Anyone load 243 Win for whitetails?  I'm looking for a 100 to 150 yd round using a Sierra Gameking 100 gr and Hodgedon Varget.  The manual says I will get out of the barrel at 2838 FPS with 33.7 grs of Varget.  I'll be using a 243 Win Barrel on a TC Encore.

Is the Gameking the boattail bullet? I find them a bit soft and prone to core separation, I'd use something else like the Hornady flat base or a Nosler Partition. Back when I loaded 243, I used IMR 4350 and the 100 grain Hornady spire point. Today, I'd use the same bullet and H4350, Reloder 17 or maybe H4831SC.

But if you already have the Varget and the bullets, load them up and run with it, see what happens.

Dale

The GK is boattail. I've used them with awesome results in 270 WSM (130 gr). Get a load of this, the receiver stock not slipped in my TC Encore yesterday on the bench, no idea how. It shattered the walnut grip on the butt stock. Its going up to Thompson Center. This really suck. The rifle was shooting great.

I had problems with the .277/130 GameKings too. I got tired of finding a jacket and several pieces of core. so I quit using them. But that was many years ago, maybe they've changed them.

Dale

For deer, I use a 95 grain, Nosler Partition, with IMR4350 behind them, and they will dump them in dime sized groups at 100 yards. I couldn't get as good of accuracy, with Varget out of either of my .243s, but, every rifle barrel seems to have its own likes, and dislikes, so your results may vary.

The load I use for my .243 is a 100 gr Sierra Spitzer's or Spitzer Boat Tails over 43.5 grs of H4831. They both shoot in the same spot. For my daughter's .243 I load 100 gr Sierra Spitzer Boat Tails over 43.0 gr H4831. I have both guns sighted in 2.75 - 3 inches high at 100 yrds. Can hold on shoulder and shoot out to 300 to 325 yrds without correcting for drop and put down antelope or deer. We have taken several antelope, a mule deer and several white tails at ranges from 30 to 280 yrds. Rarely have one run after being hit in the boiler room. Almost all drop where they were standing.

I use sierra 100gr bullets over a HOT load ( not saying what) but at 275 yds I get a through and through with the bullet staying together.Never recovered a bullet yet ,nor any pieces.

The bullet separation was more of an issue at shorter ranges where the velocity was higher. Add a boattail to a cup and core bullet traveling over 3000 fps and the risk of core/jacket separation increases. For me, the simple answer was use another bullet. YMMV.

Dale

Thanks all!  Great feedback.  Gonna go with the Sierra's and the Varget combo. 

DK before loading the sierra I had problems with other bullets not passing through deer leaving a blood trail if needed. This was at ALL ranges, from 100yd to 200yds. The bullets didn't hold together. With my load now I get a pass through at any range. Doesn't know but thinks it is the way sierra is constructed. I lost a few deer shot with the old roun{1}**** in kill areas) and recovered too late to save the meat. So I put the gun on hold so to speak until now. I'm sure there are other bullets that would do the job, but if no snow and lots of other deer tracks in Mi it becomes very hard to find a deer hit and running the 100yd dash with a kill shot without a blood trail.

At 100 yds, I would expect the Sierra Gamekings to hold together fairly well and penetrate clear through. My problem was at 25-50 yds with the 270, I would literally find the jacket and chunks of bullet core inside the deer. Obviously, it killed the deer but it came apart. I've switched to flat base bullets (primarily Hornady) and have had no problems since. Sierras bullets are manufactured the same as many others, stick a lead core into a gilding metal cup (hence the term Cup-N-Core) and then form it. Most are good to about 3000 fps or so, beyond that core/jacket separation is more likely.

I have no problem using the Sierra flat bases, I just won't run their boattails anymore.

Dale

I would not use varget for loading the 243. 34 grains only chronographed at 2542 fps out of a 22 inch barrel.

I don't know how much you shoot, Varget IMO burns dirty. I shoot some competition and experimented with a .243 Rem 700 for hunter class. shooting 50 Rnds a day, a gun gets dirty. I started useing IMR 4064, 33.5 Gr. Tried several diff powders and bullets. Found a load I liked for hunting in that process, useing IMR4064 33.5 grains with 100 GR Sierra GK. 5 shot groups at 100 yd, less than 3/4 in. at around 2750 fps. 1679 fp.

I had similar problems with 270 Win and WSM using Speer Deep Curls and Hornady Interlock SST's.  With the SST's I think the polymer tip st higher speeds and lesser distances is just explosive.  My rule of thumb is bonded bullets for 3000 FPS plus.  My only exception is Nosler, where they actually post pictures of what the bullets look like at various speeds in gel block tests.  If I were to see radical jacket separation I wouldn't use that bullet.  That said the HotCor is very thin jacketed.  Believe it or not I love the HotCor in 30-06 180 gr with RL19.  I load it to about 2650 FPS and shoot 1" groups is an old Remington 7400 semi-auto.  It flattens NYS whitetails and I think it does well in light because of its weight, SD, and speed.  It doesn't seem to defect that much and the semi is nice when you might need to zip another one out in a hurry when still hunting in tight cover or swamps. 

Posted By ckell on 08 May 2012 01:53 PM
I don't know how much you shoot, Varget IMO burns dirty. I shoot some competition and experimented with a .243 Rem 700 for hunter class. shooting 50 Rnds a day, a gun gets dirty. I started useing IMR 4064, 33.5 Gr. Tried several diff powders and bullets. Found a load I liked for hunting in that process, useing IMR4064 33.5 grains with 100 GR Sierra GK. 5 shot groups at 100 yd, less than 3/4 in. at around 2750 fps. 1679 fp.

Hmmm, I would expect just about anything with 50 rounds through it is gonna get nasty.  I have found my cleaning works well when I snake the barrel every 10 rounds or so.  It also helps the barrel cool off a bit.  I haven't found Varget to be a very dirty powder at all.  I find the Alliant powders are all dirtier than Varget.  Especially 15 and 19.  19 in a semi-auto is murder to clean. 

I load 7 or so rounds to check them out. I will clean the bore with a patch till patch no longer shows any black. Frist one or two shots are to fowl the barrel warm it up a bit. to prove the next five. My barrels were broken in, shooting 10-15 rounds cleaning bettween each shot til patch was clean, yes over kill. then another 10-15 cleaning bettween each 2 shots, like that on up to 5 shots. yes it is over kill, but Barrel becomes easy to clean. I just noticed when I used Varget it seemed to take more patchs, than when I used 3031 or 4064. Two powders I seem to have very good results with in my rifles. Every body has a powder/load that works very well for them, it may not be worth a crap for anyone else. Finding a load that works well for you and you will find that load, that you swear by takes trail and error, and hopefully you may never be satisfied with the now/new perfect load.
I had no real problem with varget, I have many powders I use an try. It you have Varget and like it it is a very good powder, there is nothing wrong with it.

I chronograph most of my loads, just to know. I noted a 100-200 fps differance in rounds in the Varget as to a 25-50 fps in 4064. It may be the lots of powders. or primer/powder combo. And hunting it ain't going to amount to a hill of beans anyway. And in hunting it is the bullet and how it acts on impact. Gel is not cheap so knowing how a bullet will react with the load you make up, is not easy.