Nosler .243/6mm 55gr. spitzers

[SJB358]

Man, I have to try those 55's in my boys 243 one of these days. I bet they would be screamers and alot of fun to practice with too. Scotty

 

[RiverRider]

I had 1000 of the danged things and must have shot nearly 100 of them trying to find something that worked well. I was able to push them over 4000 fps in my .243 using Re17, but QuickLoad was suggesting that I was way over pressure (70,000 psi, anyone?). They seemed to want to shoot when pushed to 4000 fps, but I got spooked and got rid of them.

 

[2ndtimer]

These bullets are interesting. They have shot okay in my Sako A-7, and I really thought they would shoot better in the Stevens 200 that my oldest son has pretty much assumed ownership of. So we were at the range yesterday zeroing the new Redfield Revolution 4-12X scope on said Stevens in .243 Win, and after getting it on paper, I suggested he try some of my leftover loads from my initial loading batch with the Accurate 2015 powder. He did and the first two didn't even hit the paper. Puzzled, I said try another one, and it did hit the paper - sideways! It literally looked like the shape of the 55 gr bullet outline on the target. Another one did the same thing and the next one missed the paper completely. I then tried a couple at a ram silhouette at 200 meters, and struck 100 meters in front of the target, another hit 50 meters in front of the target and 20 meters to the left, all of these with the Stevens. Now with the Sako A-7, I was able to hit the ram, as well as shoot a couple of inch and a half to 2 inch groups at the 100 yard target. Any ideas? I believe both rifles share a 1 in 10" twist rate and have about a 22" barrel. I have never seen this before. Is the twist too fast for the short bullet? Could it be that the Stevens barrel is too rough for the thin jacketed 55 gr cup and core bullet? Then why does the Sako seem to be able to shoot them okay? Anyone? (I do have over 900 of these bullets, so I sure hope I can figure out what the problem is.)

 

[kendog]

My Savage has a 9.25 twist and she loves the 55 BTs, I keep them below 4k. My last rifle had a 10 twist and it shot them the best at 3800 or so, at 4000 the groups opened up pretty bad.

 

[2ndtimer]

I thought my Stevens had a 1 in 10" twist rate, but maybe it is 1 in 9.25. Could such a minor difference create keyholing bullets at 100 yards? Hoping for some more input from other posters.
The Stevens shoots the 55 gr Ballistic Tips just fine, but these 55 gr lead tip spitzers are a lot shorter and apparently have a very thin jacket. Are they simply coming apart as they leave the barrel? Anyone?

 

[FOTIS]

H414 (Win 760's twin) works great too.