but extrapolated that about 15 grains with a 55 - 80gr bullet might be a good start.

Anybody have any live experience with this powder for light loads in the .243?

Thanks, Tim

Yup, used SR4759 in my tikka 243 with nosler 90gr ballistic tips. I got the data from the Speer manual which I haven't got in front of me.

You do need to be careful, pressure mounts very quickly. The loads were accurate.

I have the Speer #10, all reduced .243 loads are with IMR4198. Which manual do you have?

Thanks, Tim

I owe you an apology. I got the data from the load notes that came with my Lee dies. If you are still keen I will try and post it on Monday as I refuse to do it from memory and left the post it with the data for you on the desk at home.

Now you see why I won't do it from memory!

1894

I would very much appreciate if you would post the info you have.

Tim

I'll do it Monday. Have a good weekend.

In general imr 4759 can be loaded, by weight, to 1/2 of the maximum load with regular powder. ie in the .243W imr 4350 is pretty much the standard and with a 80 gr bullet as an example say 48 gr might be near max. So 24 gr of imr 4759 is your load. This will produce velocities near that of a Hornet thus I call them my Hornet loads.

All of my varmint rifles have Hornet loads but loaded with 40 gr bullets in .22 cal for instance. I carry them for offhand shots to keep the noise down.

The imr sight with free data is at www.imrpowder.com.

These loads are light in report, very accurate and in most cases hit right on at 100 yards when the full house load is sighted 1.25" high. I use magnum primers with imr4759.

This is one of the forgotten ideas from the first half of the century and really a lot of fun.

(edited by "Don" once again to get a URL right!"

[This message has been edited by Don Martin29 (edited 03-08-2002).]

Don

Thanks for the input. It sounds like 24gr would be a max load, so maybe 15 or so is a good place to start, after all?? Perhaps 1894's data will confirm this.

Tim

tarbe,

Go to the imr site and confirm the data. Never take a internet load at face value. Always check a load in another book.

You can also calculate your own loads for most imr powders from the "Powley Computer", "Load Base" or other internal ballistic calculators.

I just looked at the imrpowders.com site and the max load for the .243W and the 80 gr bullet is 25.5 gr of imr 4759 at 2710 fps.

I loaded 21gr-25gr of IMR4759 with Nosler 90gr ballistic tips. The 25gr loads were too hot (only 1 fired), 23gr seemed about right. Pressure mounts really quick so be carefull. The loads were accurate but seemed no quieter (throught the moderator) than my VVN140 standards. POI was unchanged.

It has been my limited experience that 243 is quite pressure sensitive. I have experienced quite big differences in pressure signs according to the number of rounds fired. It's certainly not a round I would ever be tempted to go 'hot' on and allthough there is published data using faster powders I think great care is needed. My VVN140 data was pulled in a later edition, I think I can see why.

Thanks guys - Think I'll go ahead and start at 15 and sneak up from there.

Tim