[HANDLOADER]

I am going to buy a 243 for the boy and have a few question regarding this fine cartiage. I know a good amount about this fine cartiage due to the fact dad had Weatherby in that round. But he also had a waltrer ppk as a body guard after he got out of Vietnam but those two fine weapons are long gone but that is a story for another day. Anyway I was wondering what should I worry about when it comes to the case. Dose the neck thicken and rewuire reaming. What is the average life of a case and if any one happens have any good load data they would feel like telling please let me know. I have never loaded for this round before and would like some help. Thanks

Handloader

God Bless every one and every country

[theken206]

have you thought about .270??

[cdrt]

The .243 Winchester is an excellent first choice; low recoil and extremely effective on deer, etc. Reloading doesn't require any special knowledge. Case necks don't need to be inside reamed after numerous reloads. I haven't kept track of the number of reloads on cases, but you should be able to get between seven and ten if you don't hot load them too much.

I still use an old load I got from a Lyman manual: 35.4 grains of IMR 4895, 100 grain Remington CoreLokt bullet, Winchester large rifle primer, case trimmed to 2.04, OAL of 2.68. You might want to work up to it, since it clocks about 2900 fps.

[cliffy]

Recoil turns-off more people than any other deterrent to shooting enjoyment. Not only is a .243 Winchester recoil-tolerant, but extremely deadly on deer. Accuracy is more important than Magnum Power. A 90 grain Swift Scirocco II bullet in front of 44.0 grains of Hodgdon H4350 in a quality bolt-action rifle will make a sure-kill with comfortable recoil. Although this scenario requires handloading (find a good reloader to produce this offering), your son or daughter will tolerate this well without flinching. I introduced a nine-year old to this load, and his accuracy was phenominal after five rounds. He realized he had just fired a substantial deer load, yet merely smiled with glee. cliffy

[dalepres]

have you thought about .270??

+1 :)

[kurts_armory]

i have a .243 wssm that shoots well. the round is fast, and it shoots flat. just thought i would open up the range of cartridges

[cliffy]

With little else to add, a .243 with a proper bullet remains the BEST choice for whitetail deer hunting. As a side note, Feral Hogs remain my main interest regarding potent .243 loadings. Why must I endure ridiculous recoil to merely put down a hog in style? I've considered many calibers and loads for Pig Hunting. Do you realize how powerful a .243 Winchester with a 100 grain premium bullet truly is? cliffy

[jeepmor]

Start at the low end and maybe even work up some "new to a hunting rifle" shooter ease into it.

At the time of actually dropping the firing pin on game, most hunters don't recall the recoil. At least I don't, just the noise.

[sskimber]

At the time of actually dropping the firing pin on game, most hunters don't recall the recoil. At least I don't, just the noise.

What noise?

I recently purchased a 243 to introduce my wife to rifle shooting. I have hunted with my grandfather's 243 for years. A 243 will work well for hogs, the caveat is you have to place the shot correctly.

SSkimber

[243winxb]

Dose the neck thicken and rewuire reaming. What is the average life of a case and if any one happens have any good load data A light bullet in Sierra 85gr hpbt Number 1530 loaded with IMR 4350 39.5 gr. will give the young shooter less recoil. The cases can be loaded about 10 times. The neck thickness/reaming is not a problem. Here is a PDF link to load data. http://accurateshooter.net/Downloads/sierra243win.pdf Here is a link to more info about the round. http://www.6mmbr.com/243Win.html The load map for sierra bullets(the first link) is also on the page.

[ranger335v]

"...Dose the neck thicken and rewuire reaming. What is the average life of a case and if any one happens have any good load data"

Thickened necks in most any cartridge is because of case stretching. Case stretching occurs mostly when the case is over-resized during loading. Set the FL die (and that's what is best for most hunters) to allow the rounds to chamber with just a hint of resistance and you will be fine.

"Average" case life means little unless you have the "average" rifle and shot "average" cases. The "average" is derived from the fact that about half of them are below average, the other half do better than average. Only YOUR rifle chamber and your dies and how you load them, and your brass itself, can give you even an approximation of what YOU can expect. So - from two to maybe twenty times of reuse covers the full range of case life.

Sizing as I described above, I have .243 cases that have been loaded, hot, maybe 8-10 times already and they are still in use, not a failure yet. I know others who load lighter than I but always FL size by jamming their brass as deep into the size die as possible so it stretches as much as possible each shot. Such cases only last maybe 3-5 loads safely.

I have loaded light recoiling but effective .243 hunting loads for my grandkids with 100 gr. bullets over 42-43 gr. of 4831, any brand. That load is in the 2600 fps range. That's about the same as a max load retains at the 150 yard mark, so it has plenty of punch for a whitetail inside 150 yards or so. I have found no qualitative difference in the terminal performance of bullets from Speer, Hornady, Nosler, Remington or Sierra; they all work well on deer. Usually use Hornady or Remington, they're easy to find aroung here.

[depoloni]

I think the .243 is a fine choice. Mild loads with 87-100 grain bullets will suit you well. Word to the wise, take all advice with a grain of salt and a careful check in a recognized load manual. The load that I loaded two years ago for my best friend - 100gr speer SPBT at about 2700fps at the muzzle - was very mild, accurate, and more than enough to do the job on deer. A real deer that he actually shot.

Ask some of these guys recommending deer and HOG loads in the 243 just how many of either (none?) they've actually shot though. Throwing it out there for consideration, not trying to be rude or mean. Some people that have never punched a hole in anything but paper can get a little overzealous with "on game" performance though, if you were going to hunt hogs I'd suggest something with a little more oomph whether the 243 will do the job with the perfect shot or not. On whitetails you're golden in that caliber out to quiiiite a ways too.

[rcmodel]

Here is some good info on light recoil "Youth Loads" that might be of interest for a lot of practice shooting for your son.

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Youth%20Loads.pdf

rcmodel