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Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet

#61: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: hunterjoe21, Location: Miles City, Montana

Posted: Sat May 12, 2018 11:45 pm
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English Mike wrote:

I bought a motorised annealer earlier this year but have yet to try it out as what brass i currently have has only had one load through it.
I'm thinking to anneal every third load.
Using RCBS X dies too so there should be a little less work hardening.

Mike,

Care to expand on your new equipment?...

Make, Model, etc...

#62: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: English Mike, Location: Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 12:48 pm
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hunterjoe21 wrote:

English Mike wrote:

Mike,

Care to expand on your new equipment?...

Make, Model, etc...

It came from Bulgaria. Cost me £170 ($230) with two rotors to cover multiple calibres/cartridge sizes.

Video here: youtu.be/Gqoh0cM5FvU

I already had a propane gas torch with a fine nozzle.

#63: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: slimjim, Location: Fort Worth TX

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 7:39 pm
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hunterjoe21 wrote:

I full length sized everything, including these. At some point, I started setting my die to just bump the shoulder back by .003” on these.

hunterjoe, you are still full-length resizing. 0.003" shoulder bump is what I use for semi-autos. I use 0.001" for bolt action. Just enough that there is a slight drag when closing the bolt. This didn't work will with Federal brass for me as it seems to spring back more than other brass.

#64: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: hunterjoe21, Location: Miles City, Montana

Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 5:31 pm
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Slim,

I couldn’t remember the exact measurements, so I measured a case that was fired yesterday (Winchester plated case, once fired- 95 gr Winchester Ballistic Silvertip). Before sizing, it measured 1.629” with a Hornady comparator. With the RCBS FL sizing die set up following RCBS directions, the sized case measures 1.623”. This may differ from my “old” measurements, since this load was originally developed on a RCBS turret press, which has about .010” play in the turret head. Now that I’m using a Rock Chucker, the measurements are much more consistent. My original “goal” was to set back the shoulder .002”, but with the slop in the turret, I couldn’t always get resized cases to chamber. Once I changed the “goal” to .003”, I rarely had an issue chambering anything. I haven’t bothered aiming for .001”, since the load has worked out well.

#65: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: slimjim, Location: Fort Worth TX

Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 5:58 pm
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hunterjoe, when I followed RCBS directions, I ended up moving the shoulder back too far. Looks like you ended up with 0.006" of set-back. I opened mine up and adjusted so there was a slight drag on the bolt handle when closing. When you made the case measurement, did you deprime the fired cases? I find the primers add variation in the measurements. When I deprimed, the measurements on my cases were within 0.001" of each other. Since you are now 0.006" set-back. I think it would be worth a try.

#66: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: hunterjoe21, Location: Miles City, Montana

Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 7:31 pm
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Slim,

I use a separate decapping die as a first step, regardless whether I’m working with 1-2 pieces of brass or cleaning several hundred. I haven’t worked on any new .243 loads in a long time, since the SGK load worked so well. Now that I have the RC press and am playing with some different .243 bullets (just ‘cause) I’ll reset the FL die for a .001” set back and see what happens.

#67: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: hunterjoe21, Location: Miles City, Montana

Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 8:25 pm
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Just for S&G’s, I checked my notes. The SGK load was originally assembled and tested in 09/2008. The target I saved shows a .368” group fired at that time. The target pictured earlier in this thread (shots 8-10) is .410”.

#68: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: slimjim, Location: Fort Worth TX

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 8:52 pm
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hunterjoe21 wrote:

I’ll reset the FL die for a .001” set back and see what happens.

Let us know how it turns out.

#69: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: hunterjoe21, Location: Miles City, Montana

Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 8:01 pm
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I did some initial testing of the bullests mentioned earlier in this thread last weekend. So far, it looks like the 2 Barnes bullets loaded over Ramshot Hunter have some accuracy potential. The Nosler AB might not be far behind and the Nosler Partition loads seemed erratic, but I only had time to test them with one of the powders I had them loaded with.

Brass is in the tumbler and will be sized with a slight shoulder bump (.001”) and we’ll see what happens this weekend.

#70: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: slimjim, Location: Fort Worth TX

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 12:23 pm
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How the fun of load development! Keep us posted.

#71: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: Elvis, Location: south island New Zealand

Posted: Sat May 19, 2018 11:24 pm
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hunterjoe21......Ive said it before Id rather use a partition that does a 2" group at 100 than something else that is super accurate if terminal preformance wasnt going to be as good. the EBRG/TWOFORFREE is pretty much considered a humain deer rifle to 250 yards as it runs out of steam past that.... I would be loading them partitions hot and see what they are like and playing with something else incase of a longer shot...partition up first and next round in mag an accurate one,it takes but a second or two to flick top round out and any shot past 150 yards should have plenty of time to swap loads.
funny thing is most every EBRG Ive had anything to do with are tack drivers.

#72: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: hunterjoe21, Location: Miles City, Montana

Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 12:20 am
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What does EBRG stand for???

I hate to sound like I’’m developmentally disabled, but even thr Great And Powerful Google won’t tell me...

Last edited by hunterjoe21 on Sun May 20, 2018 10:53 am; edited 1 time in total

#73: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: Elvis, Location: south island New Zealand

Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 1:14 am
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Ear
Burrowing
Rat
Gun

if you stick it far enough into the ear canal it should kill it.

#74: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: hunterjoe21, Location: Miles City, Montana

Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 10:21 am
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Elvis,

I have not written off the Partition at this point. I only had time to test them with one of the powders (H1000) I have them loaded with. I will continue testing the next time back at the range.

I’ve been intrigued by the mono-metal bullets for a while, but never did any testing with them. Their tendency to retain their weight is a big factor for me. I read a great article a while back about this (wish I could remember where it was) that made sense to me. If I can get a bullet that starts out weighing 80 grains, and still weighs 80 grains after it strikes the target, I’m better off than using one that starts out weighing 95 grains, but only weighs 60 grains at the end of it’s trip. Plus, as Slim has mentioned several times, unleaded bullets result in unleaded steaks...

#75: Re: Recommendations for a .243 deer hunting bullet Author: Elvis, Location: south island New Zealand

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 2:51 am
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I believe a say 70 grn twoforfree solid copper jobbie SHOULD be a real game changer.... it will be super fast and really open up...it still wont do the job any betterer than a decent cup n core load and as for loosing steaks.......shoot them somewhere else,the EBRG made its name over here in the heyday of meat hunting when head/neck shot deer were worth good money whereas shoulder shot ones not so much once whacking off back wheels only was stopped.
the fly in ointment/flip side of coin is this...a near miss of vitals with a frangible cup n core load should still put bits of projectile into vitals..eg a gut shot should/could take out liver ,hips take out big veins/artleries through pelvis region. whereas a non fragmenting projectile no matter how much it expands will only have bullet path and shock wave to do damage....similar to subsonic discussion....
wise old fella (probably oriental) once said "you cant make an omlet without breaking eggs"........... we want our loads to kill animals as fast and humainly as posible yet the recent trend is making loads less efffective,remember the hoohah when lead shot was banned for waterfowl??? and see where that has lead to (pun intended) guys now have either changed shooting style/ranges or are using even more expensive loads that are heavier than lead was.
my last two deer were both shot with simple cup n core hornady interlocks from .270 both were simple broadside slightly behind leg through n throughs . the first was along way from wagon so butchery wast too fussy the 2nd one got trip out to wagon and I lost a grand total of 2 table spoons of meat from the whole animal.
the next two animals were pigs...one a head shot that ended up at first nipple on off side...lost no meat
2nd was shot too far back with super explosive oldschool silvertip 150grn from .308 we lost about two cupfulls of meat half off one hind leg and rest was just flap meat anyway...that was a piss poor hurried shot that I called too far back as I fired..dog grabbed pig and it expired in about 20 seconds due to liver /kidneys major blood vessels being pulped.
dont get me wrong I quite like mono loads and use them in my .223 for big game for reason you give above..Ive got 110grn pills for .270 aswell cause they were cheap but they wont do anything my cup n cores can do better.
the old timers over here used 100grn cup n cores in .243 and shoulder shot for best effect....guys are still doing just that with same great effect...hint the blue box federals are a favourite load.

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