.243 Winchester Hand Loading Thead

[Pygmy]

 

It's my belief that a good hunter either uses an accurate implement, or a great bullet to match the game they intend to take. A great one uses both.

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Sorry there, Hoss...Sometimes I forget what a great hunter you are.

It must be due to a SENIOR lapse of memory..

It's time for my NAP...<<grin>>....

[thphm]

I was talking to a fellow a few weeks ago about deer hunting.He hunts on a farm at the edge of a very large horseshoe shaped field where he has hunted for many years with success.The blind he hunts out of is a wooden storage shed with 4 opening windows,propane heater.Most of the time he takes 2 rifles one for deer and the other for woodchucks.His farmer friend said he was having a problem with Yotes doing a lot of killing including the chucks and could he bring something for them.So he said I am going to take 1 rifle this year, My hunter class .243AI  benchrest rifle.  While in the blind he sees movement off in the distance,puts his binos and range finder on it ,takes aim with the rifle and in one shot with a 75 grain V-Max drops a Yote at 600 yards.

[shawnhu]

Sorry there, Hoss...Sometimes I forget what a great hunter you are.

It must be due to a SENIOR lapse of memory..

It's time for my NAP.......

It wasn't meant to be offensive. Sorry if it came across that way. I just meant that I'm striving to do both.

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Edited January 28, 2014 by shawnhu

[shawnhu]

I was talking to a fellow a few weeks ago about deer hunting.He hunts on a farm at the edge of a very large horseshoe shaped field where he has hunted for many years with success.The blind he hunts out of is a wooden storage shed with 4 opening windows,propane heater.Most of the time he takes 2 rifles one for deer and the other for woodchucks.His farmer friend said he was having a problem with Yotes doing a lot of killing including the chucks and could he bring something for them.So he said I am going to take 1 rifle this year, My hunter class .243AI benchrest rifle. While in the blind he sees movement off in the distance,puts his binos and range finder on it ,takes aim with the rifle and in one shot with a 75 grain V-Max drops a Yote at 600 yards.

I picked the .243 based on a single caliber that can do it all.

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[shawnhu]

Pretty excited, going to load up some with Varget! Bought the last of them.

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[shawnhu]

Double.

Edited February 1, 2014 by shawnhu

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Shawn. The mandrel in my neck sizing die for the 223 Measures .222

Edited February 2, 2014 by Culvercreek hunt club

[shawnhu]

Thanks Bob!

I just got back from the range today. Confirmed two loads in 55gr that's sub-MOA.

My 90gr isn't doing so well, a little over an inch.

The mandrel for the neck sizing die should work, but it doesn't for me. I can't size it under .244.

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[WNYBuckHunter]

Ok, I have to ask, whats the twist rate in the barrel of the rifle? I dont know if its been asked before, but Im not gonna search the whole thread.

[shawnhu]

Ok, I have to ask, whats the twist rate in the barrel of the rifle? I dont know if its been asked before, but Im not gonna search the whole thread.

Savage .243 is 1-9.25". It's more suitable for heavier bullets in the 90+gr range.

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[Lawdwaz]

Lots of guys these days are twisting 1-8 on custom builds to shoot 105gr bullets.  They say they'll shoot any and all weights but  really shine with the 105's.

 

Mine is 1-10 twist and I'm hunky dory with it for what I'm doing.

[shawnhu]

Anyone ladder test for their hand loads?

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[Culvercreek hunt club]

I actually did some reading on it when I started loading and found one article that deviated from the normal ladder testing. They actually used separate targets. They were using 5 shots at each powder charge but used a round robin approach to remove better evaluate when things like barrel heat, wind change, barrel fouling took place. For instance, if you are testing 5 powder charges they used 5 targets. a shot from each powder charge was fired at a different target. Then the second round of each powder charge was fired at their corresponding target. This spread the impact of the other variables across all the data sets and still yielded the most useful information about which charge or group of charges yielded the best results.

[shawnhu]

I actually did some reading on it when I started loading and found one article that deviated from the normal ladder testing. They actually used separate targets. They were using 5 shots at each powder charge but used a round robin approach to remove better evaluate when things like barrel heat, wind change, barrel fouling took place. For instance, if you are testing 5 powder charges they used 5 targets. a shot from each powder charge was fired at a different target. Then the second round of each powder charge was fired at their corresponding target. This spread the impact of the other variables across all the data sets and still yielded the most useful information about which charge or group of charges yielded the best results.

I've read the same. I've also heard of guys doing 5 shots of the same charge at a target, then moving on to the next target and next charge.

I'd like to try to focus only on the accurate nodes by using more frequent charge intervals, but less of each charge, for example, every .2 or .3 grains at 1 or 2 loads each charge weight.

Hopefully this gives me the info I need to focus on a node and spend my time and $ there.

I'm starting to run down on my first H380 bottle and its getting harder to scoop!

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[Culvercreek hunt club]

I don't see how you can evaluated with a 1 or 2 shot string. I think it is worth doing more. This is not something you will do often so why not get the best data points you can.

 

If you are going to do all the shots of one weight at a target then move on I think you should duplicate the initial starting condition of the gun in terms of bore cleanliness and temp.

[shawnhu]

I don't see how you can evaluated with a 1 or 2 shot string. I think it is worth doing more. This is not something you will do often so why not get the best data points you can.

If you are going to do all the shots of one weight at a target then move on I think you should duplicate the initial starting condition of the gun in terms of bore cleanliness and temp.

That's the dilemma that I'm facing, going full strings or using the ladder test to hone in on the accurate nodes. If I do a full 5 shot string per charge, I'll need to order more bullets or face finding an accurate node with very little bullets left for when it counts. Powder and primers I have plenty of now, bullets not so much, at least not the ones I want.

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[Culvercreek hunt club]

I don't remember reading much about ladder testing that didn't a least recommend using at least 3. 1 or two shots have a lot left to wonder about. Was it the load, wind, poor trigger pull.?

[shawnhu]

There's a few versions I've seen than does one per load, some champion be rest shooter at 1000 yards. His reasoning was to quickly and efficiently get to the nodes and save barrel life.

I'll never shoot those distances for hunting, but I'd like to save some $ and barrel wear if its a viable option.

In regards to barrel condition and temps, I'll be shooting a dirty bore each time. Although I cannot contrail temps, I try to keep my cartridges relatively the same temps as hunting temperatures. I've been told the Extreme powders are less affected by temps, and hope that's true.

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[Culvercreek hunt club]

I was speaking more to your first shots in a cold barrel then following shots in a progressively hotter barrel.

[shawnhu]

I was speaking more to your first shots in a cold barrel then following shots in a progressively hotter barrel.

That's a huge issue for me because of the lack of material on my light barrel. I do allow my barrel to cool, but in no way can I allow it to cool to COLD BORE conditions between shots.

I'll have to make do with wishing 2-3 minutes between shots for group testing and then as a final confirmation, cold bore shots when in the woods at my leisure to confirm.

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[Pygmy]

This is getting WAAAAAY too complicated for this old fat country boy...

I'm mostly interested in getting loads that I can put in my rifles and KILL stuff with..

[shawnhu]

This is getting WAAAAAY too complicated for this old fat country boy...

I'm mostly interested in getting loads that I can put in my rifles and KILL stuff with..

It's just what I do in my spare time when I'm not hunting or fishing. I live close to an hr from these areas, so I can't just pick up and go anytime I want.

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[Culvercreek hunt club]

That is the benefit of the multiple shot groups on a round robin of targets. Each group has the same variance in them.

[BizCT]

Cold barrel is always a little different than the subsequent shots and the cold barrel shot is typically the most important shot on an animal

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Edited February 7, 2014 by Biz-R-OWorld

[shawnhu]

Cold barrel is always a little different than the subsequent shots and the cold barrel shot is typically the most important shot on an animalSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For hunters the one and most important is the cold bore. The groups and ladder tests is the road to getting to that consistent and reliable cold bore shot.

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