Which powder for Berger 87 vldh in a .243 Win?

[broish]

I have an old Stevens 200 that I rebarreled with a McGowan .243 1in10 barrel. It shoots the Berger 95gr classic hunters very well with either imr4350 or 7828ssc. I ultimately went with the 7828 only because it was just slightly more consistent. But you cannot go wrong with any of the 4350's

 

[nocannons]

I have a new to me Tikka T3 in .243 win which of course has a 1:10 twist. My previous .243 had a 1:9.125 twist and I shot up to 95 grain bullets in it. With this Tikka 1:10 I am going to order up some 87 grain bergers because they are pretty well known to stabilize at that twist. If any of you all are shooting those 87's what powder have you had the best luck with? I have IMR4831, IMR4064, H4350, IMR4895, Varget, you get the picture. I'm not looking for the absolute fastest load, but more the accuracy node with at least fair speed. What powder do you all seem to have the best luck with? Particularly interested in hearing from the Tikka owners.

Not a tikka owner but have had savage 1-10 and used only the berger 87vld for years. varget at 36.5 grns. just off the lands. brother had rem. 700 1-9.125 used same bullet but win. 760. not sure how much but you would have to work up your loads. start low. Now have rem 783 in 243 I am trying something different. Got tired of not getting powder and bullets at times so switched to berger 88 gr. fb and hybrid 100 v powder because most always available. Do not know how accurate you are looking for but mid to low .3 with .2 occasionally. also working on berger 95 vld for hunting. only tried couple of loads but under 1 inch already.

 

[Tiny Tim]

When I got to the 80ish grain bullets, I found a slightly slower burning powder best. Varget below, H4350 at and above. Just what's worked for me.

 

[nocannons]

When I got to the 80ish grain bullets, I found a slightly slower burning powder best. Varget below, H4350 at and above. Just what's worked for me.

Availability on varget and h4350 both sucks at times is main reason I changed. Have had good results with both of these powders.

 

[mobenzowner]

I actually used to shoot the 85 SGK in a Savage 243win with H4350. My old load was 41.9gr which is over max according to Hodgdon site. Sierra doesnt list H4350 data for their 85 grain. They do list 42.2 grains as max for IMR4350, so I am pushing it a little hard. I have a couple boxes of those 85 left, so I may play with those as well. Any suggestions on midrange loads??? I apologize as I have now morphed this thread another direction.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Availability on varget and h4350 both sucks at times is main reason I changed. Have had good results with both of these powders.

I agree. Am going to try some 6.5 Sta-ball with the 80 gr HH. It's easy enough to get.

 

[elimsprint]

I use 7828ssc also, great speed and really good accuracy. It came from old load data I got from Berger years ago and works better than anything else I have tried. 42gr start 47.1gr max

 

[daka]

What are the starting and max loads for 4451 for those 87's

 

[Shootin4fun]

The 85 SGKs are awesome with 36.0 or 37.0 gr of Varget out of my Xbolt. They go out at about 3040. 1" 3-shot groups up a mountain at 300 yards even through snow are not uncommon. Cheap too. I bought many hundreds at under $25/box. Never shot game with them, though they are said to do the job.

 

[MZmoose]

Varget! Running Varget with 75gr Hornady VMax, SD of 4 fps, mv of 3377 fps, .4 MOA with factory Remington 700 SPS

 

[Jud96]

What are the starting and max loads for 4451 for those 87's

I reached max at 44.5gr in my rifle. My go to load is 44.3gr @ 3370FPS. Hodgdon shows 40.7gr as minimum and 43.8gr as maximum going 3342FPS. This powder shoots extremely well in my factory Remington and it's consistent as well. It's my go to for the .243 with 70-87gr bullets.

 

[daka]

Thank you

 

[Deputy819]

H4350 performed pretty well for me with the Berger 87gr vld-h. I've since switched over to the 90gr Berger BT and those shoot even tighter with H4350.

5-shots with the 87gr vld-h and H4350 @ 200 yds

3-shots with the 90gr BT and H4350 @ 200 yds

 

[keithcandler]

R#19
Lapua or PMC brass
Win primer
find pressure
Accuracy will be north of 3300 fps with the 87's'
Switch out to the 85g Tsx for deer(shoot deer from any angle, coming or going)
Sub half inch accuracy with both bullets, jump the 85 Tsx .050