Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 243 varmint loads

Hi guys, been on the fire for about a year now searching for good info when I need something. Finally decided it was time become an active member of this friendly community.

Anyways, down to business. Im pretty new to reloading and about to begin working on loads for my 243 using the hornady 58 gn vmax. Anyone have any suggestions on powder and charges. I was leaning toward IMR 3031

I've been loading my 243 for varmints for a couple decades. I found that 75 Hornady HP and 45 gr. of 4350 are my most accurate loads.

Well, there is quite a bit you can do with that bullet...

not to disagree with my fellow Oregonian Fred W. here, but 3031 is a good powder also...

with it you can go slower with velocity... or still get it going at a pretty high MV...

so what do you desire to accomplish... I do hope to dissuade you to not try to make a 243 into a 240 Weatherby...something that almost everyone tries to do when they start handloading...

what are you going to shoot it at once you get the ammo loaded...

a 58 V Max at high speed, probably won't be overly fur friendly.. if you are shooting coyotes and want to keep the hide..

at slower speeds, you can get in a lot of shooting with it..( like try it behind just 30 to 33 grains of 3031 for instance)

MR Willis and I will certainly agree on, that a dandy varmint bullet ( and even a deer bullet on Blacktails) is the Hornady 75 gr HP.... I've pulled the trigger and sent thousands of those things down range over the years...

I've used ONE box of 58 gr V Maxes.. I wasn't overly impressed.. but then I am biased toward the good old Sierra 60 gr HP instead and have used it for years and years....

that being said tho... the 65 gr V Max with the 87 V Max are the two most accurate of the 6mm V Maxes in all of my 6mm rifles.. ( 243 and 6mm Rem) I have burned a lot of those down the barrels in my 243s...

right now I have been working up a load in a finicky 243 ADL, that is very high velocity and the bullet is a very large opening in a 75 gr HP... the Speer model.. and the finicky rifle shoots itty-bitty groups...

I am planning on thinning out the local transients with it this winter... ( crows! not the ones down under the overpass... or in front of Walmart with the Stranded, please help, God Bless signs)...

I was just out in the shop digging out my coyote gear. I'll be using the 75gr Vmax in front of a moderate charge of Varget out of a 18 1/2" mod#7 youth with slip on butt pad. Cronograph results are right at 3000fps. 3200fps in a 22" 788. I can push them faster but I have found coyote are not bullet proof like some suggest.

Seafire, several decades ago, I bought bulk surplus powders in 4831 and 4350. 4350 seemed to be a workable powder, so I started loading it until I reached the 45 gr. load. The gun shot under 1/2" at 200 yards with that load and was the most accurate rifle I had ever owned. Never tried a different powder or bullet in the rifle. I do the same thing today with all my other guns and seldom experiment with different powders.

When I bought those powders, I was loading for an '06, 270 and 257 Roberts. I went thru 25 lbs of 4831. No wonder I had a flinch for a long time. Just too much shooting with light rifles.

Heck Fred,

its all good...I just tend to use powders that take less, so I can stretch out the old shooting budget...

I am also notorious for loading Blue Dot and a 75 grain HP....or an 80 grain Sierra SP...

For anything under 85 grs., I've yet to find a better powder than Varget.

Also, I've never cared for the 58 V-Max at all, if using that light of a bullet I've had much better results with the 55 gr. BT.

If you are just going to shoot lightweight (55 gr to 75 gr)bullets in your .243, then the medium burning powders should work great. IMR-3031, 4895, 4064, Varget all should work fine, along with ball powders H-380, Ramshot Big Game, W-760 and H-414. If you tend more to the heavier bullets, 80 gr to 100 gr, then the slower powders also come into play, IMR-4350, 4831, Reloder 19 and 22, Ramshot Hunter, Accurate 3100 and others. I use a non cannister Accurate Powder Data 86 Extruded in my .243's for bullets from 70 gr to 100 gr. For the lightweight 55 gr bullets, I prefer IMR-4064, as Varget has given me some issues in my experience.

My 77 Varmint always liked H-4895 W/ 55-75 gr pills. Never shot anything heavier as it has a 12 twist. When I ran out of 4895, Varget was a good fill in.


Swifty

Thanks for all the input. Definitely a lot to think about. The reason I chose the light vmax is because the factory loads shoot clover leafs. But definitely not dead set on them. Just looking for something light to launch at the yotes.

The most accurate load in my .243 is VERY accurate and consists of 69 gr Berger propelled by 46 gr of IMR 4350. That is an excellent bullet.