makey98

Getting ready to load up my first rifle rounds, which is the main reason I got into reloading. I like the idea of fine tuning loads and learning about how my rifle shoots at various seating depths. I have a Weatherby Vanguard that is a great shooter with a vortex viper 2-7. I have only done a bit of load testing with it because I tried some 100g corelokt and have moa and then shot some Hornady 95gSST and cloverleafed at 100 yards many times! Pretty good in my book. But at 30 bucks for 20 they are pricey! I plan to do some more testing at 250 yds soon and work on longer distance shooting a bit with both the factory loads and my reloads to compare. This is all for coyote and i personally want to emphasize bullet weight over speed so i am not interested in the 55g vmax pills and so on.

Long story short. I plan to work up some loads with various Sierra bullets as they seem to be universally respected and I have their manual. Starting with their 85g hpbt. They list federal cases. Any thoughts on those? Also, I haven't picked a powder yet. Any suggestions? Varget seems good.

Iowegan

makey98, 243 Win is one of my favorite cartridges because it is very effective from prairie dogs to mule deer with a huge selection of bullets from 55 gr to 105 gr. Sierra bullets are great but so are Hornady and Speer. If you use your Sierra manual, then it would be wise to use Sierra bullets and follow the load data to a "T", including Federal cases. If you can't find Federal cases, use a different manual that specifies your cases.

Because 243s have a dramatic shoulder, they are inherently accurate but at the same time, they are also "case sensitive", in fact the Speer manual has a warning in bold print: "Do not substitute other brands of cartridge cases. Excessive pressure may result." The Speer manual uses Winchester cases and the Hornady manual uses Hornady/Frontier cases. Velocities in the Hornady manual are about 200 fps lower than factory ammo and use less powder.

Another warning comes from the Hornady manual concerning powder/bullets ... paraphrasing "don't use light charges of slow burning powder with longer bullets. This may result in unsafe conditions due to unexpectedly high pressure". This will not be a problem with your 85 gr bullets.

Varget is an exceptionally good powder for your 85 gr bullets. Stay with "book loads" and you should be able to meet or exceed factory ammo accuracy. Factory ammo velocities run about 3300 fps for most brands with 85 gr bullets.

I agree .... no 55 gr pills. Using bullets lighter than 70 grains in a 243 will result in excessive throat erosion .,.. the lighter the bullets, the faster the throat will erode. Besides, light bullets aren't nearly as effective on coyotes as 80~90 gr bullets.

429421Cowboy

I learned to load rifle rounds on the .243, it will always hold a place in my heart! You can have your .223's, .22-250's and .204's for coyotes, i will take my 70 gr Speer pills and show you how a coyote hits dirt! You are wise to stick with the heavier bullets for many reasons, not the least being that they retain velocity and buck wind far better than lighter, shorter bullets. I prefer Alliant powders for all my loads, so Reloader 15 is the only thing i run for the .243 right now, it is cheaper than Varget locally and easier to find.
As has been noted already, cases should be sorted according to brands, also make sure you use the exact primer called for in the manual as well. You will also need to trim brass after resizing to keep it in spec and prevent a "pressure event". Good luck!

makey98

Got it. Thanks guys. As far as the Federal cases, I would definitely follow the Sierra manual. My Lyman manual has the 85 grain sierra bullet in their manual as well and they use Winchester cases I believe. I wasn't sure if people like the Federal. I remember reading something where someone was negative on those cases.

429421Cowboy

I usually use W-W Super cases for rifle brass because it is the once fired brass we have, but i have had outstanding luck with Fed cases in my 7mm rem mag, as well as my .243.

Iowegan

makey98, As far as brands of cases goes .... Federals are as good as any. Here's the thing with cases .... ammo manufacturers consider cases to be expendable. They must be good enough for exactly one shot. Fortunately for reloaders, most brass cases can be loaded several times. People tend to rate things by their "one time" personal experience so if they get a batch of brand X cases that don't hold up, their assumption is ... all brand X cases are bad, which is simply not true.

As you probably know, brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Cartridge brass is approximately 30% zinc but the alloy can vary quite a bit because most US cartridge brass is made from scrap metal. The best brass in the world is made by Lapua in Finland. It is made to be reloaded and uses pure copper and zinc in exacting proportions .... very consistent, lasts for many reloads. Because US brass is made from scrap metals, there are no two batches with exactly the same alloy. Contaminants and the ratio of copper to zinc change the final product properties. After cases are formed, they get heat treated to make them softer (called annealing), which results in a different hardness based on the alloy. So .... within the same brand, you could get a batch cases that hold up very well or you could get cases that fail after being fired just once.

For the major brass case manufacturers, the only US brand designed specifically to be reloaded is Star Line. All other brands used in factory loaded ammo have the same "one shot" goal.

HAWKEN

My model 700BDL Remington, in .243 was my first center fire rifle, and I still have it. I have a confirmed kill, on a groundhog, at 400 yards, with it. I used to load different bullet weights for hunting deer and varmits, but I have settled on Nosler 100 grain partitions, over 42 grains of H-450 for everything. This load has harvested 36 white tail deer.......Robin

MZ5

I will repeat/paraphrase Iowegan's repeating of Speer's warning:
Do not deviate from your manual's components in any way when loading the 243 Winchester.
The 243 experiences wider pressure variations than most other cases, particularly with heavy bullets, so you could potentially hurt someone.

A note on brass: Brass cartridges are cross-contract-manufactured routinely, so having a given headstamp doesn't necessarily tell you anything about who made it or where. As one example, not all Lapua cases are made by Lapua, nor even in Finland. Similarly, Hornady has brass made for them, and of course Nosler brass is at least generally made for them by Norma. Winchester brass isn't manufactured by Olin (who owns the Winchester name worldwide, and licenses its use out to others for various purposes) at all. They sold off their entire worldwide metals business a few years ago. KPS Capital Partners now owns that business, and they have a sub-entity named "Global Brass," and another named "Olin brass," under which they maufacture cartridge brass. Star Line also appears to contract-manufacture brass for others, though I can't address any details for positive.
Complicated/confusing, no?

dagger dog

Brass life can be extended in all center fire bolt rifle calibers by using a load that is under max pressure-velocity, and neck sizing to keep trimming , and overworking at a minimum.