Rem 700 .243 barrels

[dcktp37]

I'm thinking of replacing the barrel on my SPS-V after being told time and time again that the 1 in 9 1/8 twist was the worst thing Remington ever did to their .243's. H&S's barrels look good but what do I know I thought the same about the stock Remington one. And I'm open to suggestions about twist rates and bullet weights. I'm not really sure what I want there yet. Any and all input is great. Thanks

 

[redbullitt]

The big question is how does the rifle shoot for you now?
What bullets are you using? What are you wanting to do with the rifle?

It is a fine barrel unless you are going for the heavier bullets. Just depends on the application I think. Methinks it is aimed more at lighter varmint style bullets as opposed to long range target ones.

I do not usually shoot a .243. BUT if I were doing a rebarrel, I would opt for a 7 or 8 twist so I could shoot the 105 g amax or 107 smk.

Of course, were I in your situation, I would opt for a 260 rem or other 6.5mm barrel set up to shoot the 142 smk or other heavies : ) .
As soon as I get this 308 barrel burned down it is getting a 6.5. Maybe shilen or lilja tube.

 

[kaferhaus]

A 9.25 twist will stabilize most bullets up to 100gr so I don't see what the issue can be.

 

[Art Eatman]

This is sorta FWIW: My Sako 19" carbine is 1:10 twist. Works fine with bullets from 55 grains through 85 grains. I tried 100-grain Noslers, one time, and got more of a pattern than a group.

Based on only that one effort, I'd sorta figure that 9-1/8:1 might work with the 100-grain bullets. And, it probably would work with the 85s, as well.

IOW, I'd do some testing. One test is superior to 10,000 Internet "they said".

 

[PedalBiker]

I have a Savage .243 with that twist. For my purposes that's an ideal twist.

It shoots Speer 105g Hot Cor bullets just fine. It's also really accurate with 75g Hornady HPs. It's the most consistent rifle I have. I've not had anything group over 1.5" @ 100 yards in it. From Hodgdon youth loads to full max with the 105g speers most loads group an inch or less.




My brother in law's dad has a 243 with a 1:12 or slower twist - that rifle is set up for varmints only. At that point I'd rather have a .22-250.

My Savage actually has a 260 Rem barrel on it right now. I got an A&B barrel, tinkered with it, cut it to 20" and tinkered some more. The A&B barrel is not as accurate as the Savage barrel, but with the right loads it's close and it's plenty accurate for deer.

 

[dcktp37]

I'm looking for a 300+ yard varmint barrel. And I have been through literally hundreds of dollars worth of many different brands and weights ammo. even sent the gun back to Remington. They re-crowned it and lapped the barrel and it helped some but not much. And it was actually a gunsmith that that said "that gun just wont shoot will it? The best thing for that gun would have been to leave on on the shelf" If any one has this twist and a favorite load they'd like to share I could try that. And before we get carried away trying to address other things it may be. I shoot out of a led-led DFT, the trigger is set to 2 1/2 pounds, I have a B&C full aluminum stock and I really don't think it's the scope or rings. It just looks like you're shooting the wrong ammo no matter what you try.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've had fun shooting on prairie dogs to 300 yards with 55-grain Noslers in my Sako. 2x7 scope. Powder? 3031 or H414 seem to work okay for group size. The varmint guys use those on coyotes, as well.

 

[roklok]

My sporter weight Rem 700 with 9 1/8 twist loves Nosler 70 grain Ballistic Tips over 50 grains of IMR 4831. It will generally keep five of them under 3/4 inch at 100 yards. It is also accurate with 95 and 100 grain Partitions. I think the twist rate is fine for most peoples intended uses for the cartridge. It could be that your particular rifle just is not accurate, but I would not be so quick to blame it on the twist rate, plenty of .243s with that twist shoot great with a wide variety of loads.

 

[sansone]

I have one 243 with 1;10 twist and another with 1;9.25 twist. my tests have duplicated previous poster. the 1;10 would not stabilize over 85gr... the 1;9.25 stabilizes the 100gr pills

 

[dcktp37]

I am going to do some reading and testing and and see if I can find a load it likes first. I've heard a few times they like slow burning powers and heavy bullets. When I sent it to Remington they sent me the actual load they used to get a 1 inch group. And that is "100gr Rem SPT 40.1gr IMR 4350 with a 2.65 OAL" I thought it was kind of weird that they actually gave me that but whatever.

 

[kaferhaus]

I've always gotten the best accuracy out of light bullets in a 243 in that twist rate. stabilizes 100gr bullets just fine but inch or so groups is about as good as it gets with them.

Most of my 243s have gotten the best accuracy with 55-75gr bullets with medium burning powders such as Varget, 4064 etc.

Don't get me wrong MOA with 100gr bullets is plenty good enough, that's a deer killer in anyone's book. But I'm usually able to get half that with the lighter bullets and in the case of my savage, the 60-70gr pills produce consistent groups in the .3s

 

[52grain]

What do you use the rifle for and do you reload? If you are going to spend the money on a rebarrel switching to .260 Rem or even .308 Win may make more sense.

Edit to add: I don't use either .243 or .260, but I have been wanting a 6.5 Swede or .260 for some time...

 

[dcktp37]

kaferhaus.. That's helpful thanks. I had better luck with 80gr so I had about the same thought as far as the lighter bullets go. 52grain.,. 308 was a thought but I don't think I need that much lead. I'm trying to to get something that I can hit under 3(ish) inches at 300+ yards. Maybe I'm there already I don't know I haven't had it out past 100 since I first got and it shot like 6 inch groups with 52gr Hornadys at 200 yards.

 

[Art Eatman]

I have found that my Sierra 85-grain HPBT load (Now available from Federal) works well on deer. My caveat is that I take neck shots or cross-body heart/lung shots. The latter hit makes a double handful of mush. I don't do angling body shots with that bullet. But I never had any of the 20+ bucks move out of their tracks. Bang, whop, flop. My heaviest buck dressed out maybe 110 pounds; west-central Texas whitetails.