Lead ban and .243?

[Alhamander]

It will really depend on the rifle, barrel twist and velocity it achieves. My Heym has a metric twist rate that is a bit slower than 1 in 10” and must admit I struggled to get decent groups. But other rifles with traditional 1 in 10” seem to shoot them well.

If you do want to shoot a copper bullet in 243 the 100gn Bushmaster by Peregrine works very well. It is a flat nosed bullet with aerodynamics of a landrover, but up to 150 yards it hardly matters. It’s what I would use if tackling bigger deer in woodland.

I was talking rubbish, they actually are the Peregrines, I just checked! From Edinburgh Rifles. They look awesomely blunt (they are VRG3 apparently, not sure if they are the same as the Bushmaster) and I look forward to seeing how they do; it's a Tikka M595 1 in 10 (I think & assume) so ho-hum we shall see...

 

[Heym SR20]

I was talking rubbish, they actually are the Peregrines, I just checked! From Edinburgh Rifles. They look awesomely blunt (they are VRG3 apparently, not sure if they are the same as the Bushmaster) and I look forward to seeing how they do; it's a Tikka M595 1 in 10 (I think & assume) so ho-hum we shall see...

Bushmaster is new name for VRG3. I did some of the testing with my Heym. They shot very well and to same point of impact at 100 as the RWS 100gn I used to use. I think I shot a few red hinds with them. They all died very quickly.

 

[eds81]

As above, 243 has always been a bit marginal for bigger deer, this is exacerbated by non-lead and 1:10 twist rates. However as such a popular calibre, choice will improve and shorter fatter bullets help. I have no concerns for smaller deer.

If it was my only rifle, Id maybe hedge my bets and get something bigger, but if not the 243 has lots going for it. Its recoil is nearly 50% of a some of the bigger setups (factory ammo) and low recoil equals accuracy for most people.

Marginal what’s load of ballony

 

[eds81]

There’s plenty of non lead that works in a .243 an ideal calibre for smaller deer and foxing.
(I think it’s scaremongering by the creedmoor guys @VSS told me to say that)

It’s not for smaller deer and foxes what a load of shite

 

[Pedro]

In essence, firearms and projectiles have been improving over the centuries in leaps and bounds since some Chinese feller first lit up a bit of pipe with some funky substances mixed into it. But this is a backwards step. Lead is, quite simply the best readily available material for projectiles. Argue about the reasons for it's ban, and now it's happening I can only hope that the advantages of not shooting lead come to pass.

But the negatives remain. Indeed both the advantages and negatives have been given enough inches on here in recent months and years, so I'll not go into them. My hope for the future is that now it's actually happening, there'll be more research and development by manufacturers to develop better substances to fire out of those tubes that'll make up for the lack of lead, or indeed improve on lead.

Yours sincerely,
Pedro,
C/O Cloud Cuckoo Land.

 

[Liveonce]

Must be congested in Cloud Cuckoo Land with all them that work for the HSE and wrote the lead ban proposal and all them MPs who have never lived in the real world.

 

[Pedro]

Must be congested in Cloud Cuckoo Land with all them that work for the HSE and wrote the lead ban proposal and all them MPs who have never lived in the real world.

Yeah, I should be in real estate here.

 

[muddy42]

Marginal what’s load of ballony

This could be debated all day. I have several 243s and one is my go-to rifle for roe and reds, because in my hands its very accurate.
BUT if I am stalking with a beginner I will take something bigger. Also hand on heart with the lead ban coming, I just wouldn't recommend someone new to the sport to buy a 1:10 243 now as their only rifle, especially if it has (or they plan to) shorten the barrel.