I recently aquired a .243 VS from Mr. AlanC. I'm looking to make this rifle a pure varminter. I was wondering what types/weight bullets you guys would recommend. Velocity is a key concern.

Remlover, depends on the range you plan on shooting at. 80/85 grain at 200+ yards will give you the flattest trajectory and the most accuracy even though the muzzle velocity won't be as fast.

RemLover-

Everything that I have in 243 and 6mm Rem that I shoot at varmints (groundhogs) gets loaded with either 70 gr Sierra MatchKings or 70 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips.

They both work wonderfully on 'hogs, and are super accurate.

Coldbore what powder & charges gives you the best groups with those two bullets?

My best results in my Savage 110 in .243Win. occur with the Sierra 70gr. HPBT and the Nosler 70gr. Bal.Tip. In a heavier bullet the Siera 85gr. HPBT performs well. All group around .5" (5 at 100yds). The rifle is an older Savage with a 1 in 10" twist and doesn't perform that accurately with the 100gr. bullets. IMR4064 and IMR4895 are my most accurate powders. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

For varmints, it's hard to beat the 70 grain Ballistic Tip. The 55 shoots beautifully in my gun, but doesn't seem to carry the authority out at 300 or 400 yards that the 70 grainer does. I have just loaded some Sierra Blitz King 70's as a substitute and their accuracy is excellent, but have no experience with terminal perfomance yet. The 70 grain Speer TNT, if it shoots in your gun, is also a good, and somewhat more economical, choice. As you can see, I think that 70 grains is the right weight for a varmint bullet in .243.

As to loads, any medium-slow powder (IMR-4350, V N-160, H-414, WW-760, RL-19) are all good with this weight bullet. From a 24" barrel, you can expect between 3500 and 3600 fps.

quote:

For varmints, it's hard to beat the 70 grain Ballistic Tip.

Yup I agree here.....but I've also had good success with the 70 Grain TNT.....

For accurracy and end result, the 87 grain HORNADY VMAX is the bullet of choice in the 6mm family!!! Pushed from a 6BR, 243, 6mm, 6mmAI(never tried them in a 6x47 but they'd probably do all right!!)they are the real deal for making varmint mince-meat!!!
If you want a bit more speed and you've got the 70 grain Nosler BT's on hand, stoke them with 41.0 grains of Varget, Federal 210Match primers, 15/1000's off the lands and let us know if your rifle shoots it well!! If not, it will be the first .243 I've ever heard of that didn't like that combo!!! GHD

Cold Bore wrote: "Everything that I have in 243 and 6mm Rem that I shoot at varmints (groundhogs) gets loaded with either 70 gr Sierra MatchKings or 70 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips.

They both work wonderfully on 'hogs, and are super accurate."

That's about as good advice as you are going to find. Both are field-proven, surgically accurate and retain velocity and energy much better than the 55-58 grain projectiles. And, they'll do a varmint no good to the outer edges of the cartridge's effective range.

I must be a little more economical than the other guys....NO mentioned my favorite all around varmint bullet in the 243.....

The 75 grain Hornady HP....Cheaper than the plastic tip stuff or the TNT stuff....About $9.50 per box of 100 and deadly accurate with a wide variety of powders.... ( 47 grains of H 414 is my choice for velocity and accuracy together)...

Very explosive on prairie dogs and ground squirrels....Also effective on antelope sized deer, or of course antelope....

Winchester's 80 grain SP in bulk pricing is also a very accurate, explosive bullet that is cheap to shoot and does as good of a job as the more expensive plastic tips ones....

cheers and good shooting
seafire

Gidday Guys,

I'm pretty new to the varminting game but my experiences so far have me convinced the each rifle has its own preferences.

The Rem 700ADL that I have used as a light varminter absolutely loves the sierra 85gr HP over 42 gr of ADI AR2209 in PMC cases and win LR primers. Flattens everything from magpies to pigs without a problem out to 300 metres.

The dedicated varmint rig, a BSA CF2 heavy barrel wont have a bar of this and shoots them into about a 5" group at 100 metres. Put Nosler 95 gr BTs through this rig and it will put them into .3" all day and I have all the confidence that I can head shoot bunnies at 300 plus metres in all but the stiffest winds.

Try out everything you can get your hands on until you find what works best for your rifle then stick to it. One gun one load works a treat. If you need another load its a good excuse to buy another rifle.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

In my newly aquired .243 I am using the 70 gr Nos BT's shot my first three shot group today and did .412" at 100 yards with 40.5gr of Varget, win case & fed 210 gold match primer OAL 2.722" in a win case.

Dying to try the nos bt 70g on foxes

PC ,
Tried the 87 V Max at 3350 FPS on roos recently . Definitely faster killers than the 70 Nosler BT . Knocked over 2 with consecutive shots at 450 paces .
Can only get 5 shotters around .75 though . Might do better if I spent enough time on seating depth .Have tried multiple powder loads .
80gn Berger seemed to kill ok too but need more experience to be sure . Great accuracy .
Something to think about if you aren't 100% satisfied with the Noslers .
GHD ,
Would be interested to hear what loads you're using in the .243 and 6mm AI with the 87 V Max .