Re: 110gr bullet .308 instead of .243?
I have used 110 V-Max in 7.62x39. Low shots that plowed the ground at 50yd during prelim sight-in in front of the target for about a foot left twisted pieces of jacket embedded in the front of the target backer. They are very effective even at the lower velocities (sub-2500fps) the short russian delivers. My initial target test load uses 26.1gr of IMR-4198.
I have done low-recoil loads for various centerfire rifle chamberings using Unique, which is recommended by the maker for fractional loads. I have used 7gr for .223 and 9gr for .22-250. Ya gotta start pretty small.
Before you get really wrapped around the axle over a fast twist .243, let's take a look at what that actually represents. It's a basically overbore cartridge into which we want to stuff a heavy-for-caliber projectile.
Some, maybe many, of us have broken our little hearts with such a combination. I did mine with a fast twist .22-250, which isn't even as extremely overbore as the .243.
Do they shoot? Yep, and pretty well too. But they overheat like a $50 pickup truck, too. You can take a few shots with them and everything's fine, but go for more, and you immediately get the scent of smokin' hot metal, accompanied by a barrel that's too hot to touch, and stays that way for way too long.
What you've created is a barrel burner, and a heaping serving of frustration while you wait and wait for that barrel to cool back down, all the while wondering whether you've already fried the throat.
Next time you wonder and cuss about manufacturers who don't share your ideas about the ideal rifle and why that may be, think about this post.
You'd better off downloading the .308 you already have. Remington already makes a 'Managed Recoil' load for the .308 (and .30-'06) that employs the 125gr Core-Lokt bullet and about 35gr of some sort of cylindrical grained propellent. Works good enough for deer out to about at least 150yd. Think in terms of recreating something like that, and I think you'll be making better progress. There's also the new Sierra .308/135gr MatchKing.
For your application; I'd suggest a standard 24" 1:8" .260 with 95gr V-Max and 47.0gr (published min) of H-4350. Accurate, 3300fps-ish, and tons easier on the entire system. Too explosive for deer, will thoroughly trash a varmint pelt, and it's already pretty much available off the rack. I have a Savage Predator Hunter Max I with that barrel spec, that I bought and set up, optics and all, for under a grand this past September.
It will also shoot 1000yd with the 140 A-Max and 43.8gr of H-4350.
Try around that load with the Lapua 6.5mm 144gr FMJBT if you want to preserve pelts. It was originally designed for the 6.5x55 Swede, and is one of the reasons why the M-96 is so much pretty unbeatable in Military Bolt Gun matches.
Greg
