Is a 1-9.25" 243 worth putting money into?

[Remington92]

To accompany my big rifle thread I was curious about another smaller cheaper to shoot rifle build idea. My current pickup rifle is a savage axis with boyd wood stock in 243 and it is hands down the most accurate rifle I've ever owned. My only concern is it is a 1-9.25" twist. Will this spin high bc bullets worth using to learn and practice LR fundamentals on or is it pissing in the wind? My other option id thought about exploring is one of my ar's loves the 69gr smk and tmk and I'm curious to see what it thinks of the 77gr tmk.

 

[sierracharlie338]

It’s a little slow for the 105 and above class bullets. Not saying it won’t shoot but you will probably be on the ragged edge of it.

 

[hereinaz]

What is your elevation?
Do you hand load?

You can very likely find a high enough BC bullet to learn, especially within typical hunting range. Velocity makes up for a lot inside the first 400 yards. And, if you learn wind with a slower bullet, it will be amazing to you when you get a better cartridge.

Also, with basic rifles like the Savage Axis, you can often just sell yours and pick up another one. Sometimes the minimal amount spent to switch to something like a 6 creed will save you in the long run on time and money.

 

[Remington92]

What is your elevation?
Do you hand load?

You can very likely find a high enough BC bullet to learn, especially within typical hunting range. Velocity makes up for a lot inside the first 400 yards. And, if you learn wind with a slower bullet, it will be amazing to you when you get a better cartridge.

Also, with basic rifles like the Savage Axis, you can often just sell yours and pick up another one. Sometimes the minimal amount spent to switch to something like a 6 creed will save you in the long run on time and money.

Im at 3500' and I have everything its just gotten a little dusty the last few years but yes I plan to start reloading again.

This rifle shoots so well I dont think id be able to part with it, if nothing else it'll just stay in the pickup and Ill look in another direction.

 

[hereinaz]

It’s a little slow for the 105 and above class bullets. Not saying it won’t shoot but you will probably be on the ragged edge of it.

I run the 95 Berger hunting VLD in my shorter barreled 6 BRA just to get more velocity, even though it has a fast enough twist. Its not a bad bullet, and velocity can trump BC at the initial distances. It's when the velocity drops enough on the light bullet that the high BC bullet matters.

I can shoot my 6 BRA and have fun out to 800. Depending on elevation, it has enough terminal velocity to hunt out to 700 max.

 

[hereinaz]

Im at 3500' and I have everything its just gotten a little dusty the last few years but yes I plan to start reloading again.

This rifle shoots so well I dont think id be able to part with it, if nothing else it'll just stay in the pickup and Ill look in another direction.

You can shoot the 95 grain bullets faster than I can, and I am fine playing with the 95s in my 6 BR at long range. Its going to be whether you want "more" or not. You don't have to do more to get started.

You aren't wrong for considering it. Others can give you more info, but if you can do what I do when I like to dig into a combo. I run Berger bullets, so I just know how to play with the Berger Stability Calculator. I use it to get an idea what bullets I can run. I then look at loading manuals or Hogdon online and figure out a velocity for the bullet. With that, I dump the info into a ballistic calculator and see.

I know there are some heavier bullets in factory loads, look into them. Also, if you have .243 dies, maybe buy a box of Berger or whatever Hornady/Sierra looks like it could work and try them.

 

[ZAR EC]

I have a savage 9.25 twist 243 and use the hornady 108 ELD-M. It's stupidly accurate and holds accuracy out to 1000 meters for me. I'm at sea level. The old 105gr amax also stabalised fine in the Savage. In my experience the best stability calculator is from JBM as it takes into account plastic tip length. The BC is not materially impacted in my rifle at least

 

[ResearchinStuff]

I have a savage 9.25 twist 243 and use the hornady 108 ELD-M. It's stupidly accurate and holds accuracy out to 1000 meters for me. I'm at sea level. The old 105gr amax also stabalised fine in the Savage. In my experience the best stability calculator is from JBM as it takes into account plastic tip length. The BC is not materially impacted in my rifle at least

that's really surprising, I was just running the numbers for an 8.5 twist 243 ai at 1600 feet and was showing marginal stability, especially in the winter. What temps do you typically shoot in?

 

[sierracharlie338]

that's really surprising, I was just running the numbers for an 8.5 twist 243 ai at 1600 feet and was showing marginal stability, especially in the winter. What temps do you typically shoot in?

Same is true for me at 500 feet and normally above 70 degrees and tons of humidity.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Im at 3500' and I have everything its just gotten a little dusty the last few years but yes I plan to start reloading again.

This rifle shoots so well I dont think id be able to part with it, if nothing else it'll just stay in the pickup and Ill look in another direction.

Agreed. Load up some 95 grainers and just have fun shooting.

 

[Evlshnngns]

My savage 243 9.25tw likes the light bullets, tight groups with 80's and 75's. 100grs...not so tight. Every barrel is different.

Try some 105's, if that doesn't work go for 90-95.
"Putting money" into reloading components and a good scope is worth it. Easy to sell and trade. The axis....rough call. I bought a boyds stock for my axis, shot the same just looks better.

 

[H80Hunter]

I have an older Ruger M77 .243 that I’m almost positive is 9.25” twist and it shoots everything from 55-100 grain bullets great

 

[Remington92]

You can shoot the 95 grain bullets faster than I can, and I am fine playing with the 95s in my 6 BR at long range. Its going to be whether you want "more" or not. You don't have to do more to get started.

You aren't wrong for considering it. Others can give you more info, but if you can do what I do when I like to dig into a combo. I run Berger bullets, so I just know how to play with the Berger Stability Calculator. I use it to get an idea what bullets I can run. I then look at loading manuals or Hogdon online and figure out a velocity for the bullet. With that, I dump the info into a ballistic calculator and see.

I know there are some heavier bullets in factory loads, look into them. Also, if you have .243 dies, maybe buy a box of Berger or whatever Hornady/Sierra looks like it could work and try them.

Ok thanks for the pointers! The wood boyd stock should be stiff enough to get by on if I throw a cheek riser on it id imagine?

 

[hereinaz]

Ok thanks for the pointers! The wood boyd stock should be stiff enough to get by on if I throw a cheek riser on it id imagine?

I think the Boyd's stocks are plenty stiff. The only problem that can happen is the wood crush under the action screws over time. But, if you don't have a problem don't sweat it.

I ran Savages in Boyd's for a while, they sure put bullets into small groups for me.

 

[ZAR EC]

that's really surprising, I was just running the numbers for an 8.5 twist 243 ai at 1600 feet and was showing marginal stability, especially in the winter. What temps do you typically shoot in?

Usually temps between 60-75° which helps.

 

[Kurts86]

I fought a 1-9.125” twist .243 and it was possible to get 105 gr Amax’s to behave but you had to push them fast. It was always better behaved with 80-95 gr bullets. 90 gr ELD-X bullets weren’t a thing back then or I might have felt differently.

 

[ddowning]

Learning long range fundamentals has nothing to do with shooting high bc bullets. The skills are the same no matter the cartridge. Almost all my practice is with 22lr and 223 at this point. For practice, you want something cheaper to shoot with long barrel life. 243 has such short barrel life it is not a great trainer. To answer the bullet question, we have shot hornady 68 BTHP to 800 yards from 223 bolt guns. It is difficult, but once we got on top of spotting shots and hooting fundamentals, it was not unheard of to go 6-8 out of 10 on a 6" square at 800 yards. If the winds are really switchy it gets frustrating past 600 yards but a consistent wind isn't bad to shoot in. Shooting a high bc bullet at high velocity just hides errors in wind calling and accounting for environmental changes. You want that when it's go time, but not necessarily in practice.

If I were in your shoes I would start practicing with the AR. Any bullet will do, but obviously you will be able to stretch it out further with better bullets. If you burn out the barrel, AR barrels are cheap and fairly easy to replace. Also, shooting a gas gun well takes VERY good fundamentals that will transfer to bolt guns.

In the 243 I would not push past what the stability calculator says has a 1.5 sg. Most of the time the bullets will group down to 1.0 sg, but the loss of bc is such that you are better off going to a bullet where you can take advantage of all of the bc and more velocity.

When initially learning to shoot long range, make sure you practice in the worst conditions you can find. Instead of shooting when conditions are good, shoot when they are horrible. Most everyone can shoot in good conditions. VERY few people can shoot well in bad conditions. Also, so as not to be confusing, you want to zero and dope your gun out in the best conditions you can, and then test yourself in bad conditions.