Change 100grn 243 to 55grn for foxing - zero implications

Wills

Well-Known Member
I haven't done this on paper yet, but pondering. What would be the difference in shooting a lighter varmint round for foxing through my 243 (tikka 595, standard barrel) which has lived on 100grn for deer. It is zeroed on at 100 yrds.

Ive got a bit of foxing to do and might pop for some more readily expandable ammo in the morning.

Your thoughts please.
 
Through my CZ550 in .243, Federal 55 grain nosler ballistic tip foxing rounds shoot 50mm higher at 100yds than the Federal 100 grain sierra gameking BTSP I use for roe.
 
Don't bother I do a lot of foxing (200+a year) and I use 105 gr amax. Light bullets have crap ballistic coefficients
 
Thanks all.

The same here, 105gr a max

Interesting..amax a good deer round as well? Is it available as a bought cartridge, as I don't reload.

i will stick to the soft nose federals I use. Incedently, I have a few boxes of Geco that group ok..though not shot a deer with them yet, but should upset a fox.
 
Don't bother I do a lot of foxing (200+a year) and I use 105 gr amax. Light bullets have crap ballistic coefficients


Its worth mentioning that the 105 Amax run best with an eight twist barrel - Some rifles with a 9 twist will work , but stability is marginal and it usually has a detrimental affect on accuracy.

The standard 243 is fitted with a ten twist - therefore totally unsuitable for this bullet. So if the OP or any forum members are considering this bullet , they will need a tight twist custom barrel fitted to your rifle.

IME , For fox shooting, there are much better bullets than the 105 Amax . I think the vast majority of foxes are shot below 300 yrds ( in fact most below 200 yrds would be my guess) Therefore why use a bullet who's high BC benefits really only shine at ranges well beyond that ?


For foxing , I prefer a faster , flatter bullet, the offers better expansion, than the slower an more solidly build target bullet.

The lighter bullets also give more of a safety margin regarding pass through's or ricochet's and the felt recoil is noticeably less when shooting the lighter pills.



Just my 2 penny's worth



ATB
Alan
 
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My Sako with the standard 22 5/8" 1 in 10 was tested with this bullet & gave groups in excess of one foot & many of them hit the board sideways!
 
Thanks all.



Interesting..amax a good deer round as well? Is it available as a bought cartridge, as I don't reload.

i will stick to the soft nose federals I use. Incedently, I have a few boxes of Geco that group ok..though not shot a deer with them yet, but should upset a fox.

Depending on your interpretation of the law and the marketing material AMax either is or isn't deer legal
Not aware of any full ammo available with AMax, hornady website will tell you
 
Depending on your interpretation of the law and the marketing material AMax either is or isn't deer legal
Not aware of any full ammo available with AMax, hornady website will tell you

Oh dear. I remember this post and it ended like all the blaser posts...badly and someone gets a bit excited and gets the boot.. So I will put this one to bed.
 
A friend I know who reloads and had access to a decent range shoots the 75 grain vmax and gets 5" groups at 700 yards so more than enough for foxes at any sub 400m ranges. He was surprised as the BC wasn't great for that bullet so never expected such good performance.
 
The Amax is good for everything, hornady don't do any 105 gr Amax factory rounds that I know about.
 
The .243 was designed around the 70gn bullet. I have found the 80gn Nosler Ballistic tip is an all round solution if you must just have one rifle IMO
 
My T3 shoots 100g sp zeroed at 100 and without any alterations 58g V-max at 1" high, guess i'm either lucky or just another very happy T3 owner ?
 
The .243 was designed around the 70gn bullet. I have found the 80gn Nosler Ballistic tip is an all round solution if you must just have one rifle IMO

Live settled on the 85g Sierra HPBT as an all round in mine. Initial loads have produced a .519 6 shot group at 100m so I'm happy
 
I've just bought a 6.5x55 and don't want to use my 270 for fox, so I may downgrade the bullet weight in the 243
 
Its worth mentioning that the 105 Amax run best with an eight twist barrel - Some rifles with a 9 twist will work , but stability is marginal and it usually has a detrimental affect on accuracy.

The standard 243 is fitted with a ten twist - therefore totally unsuitable for this bullet. So if the OP or any forum members are considering this bullet , they will need a tight twist custom barrel fitted to your rifle.

IME , For fox shooting, there are much better bullets than the 105 Amax . I think the vast majority of foxes are shot below 300 yrds ( in fact most below 200 yrds would be my guess) Therefore why use a bullet who's high BC benefits really only shine at ranges well beyond that ?


For foxing , I prefer a faster , flatter bullet, the offers better expansion, than the slower an more solidly build target bullet.

The lighter bullets also give more of a safety margin regarding pass through's or ricochet's and the felt recoil is noticeably less when shooting the lighter pills.



Just my 2 penny's worth



ATB
Alan
I'm not saying that it's the best, just that it's what I use (I shoot long range a lot). I said it merely to show that you don't need to use the supposedly super duper light bullets in a .243 to shoot foxs. 100grain or heavier bullets are perfectly adequate for foxing and to be honest with my rifle I shoot past 1200m regularity on targets so I never feel the need to switch to a light bullet for a fox sat a mere 300 yards or less. Stick to one bullet for everything I reckon, it just gets complicated else.
 
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