What bullet do you prefer in 243 for groundhogs?

wahoowad

Member
Just curious what bullet others shoot in their 243 when they use it for groundhogs. I'm using the Hornady 58 grain V-Max. Works fine. Just curious.
 
The Sierra 85 grain BTHP used to be my go to bullet in my 6mm and 243's. I started using them before the NBT's hit the market. Now I pretty much favor the NBT's in 70 grain. I've never tried the V Max's in any of my 6mm's, but I have friends that have very good luck with them.
F1
 
55g NBT seated out to 0.020" off the lands, win brass, WLR or Wolf large rifle primer, 44.0g IMR4895. 3714 fps out of a 22" 1:10 barrel.

SavageModel10AnBbarrel-1CRS.jpg


I realize there are faster loads, but that's what shoots in my rifle (rebarreled Savage M10).

Fitch
 
in my custom encore setup. 70gr nosler bt over varget. good enough to take out starlings (blackbirds) out to 400 with boring regularity. the woodchucks dont stand a chance with them. they also worked well with the few songdogs i've used them on.
 
103 GR Spencers . I have always gone to the heavy bullets for better BC and for wind purposes and i find the custom bullets arent that much more to purchase . I have liked the 6mm because of the bullets that are out there from the custom world and i'm not talking Berger's either.
 
Originally Posted By: Fitch55g NBT seated out to 0.020" off the lands, win brass, WLR or Wolf large rifle primer, 44.0g IMR4895. 3714 fps out of a 22" 1:10 barrel.

SavageModel10AnBbarrel-1CRS.jpg


I realize there are faster loads, but that's what shoots in my rifle (rebarreled Savage M10).

Fitch

What make of BBL is that? that is a sweet rifle.

Jim
 
^ +1 that is a sweet lookin rig


I have a 243 upper from Scott on the way that will sport a 1:12. I plan on shooting 55 NBT out of her!
 
I was running 70 Nosler Ballistic Tips with Lapua neck sized brass, CCI 250 Large Rifle Magnum primers, and either 39gr. of IMR 4064 at 3463fps or 40gr. of Varget at 3450fps. The first load is what I used in Shenandoah Groundhogs and had almost no exits in about every hog I shot. The size varied greatly too, it wasn't just the big tough ones. It has been a great load for killing power and lack of over penetration, but suffers severely in the wind once you get out there into the 400yds+ range. I plan to try some 87VLD Bergers this year, hopefully my rifle gets back in time to give them a go on paper then a hog before it gets too late. I really liked the 70's ability to stay in target, so I may go back to them if the 87's don't cut it. I tried the 65 V-maxes, they splashed real bad on the hogs and weren't very accurate in my rifle. They did cut a few hogs in half though
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87gr Vmax's made a mess of a bunch of hogs, and not bad in the wind tried some out of the 6-284 also but haven't gotten the accuracy I'm getting from the 243
 
Originally Posted By: jimmypOriginally Posted By: Fitch55g NBT seated out to 0.020" off the lands, win brass, WLR or Wolf large rifle primer, 44.0g IMR4895. 3714 fps out of a 22" 1:10 barrel.

SavageModel10AnBbarrel-1CRS.jpg


I realize there are faster loads, but that's what shoots in my rifle (rebarreled Savage M10).

Fitch

What make of BBL is that? that is a sweet rifle.

Jim

Thanks!

The rifle is a Savage Model 10 package rifle that didn't shoot for pooh. So I used it as a project (I have a lathe and mill and do my own barrel work). The barrel is a 1:10 twist take off Adams & Bennett from a 6mmBR that a friend of mine had on his bench rest rifle. He put a bunch of rounds through it but he wanted a 1:8 to shoot heavier bullets, so he took it off. My original factory barrel was a worthless POS full of tooling chatter like this,

6inchesfrommuzzle-2.jpg


I really needed a replacement barrel, so he sold the A&B to me for $40.00. I was just getting started with rebarreling rifles so I was delighted to have a $40.00 practice barrel. I sawed the chamber off and rechambered it in .243 - trued up the action

SetupOnMandrel-RS.jpg


and dual pillar bedded it with Devcon 10110 while I had it all apart. It shoots 55g, 75g, and 95g bullets equally well. It has a Bushnell Banner 6-24x40AO with a Mil-Dot reticle on it.

It was only my second chambering job. All things considered, it turned out to be a very capable rifle for not much money invested.

Fitch
 
My rifle shot the factory 58 V-MAX really well right out of the box but I now handload 70NBT's in Lapua brass with CCI BR-2 primers & Reloader 19. 48.1 gets me about 3,275 fps. I've shot faster (Varget @ 42.8 for nearly 3,500 fps), but I got tighter groups with RL19 and this formula can strike reliably now out to at least 325 yards, so why burn a barrel?

If you want to really turn them inside out though, try that 80 SBT (Blitz) varminter bullet of Sierra's! I'm going to try these again shortly myself - I really, really liked this bullet's performance in the field. Accurate way out there, seems to foul less, comes apart TOTALLY on contact with a g-hog and yet seems to hold up better in grass if you happen to nip some... more so than the plastic tips anyway. BC's are similar between this and the 70, what - maybe .310 compared to .319. You can't go wrong with either one of these. I also plan to try the 75 V-MAX, but I have a 22-250 now to shoot the 45-55gr stuff. I wanted the 243 for a bit more wind bucking ability and so I really think I want to be in that 70-80gr range. Use whatever works best in yours.
 
+1 on this.Originally Posted By: Flyrod1The Sierra 85 grain BTHP used to be my go to bullet in my 6mm and 243's. I started using them before the NBT's hit the market. Now I pretty much favor the NBT's in 70 grain. I've never tried the V Max's in any of my 6mm's, but I have friends that have very good luck with them.
F1
 
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