105 Amax load workup - Beginner needing advice.

[Rmitch223]

Let me start by saying I am completely new to reloading.
My step dad recently bought me a Hornady LocknLoad kit to start reloading. Ive reloaded with him only a few times and I plan to study and learn as much as I can before I get started. I'm building my bench now and getting everything lined out to get started.

I'm currently thinking a lot about my initial load work up.
I'm going to be shooting 105gr Amax bullets threw a Rem 700 SPS Varmint in .243.

A friend on mine loaded up the following load for me that shot 1/2" groups at 100yrds.

105gr amax
42.5gr of IMR 4350
Federal 210M primers
Seated at 2.800 COAL

The COAL is longer than all my reloading books state. Is this too long? Feeds well and shoots well I just want to be safe.

I'm curious since this load shot so well that I should just duplicate it. But reloading manuals I have looked at recently say that this is too high of a charge weight and its exceeded max pressure by 6000lbs. (66,000lbs)

Is this a safe load to start with?

Should I start at 38gr and work up to it in .5gr increments?

The fired brass show a slightly cratered primer where the firing pin hits it, but the edges of the primer are not flattened. I will add pics of the fired brass soon. Is this a sign or too much pressure or is it just because the Rem 700 firing pin hole is larger than the firing pin?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Please advise if any information needed to answer my questions is not provided above.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[velvetant]

First off welcome to the forum...
The COAL used in manuals is just a guide and should fit most rifles out there.
The nice thing about reloading is you can set the COAL just about any place you want for your rifle as long as its safe and functions.
The powder charge is a high by 2.5gr in my manual and I would load it down and work back up.
And yes the cratering could be an oversize firing pin hole, my Rem 700 is that way and even the mildest loads show cratering so I don't worry about it.
The real experts will be along shortly to help you out.

 

[Guy Miner]

Ryan, welcome to the forum, and to the hobby/addiction that is handloading.

The .243 Win is a terrific cartridge! What do you plan on doing with it? Target shooting? Varmints? Deer hunting? All of them? Yes, it will do all those things!

Here's a link to an excellent article on handloading the .243 Win: http://www.6mmbr.com/243Win.html

I cannot condone loading over the max charges listed in published reloading manuals, but you would do well to consult multiple sources. Hodgdon has some very good load data published on line, including for IMR 4350. See Hodgdon's site: http://www.hodgdon.com/

They recommend a maximum of 40.2 grains of IMR 4350 with the 105 A-Max.

Gain experience first, then make the call if you want to exceed published maximum loads. To start with though I'd absolutely recommend sticking within the published "book" maximum powder charges.

Your choice of the A-Max bullet is interesting. It's a very good target bullet and at one point several years ago was used to set a 1,000 yard record at a benchrest club outside of Missoula, Montana. I've found it accurate from my 6mm Rem as well. For hunting I prefer the 95 - 100 grain Nosler bullets for their superb on-game performance.

The overall length of 2.8" is fine - that's about all that a short-action Remington magazine will accept. As long as it functions well, I'd load it to about 2.8" as well.

The Federal 210 match primers are an excellent choice as well. I've found them to be very consistent and use them in several cartridges where I expect excellent accuracy. Your rifle has already demonstrated that it is capable of a high degree of accuracy, which is not surprising since it's a Remington 700.

Again, Welcome! Guy

 

[DrMike]

Welcome to the forum. Both Velvetant (Randy) and Guy have given you excellent advice. You are always well advised to start at a safe minimum and work up a load. It is not a good idea to go over maximum loads, especially when you are becoming acquainted with the idiosyncrasies of your rifle and the components you have available. Choose your bullet on the basis of what you want to do with your rifle. The A-max is a good target bullet and within reason it will work on varmints and small game; but there are better bullets for large game. Again, welcome to the forum and to the joyous addiction we know as hand loading.

 

[jmad_81]

I Load the 105 A Max in my 243, and use a COAL of 2.780". If I go longer I get into the lands. Your rifle may be different. I also use the 210 match primer. I use H1000 for powder, but 4350 should work well also.

The bullet you have selected is very accurate. I have several groups out of my factory Savage 243 that are in the .2" range. I also have several 600 yard groups under two inches. It is a cheap bullet, that is a ton of fun.

A good way to check and see if you are loading your bullets into the lands is to take a fired case and press one side of the case against yoru bench. This will flatten the mouth just a bit. Take a bullet and press it into the mouth of the case, the dent will make for a tight fit, but still allow the bullet to move. Push it in just far enough to get it to hold. Take a black marker and cover the rest of the bullet sticking out of the case. Now take that shell and put it in you chamber and close the bolt. It will close hard, as the lands are pushing the bullet into the case. When you open the bolt the bullet might stick in the throat. If it does you can knock it out with a cleaning rod. DO NOT JAM THE ROD IN HARD! It should come out easy. If the bullet did get stuck and you get it out, it will have marks in the black showing the lands, and how far the bullet slid into the case. If the bullet came out with the case, make sure that the lands didn't pull the bullet back out of the case. You will be able to tell if that happened by looking at the bullet by the flat spot in the mouth. If there is a scratch mark above the mouth, push the bulet back in until the scratch matches up with the mouth of the case.

That will get you really close to knowing where your lands are. I'm willing to bet that the book 2.710 is a ways off the lands. I try not to load into the lands. Mostly because I don't want to get a bullet stuck in the lands and go to eject a shell after not shooting at something and dump powder all over my gun.

As far as being over book max, I would not reccomend it for a beginner. Once you learn more about your rifle and how it acts when you start to get to hot, then you can play around. Remember every rifle is different, and reloading manuals are just a guide. If you are getting an mark on the head of your brass, your to hot. If you are getting sticky bolt lift, you are to hot. If your primers start to seat really easy on your next loading, your to hot.

Best of luck with your rifle. You picked a very accurate bullet.

What are you using for optics?

 

[AzDak42]

Oddly enough, this mirrored my very first reloading work as well.

I put a .243 SPS into a AICS stock, swapped out the trigger and started loading.

The barrel twist rate on the Remington .243 is 9 1/8":1. It's on the very ragged edge of being able to stabilize that bullet. Some rifles will, some won't. I found the harder/faster I ran them, the better they shot. But not going above max, meant that they capped out accuracy before I was happy. I started with H4350 I then tried running it with R19 and had better results, but still not as good as when I dropped down to the 100g and below bullet weights.

My recommendation is to go with the 95g S HPBT until you rebarrel the gun. A 1:8 or 1:7 will do a better job with the 105s/107s/115s. (Hell, the Hornady SSTs were lights out in that gun as well.) With the 95g, you won't have to push it so fast to get decent accuracy.

Great guns.. just get that abortion of a stock and trigger off it, and you'll be amazed at what she can do.

95g SST - factory load in the 700 SPS

95g S HPBT over R19

 

[Woodycreek]

I have the Rem SPS V in 243 and it loves the 105 Amax with Retumbo. You have a great rifle to start reloading with since they shoot fairly well right out of the box. Seen more than a few of them shoot very tiny groups. Good luck!

 

[Rmitch223]

Ryan, welcome to the forum, and to the hobby/addiction that is handloading.

The .243 Win is a terrific cartridge! What do you plan on doing with it? Target shooting? Varmints? Deer hunting? All of them? Yes, it will do all those things!

Here's a link to an excellent article on handloading the .243 Win: http://www.6mmbr.com/243Win.html

I cannot condone loading over the max charges listed in published reloading manuals, but you would do well to consult multiple sources. Hodgdon has some very good load data published on line, including for IMR 4350. See Hodgdon's site: http://www.hodgdon.com/

They recommend a maximum of 40.2 grains of IMR 4350 with the 105 A-Max.

Gain experience first, then make the call if you want to exceed published maximum loads. To start with though I'd absolutely recommend sticking within the published "book" maximum powder charges.

Your choice of the A-Max bullet is interesting. It's a very good target bullet and at one point several years ago was used to set a 1,000 yard record at a benchrest club outside of Missoula, Montana. I've found it accurate from my 6mm Rem as well. For hunting I prefer the 95 - 100 grain Nosler bullets for their superb on-game performance.

The overall length of 2.8" is fine - that's about all that a short-action Remington magazine will accept. As long as it functions well, I'd load it to about 2.8" as well.

The Federal 210 match primers are an excellent choice as well. I've found them to be very consistent and use them in several cartridges where I expect excellent accuracy. Your rifle has already demonstrated that it is capable of a high degree of accuracy, which is not surprising since it's a Remington 700.

Again, Welcome! Guy

I greatly appreciate all the detailed responses I have received on this site.
I will definitely be around for awhile because of all the help people are willing to give here.

I use this rifle for mostly target shooting and calling coyotes.
Loading them at 2.800" without check my rifles Chamber measurements is safe? Like I said I have shot 35 threw it loaded by someone else that functioned and shot great, but I just wanna make sure I'm loading everything the safe and right way.

I will probably try the measuring method using a empty cartridge and bullet like stated above.

I finished up my reloading bench yesterday. Here are a few pics..

 

[DrMike]

That's a very nice looking reloading bench. It looks sturdy and well thought out. Did you design it yourself? Or did you have some input from others?

 

[jmad_81]

If you take as much care in making your ammo as it looks like you did on your bench, You'll be one happy camper.

Great looking bench. Nice work.

 

[Rmitch223]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

My dad helped with the design, he has been a carpenter for over 25 years.
Im very happy with how it turned out. I set the counter top at 40" high so Im able to sit and stand and be comfortable. I need to find a stool for it now or some kind of chair.

 

[AzDak42]

Nice bench! I bet that thing is stable as all get out.

Just a sidebar though.. what lights are those?

 

[gerry]

Great looking bench, should work very well.

 

[JD338]

Ryan

Welcome to the forum.
That is a very nice bench for sure.

IMR 4350 is a great powder for the heavy weight bullets in the 243 Win. I would back down the charge. It will prolong case life and eliminate pressure spikes in warmer temperatures.

As already mentioned, the 95 gr BT is an excellent bullet for target, coyotes and deer. Look for seconds at Shooters Pro Shop and stock up on them.

JD338

 

[Rmitch223]

I think I'm going to load 10rds each of different charge weights working up to 40gr.
What charge weight do you guys recommend I start with? I'm not sure I want to start at the minimum when I already know how well 42.5gr will shoot.

I need to purchase some digital calipers and a case trimmer as well.
Any recommendations on either?

 

[jmad_81]

I usually start with the mid weight and work up in .5 gr increments. Unless you are shooting an Etip, then start at the min, and work up to half.

 

[FOTIS]

I will be working up a load with this one in my Savage predator max 1 243. Initial results with just one powder were very disappointing. We will see.

 

[jmad_81]

I know they are a bit slow for conventional wishdom in a 243, but mine shot the 105 a max with both rl-25 and H1000. H1000 would do a ragged hole @ 3030 FPS with a ES of 10.

 

[FOTIS]

Can you share the exact loads Jake?

 

[jmad_81]

I can, but PLEASE WORK UP. These are really close to max in my gun.

As far as RL 25 goes I was going back and forth between 46 and 46.5 gr. Nosler brass, Fed 210M. COAL 2.780". At the time this was into the lands of my rifle. by the time I got to try the H1000, they had been worn a bit.

H1000, I was using 47.5 gr, Nosler brass, Fed 210M, and a COAL of 2.785.

That same load really worked good with the 105 NCC as well.