Thinking about getting a new barrel for T/C Encore in .243win (Rifle). I want to go as short as possible and still get respectable performance from the cartridge. This will be used on Deer from Tree stands, most shots under 100 yards.
Looking to make a "Short" handy tree stand rifle.

I already have a 26" .270win, for the long stuff, and it's a pretty short gun as well, About like a model 7 rem.

Sixteen inches is the legal minimum. At that length or anything longer, you'll have plenty of velocity for deer inside 100 yards.

That is, assuming that you load your own up to respectable pressures and don't shoot the woefully underloaded factory stuff. For whatever reason, the .243 Winchester is really being loaded down these days. As a result, with a 50,000 cup load of 4350 or similar behind a 100 grain bullet, you'll still have more velocity from a 16" barrel than factory loads from a 22 incher.

You didn't mention any aversion to muzzle blast, which will, of course, be greater the shorter the barrel. With a TC Contender, you'll have a very short rifle with a 20 or 22 inch barrel, anyway, so why not try one of those lengths?

[ 09-03-2003, 22:34: Message edited by: Stonecreek ]

Stonecreek, that is what I had in mind (20-22 inches). I was not aware that the factory loads were that under loaded, and for the time that is what I would be shooting. How under loaded are we talking???????

Mark;

My recommendation would be the round nose bullets, they will open up at the lower velocity or the Ballistic Tips. You really do not need to have a 243 with a screaming velocity for 100 yd shots.

While I agree with Stonecreek about the downloading of factory 243 ammo, a fast load is not needed and all you really get is a louder boom,& more throat erosion.

check at Trajectory charts in any reload manual.
The difference at 100 yds with a 3,000 fps load or a 2500 fps load is mininal, even for varmints.

Also check the reload manuals that have loads for Encore or Thompson Center pistols. This will serve you well. With a barrel as small as 16.5 inches like the Ruger compact to a 20-22 inch barrel, these loads still generate a lost less recoil than your 270. You would be surprised at the lack of recoil at 2500 to 2600 fps, especially with say an 80 grain SP.
Like a 223's recoil. That will take just about any deer in most of Virginia within 100 yds.

You want to go the other way, try 44 grains of H 414 with a 105 grain Speer, that or 47.5 grains of IMR 7828 with the 105, will give me 3250 fps in a 24 inch Winchester Model 70.

Good luck on the project.

Usually dont post replies but read a lot of them. Here's my 2 cents from actual experince. I have the new savage 110 in 243 with the accutrigger. I had the barrel cut to 20 1/2 in with a remington recrown the rifle has a bushnell legend 5x15x40 scope and have the trigger set at 1 1/2 lbs. I am shooting handloads using only varget and bullets from 55 to 100 gr.
55BK
55nbt
58vm 43.8 varget 3500 fps actual chrony
70tnt and nbt 41 varget 3200 fps
going to skip a few to
100gs and rem psp 34.2 varget 2700
These loads ALL shoot under an inch at 100yds. I have also shot on paper out to 500 yds and have shot some great groups. Have shot anything from 100's of prarie dogs, crows, deer, over 30 hogs, muoflon axis and oh yeah 10 plus coyotes using most of the loads and they r great!!! If I can be of anymore help please feel free to email me back with ur # and we'l talk. Happy huntin'

my ruger lite wieght has a 18 1/2 in tube and i shoot nosler 95 gr bts at 3150 with 47 gr of 7828 and its groups under .5 at 100 yds.you should work up to this load in your gun.as it is over max in noslers manual

A 24" Barrel on an Encore makes for a short compact rifle with good accuracy. I have a 24" 308Win Heavy barrel on my Encore and it gives and overall length of a much shorter barrel in a bolt action.

Dobie:

Your load with IMR 7828 might be over load in the current Nosler load manual, but in their Number 3 manual it was listed with 47.5 grains at a velocity of 3250.

pdkillr

You may be able to shed some light on what sort of velocities I am achieving.

I wanted a fairly mild load in my .243 and have found 36.6 grains of Varget pushing an 80 grain HP .008 off the lands to be very accurate. The bbl is 22 inches but I don't have access to a chrony.

Would you mind sharing some of your knowledge and testing around this cartridge and give me a guesstimate on the velocity?

Cheers...

I personally prefer a 24" tube in this caliber, but it's hard to come by. Most rifle manufacturers have pretty well settled on the 22" tube. I wouldn't want to go any shorter in a .243Win. in a bolt action rifle. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Stonecreek is right, factory loads will be about 2750-2800 with 100-grain bullets from a 22" barrel. Everybody has their own opinion, but I don't want any barrel under 24" on anything, although I own several 22" barrels. I like the extra muzzle weight for offhand shooting of which I do a lot.

With the Encore, the standard factory 243 bbl is 24 inches, which gives an overall length for the rifle of 36.5 inches. This is a true carbine and the pistol grip style stock makes it VERY handy. I would not go shorter because you don't need it and the 243 sings with a 24 inch bbl. Remember, the 243 has the same expansion ratio as the 300 Win Mag!

I have this exact set up and also a 24 inch 270 bbl and can hunt anything anywhere in CONUS except the big bears.

A longer tube with a 6mm bore doesn't necessarily mean higher velocity. With the case capacity of Win 243, and Rem 6mm's, Medium burn powders develop higher velocities, as a rule of thumb. And as a result, most only need a 22-in. tubes to expend maximum pressure and velocity. A 24-in. tube could actually decrease muzzle velocity by creating drag after peak powder burn has accrued in the first 22 to 20-in. of the tube. Tubes shorter than 22 to 20-in. (Depending on powder burn rate) will lose around 200 Fps, per inch, on average if I recollect. It's been a number of year's sense I experimented with this on some 6mm Rem Barrels. But by using a faster burn rate power I found that I could cut down a tube to 18 1/2 in and muzzle velocity would stay around 200 Fps slower than a 20-in tube and still stay within acceptable pressure perimeters.

[ 09-26-2003, 20:24: Message edited by: ChoPPeR ]