243 Ackley Improved

W

W. Chad Shultz

Member
I have a SA m70 winchester with a PacNor supermatch 26" barrel and a HS stock. Redding dies. I have tried several powders,bullets, seating depths, cases, stocks, primers and barrel pressure and it just consistently shoots one inch to 1-1/2 inch groups. Thats not horrible but I am hoping for 1/2 that. Any suggestions. I have tried bullets from 80-100 grains. Twist is 1-10. Powders have been IMR 4350, RL19, RL17,RL22,and varget. Any suggestions, I,m out of ideas.
 
I had heck with my .243AI also. Fully custom and was thinking/hoping it would shoot 1/2. When I fire-formed brass it looked promising. But I went through a bunch of different powders and bullet combination's. It got pretty frustrating for awhile. I kept after it and finally found a combo that seems to be working great. One of the last groups I shot was .262
My point is keep after it.
And my gun is a 1-12" twist so I am shooting 70gr. Sierra Matchkings and H414
I wanted to be able to shoot a little heavier bullet but I just couldn't get anything else to shoot well enough.
Good luck.
 
I just shot my OCW Sunday and after reloading for 3 decades, this old dog learned a knew trick! The OCW is the real deal. Takes some time, but in the long run it saves time and ammo. The load my Kimber Montana in 243 win liked 51.7 of H 414 W/ Nos Bal Tip. 5 tenths of a grain above or below, the groups were all over the road. And I'm registering an average, according to my shooting chrony 4135 fps. I called Nosler and Hodgdon about the high numbers and they said the only real way to see if it is really going that fast is to test at longer ranges. That will have to wait cause I just set up my ground blind w/ a fresh deer rib cage @ 75 yards away to bring the yotes in. Hopefully! Lapua brass. Redding bushing dies. Redding comp seater. Three shots @ a half inch @ 100 yards. With the rig you have you can cut that in half! Have faith in the OCW! Dan is a great guy and if you have any questions he answers them pretty fast. Good luck! Keep us informed on your progress.
 
WCS

My go to load for my 243 ai is the 85 Sierra HPBT over 48.3 grains of H4831sc. I'm sure I could go hotter but I'm shooting under .3 consistently. I shot my antelope at 654 yds and a coues whitetail with it this last season. I also shot plenty of coyotes with it these past two years. I love the rifle and the round.
 
Thanks for the help guys, I'll keep playing with it and let you know what happens. I picked up some H414 as I see alot of guys use it in their 243s and AIs. I will give the Sierra 85 HPBT another go as it is one of my favorite hunting bullets.
 
Dam that sucks, First load out of the gate I shot out of my new REMINGTON 700 243 yesterday with 70g NBT/IMR4350 in 25 MPH winds was .350" LOL. Luck of the draw I guess...

Somethings gotta be seriuosly wrong with your set up somewhere... Custom 243 AI should shoot MOA or under with your eyes closed for the most part...
 
The bullet I have tried the most is the 80gr Nosler BT. I have gotten 1/2" groups from it with a stout load of 47gr of RL17. I havent chrono'ed that load yet but I think its pretty hot. How much H414 do you guys recomend with the 80 and 85 grain bullets?
 
Mine will not shoot under 3/4 unless its under 80 g and its a 1:10 .
try some 70 nbts mine shoots 3/8 with them and them only with 46.5 H380
 
Originally Posted By: W. Chad ShultzThe bullet I have tried the most is the 80gr Nosler BT. I have gotten 1/2" groups from it with a stout load of 47gr of RL17. I havent chrono'ed that load yet but I think its pretty hot. How much H414 do you guys recomend with the 80 and 85 grain bullets?

Here something to look at

http://www.angelfire.com/nd/243ackleyimproved/243AI60.htm

My 243AI has a Hart 1/10 twist barrel. I assume you check out rings/bases,bedding,scope. Have to talked to the gunsmith who build the rifle to see what he thinks?
 
I will give the 70s a try , I have alot of them. This caliber seems to be very finicky, everyone I have talked to that has had one didnt care much for it or at least has admitted to having some troubles with getting really good accuracy. It sure does look cool though.
 
I haven't had any trouble getting mine to shoot sub 1/2 MOA. I'm betting that there has to be something wrong in your set-up versus your loads. I used 87gr.Vmaxs when I had my 1:10 twist Douglas barrel with H414 and they shot great. 75 Vmaxs also shot well with H4895 (I think). A full-custom rig put together by a competent gunsmith should shoot many loads under MOA. At least that has been what I have seen.
 
I'll go back over everything on the rifle again just to be sure. I always keep the barrel clean. If it still wont shoot I will take it back and have more checked out. I thought the 1-10 twist would be the best for 80-95 gr bullets, did I pick the wrong twist?
 
I have a 243AI and I had similar problems to what you are experiencing.....
I have what is supposed to be a .273 neck in the chambler of my gun..... I found I had to turn the necks down to .269 on a loaded round to get the accuracy....... the biggest jump I had in accuracy was to anneal the necks...
I got some bart's bullets in 68 gr and annealed the necks and started shooting less than 1/2 moa and some .2 and .3 groups....
I haven't tried anything else just pay the $$ for the bart's.... I spent enuf time and $$ chasing a good load..65 to 87 gr and most in between and 4-5 powders..... I am just going to shoot this one.... I load VV 550... great accuracy and velocity in this sized case.... used it was good success in a 6mm remington....

I think it seems to me that my 243 AI likes loads to be "hot"
 
I had my smith go back over the rifle awhile back and the chamber was off. We cut the barrel down and rechambered it. I am happy to say it now shoots bug holes at 100 and can keep 3 under an inch at 300 regularly. Took my son antelope hunting for the first time today with it. He missed a nice buck at 400 yards but that was a tough shot for his first crack at a big game animal, we did get 3 coyotes with it today though! It was a great day.
 
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