Any suggestions.

N.F.W.M

Well-Known Member
I have recently had my Sako 75 .243 re barrelled with an Archer barrel, 600mm length, 1:10 twist, and pillar bedded into a Mcmillan stock. I have a P.E.S mod on the end. I shot the barrel in as per the Border Barrel instructions. I have only been re loading a short while and I'm struggling to find a load that suits.

This rifle is used only for deer, I often use it at decent ranges on parkland deer so am looking for a light and fast deer suitable bullet

I have been using 90g Nosler ballistic tips. So far I have tried Vit N150, Vit N160 and IMR 4831. I use Lapua brass and Federal 210M primers. Brass has been shot 3 times with full resizing between uses. I have seated the bullet 10 thou off the lands. The smallest group I have managed is just below the inch at 100. I have shot loads with mod on and with mod off. I know it is possibly a bit anal to be wanting tighter groups but after spending sh*t loads on the rifle... I do.

The first thing I doubted was my shooting so tonight while working thru a load with my 243 I had my 308 with me and shot a raggedy 5 shots one hole group with 150g Nosler ballistic tips in Lapua brass with Federal 210M primers and 44g of Vit N135.

Any suggestions on any aspect of the above would be greatly appreciated. Should I keep trying different powders with the Nosler 90g if so which ? Should I be trying a different bullet weight and type, if so any suggestions ? Seating depth ?

Cheers

Sticks
 
Hi Sticks , a great load for my 85 in .243 is as follows.
Nosler ballistic tip 95g
44.5g Vhit N560
Fireformed Lapua brass neck sized
Remington 9 1/2 large rifle primer
Col 2.760.
This load in my rifle produces a one hole group ,not saying its going to do the same for yours but may give you something to work on.
All the best Brough.
 
The Nos Bt's do have a reputation for being a bit finicky.
I would try a few different bullets. Maybe a few lighter ones just to see what the rifle likes. 75 or 87 vmax maybe. I use 80gr sierra varminters which are just bog standard boat tail soft points. They seem very cosistent and I let em jump a huge ammount. Rather have them sitting max bearing surface in the case. 40gr of N140 seems to work well in my remmy sporter.
edi
 
park deer bullet selection

Hi,
If you are shooting park deer are you looking for head or neck shots? If i was i would look at an 85 gr soft point as well. If you are mostly neck or head shooting but sometimes having to chest shoot then a more robustly constructed heavier bullet maybe the ticket. Speers 90 gr hot core is a "hard" bullet that is still not in the premium bullet price range.

an inch is pretty good!

it would be a shame to sacrafice the bullets terminal performance to tighten up a tight enough group?

ruki
 
Sticks

i shot a Sako 85 and the accruate load i have found in my rifle is as follows.
1/85gr sierra gameking HPBT Rem neck sized brass Rem 9 1/2 primer 38gr Varget powder

2/ 85gr sierra gameking HPBT Rem neck sized brass Rem 9 1/2 primer 48gr RL19 powder

both loads shoot sub 1/4"@ 100m all day long and i did manage a clover leaf group on sunday @200m with the Varget load . i also use these loads with a 85gr Barnes TSX and produce the same results .

to get to these loads i carried out ladder tests for best groups.

hope this helps....neil
 
Sticks

i shot a Sako 85 and the accruate load i have found in my rifle is as follows.
1/85gr sierra gameking HPBT Rem neck sized brass Rem 9 1/2 primer 38gr Varget powder

2/ 85gr sierra gameking HPBT Rem neck sized brass Rem 9 1/2 primer 48gr RL19 powder

both loads shoot sub 1/4"@ 100m all day long and i did manage a clover leaf group on sunday @200m with the Varget load . i also use these loads with a 85gr Barnes TSX and produce the same results .

to get to these loads i carried out ladder tests for best groups.

hope this helps....neil
 
i had real problems getting my 243 custom to shoot with interbonds and varget gave up and worked up a new load using sierra gamekings hpbt 85 grain
and 44.5 grains of H414 over a win mag primer oal at 2.665 thats 1 thou off lands in mine shot a 0.289 group at 100 yards
this load brought a tear to my eye after much frustration
each rifles different i thinks its quite rewarding tinkering and finding your own
i would try varget and h414 they seem to work well in most rifles in 243 however all the above advice obviuosly works for those chaps with great results
enjoy
 
I use 44 gr of Vit 160 with a Sierra varminter 85 gr or 87gr Vmax.
CCI200 primers (which I read a test on and the reckoning was that they were the best primers).
It groups in the .4s with this.
You need to ask your gun smith the best OAL as custom chambers appear to require to be closer to the lands than factory chambers.
I seat mine 70thou off the lands (factory barrel Sako).

Did you get a short length of barrel with a dummy chamber cut into it when you got your barrel back as some smiths do this as a reference for you when reloading.
 
Try a different bullet head for starters.
I would start with n160 powder as that usually works well with most 243 bullets.
 
Back
Top