.243 Trumps .308-@1,000 ?

[Rustystud]

Do you not think multi time, Long Range Prone National Champion John Whiddon shoots a .243 for a reason.
Nat Lambeth

 

[tbrice23]

With my 215 Berger in my 308 at 5600 ft elevation I have over 1100 ft lbs and not pushing them hard.

Are you using Reloader 17 ?
Whats your bbl length, velocity, twist rate?

Im intrigued every time I here you talk about this load.

 

[Bravo 4]

Crockett,
As others have stated, it's not as simple as saying a .243 bests a .308 at longer ranges. If you plug the numbers into a ballistic app you will see for yourself. If you take the .243 107 SMK loaded to 3,000 fps (given in an earlier reply) and compare it to bigngreen's load with a 215 Berger @ 2450 fps you will see that the .308 has over twice the energy, about the same velocity, and a little better wind number than the .243. Where the .243 wins is in drop, by about 100". But take into consideration, you are also talking about guys that have purpose built rifles (the .243) compared to most factory .308s. I can't take my daughter's factory.243 and expect it to hang with my .308 shooting higher BC bullets at long range.
For another comparison take that same .243 load and compare it to a 7mm rem mag shooting factory 150 grain corelokts @ 3100 fps, the .243 beats the 7mm @ 1000 yards in every way. Now, would you say a .243 beats a 7mm magnum?

 

[Canadian Bushman]

.243 will be flatter and maybe edge out the .308 on wind drift, but the heavy bullets available in 30 cal and their falling form factors in recent years are a hands down win for the .308 when it comes to energy.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

With my 215 Berger in my 308 at 5600 ft elevation I have over 1100 ft lbs and not pushing them hard.

The last batch i loaded for a match consisting of pointed 215's generates 1240 ft/lb @ 1k at 60ft above sea level.

 

[crocket]

Wow!, didn't mean to stir the pot that much, just asking for a little knowledge on .243 load data, you-all definitely have more knowledge than myself. Thanks,Garycrow and mike338 for your help, the 105gr. Amax with a b.c. of 500 is plenty effective for me, Thank-you

 

[Mike 338]

So many great calibers to choose from. 308 based, or even similar designs are fairly pleasant to shoot and offer accurate and repeatable results. Some provide great performance and outstanding durability and others perform even better and don't give up to much in the way of longevity. 45-70, 308, 243... you can make them all sing within their working range and get just as much satisfaction from any of them. The 308 is kinda nice because you can do it for a little less dough and they love the mileage. I can afford a much faster car than I have now but I keep buying pickups and don't really seem to mind when someone passes me on the road. If you got one that shoots well, wear it out.

 

[Mike 338]

Wow!, didn't mean to stir the pot that much, just asking for a little knowledge on .243 load data, you-all definitely have more knowledge than myself. Thanks,Garycrow and mike338 for your help, the 105gr. Amax with a b.c. of 500 is plenty effective for me, Thank-you

Good choice. If they give you what your looking for, you'll probably save yourself about $150 by shooting those Amax's over the Sierra's before you even need to think about a barrel. Also, Hornady has done a pretty fair job of supplying shooters with bullets through this shortage so using a bullet that your likely going to be able to buy doesn't hurt either.

 

[J E Custom]

This is an excellent site!, thanks for letting me in, yes I'm new, but not new to the hunt, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering which bullet and load,you would use to hit 1,000 yds. efficiently, with a .243., I'm shooting a model 11, 1-9.25 twist that is 22 in. long, and am currently shooting the 85 gr. Barn's tsx's 500yds., for coyote, and my load data for that round is-48 gr imr7828, w-benchrest primer, 1.5 groups @3,350fps. They're are some comp. 1,000 yd. shooters around here that shoot .243 instead of 308 @ 1,000, saying the .308 didn't have the energy to knock down the silhouette, but the .243 round does, is it true?, if so what would you recommend for bullet and load?, thank-you

Given the same barrel length and a SAMME max Load Pressure the 243 will not out perform the 308.

I have shot 1000 yard matches and consider the 243 to light for any weather except perfect. some even shoot the 223 but again, conditions have to be perfect.

For years I have seen this trend to go to smaller calibers because of recoil and ballistics and under the right conditions it will work out fine, but in changing/bad conditions the lighter bullets are in trouble.

With all of the new bullets and powders the 308 can be improved considerably. So can all of the 308 based cartridges like the 260 Rem and the 7/08 Remington. the 7/08 improved can handle the heavy bullets with the high BCs and is a real performer @ 1000 + yards if you want a 308 based cartridge.(Recoil is less than a 308 also if that is a problem).

If I were to build a dedicated 1000 yard rifle that had to be based on a 308 case, or something like it Where a magnum could not be used, It would be a 708x40 or the tried and true 308 or possibly one of the great 6.5s.

This is just my opinion because I primarily hunt now, but enjoy shooting steel (As long as I am successful) Also Reading the wind is more of a problem with lighter bullets.

J E CUSTOM