building a 243 for long range shooting

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sniper81

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i have a savage model 11 in 243 thinking of ordering a new barrel in either 1in7 or 1in8 twist,and around 18-20 inch leaning more toward the 18 my question is with that short of barrel can i still reach out and touch what im shooting at say around 7-800yds
 
You can do that with a shorty. You know it won't last forever though for true precision work? The 95 SMK will be a good cheap bullet. 1:8 will do fine though I use a 1:9.

Greg
 
Faster twist with heavier bullets.
Ive been happy with my 18" 308 AR10 out to 850 yards with 178 ELDX. If a slow 308 can do it, id imagine a 243 would do it no problem.
Ive gotten out to 1200 yards with a 20" 223.
 
the build is going to be mostly used for coyotes out to that range,and some metal plinking, just got done reading some material about barrel length in 243, shortest they recommend 22inch,to get the complete powder burn,so ill have to crunch some numbers to see what length will work for my application
 
Those 87 VMAX will work for you and you can push them hard in that one. A 22" would be my choice as you mentioned but an 18" will not fail to kill out yonder if the target is warm. You will be getting some pretty stout muzzle blast with the shorty though. You might talk to Ritch about getting you a good barrel.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterThose 87 VMAX will work for you and you can push them hard in that one. A 22" would be my choice as you mentioned but an 18" will not fail to kill out yonder if the target is warm. You will be getting some pretty stout muzzle blast with the shorty though. You might talk to Ritch about getting you a good barrel.

Greg

You could do a 25 Souper and sling the 90 gr Sierra BK as well with good results, I'd suspect.
 
yeah figured the blast would be stout,might have it threaded and do a comp/brake,and was looking at either something in 87gr up to 115gr
 
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I built a .243 a few years ago off of a Remington 700 Varmint Special. Replaced the barrel with a heavy varminter barrel from Rock Creek in a 8.5 twist at 26 inches. It's like launching mortor rounds down range. Not flat at all. They get there and hit hard but you'll need a spotter to check your hits. My first .243 was a Remington 788 with the 18.5 inch carbine barrel. LOUD !! but that gun was unreal accurate. Great caliber . I shoot the 105 grn. A max from Hornady (discontinued). I may have to switch to those 95 grn's and see how they do.
 
Originally Posted By: sniper81i have a savage model 11 in 243 thinking of ordering a new barrel in either 1in7 or 1in8 twist,and around 18-20 inch leaning more toward the 18 my question is with that short of barrel can i still reach out and touch what I'm shooting at say around 7-800yds?

Easily!
 
Originally Posted By: xphunterOriginally Posted By: sniper81i have a savage model 11 in 243 thinking of ordering a new barrel in either 1in7 or 1in8 twist,and around 18-20 inch leaning more toward the 18 my question is with that short of barrel can i still reach out and touch what I'm shooting at say around 7-800yds?

Easily!

It’ll do 1000, plus.
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A barrel that short must be crazy loud. I put in ear plugs loosely to take the edge off when calling with my 22" .243. If not, I have a headache all day and ringing ears... No dog is worth hearing loss...

Personally, I would be thinking about a 24" or 26"...
 
well after doing more research i decided on 24 inch,which is what is on the rifle now,read alot of data over last couple days and from what i gather if i want the 243 to last dont let it get to hot and keep the pressure on reloads low,so now looking at what powder to use and gr of bullet that wont produce alot of pressure and is good for yotes out to 5-600yds
 
I shoot 105gr in a 20", 8 twist .243 running R17 and 2900 FPS and am not standing on the load at ALL. One of the funnest guns I shoot and my son, who was 7 at the time, loved it as well.

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Originally Posted By: sniper81that is a sweet looking rig there, thats what my build in my head looks like, how far you stretch that out to

I shoot it out to 800+ yds regularly.
 
My shortest 243/243AI is 22" and 1-8" tw and with 105's will carry well past the 1000yd line. I'd not be scared of an 18" 1-7 or 1-8" twist at all.
 
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