Need advice to pick a .243 bullet.

[T3-OleMan]

Since my 338WM loves the 185GMX I picked up 10 boxes of
Hornady Superformance .243 Win 80GR GMX. the week I purchased the G.D.s .243Win. last year. Give them a try.

 

[Catbird]

You opened up a can of worms with this post!! All the bullets that have been talked about will do the job provided your rifle likes them. I have used 100gr sierra boattails in a Rem788 with a 1 in 9 twist with great results.I use the
95 Nosler bts now in a Rem 700 and have had .67 groups at 300yd, and one shot kills at that distance. One thing to remember is that a 243 Win likes a slow powder.

 

[k8hvntn]

I agree that the 87 gr vmax are awesome. If a 243 will not shoot them it probably will not shoot any thing. Like you said awesome on varmints and I have seen them do pretty awesome on deer too. But I have seen a lot of explosive impacts on deer with no real damage to them also. A buddy of mine was convinced with them for a while. shot a couple deer and an antelope all went well. but than the next 5 deer he shot all were wounded and got away. Watched one deer for a half hr. looked like the bullet just exploded on impact and did not enter the deer. Well after all thats what they are designed for, explosion on impact. Cool that your Noslers have the same impact. What a bonus!

 

[deadlift]

upon examination and butchering it seemed the bullet broke 2 ribs upon entry then upset and completely destroyed the top of the heart and gelled/shredded the mid section of the entry side lung and came to rest on the upper point of the left shoulder in a big ball of copper jacket and lead chunks. There was kinetic energy damage on the outside of the left ribs as well as on the interior of the left shoulder. But no exit.
Chris

 

[Mxracer532]

To me this is an ABSOLUTE NO BRAINER, i may say this cause i have seen results of BT bullets on deer, sister shot 2 with 95gn Noslers (a much better bullet then VSplashes) IMO. They did the job but nowhere near the job of my current load.
95gn Berger VLD's
42gns H4350
Win cases
WLRM primers
3136 fps (5 shot average)

This load has taken several mule deer, furthest being 404 yards and several coyotes. (If you hit bone on a dog it can be NASTY)

This one was shot from the top of the butte behind him. 367yards on the first shot, slowly walked to 404 where the 2nd shot dropped him like a sack of patatoes. Both shots were less than 2in from eachother (lungs)

225 yards lungs dropped dead on the spot.

 

[westcliffe01]

Just so as to help avoid the OP making a mistake (Berger makes several 95gr bullets in 6mm) the bullet you would be looking for is the "95 gr Match Grade Classic Hunter" with an overall length of 1.070". It can be fired from a 1:10 barrel so any modern Savage with a 9.25 twist would be fine. It has a BC of 0.427 so not the absolute best BC out there.

Berger has another "95 gr Match VLD Target" which has a 0.48 BC and is 1.15" long, but beware, most of us have found that you need an 8 twist barrel to shoot it out of reliably. Sometimes people enter funky names for the Berger bullets in online stores that don't match the descriptions that Berger puts on their web site so be sure you know what you are getting. Target or hunting ? "True" or "hybrid" VLD ? What twist rate does the box say you need for stability ?

I have just recently started shooting the 95gr target bullets out of my new Shilen barrel (1:8 twist x 26" long) and so far I am getting terrific performance even though I am not using loads configured for my Ackley chamber yet. I think I am going to stock up on 105gr "Match Hybrid Target" bullets for my "proper" Ackley loads, since that one has a BC of 0.547 which is about as high as I can go, weight wise.

 

[k8hvntn]

95 vld are my go to bullet for my 243. 1:9 twist. 1/4 groups all day H4350 is the go to powder 42 gr, cci br primers. fed work well to but cci's have lower Es. average speeds out of most 243's are 3100 to 3200 and 3350 to 3400 out of the
Ackley. H100 is also an excellent powder but it either works or doesn't get a little better speeds.

if you are to use vlds. and never have make sure to start with them touching the lands. they do not like to jump. touching or jammed in a few thou.

Hybrid 105's are awesome. Great bc's not near as picky. lot easier to tune.

I shot deer and antelope on a regular basis out past 600 at regular basis. but keep in mind that it is all about shot placement. they have the energy but with out placing it in the right place you"ll be chasing them FOREVER.... We are shooting at 800 to 1200 at a regular basis in 10 to 20 mph winds. keep this in mind when trying to push the envelope.

 

[westcliffe01]

To the OP, few manufacturers make true 1:9 barrels anymore. Current Remingtons are 9.125 and current Savage are 9.25.

Also note that 42gr of H4350 is listed as a maximum load in the Hodgdon reloading manual, don't start there...

If you stick to the 1.070 hunting 95gr VLD you will be fine since it is rated for a 1:10 barrel.

The 95gr target VLD's would not shoot out of my Savage 12 even at maximum load, but I am shooting them in winter conditions, its possible that in summer they would be fine. However, I have little use for a "summer" hunting load...

Also the entire concept of jamming VLD's is no longer up to date. It is recommended to shoot them with a jump today. There is a sticky on this, just don't have time to find it right now. Jamming bullets may be fine for competition, but can be hazardous for hunting if you end up pulling the pullet out the cartridge when unloading. Jamming them dies work, IF you have the proper seating dies that set the distance to the ogive. Regular seating dies are useless for this.

 

[k8hvntn]

To the OP, few manufacturers make true 1:9 barrels anymore. Current Remingtons are 9.125 and current Savage are 9.25.

Also note that 42gr of H4350 is listed as a maximum load in the Hodgdon reloading manual, don't start there...

If you stick to the 1.070 hunting 95gr VLD you will be fine since it is rated for a 1:10 barrel.

The 95gr target VLD's would not shoot out of my Savage 12 even at maximum load, but I am shooting them in winter conditions, its possible that in summer they would be fine. However, I have little use for a "summer" hunting load...

Also the entire concept of jamming VLD's is no longer up to date. It is recommended to shoot them with a jump today. There is a sticky on this, just don't have time to find it right now. Jamming bullets may be fine for competition, but can be hazardous for hunting if you end up pulling the pullet out the cartridge when unloading. Jamming them dies work, IF you have the proper seating dies that set the distance to the ogive. Regular seating dies are useless for this.

true on the twist rate most are not exactly 1:9 but Ive never seen on a box of berger needed exactly 1:9 or 1:9.25 ext. it is a reference. the only way to know is to shoot them.
42 grs is max and yes start about 39 or 40 and work up. simple things like which primer and even diff brass can raise or lower pressures. not to mention temps.
as for "jamming" I have not seen the sticky on this Deff would be interesting. But I do know from personal experiences with VLDs that they like to touch or be into the lands a little. They are about all I shoot if i can. Just for the BC factor. as far as i know they have not changed VLDs to want to jump. But have created the Hybrids. That are a cross between a competition and hunting bullet that are to SAMI specs. these do like to be jumped a little and are more likely to go into the mag.
Also for a bullet pulling out when jammed and than extracted. This usually will happen with a competition shooter that is neck sizing using a neck tension die. They set the tension to 1 to 3 thou bullet tension depending on what the gun likes. some times it could be too light and the barrel will pull the bullet from the cartage. It is not uncommon for them to seat with extremely light tension, leave the bullet seated several thou out, then when the bolt is closed it pushes the bullet back into the case and is seated the same with every bullet chambered instead of sorting the bullets by Ojive measurements.
But now we are getting way off the original Question and way into details for a hunting bullet. So the suggestion is to try some and see what your gun likes. VLDs , Noslers, and hornady interlocks are all good performers on Deer size game. If you not planning on shooting past 400 the higher bc's are not gonna matter all that much. youll still make a kill shot with a light hold off.
Good luck and hopefully we're not confusing with all the technicals...

 

[westcliffe01]

Ok, I had to search a bit once I got home tonight..

bulletin.accurateshooter.com/tag/vld/
This link has a video interview

Here is another
Berger Bullets Seating Method for VLD Bullets - A "Sweet Spot" with a Long Bullet Jump will give the best accuracy.

This is a reprint of the Berger method, with some "tuning" to differentiate between competition shooters and hunters. I agree that for hunting, having jammed bullets is not an ideal solution since more often than not, one has to unload after a hunt. Even if you recover it OK, what are you going to do with the cartridge that just had the bullet jammed into the lands ? The bullet will have marks on it from the rifling ?

 

[k8hvntn]

the term jammed does not mean that you are putting the bullet way into the lands. your talking about 2 to three thou (the thickness of scotch tape) and thats not gonna affect the bullet much at all. For the most part you get more scratches from the loading ramp and from them scraping the edge of the chamber , especially exiting the opening of the action, Then from the marks made from the lands. these marks will be made to any bullet you eject from the gun. you don"t throw them away.
All and all if you are "JAMMING" the bullet far enough into the lands to make them pull out of your case, your doing some thing WAY WRONG. Either you do not have enough neck tension (using a neck bushing die) or you are seated way to far out.

 

[westcliffe01]

quote from referenced article:

" For years we encouraged shooters to use a base of cartridge to end of bearing surface OAL (I will use the term COAL to represent this dimension) which allows the VLD to touch the rifling or to be jammed in the rifling. This provided excellent results for many shooters but there were others who did not achieve top performance with the VLD jammed in their rifling. These shooters were left with the belief that the VLD bullets just won't shoot in their rifle.

Other groups of shooters were discouraged by our recommendation to touch the rifling. Some of these shooters knew that at some point during a target competition they will be asked to remove a live round. With the bullet jammed in the rifling there was a good chance the bullet will stick in the barrel which could result in an action full of powder. This is hard on a shooter during a match."

This was first person from
Eric Stecker
Master Bulletsmith (Berger Bullets)

 

[k8hvntn]

yes i do agree with him this does happen once again by comp shooters using low neck tension. and touching the lands or being into the lands is just a sugestion for what i've experianced and what freinds experiance. again all rifles and barrels are diff and you have to what combo your rifle likes. There is no bullet bible that can tell you exactly what will work and what will not. Take all the advice and play with it tell you find out what is working in your rifle.