.243

Pirate hunter

Well-Known Member
Just got a sako finnlight 20inch barrel 1-10 twist got some 56gr ammo to try and there not stablizing at all, do I need to be closer to 80-100gr bullets for this twist rate. Any advice would be great.

ATB Andy
 
Hi Andy

I sold mine a while back but I never got anything lighter than 87grn to group at all. Found it was pretty indifferent to any 100grn bullet and grouped well - didn't matter if they were interlocks, accubonds, partitions etc just seemed it was the weight and not a profile issue. 100grn worked just as well on foxes as on deer so having a versatile round does have its benefits.

May I suggest just getting a box of 100grns (anything) and see how they perform - some rifles just don't like light bullets.

Hope that helps

FN
 
Hi Andy,

Are you sure that they are not stabilising? Do they hit the target side ways / make a key hole shaped hole? I would think that a long bullet eg 105gn might not stabilise with a 1/10 twist but a short 56 gr should. It may just be very high speed / spin rate / centrifugal force creating a large group. I have also read of light thin jacket .243 bullets disintegrating if pushed too hard.

Or maybe this ammo just does not suit the rifle. I would suggest to try another ammo / bullet weight. I use 70 -100 gn in my 1/10 .243 and it works for me.

ATB


Stew
 
I didnt think they could be stabilising as the 5 shot group was about 6-7 inch. I will be using this rifle for deer as well as foxes. I will try a heavier bullet see if that makes the difference.

Andy
 
Hi Andy
I have a Sako 85 in .243 and it shoots Norma 58 grain v max very well,wouldn't use them on deer though.Give Sako 90 grain soft points a try if you want to shoot both fox and deer,Basil won't notice any difference but you will get a lot less carcass damage on the deer.Hope this helps
Nik..
 
Hi Andy i have 2 sako 85's both in .243 i use federal 100gn in the one i use for deer and federal 55gn in the one i use for fox, i find both very accurate and consistent.

ATB
 
My .243Win never liked any bullet heavier than 95gn. Yes I could shoot a 100/105gn within a 4" dia. but 95gn would all group much better. Never had any misgivings about shooting fox or deer with the bullet and can only say it works well for me. ATB
 
My .243Win never liked any bullet heavier than 95gn. Yes I could shoot a 100/105gn within a 4" dia. but 95gn would all group much better. Never had any misgivings about shooting fox or deer with the bullet and can only say it works well for me. ATB
+1 90gn-95gn works best in my R8 .243w.atb Tim
 
Hi Andy
I have a Sako 85 in .243 and it shoots Norma 58 grain v max very well,wouldn't use them on deer though.Give Sako 90 grain soft points a try if you want to shoot both fox and deer,Basil won't notice any difference but you will get a lot less carcass damage on the deer.Hope this helps
Nik..


Good advice.

I started using Sako 90gr SP in my Sako A2 1 in 10 and they were perfectly ok. The brass is now used for reloading.

Cheers + ATVB

Philip
 
Modified greenhills formulae in 243 suggests that 85gr is the optimum max bullet weight in relation to a twist rate of 1:10 I put 75gr through my sako SS syn in 243 - it also takes 58 vmax/superformance just fine.
 
my finlight will shoot 55's acceptably but is happier with 75-85grn these are reloads but so far 75grn vmax seem devastating on foxes and group very well and 85grn sierra soft points are probably the most accurate load I've found for it and seem to drop deer fine.

It may be worth trying a different brand of the lighter bullets if you want to use them or trying something heavier with an intention to use them for foxes and deer. I find the 85 soft points work just as well as anything on foxes, the other issue is if the rifle is brand new then you need to check a different type of ammo just to make sure something will group as that spread sounds like something is amiss to me rather than not stabilising.
 
I had a Model 70 243 that would shoot the light VM into a bug hole if I didn't load them too hot. The rifle went to my daughter. My next Model 70 243 won't put those VM's into a peach basket at 100 yards and doesn't seem to want to group very well with 80 grain bullets, either, despite patient coaxing. Just shows you how two identical rifles can have preferences.~Muir
 
My Sako A11 with 1in 10 twist will shoot 80 95 100 and 105gr bullets without any noticeable difference in tightness of groups I don't know how it would perform with bullets lighter than 80gr as I have never tried them.
 
surely unstable bullets dont leave round holes?
are they unstable or just not grouping?
they arent necessarily the same are they?

I would have thought there are better calibre to be chucking 55gr bullets

I have some 90gr .270 bullets. they look ridiculous!
 
I would have thought there are better calibre to be chucking 55gr bullets

I have some 90gr .270 bullets. they look ridiculous!

depends what you want as a foxing round they are pretty devastating and can be loaded not far off 4000fps which makes them very flat, I tend to stick to 75 vmax or 85 soft points but the lighter bullets are devastating and with the speed there is an added safety factor at night as they tend to just obliterate when they hit something.
 
All this I fail to see anywhere it mentioned that LFC bullets shed velocity very fast. Once they shed their velocity they no longer shoot "flat" but drop quickly.
 
If you call 4.5 inches of drop at 300 yards from a 200 yard zero dropping fast then they do. For practical use lamping foxes thats quite acceptable where I come from.

Those figures are from 58gr Hornady factory .243 and you can get better reloading
 
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