243 105 berger ADVICE

[noliver]

I have been a member on here for a while but not many post although I have read a lot of information on here, anyway........ I will give you a little information on my current situation. I have a pierce titanium short action and a 17" benchmark barrel heavy palma contour chambered in 308 (which is very accurate). I want to take the 308 barrel off and put it on a Remington 700 short action that has been trued. So....... I need to put a barrel on my pierce action. I was wanting to sling the 6mm 105 berger vld hunting bullets between 2950-3050 fps from a 22" - 24" barrel with a sendero contour or similar and a 1 in 8 twist barrel (the shorter the better). This will be used for shooting paper and steel about 60%-70% of the time but I don't want it so heavy to take to my deer stand and blinds. I was wanting to use a .243 Winchester to push the bullets but don't know if I will get the velocity I want and still have good accuracy. I know I know I know....... get a lighter contour barrel and make it longer. I don't WANT a longer barrel, plain and simple. I am a small guy and the smaller barrels just fit me better.

So here is my questions to people that have had the experience with loading the .243 Winchester in a 22"- 24" barrel
1) how easy or is to possible to get 2950fps - 3050fps out of a 22" barrel? I will go 24 only if I have to.
2) what powders are you using to get those velocities

I am only interested in the 243 not other calibers. I am fairly new to reloading although I do load for 308 and 300 blackout. If there are other calibers that are easy to load for that I don't know about that produce better velocity I am all ears but I choose 243 because I don't want to fireform, neck down or turn necks ( I do when I HAVE to) and I wanted a short action and the brass availability is good for the 243.

Thanks in advance for your help. I have quick load but I cannot work it very well lol

 

[Captain Kirk]

22-24 medium Palma 1-7.5 to 1-8, you should have no problem getting above 3000 fps even at 22" with the 105s. Even a heavy Palma at 22" wont be too heavy.

 

[noliver]

Thanks for the info Captian. What type of rifling do you recomend, 5r, 3 grove, etc.... To get better velocity? I have heard that rock barrels shoot a little faster then most. Do you know if there is any truth to that or is it just luck of the draw so to speak. I figured I would ask someone that ownes s tactical precision shop. Lol

 

[hdfireman]

I'm running a 24" Krieger 1:8 5R, 105 Berger VLD hunting, Lapua brass and H4350 at 3070fps. I am 1.5 grains below pressure signs

 

[Captain Kirk]

Thanks for the info Captian. What type of rifling do you recomend, 5r, 3 grove, etc.... To get better velocity? I have heard that rock barrels shoot a little faster then most. Do you know if there is any truth to that or is it just luck of the draw so to speak. I figured I would ask someone that ownes s tactical precision shop. Lol

I have also ran a lot of Rock barrels and they do run some impressive velocities. Its hard to compare velocity from barrel to barrel by maker, you would need to take two barrels and cut the same chamber with the same specs and run the same load to find out. I run Benchmark barrels now which seem to run fast as well. There are a lot of rifling methods (pull button cut, polygon, cut rifled) and many opinions as to which is faster and which rifling method is more accurate. It is my opinion that the smith turning, cutting the chamber and installing the barrel has more to do with the accuracy than the barrel you use. Some barrels tend to be slightly more accurate than others and some tend to run faster, but the differences in accuracy may be so slight that most shooters will not be capable of detecting it. As far as velocity, it all comes down to pressure, one load may run faster in one barrel, but that's not to say that the same velocities couldn't be reached in a different barrel by modifying the load.

 

[noliver]

Thanks for the info guys. That pretty well tells me what I wanted to know. I will have to admit that I have owned or still do own five differnt custom barrels from differnt high end barrel makers and my benchmark barrel on my. 308 is just as accurate as any and it gets very good velocity for a 17" barrel. I shoot federal gold medal match 168g at 2600fps. That's pretty good. I will probably go with another benchmark barrel for the 243.

 

[noliver]

Anyone else shooting 105g berger vld's out of a 22" barrel at. 3000fps +?

 

[KevinD]

I run a Shilen 24" 1:8 twist varmint contour with the 105s going 3110 avg using H4350. I was able to get 3190 but hit pressure signs when the temp went up into the 90s here. I'm sure you would be able to hit 3000 with a 22", but why not go for 3100 with a 24"? I went from a 20" barrel on my .308 to a 24" on my .243 and I don't even notice the extra length.

 

[noliver]

KevinD, that is something that I have been thinking a lot about for no other reason than I could easily get 3050 out of a 24" barrel and not have to push the load that hard and maybe save some barrel life. Heck if I don't like the 24" tube I could always have it cut back to 22". Decisions decisions. I just like shorter barrels if you can't tell. Lol. I know 24" would be the smart thing to do but.....

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Anyone else shooting 105g berger vld's out of a 22" barrel at. 3000fps +?

I'm shooting 105 Hybrids from a 22" Bartlein at 3,070fps with a 6XC and also at 3,080fps with a 22" Bartlein chambered in 6x47L.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

43.5gr H4350 in my 243/6SLR under a 105 hybrid was good for 3200fps in a 26" Hawk Hill 4 groove. Ran it that way for ~200 rounds, but backed it off to 42.5gr for ~3130-3140fps.

At ~750 rounds, it'd slowed to 3080fps. Now, with 994 on it, it goes 3060. Still shoots great.

I shot in 95° temps at the Grind, and didn't have the slightest hint of high pressure.

I'm a fan of longer barrels and lower pressure ammo.