Why is .243 ammo so high?

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GuysModel94

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Have started looking for a quality bolt action in .243 and was surprised to see that the ammo is almost as high as my 30-06 ammo. 22-250 cal. ammo wasn't much better, i was planning on being able to shoot a lot, in the plinking and varmint mode. Any ideas or input (how do you shoot cheap) are welcome.
 
Cost of components is secondary to the cost of retooling machinery to load a caliber, 30-06 is ubiquitous, major ammunition makers probably sell 5 to 10 times more 30-06 than they do 243.
 
The rifle i was looking at, the Savage 10XP Predator does come in .223 cal., so that will have to be my choice, allows me to buy almost twice as many rounds. Thanks guys.
 
If you don't need a .243, the .223 in a predator rifle is probably the better choice for ammo availability and expense.

That said, anything you can reload for will save you tons of money per round.

I can handload for .25/ round in .243. I can't touch a commercially loaded box for less than about .95/rd.
 
If you want to plink do it with a 22 RF. Even cheap 223 is going to be $7/20 rounds. I don't really like using cheap ammo in a bolt rifle. My goal is to be as accurate as possible, that requires good ammo. Even my handloads with good componets will cost me $10-$12 for 20 rounds.

While it seems a smaller bullet, using less powder in the case should be cheaper, most of the cost is labor. It costs just as much to pay a worker on an assembly line to make 243 as 30-06.
 
Cheapest .243 is going to be WallyWorld Federal, which is actually damn accurate in my Savage.

But at $16/20, and as little as I shoot (only about 30 rounds at the range, and a handful for coyotes), I just switched to Hornady 58 grain Superformance.
 
I had the same 243 ammo price keeping me from getting an AR10 in 243.. now I reload 243, bought the rifle, reloads are more accurate anyway.
op- hope you enjoy the new rifle
 
If I didn't reload, I couldn't shoot any of my centerfires. Also, I'm shooting a lot more .22lr nowadays. I shop online for reloading components and buy as much as I can at a time. It probably won't happen in my lifetime, (I'm 59) but the shooting sports are slowly turning into rich peoples sports with the working people priced out. Hopefully, I'm wrong about this.
 
For very little money you can get a Lee Loader. Check this out. All you need is bullets powder and primers and your empties, if you are shooting in a bolt actioned rifle. It is slow going, but you can readily load up a box of 20 in about half an hour. And it only costs the equivalent of 2 boxes of commercial ammunition.

By the time you have shot 100 rounds you will have paid for all of the components in savings over factory ammo. By the time you are into your second box of bullets your sole expense is bullets and primers. Primers running maybe 3 cents apiece and super nice premium bullets running $22 to $25 a box of 100.
 
Get a .257 Roberts. lolz

Long range top-quality bullets for handloading of equal or superior SD are about half the cost for .243 as .308 dia. You also use way less powder driving an equal SD bullet to the same velocity in .243 versus .308 dia.
A lot of records are held/being won at 1000 yards with the .243.
 
Any ideas or input (how do you shoot cheap) are welcome.
Click to expand...

At the time I bought my 243, I was already reloading. My total cost was a set of dies, bullets and cases. The trick is to purchase around 500 cases so you can get extended life by shooting the same case only once every 500 rounds (that was 5 years ago). Should last me at least 15 years. It costs me for 243 ammo, 12 cents for powder, 3 cents per primer and about 28 cents per bullet or 43 cents per round. ($8.60 per box of 20) Not that much more expensive than my 223 rounds at 32 cents per round. ($6.40 per box of 20)

I can't tell you what commercial ammo is going for since my rifle has NEVER seen one.

If you reload, get the 243 you will love the round and the way it shoots, if not 223 would be the way to go.

Just my 2 cents.
Jim
 
i plink with 223rem and have a big pile of brass already

last week, you could have gotten
10000 55g 224 cal m193 projo for $840 shipped
32 lbs of W844 for $358 shipped
10000 wolf 223 primers for $146

total $1344/10k == $134/k == 13 cents per trigger pull

now granted, that's TWICE as expensive as it was 6 years ago, when i was reloading for 7 cents per round, but it's still affordable. and you can definitely smoke varmints with it
 
If you plan on shooting any centerfire cartridge/s on a volume basis you just about have to get into reloading to keep your costs down (unless you own a big software company). A lot of hunter may use only one or two boxes of ammo per season and the firearm goes into the closet until the next season. For these folks, reloading is not economical. 30-06 costs me right at 42 cents a round to reload using Nosler blemished bullets. New 30-06 is right at about one buck a round.
 
If you can't afford $15 a box to plink (and I can't either by the way), you have two options. You can start handloading or shoot a more cost effective round like .223/5.56mm. I went the handloading route. I can load a box of .243 for under $10 now.
 
22`s are for plinking. fire away all you want. Ammo is..........cheap.

243`s you sight them in.......... one and done. It does cost to play.
Ammo, IMO, is not costly. Course I don`t use my 243 to put holes in paper either.
 
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