Help with a .243

[Ewen]

Hi guys,

here is the situation.

I am shooting and accuracy AI with a .243 Kreiger Barrel.

Load is Lapua brass, ist reload neck sized, CCi Br2 primers and 46.7 gr of RL 25.

Dream load that has been incredibly accurate all the way out to 1450m.

Recently when shooting steels we went on to a 1000m target and I was hitting after the 2nd then after a couple of hits a miss. Didnt think much of it but my partner mentioned that it sounded funny. I then alternated hits and funny sounding misses (like richocets noise) for a couple of rounds before they all became misses (with no splash).

I have 800 rounds thtouhg this rifle with about 70 on this day since last clean.

I took her home and cleaned the snot out of it and went to the 100 m range.

At this range I got alternate hits and misses (the hits formed a sub half moa group) then consistent misses.


What gives!!!!!

Ewen

 

[Engine 22]

Re: Help with a .243

Are all your screws/mounts tight to specs? Is there a chance that the throat is erroded- meaning that you need to seat your bullets further out? Could you spot your misses at 1000?

 

[Rob01]

Re: Help with a .243

What bullet and what twist rate on the barrel? Sounds like the bullets might be coming apart.

 

[jhead7416]

Re: Help with a .243

I'm with Rob01. Sounds like the jacket is coming apart and/or causing the bullet to get unstable and tumble, hence the "like richocets noise". Did you change bullet lot by chance?

 

[jhead7416]

Re: Help with a .243

Another thought...did you change any components? Which might have put velocity over the top for the bullet. Any pressure signs on the primer or brass? You might want to carefully run some across the chronograph to look for a change.

 

[Tackleberry]

Re: Help with a .243

I shoot 46 grs R25, FGM210M primers, Lapua brass and 115 DTACs. I get 2850 fps which I think is slower than alot of guys in a 243 but it is extremely accurate out to 1000. I have shot 1.5" groups at 600 and 2" groups at 800. A few weeks back I had 5 out of 6 in a 4" circle at 1K. #6 had alot of heat coming off the can and I was hunting the floating target!

 

[Ewen]

Re: Help with a .243

Sorry guys missed some obvious info,

It is a 1 in 7 twist and I shoot berger bullets. They were from a new box but the same batch....

Pressure looked identical on all the brass and I noticed nothing different on the extraction.

I wondered about the stripping of the jacket as well and the bullets coming apart but is that possible after only 800 rounds that the barrel is no rough enough to cause this.

The timing is shit, I am leaving on 8th June for a weeklong comp in the Czech republic.

regards

Ewen

 

[Jerry m]

Re: Help with a .243

Lets hope it a bad batch of bullets. Other consideration is that you blew a chunk out of the land(s) that is damaging the bullets, causing them to come apart. Do you have other bullets to try?

Good luck

Jerry

 

[Rob01]

Re: Help with a .243

What weight Berger bullets? And yes it's possible. A 7 twist is a very fast twist with anything under 115grn bullet. I've seen 105s come apart in a 7.5 twist before.

You might want to send a few Tubb TMS rounds down it to smooth the throat out too. A good thing to do with a cartridge like that whether there is a problem or not. I do it with my .243 every 300 rounds.