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HORNADY .243 105 Grain BTHP ?

TOP PREDATOR

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 19, 2008
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SCRANTON AREA PENNSYLVANIA
anyone using hornady .243 105 grain BTHP "match" amp bullets?

finally got to work up and shoot some .243 105 amax yesterday, thanks to a bunch of info from guys here, though still in it's infancy, it looks t be a great bullet and load using H-1000 45.5 - 47.0 grains.

can't find anymore amaxes, but there are many places that have 105 BTHP.

any better / worse / the same performance as the Amax?

700 rem 26" 1:9.25 twist, for punching paper and steel 200 - 500 yds.

thanks for any info, just thought i'd ask before buying and trying.
 
anyone using hornady .243 105 grain BTHP "match" amp bullets?

finally got to work up and shoot some .243 105 amax yesterday, thanks to a bunch of info from guys here, though still in it's infancy, it looks t be a great bullet and load using H-1000 45.5 - 47.0 grains.

can't find anymore amaxes, but there are many places that have 105 BTHP.

any better / worse / the same performance as the Amax?

700 rem 26" 1:9.25 twist, for punching paper and steel 200 - 500 yds.

thanks for any info, just thought i'd ask before buying and trying.
Powder valley has 105 bthp in stock 95/500 get them while u can:)
 
I love this bullet, they get even better BC when you point them. Regardless, 43gr of h4350 and then work on seating depth to find your sweet spot. Mine was 2.860. Shooting 3130fps ish.
 
I love this bullet, they get even better BC when you point them. Regardless, 43gr of h4350 and then work on seating depth to find your sweet spot. Mine was 2.860. Shooting 3130fps ish.

243, or some other 6mm?
 
You can point them if you want but no need to. Very accurate bullet but I shoot them out of a 8.5 twist. They should work in the 9.25 twist. Try them and if they do you won;t be disappointed in the accuracy they will give you. I push mine with H4350 in my .243.
 
just noticed a similar post in the other reloading section, sorry about that.

let me ask this, before these disappear like the amax, i found 500 heads for 104.90 shipped, if i order them and for whatever reason they don't work out for me would anyone that does use them would want to buy whatever i have left (pro rated of course).

a hundred bucks is easy to spend but tougher to for me to recoup these days if they don't work out. the good ol' days of buying and trying without blinking are over.
 
They shoot very well in my 6mm.
sTU1UiH.jpg
 
like those groups Jgorski.

loaded up 4 different charges this morning and was hoping to run them today, have some rain and the chrony will be out in it 10ft from the covered bench. hopefully it'll stop and get some data and targets.


just measruing the heads
10 105 bthp heads avg of 1.220 with .005 in dev. (obviously shorter without plastic tip)
vs.
10 105 amax heads avg of 1.239 with .003 in dev.

so they're a little shorter with a little more deviation in length, don't know how much it'll matter on paper vs. the amaxes. i think alot of it was the way the HP had uneven tips. some looked flat, most had a slope to them.
 
Get a comparator and measure from the ogive, the HPBTs I have measure .721", have an older lot that goes .706", so of course, the .721 has a bit longer bearing surface. They both shoot very well, shot this with the .706. It measures .689" 300yds. From my 6 Creed.
DZQwlfG.jpg
 
I learned a few interesting things yesterday. I don’t know if its just what my particular rifle “likes” or how they will perform at longer distances, but apparently I’llbe using more BTHP than Amaxes. Also don’t know if the Amaxes will “wake up” at longer distances, but for short range (100Y) the BTHP seems GTG for me over the Amax. Maybe some OAL or seating depth changes could close the gap.

4 different charges of H-1000 used (45.5, 46, 46.5, 47) 105BTHP and Amax, LR210 primers used. Many have used magnum primers with this powder & charges; LR is all I have on hand.

Smoking the tips, I set both back off the lands .020 for a starting point. As the BTHP are slightly shorter, an average .019 difference should be a difference in actual seating depth. Both bullets were DIY moly coated. Cases were FL sized.

100Y, 67-70 deg F, 55% hum, 1-5 mph 10:00 wind, sunny,chrony 10 ft from muzzle.

Rifle Rem. 700 varmint 26” heavy barrel .243, 1:9.25 twist,12X on optic, shot bipod and bag from bench. I should mention there are only 40 rounds through the rifle before yesterday.

5 round groups, a minute wait between shots. There was no adjustment to the optic for the different charges or bullets in order tosee POI changes. It seemed the BTHP match bullets had to be chambered from the magazine or directly into the chamber. Just placing them into the action and attempting to close the bolt caused feeding issues, whereas the Amaxes smoothly fed in either circumstance.

My learning #1 - First box of factory ammo 100 y (Hornady BTSP 100 gr 3046 FPS avg.) doesn't seem too bad either! didn't adjust optic for the first 10 rounds, no wind that day, shots walked until they stopped on the last 5 rounds. I guess at that point it's "broken in"? Adjuste optic and took the last 2 shots just above the 1" dot.

Removed the bolt, boresighted looking down the barrel and adjusting the optic at 50yds, only 2.5" off at 100 through a virgin barrel. ;)



then loaded up

First trials of 105 amax 2weeks ago after the BTSP( learning #2 not much difference in POI vs 100 BTSP @ 100Y):

Second trial of 105 amax (My learning #3 - shoot and compare on the same day, about a 50fps difference between the 2 days):

First trial of 105 BTHP match (shot the same day as the 105amax 2nd trial):


67-70 deg F, 55% hum, +2040 ft sea level chrony 10 ft from muzzle.

105 HornadyBTHP H-1000 avg of 5 rounds
45.5 2668fps
46.0 2764fps
46.5 2809fps
47.0 2849fps

105 HornadyAmax H-1000 avg of 5 rounds
45.5 2668fps
46.0 2716fps
46.5 2737fps
47.0 2767fps

now comes the "insane fun" of finding performance at different distance, final seating depth, NS vs. FL, and so on. for the price and prelim results i think i'm going with the BTHP as my go to bullet for the .243
 
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The 105's are great out of my 6mm Creedmoor. Dead nuts accurate out to 1500+ with 41.7 gr of H4350. I'm not sure what they will do out of your twist, as mine is 1:7.7". But no matter that, I think this bullet will do you great. From everything others have told me here on the hide, it isn't affected by jump as much as others.
 
The 105's are great out of my 6mm Creedmoor. Dead nuts accurate out to 1500+ with 41.7 gr of H4350. I'm not sure what they will do out of your twist, as mine is 1:7.7". But no matter that, I think this bullet will do you great. From everything others have told me here on the hide, it isn't affected by jump as much as others.

This is the 105HPBTs .001" into the lands at 300yds. .689"
DZQwlfG.jpg
 
just wanted to follow up on this, though not as good as JGorski's, the 105 BTHP seem pretty good for the price.

settled on the overall length of 2.780

Hornady .243 105gr. BTHP
46.5gr, H-1000 Fed 210LR primers, 2.780

through a bone stock Rem700 Varmint 26" heavy barrel 1:9.25 twist less than 150 rounds through it.

100yd OAL test:



200yd



325yd



425 yd (sorry only 3 rounds left)

 
HORNADY .243 105 Grain BTHP ?

This is a group shot yesterday from my 6x47L F-Open. 10rd group, 300m. 6 shots into 1" group, the other four was condition. Was very switchy conditions, top left was a switchy wind and too centre was cold push. Verified by my shooting buddy who called the conditions.

4C51435E-9107-4B08-870A-377E85835CC8-4739-000001B0ACF7F46D_zps5163efab.jpg


Shows promise we think. Will be testing at 900m tomorrow.

Load was 39gr H4350, 105gr BTHP 10 thou jam, Lapua brass, CCI 450.
 
Here's target that's an ongoing test to see if one load is any better than the other, dead heat so far. Next on this target will be BR2s vs 210Ms, same loads.
eAxmnIM.jpg
 
I love this bullet, they get even better BC when you point them. Regardless, 43gr of h4350 and then work on seating depth to find your sweet spot. Mine was 2.860. Shooting 3130fps ish.

Ok,I'm brand new to long range shooting. Just bought a Remington 700 in 243, like a month ago. I bought the Hornady 105 BTHP because i couldn't find AMax bullets.

So my question is, what does it mean to "point them"?

I'm in the process of working up the loads with RL-19 and Winchester Supreme 780.
 
Kirkd said:
So my question is, what does it mean to "point them"?

Run them through a Whidden pointing die and close up the open tip a little, making them more aerodynamic.

Nothing you should really concern yourself with at this point, fellow Hoosier...
 
TOP PREDATOR (or anybody else) I have 3 boxes of these and a partial 4th that I cant use. I dont have enough barrel to stabilize these. I went down to the 87gr Vmax's and a faster powder (4064) and I got good groups. If anybody is interested I will sell/ship for 10 bucks a box plus shipping.
 
TOP PREDATOR (or anybody else) I have 3 boxes of these and a partial 4th that I cant use. I dont have enough barrel to stabilize these. I went down to the 87gr Vmax's and a faster powder (4064) and I got good groups. If anybody is interested I will sell/ship for 10 bucks a box plus shipping.

What was your barrel twist, out of curiosity?
 
the twist is 9 1/8th but the length is only 16.5" so i dont think it was as much the twist as the length coupled with the lack of muzzle velocity
 
the twist is 9 1/8th but the length is only 16.5" so i dont think it was as much the twist as the length coupled with the lack of muzzle velocity

They would work if you had more barrel. Why, if I may ask did you cut your barrel that short?
 
Anyone using them for deer-sized hunting?

How's that working out?

I have not used these for a simple reason. I don't think that any 6mm match produces the desired penetration. They produce broad wounding but unlike the 7mm or 7.62mm 168gr and 175gr counter parts they do not have
the penetration to do a clean job. Instead one should use one designed for hunting like a bonded or solid. If pin hole wounding became a concern one could skip the meat saving shots and catch some of the fort bones to
accelerate expansion but with the stouter bullets the penetration is guaranteed. It is not the lack of energy or SD but what the average results show regarding the terminal behaviour.
If a small deer is the target then one could give them a go but as soon as one moves up in weight of then it is better to go for bullets with specific terminal designs that will harvest the game faster and cleanly.
Accubond, TTSX or partitions are top performers with the right speeds. In this case the target bullets are better left to coyote or small game and little more.
I hope this helps.
 
Why? For the extra .017 BC points and $10 more per 100? Small BC jump over the Hornady 105 HPBT for about 1/3 more cost. I would stick with Hornady even if I didn't shoot for them.

Kirk you would have to try them. You should be fine but tough to say for 100% sure and I wouldn't want to steer you wrong. Get with 105 about his boxes he has for sale. Cheapest way to find out.
 
TOP PREDATOR (or anybody else) I have 3 boxes of these and a partial 4th that I cant use. I dont have enough barrel to stabilize these. I went down to the 87gr Vmax's and a faster powder (4064) and I got good groups. If anybody is interested I will sell/ship for 10 bucks a box plus shipping.

I sent you a PM last night, that I'll happily purchase these 3+ boxes at 10/box plus shipping.
 
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Whatever helps you sleep at night Wader.
 
hey dibbs ill get ahold of you later....im doin all this from my fone
 
DIBBS!....oh god dude I forgot I took these back to the store I got them from...I didnt have the receipt so they gave me store credit so I could get the 87gr Vmax's....my bad....I totally spaced
 
105 target always did the best for me. Hunting was never quite as good in two 6brs and a 243. Targets usually did best into the lands. Sierra 107s have typically done better for me than the hunting Vld.

Would be interesting to see what you like.
The hunting & targets are almost identical bullets, target has a .010" longer ogive, hunting has a .010" longer bearing surface, same length, hunting has the smaller nose & slightly higher BC. Hopefully they do shoot better than the Hornadys, I needs to win the next 600yd BR Comp at our range :)
 
Nice group. Doesn't mean the Hornady bullets won't do the same with a properly worked up load. I have used Berger bullets in other calibers in the past and they shoot good but I haven't found them anymore accurate once a good load was worked up.
 
One thing about the Bergers, you don't really have to trim the meplat cuz they're pretty good right out of the box. I've been trimming the Hornadys, not that it really makes a difference, just looks good.
 
Ok, the 105gr HPBT will not stabilize in my Remington 700 ADL. Bullets hit sideways. I went a couple of weeks ago to a 100 yards rang and easn't hitting paper. I had it zero'd with Winchster 100 gr soft point bought from Walmart. So, today, I went ti an indoor 25 yard range to see what was going on. I shot like 10 rounds, only one ended up stabilizimg. Other 9 hit side ways.

Barrel specs are 24" with 9 1/8 twist
 
Ok, the 105gr HPBT will not stabilize in my Remington 700 ADL. Bullets hit sideways. I went a couple of weeks ago to a 100 yards rang and easn't hitting paper. I had it zero'd with Winchster 100 gr soft point bought from Walmart. So, today, I went ti an indoor 25 yard range to see what was going on. I shot like 10 rounds, only one ended up stabilizimg. Other 9 hit side ways.

Barrel specs are 24" with 9 1/8 twist

Im assuming that's a 243? Probably need more speed to stabilize them, my 6mmREM with same twist had shot them pretty well out to 300yds. Im pushing them about 2900fps or so, well I was, that 6mmREM is becoming a 6 Creed soon.:)
 
Im assuming that's a 243? Probably need more speed to stabilize them, my 6mmREM with same twist had shot them pretty well out to 300yds. Im pushing them about 2900fps or so, well I was, that 6mmREM is becoming a 6 Creed soon.:)

Yes, it is a 243. I used 43.0 grains on RL-19. Max in Hornady manual showing 43.1. No pressure signs though. Chrono at 2745-2816. 5 shot. 1 hit target stabilized, then other 4 hit sideway. This was shot inside rnge, 70 degrees at 25 yards.should I increase by .1 gr increments and see if it stabilizes and eatch closely for pressure signs?
 
Yes, it is a 243. I used 43.0 grains on RL-19. Max in Hornady manual showing 43.1. No pressure signs though. Chrono at 2745-2816. 5 shot. 1 hit target stabilized, then other 4 hit sideway. This was shot inside rnge, 70 degrees at 25 yards.should I increase by .1 gr increments and see if it stabilizes and eatch closely for pressure signs?

I'm not sure if you're going to get there...run the numbers here...http://www.bergerbullets.com/litz/TwistRuleAlt.php

you'll be able to run the 95 vld's without a problem though
 
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I'm not sure if you're going to get there...run the numbers here...http://www.bergerbullets.com/litz/TwistRuleAlt.php

you'll be able to run the 95 vld's without a problem though

I just punched the number in and the Berger 95 comes up short (im getting 1.34 SG) The 90 gr Berger match on the other hand is getting me over the 1.5 threshold. Are these good bullets? I do jot have a Berger reloading book, so I don't know which powder yet.

If there are other suggestions for a 243 bullet for target shooting that will stabilize in a 9 1/8" twist barrel, let me know. Since these barrels have a short like, I will probably get a 1:8 twist as the replacement barrel and should be able to run the Hornady 105 gr HPBT bullets.
 
Just had some .75" 100 yd groups with 107 SMKs (coated withhBN) and 41g of H4350. Not exciting size groups, but it is an econo rifle with a Douglas 1/8 done up by ITD. Used Wolf primers, but going to try some.other brands.
 
Ok, the 105gr HPBT will not stabilize in my Remington 700 ADL. Bullets hit sideways. I went a couple of weeks ago to a 100 yards rang and easn't hitting paper. I had it zero'd with Winchster 100 gr soft point bought from Walmart. So, today, I went ti an indoor 25 yard range to see what was going on. I shot like 10 rounds, only one ended up stabilizimg. Other 9 hit side ways.

Barrel specs are 24" with 9 1/8 twist

Yes, it is a 243. I used 43.0 grains on RL-19. Max in Hornady manual showing 43.1. No pressure signs though. Chrono at 2745-2816. 5 shot. 1 hit target stabilized, then other 4 hit sideway. This was shot inside rnge, 70 degrees at 25 yards.should I increase by .1 gr increments and see if it stabilizes and eatch closely for pressure signs?

I had loaded up Winchester 780 Supreme up when I loaded the RL-19. I went back to the range to shoot one each with the following range: 42.5-46.5 in .5 gr increments. Bullets stabilized at the 45.5 gr mark. No pressure signs. Didn't take the chrono, so my plan is to shoot 5 each at 45.5, 46.0, and 46.5 with the magneto speed hooked up. Now, I did shoot this in an Indoor range, 70 deg temp at 25 yrds.
 
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TOP PREDATOR (or anybody else) I have 3 boxes of these and a partial 4th that I cant use. I dont have enough barrel to stabilize these. I went down to the 87gr Vmax's and a faster powder (4064) and I got good groups. If anybody is interested I will sell/ship for 10 bucks a box plus shipping.

PM sent, if you still have them, i'll take em. i don't know how i missed this earlier.