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Shoot your .243 to a mile?

Victor Co Heather

Victor Co Heather

Victor Company USA
Commercial Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 19, 2006
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www.victorcompanyusa.com
I just got my .243 comp rifle up and running. It's a Spartan built rifle by Marc Soulie (he's the real deal). Specs- Defiance LH/RP / Krieger 1:8 26.5" -- Load: 115DTAC / 42g H4350 / 210m /Win Brass /3050 FPS

Did some range shooting last Sunday and discovered in the hot Socal sun with a 4400 DA, I was hitting 1k with ONLY 6.4 Mils!

My ballistic app (Shooter) was dead on the numbers for my dope. Now what was interesting to me was it told me I could hit 1700 yards with 16.2 mils of dope before it went subsonic.

Has anyone tried shooting this far with a .243??

IMG_6045.jpg


IMG_6047.jpg


IMG_6051.jpg


IMG_6049.jpg
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

Why did you choose a 243 for your cartridge? I'm thinking of stepping away from the conventional 308 but undecided on another round. I'm going to stay with a short action realm and just curious to your thoughts on your caliber.

thanks
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Eznutz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Why did you choose a 243 for your cartridge? I'm thinking of stepping away from the conventional 308 but undecided on another round. I'm going to stay with a short action realm and just curious to your thoughts on your caliber.

thanks </div></div>

Good question.. a lot of shooters want more out of their cartridge than a .308 can give move to .243 or .260. There are also a bunch of fancy calibers in he same neighborhood as well but for the money (brass and bullet costs) .243 or .260 perform just as well at my average skill level.

I have both a match .243 and .260 and they each have advantages the other one doesn't so it's hard to say which one is 'better'. Both the .243 and .260 outperform the .308 for competition and hunting so either one will work for you.

Pros/cons:

.243 - Flatter bullet trajectory of the two calibers. Less recoil than the .260. But the MATCH barrel life is short (~800 rounds)

.260 - Longer MATCH barrel life than the .243 (~1600 rounds) BC is a little better on the 142SMK (.301 G7) than the 115 DTAC (.288 G7). But it has a bit more recoil. Also I have found the .260 was more finicky for me to load. (though others may disagree).

EIther one is kick ass.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

Not a .243, but, I did shoot my 6x47 with 105 berger hybrids to a mile at Thunder Valley..

2200 DA 18.4 mils
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SubMOA</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not a .243, but, I did shoot my 6x47 with 105 berger hybrids to a mile at Thunder Valley..

2200 DA 18.4 mils </div></div>

WOW! That is huge.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

@Michael Victor, can you explain why the short life of the 243 match barrel?
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cali_tz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">@Michael Victor, can you explain why the short life of the 243 match barrel? </div></div>

Well I'm not an expert in chambering and barrel life but as physics seems to support the smaller diameter of the throat causes an increase in pressure and heat as compared to a .260 or .308. This increase in pressure and heat wears down the throat and rifling much quicker, thus a shorter "match" quality barrel life.

btw- the "match"quality I'm referring to a barrel that shoots below .5" consistently.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

I think 800 is a tad pessimistic on 243 barrel life.

I know guys getting over 1500 rounds and more out of a 243 and still holding 1/2 MOA.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

I heard the same barrel erosion on discussions for 338 Lapua Mag reloading. While it sounds right that hotter temps and higher pressures won't stretch barrel life, with respect to nominal loads, I was wondering what the actual metallurgical process was whereby the wear was occurring at an accelerated pace.

My Steyr 338LM barrel surely would be costly to replace and take many weeks, so don't want to have that happen soon.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

By using a cut rifled barrel, it will last a little bit longer than a buttoned barrel.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: excaliber</div><div class="ubbcode-body">By using a cut rifled barrel, it will last a little bit longer than a buttoned barrel. </div></div>

can i ask what hard proof you have to be able to make that statement?
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

Go talk to benchrest shooters. We shot on the 600yd circuit up until 3 years ago and we would go thru about a dozen barrels a year. We shot a 6mmBRX with 105gr Bergers at around 3000fps and with a variety of cut barrels, they would give at least 1/4 moa for about 700rounds. Button barrels would do 1/4moa for about 500 rounds. Ask Bugholes on here also.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

so what you are saying is every cut rifled barrel will have a greater barrel life than a button rifled, regardless of manufacture and material, caliber and chambering?
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

I can`t say every cut barrel is going to last longer but with the experience I`ve had with both, my money goes with cut. Like I was saying earlier, I would say at least 7 out of 10 benchrest shooters used cut barrels and it wasn`t because of accuracy. Yes, your right, you can have good or bad steel in any barrel. I remember when some top barrel makers had bad steel and nobody wanted their barrels but that could happen to any barrel company. High performance cartridges can burn any barrel out faster also.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Lofty</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I think 800 is a tad pessimistic on 243 barrel life.

I know guys getting over 1500 rounds and more out of a 243 and still holding 1/2 MOA. </div></div>

Yeah everyone has a friend who runs 1500 rounds out of them but I don't know a shooter who is running one competitively in a match at that count.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Michael Victor</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I just got my .243 comp rifle up and running. It's a Spartan built rifle by Marc Soulie (he's the real deal). Specs- Defiance LH/RP / Krieger 1:8 26.5" -- Load: 115DTAC / 42g H4350 / 210m /Win Brass /3050 FPS

Did some range shooting last Sunday and discovered in the hot Socal sun with a 4400 DA, I was hitting 1k with ONLY 6.4 Mils!

My ballistic app (Shooter) was dead on the numbers for my dope. Now what was interesting to me was it told me I could hit 1700 yards with 16.2 mils of dope before it went subsonic.

Has anyone tried shooting this far with a .243??

IMG_6045.jpg


IMG_6047.jpg


IMG_6051.jpg


IMG_6049.jpg

</div></div>
Michael victor,

Yes, out of a 6mm Ackley at slightly lower pressures 24 MOA (6.7 Mil). Literally "just another 6mm being pushed to 'stupid' velocities". That is where I shoot at with a DA of 2570. Twist is 1-9" straight up.

 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Michael Victor</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Eznutz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Why did you choose a 243 for your cartridge? I'm thinking of stepping away from the conventional 308 but undecided on another round. I'm going to stay with a short action realm and just curious to your thoughts on your caliber.

thanks </div></div>

Good question.. a lot of shooters want more out of their cartridge than a .308 can give move to .243 or .260. There are also a bunch of fancy calibers in he same neighborhood as well but for the money (brass and bullet costs) .243 or .260 perform just as well at my average skill level.

I have both a match .243 and .260 and they each have advantages the other one doesn't so it's hard to say which one is 'better'. Both the .243 and .260 outperform the .308 for competition and hunting so either one will work for you.

Pros/cons:

.243 - Flatter bullet trajectory of the two calibers. Less recoil than the .260. But the MATCH barrel life is short (~800 rounds)

.260 - Longer MATCH barrel life than the .243 (~1600 rounds) BC is a little better on the 142SMK (.301 G7) than the 115 DTAC (.288 G7). But it has a bit more recoil. Also I have found the .260 was more finicky for me to load. (though others may disagree).

EIther one is kick ass.


</div></div>

Thanks for the your thoughts, still undecided but more information for me to add to the decision. BTW that is a nice looking build.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

I've done it, but I had about the most piss poor set-up to do it with. I was using a factory Rem 700 with a NF 5.5-22 on a 20 MOA base. Load was a 95 SMK, 43 gr H4831, Lapua brass, CCI BR-2 at around 2,950 fps.

The location was the top of a mountain (2,600' ASL) on a recently reclaimed surface mine. I had to wait until the summer for it to get above 80*. My target was a 3'x3' foam board with an 8" shoot-n-see. I fired a total of 10 shots at the target. I could see impacts of a few because of the lack of veg. They mostly impacted low left.

Out of luck, 2 shots went through the foam board about 8" apart, and they weren't keyholing. I would say I put all 10 shots in about a 5' group at that distance. My dope = NF maxed out at 21 mils, held another 5 mils with the MLR reticle. Wind was around 3-4 mils.

I've had slightly over MOA results once at 1,400 yards with that set-up. There's a thread floating around about it in this sub-forum.

With your set-up throwing DTACs that fast with the hot Cali weather, I'd say it's definately possible. Just make sure you have the best place possible to see misses/splash.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Eznutz</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Michael Victor</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Eznutz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Why did you choose a 243 for your cartridge? I'm thinking of stepping away from the conventional 308 but undecided on another round. I'm going to stay with a short action realm and just curious to your thoughts on your caliber.

thanks </div></div>

Good question.. a lot of shooters want more out of their cartridge than a .308 can give move to .243 or .260. There are also a bunch of fancy calibers in he same neighborhood as well but for the money (brass and bullet costs) .243 or .260 perform just as well at my average skill level.

I have both a match .243 and .260 and they each have advantages the other one doesn't so it's hard to say which one is 'better'. Both the .243 and .260 outperform the .308 for competition and hunting so either one will work for you.

Pros/cons:

.243 - Flatter bullet trajectory of the two calibers. Less recoil than the .260. But the MATCH barrel life is short (~800 rounds)

.260 - Longer MATCH barrel life than the .243 (~1600 rounds) BC is a little better on the 142SMK (.301 G7) than the 115 DTAC (.288 G7). But it has a bit more recoil. Also I have found the .260 was more finicky for me to load. (though others may disagree).

EIther one is kick ass.


</div></div>

Thanks for the your thoughts, still undecided but more information for me to add to the decision. BTW that is a nice looking build. </div></div>

I'll tell you one thing... if I could only have one blot rifle it would definitely be a .308. My GAP .308 is the most consistent rifle I own and very very easy to load for. I run both FGMM168 or 155 SMK handloads with wicked precision.

These other 'competition' calibers are ok but much more finicky. If one small spec is out of line then your groups open up. Plus my GAP 308 has 3000 rounds through it and it's no where near burned out.

So don't dump your .308
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Brandon05_88</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've done it, but I had about the most piss poor set-up to do it with. I was using a factory Rem 700 with a NF 5.5-22 on a 20 MOA base. Load was a 95 SMK, 43 gr H4831, Lapua brass, CCI BR-2 at around 2,950 fps.

The location was the top of a mountain (2,600' ASL) on a recently reclaimed surface mine. I had to wait until the summer for it to get above 80*. My target was a 3'x3' foam board with an 8" shoot-n-see. I fired a total of 10 shots at the target. I could see impacts of a few because of the lack of veg. They mostly impacted low left.

Out of luck, 2 shots went through the foam board about 8" apart, and they weren't keyholing. I would say I put all 10 shots in about a 5' group at that distance. My dope = NF maxed out at 21 mils, held another 5 mils with the MLR reticle. Wind was around 3-4 mils.

I've had slightly over MOA results once at 1,400 yards with that set-up. There's a thread floating around about it in this sub-forum.

With your set-up throwing DTACs that fast with the hot Cali weather, I'd say it's definately possible. Just make sure you have the best place possible to see misses/splash. </div></div>

Very interesting.
 
Re: Shoot your .243 to a mile?

Not with the 243 but the 260 I've shot to 1815 ( measured via google earth) and that's here in TX.
 
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