87 bthp 243 help

223

Distinguished Member
Hi Guys

ive got a 20inch barrel on my 243 that i use as a foxing rig at this current time but i need it as a second deer gun now.

it loves 87 grain bullets (it currently fires 87vmax), so i want to stick to the 87 grains (as it does not like heavier ones) so i was thinking of the hornady 87 BTHP, now to get it deer legal (in england) i worked out that bullet (87bthp) will need to be travelling a close to 3000fps to acheive 1700 ft/ilbs.

can anybody do any fancy calculations (quickload etc etc) to tell me what powder would be needed/suitable and how much of it to acheive 3000 fps though a 20 incher please ?????????

Many thanks

ATB

Dave
 
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The Lee manual doesn't give barrel length, but suggests Accurate 5350 will give best velocity, 44 grains is the listed max charge.

Neil. :)
 
Hi Guys

ive got a 20inch barrel on my 243 that i use as a foxing rig at this current time but i need it as a second deer gun now.

it loves 87 grain bullets (it currently fires 87vmax), so i want to stick to the 87 grains (as it does not like heavier ones) so i was thinking of the hornady 87 BTHP, now to get it deer legal (in england) i worked out that bullet (87bthp) will need to be travelling a close to 3000fps to acheive 1700 ft/ilbs.

can anybody do any fancy calculations (quickload etc etc) to tell me what powder would be needed/suitable and how much of it to acheive 3000 fps though a 20 incher please ?????????

Many thanks

ATB

Dave
Ive just done a 243 for a chap with the exact same bullet 44.6 of Vit 160 with a 87gr BTHP Hornday gave 3160 FPS and produced a nice .5 MOA group,the rifle was a Browning X bolt,I also load the same bullets in another guys 243 but with 45.5 gr of powder,
 
Ive just done a 243 for a chap with the exact same bullet 44.6 of Vit 160 with a 87gr BTHP Hornday gave 3160 FPS and produced a nice .5 MOA group,the rifle was a Browning X bolt,I also load the same bullets in another guys 243 but with 45.5 gr of powder,

thankyou, do you know out of intrest what length barrel the xbolt was ????
 
just wondered if you have ever tried h414 with your ackley and the 87 grain hpbt ?
and if so what was the max charge
​regards pete

Pete. I've not done much experimentation with it. I've basically used RWS factory ammo when I got the rifle, then the load above and a 70gr SMK load for practice. I am focusing on load development for the 260 Rem at the minute and the 243 Ackley is up for sale. Regards JCS
 
Pete. I've not done much experimentation with it. I've basically used RWS factory ammo when I got the rifle, then the load above and a 70gr SMK load for practice. I am focusing on load development for the 260 Rem at the minute and the 243 Ackley is up for sale. Regards JCS

thanks for the reply Jc Regards pete
 
Hi 223. Just my experiences. I have used the Hornady 87 gr BTHP on fallow, roe and muntjac in the past and found that they were very accurate but could be rather explosive and cause too much meat damage if they hit a bone. Talking to a Hornady rep over from the US on the Edgar Bros stand at one of the CLA Game Fairs he advised the use of the 87 gr SP rather than the BTHP for deer. They are both classed as varmint bullets but the SP is a more stoutly constructed bullet and will hold together better. His other piece of advice was not to push them too fast, i.e. just over 3,000 fps muzzle velocity at max if using on deer. I tried the 87 gr SP but couldn't get the same level of accuracy through my rifle (22" barrelled T3) as I could with the BTHP. For the past three years I have been using the 85 gr Speer BTSP bullet at 3,200 fps mv and in my opinion they are a far superior deer bullet. I have used N140, N160, RL 19, RL 15 and Varget and all have performed well in my .243 with 85 and 87 grain bullets. My favourite is Varget with the Speer.
 
just wondered if you have ever tried h414 with your ackley and the 87 grain hpbt ?
and if so what was the max charge
​regards pete

Pete,

I have done extensive load developement with H414 in my .243 Ackley using 90g B/Ts and Accubonds. Showed pressure signs before I reached the velocities I was after.

Am away from home at the moment, I will P.M you with load data when I am back at base.

Regards

​Ed
 
Pete,

I have done extensive load developement with H414 in my .243 Ackley using 90g B/Ts and Accubonds. Showed pressure signs before I reached the velocities I was after.

Am away from home at the moment, I will P.M you with load data when I am back at base.

Regards

​Ed

​that would be great ed many thanks. Regards. Pete
 
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