Suggest me a no nonsense 243 copper bullet - please!

[Essexsussex]

Hi all

Ideally I don’t want to do months of testing etc, I don’t need 0.25” groups just reasonable accuracy.

Mainly shooting fallow, my 243 rifle is a savage with a 9.25 twist rate.

Ideally (Again) I’d be using N160 as I use that for all my rifles.

Shooting exclusively in England so the 100gr thing doesn’t come into play (isn’t that being changed anyway?!)

Thanks for looking and sorry if this is covered elsewhere.

ES

 

[Utectok]

Yew tree tlr I’ve never managed a group larger than this 1” in any load and they have proven terminal performance. If you don’t have 1:8 twist barrel shoot the standard yew tree if you do the tlr is best

 

[Merlyn]

Sako 80gn Power Blade work in my .243 Tikka T3. Very tight group and seem to do the business.

 

[JockStalk]

80gr TTSX

 

[Essexsussex]

Thanks everyone a few to go on there.

 

[Lochens]

80g Fox

 

[Brighty3006]

80.5 Yew tree. 43 grains N160

 

[Brighty3006]

Can now use them in Scotland

 

[Too Deer]

Virtus Merlin or Osprey in 80gr. Exceptional accuracy, easy to load and great expansion.

 

[Firefly]

85gr TSX

 

[stevenedwards]

As previously suggested with your twist rate 80.5 grain Yew Tree and N-160. In my rifle 42.8 grains and 74th off the lands works very well and will stop larger animals reliably at sensible distances. I use the one round for everything. Phone Richard

 

[Too Deer]

They all have pros and cons; you need to pick the right one for you.

Take a look at this thread and decide for yourself.

Choosing lead-free bullets

 

[Essexsussex]

As previously suggested with your twist rate 80.5 grain Yew Tree and N-160. In my rifle 42.8 grains and 74th off the lands works very well and will stop larger animals reliably at sensible distances. I use the one round for everything. Phone Richard

Since muir questioned why I would chase the lands, I haven’t! But have emailed with Richard who very quickly was very helpful and my starting point will be saami coal n160 and 42-43grains. Hoping I get sub 1” and will then give up load development for another ten years. If not it will be upping the load and varying depth seating.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Essexsussex]

They all have pros and cons; you need to pick the right one for you.

Take a look at this thread and decide for yourself.

Choosing lead-free bullets

Thanks
I enjoyed your article very much. I would add one more variable relevant to a loading simpleton like me - someone who can tell me what to do as a starting point! The SD has mainly pointed me to Yew Tree, and Richard has quickly helped demystify.

the SD wins again, thanks everyone

 

[Heym SR20]

Just to be clear, Scotland now has a minimum bullet weight of 80gn rather than 100gn for all deer other than Roe.

 

[nun_hunter]

Since muir questioned why I would chase the lands, I haven’t! But have emailed with Richard who very quickly was very helpful and my starting point will be saami coal n160 and 42-43grains. Hoping I get sub 1” and will then give up load development for another ten years. If not it will be upping the load and varying depth seating.

Thanks everyone.

At least you got that info from him! When I said I wasn't interested in measuring off the lands but wanted a good starting point so what would be a good OAL it was as if it declared war against his first born child

I ended up basing my OAL off similar weight copper bullets and then tweaked the OAL slightly to get sub 1".

However after all that I wish I'd stuck with the Sako Blade ammo which is equally as accurate, performs really well and didn't require any reloading. I'm shooting less than 20 deer a year so the cost is negligible and if anything saving on load development means factory is cheaper for a few years at least and supply is pretty consistent now too.

 

[devon deer stalker]

From what I understand Sako Blade is the Barnes bullet, I use the Barnes 80g TTSX in my .243 and shoot CWD up to large Devon Stags, great bullet.

 

[Adam f]

Another vote for Yew Tree, Ive been blown away in the past few months. Nothing whatsoever to cause me anything other than confidence with Copper. I'd advise going down and doing the day with Richard to work up a bespoke load for your rifle if you can.

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

From what I understand Sako Blade is the Barnes bullet, I use the Barnes 80g TTSX in my .243 and shoot CWD up to large Devon Stags, great bullet.

The Sako Powerhead II was a Barnes TTSX.

The Sako Powerhead Blade is loaded with their own proprietary bullet:

Sako Powerhead Blade Hunting Ammunition

 

[devon deer stalker]

The Sako Powerhead II was a Barnes TTSX.

The Sako Powerhead Blade is loaded with their own proprietary bullet:

Sako Powerhead Blade Hunting Ammunition

Where there you go, if I get a Roe using the TTSX tomorrow morning I'll report back