243 Win / 90 AB

[SJB358]

Well, I have a ton of these bullets that I bought from SPS and wanted to see what they wold do for me in my son's 243. Well, I decided to give them awhirl with RL19. It looked pretty decent from QL data, so I started at 2.695, which is roughly where Nosler tested them at. It is a HUGE jump to the lands of this rifle, on the order of .15" or better. The magazine is only 2.8" so I figured, what the heck, the worse that could happen is they wouldn't shoot..

I used RL19, WW cases, CCIBR2 primers for all loads.

46 grains

46.5

Probably some shooter error there, as I don't think it would be that disruptive at 46.5, when 46 and 47 shot so well..

47 and 45.5

So, after seeing how well it stacked up on 47 grains, I went home last nice and loaded a bunch more at 47 grains, in order for my son to try them out. Mind you, this is a M700 ADL Youth, with a M8 4X Leupold on it as well. So, we are not dealing with alot of magnification to really shoot tiny groups.

Here were his results..

The center is his first group, then the left target was the 2nd, I made a dope change in between his 2nd and 3rd shots (I know, dumb)... Then, he finished with the group on the left bull. Pretty impressive. He did really well with that rifle today. Again, the rifle rates a better scope, but it did well today.

So, anyone with a 243 Win, give RL19 a try, it certainly impressed me. Pretty sure the speeds will be in the 3050-3100 range.. Either way, it'll work.

 

[DrMike]

That certainly shows promise.

 

[SJB358]

Seems like it.. I know I will probably load a bunch more up and see if we can kill something with it though.. I think the load is capable of more than the shooters can give it justice!

 

[pre6422hornet]

Hmmmmmmm that may just be the ticket for my .243 when the girls start shooting it for whitetails. Guess I better try some just to make sure they shoot for me

 

[JD338]

Scotty

That is some decent shooting. I like that little 90 gr AB. You just might have to give it a try on coyotes.

JD338

 

[Ridge_Runner]

anyone compared terminal performance between the accubonds and the ballistic tips in the 243? reason I ask is I can see no difference between the 110 AccuBond and the 115 BT in the 25wssm. thanks for the report scotty, that will work.
RR

 

[SJB358]

RR, I wonder as well. The 95 grain BT is a "tough" bullet as well. Seen it do some great things in deer.

 

[onesonek]

Looks like a right respectable load. I been looking for something in my youngest's new to him .243. After giving the 100 gr. PT's a ramp, give those AB's a try as well.

 

[Guest]

Nice shooting.
My brother has a 700 in 243.
Think Ill give RL19 a try for him.
Thanks!
Dewey

 

[sask boy]

Scotty that is a great report. I have a young guy that has asked for some load info
on the 243. His wife has just started to shoot and I think that just might be the ticket.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[TBASTIAN]

Nice grouping! I was wondering if you were noticing any pressure signs with the 47 grain load. The Nosler 7 reloading guide lists 43.5 grains as the MAX load for RL 19. I just purchased a box of the Accubonds and was planning to load some today. Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks.

 

[FOTIS]

Nice job. My 45.5 gr load did .3" and 3200 fps from my predator Savage max-1.

 

[SJB358]

Nice grouping! I was wondering if you were noticing any pressure signs with the 47 grain load. The Nosler 7 reloading guide lists 43.5 grains as the MAX load for RL 19. I just purchased a box of the Accubonds and was planning to load some today. Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks.

Yeah, I went there and did some investigation as well. Then I went into QL and put in the parameters for my rifle/cartridge set up. It net's somewhere in the 63K realm, while near the top end for the rifle, the brass is in great shape, with no issues from primer pockets.

Cartridge : .243 Win.
Bullet : .243, 90, Nosler AccuBond 56357
Useable Case Capaci: 49.342 grain H2O = 3.204 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.710 inch = 68.83 mm
Barrel Length : 20.0 inch = 508.0 mm
Powder : Alliant Reloder-19

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-10.0 91 41.40 2712 1469 42300 12167 91.3 1.180
-09.0 92 41.86 2743 1504 43718 12334 92.0 1.162
-08.0 93 42.32 2775 1539 45183 12497 92.6 1.144
-07.0 94 42.78 2806 1574 46702 12657 93.1 1.127
-06.0 95 43.24 2838 1610 48272 12813 93.7 1.109
-05.0 96 43.70 2870 1646 49897 12965 94.2 1.093
-04.0 97 44.16 2901 1682 51580 13113 94.8 1.076
-03.0 98 44.62 2933 1719 53320 13257 95.3 1.060
-02.0 99 45.08 2965 1757 55127 13396 95.7 1.044
-01.0 100 45.54 2997 1795 56990 13531 96.2 1.028 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 101 46.00 3028 1833 58910 13660 96.6 1.012 ! Near Maximum !
+01.0 102 46.46 3060 1871 60891 13785 97.0 0.997 ! Near Maximum !
+02.0 103 46.92 3092 1910 62941 13905 97.4 0.982 ! Near Maximum !
+03.0 104 47.38 3123 1950 65062 14019 97.7 0.968 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 105 47.84 3155 1989 67258 14127 98.1 0.953 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+05.0 106 48.30 3187 2029 69533 14230 98.4 0.939 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 101 46.00 3185 2027 70249 13706 99.8 0.936 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 101 46.00 2826 1596 48048 12937 89.4 1.111


I would surely work up to it of course, but it it shooting pretty well for me anywhere from 46-47 grains with a BR2. 43 would seem awfully low, but then again, switching up to thicker brass, hotter primers, etc could net you the same as well maybe.

I would give it a shot, it is a great shooting little bullet. Came together quickly in my boys rifle.

Nice job. My 45.5 gr load did .3" and 3200 fps from my predator Savage max-1.

Fotis, you are shooting 4350 in yours though, correct? Just wondering.

I imagine I would be shooting smaller groups overall, if I were to put more magnification on the rifle, but it has a 4X M8 on it right now, so not exactly benchrest material right now.. :lol:

 

[Guest]

Scotty, I'm sure you already know this, but that load is likely doing something like 63.5-64.5k in this cold weather, so in July they may be over. I trust your judgement on that, but for other folks reading who may have significantly less experience, thought I'd mention it.

Beyond that, you might be surprised how little difference it might make to have a higher magnification scope for 100yd shooting. I read a comparison years ago where a .223 was shot for groups at 100yds, wearing three different scopes - a fixed 4x, a 3-9x @9x, and a 6-24x @24x, as I recall - and the differences in group size at 100yds was insignificant. I'm sure out at 500yds it makes a difference, but with your son's (clearly) excellent vision and ability to shoot, I don't think he's the least bit handicapped out to 200-300yds, with that 243Win wearing a 4x. Good on you for helping him learn that everything doesn't need 10x magnification.

 

[SJB358]

Great point about the scopes magnification Dub. Your spot on. I shot a load of animals with my old 7mm Rem Mag and a 4x Redfield. Never thought a second that it wasn't enough.

Also, great point about the load being good in cold weather vs the heat of Summer. Right now, I should actually have slight compression at 47, but I think I'm dealing with roomier brass. I still have powder rattling in my loads. I hate not having the chrono as it tells me much better about what is happening. Either way, good money goes to working up to any load.

 

[FOTIS]

Yes H4350!

 

[AzDak42]

I love R19 in the .243. I've had fantastic groups with R19 and a S HPBT MKs. I've tried a few different powders and always go back to R19. With the heavy weight .243 bullets, it seems to be consistently my most accurate powder.

 

[SJB358]

I love R19 in the .243. I've had fantastic groups with R19 and a S HPBT MKs. I've tried a few different powders and always go back to R19. With the heavy weight .243 bullets, it seems to be consistently my most accurate powder.

Same here. Works really well with 100 PT's as well. Heck, I am RL19 fanatic, it works so well in alot of my stuff.