WoodsQuest
Member
I have a 20in barrel .243 and I want to start reloading for it. I’m moving to all copper bullets and I’m not sure what kinds of load data I should look at. I put some Federal Power Shok copper over a chrono and was averaging 2820fps, which is a loss of 95fps per inch of barrel. I really like the foot print of this rifle, but I’m not sure of a few things.
1) Will I be able to push the velocity of an 85gr Barnes close to 3000fps with a 20in barrel? If so, which powders should I start working with? I’ve read about RL15 I think and few others that some people were claiming to load to 3100fps from a 20in barrel.
2) I have an 18in 5.56mm that will spit 55gr bullets out at almost 3100fps. I’ve never shot an animal with a 55gr or 85gr TSX, but my suspicion is that 23-30grs of bullet weight and .5mm larger diameter won’t have much of a terminal performance difference if they’re both moving at about the same speed. I’m hunting in areas that don’t offer much over 300yds of shooting distance, most less than 150.
I’m a whitetail deer hunter. I may dabble in coyote hunting as well, but this is mostly for deer. If these two projectiles will provide similar terminal performance I was thinking about having the rifle rebarreled to .308 and working up some 130gr TTSX loads for deer hunting and 165gr TTSX loads for bigger critters. I know I could buy another rifle for the cost of rebarreling but then I have an extra set of glass to buy and I’m not made of money. Looking for some opinions and any experiences anyone has with either reloading a .243 or the performance of these projectiles. Thanks.
1) Will I be able to push the velocity of an 85gr Barnes close to 3000fps with a 20in barrel? If so, which powders should I start working with? I’ve read about RL15 I think and few others that some people were claiming to load to 3100fps from a 20in barrel.
2) I have an 18in 5.56mm that will spit 55gr bullets out at almost 3100fps. I’ve never shot an animal with a 55gr or 85gr TSX, but my suspicion is that 23-30grs of bullet weight and .5mm larger diameter won’t have much of a terminal performance difference if they’re both moving at about the same speed. I’m hunting in areas that don’t offer much over 300yds of shooting distance, most less than 150.
I’m a whitetail deer hunter. I may dabble in coyote hunting as well, but this is mostly for deer. If these two projectiles will provide similar terminal performance I was thinking about having the rifle rebarreled to .308 and working up some 130gr TTSX loads for deer hunting and 165gr TTSX loads for bigger critters. I know I could buy another rifle for the cost of rebarreling but then I have an extra set of glass to buy and I’m not made of money. Looking for some opinions and any experiences anyone has with either reloading a .243 or the performance of these projectiles. Thanks.
