which powder for 243 using 95gr VLD's

[weejohn]

hey guys just wondering if any one knows which powder i could try to achieve higher velocities using this bullet in a 20" barrel . I am currently using N560 and gold medal primers but the highest velocity i can get is 2809 using 46gr but with this load i saw very slight flatenning of the primer. I havnt shot this load on paper yet so i dont know if it is accurate but i would like a load travelling around 2900 fps. Any help would be much appreciated.

[menial 1]

These are a few of the powders I've used and are familiar with in .243 with the bullet weight you are using. Can't help on the 5 series of Viht powders as I've never felt the need to use them.

Viht 160 : 42- 43grns

Viht 140 : 35-37grns

RE 15 : 35-38grns

RE 19 : 41-44grns

These should have your 20" barrel running at around 2900fps, although they may only just be deer legal in Scotland.

I use standard CCI large rifle primers.

It sounds like you're running quite a high powder load for a short barrel and I would imagine not all the powder is being burnt inside the barrel.

As always start low with any new load and move up in .5grn increments.

The weights I have given are for hunting loads and once I've found the best mv with best accuracy I leave it at that. I stopped chasing around different powders and primers and now use Viht 160 for all the bullet weights I use ( 70-90grns ) in .243.

Loads were developed in a bog standard Tikka M595.

Hope this helps for now.

Pete.

[eldon]

I use 36.5 grs N140 behind a 80 gr sierra which is a mild load for 2950 out of a 22" barrel.

Pete's info sounds good with the 140 but as he said if I was going out to buy some ( had the 140 already) I would buy 160.

[1967spud]

more loads here

 

9829 Barnes X Vihtavuori N560 2228 fps

9830 Barnes X Vihtavuori N560 2726 fps

9918 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N160 3071 fps

9919 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N160 3222 fps

9920 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N165 3099 fps

9921 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N165 3189 fps

10626 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N165 3024 fps

2081 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N560 2733 fps

2082 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N560 2824 fps

2083 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N560 2915 fps

2084 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N560 2994 fps

2085 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N560 3039 fps

2086 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N560 3108 fps

2087 Berger VLD Vihtavuori N560 3187 fps

7954 Hornady SST IMR 4350 2966 fps

10628 Hornady SST Vihtavuori N165 3150 fps

10926 Hornady SST Alliant Reloader 22 2974 fps

11460 Hornady SST Hodgdon Varget 0 fps

8812 Hornady SST IMR 4350 3015 fps

11556 Nosler Ballistic Tip Hodgdon H414 2880 fps

[1967spud]

this was a duplicate thread my pc is going maddddddddddd

[1967spud]

sorry did it again!!!!!

[weejohn]

thank you very much guys , it looks like my best bet will either be the n140 or n160 , very much appreciated.

[devilishdave]

I use 42 grains of Vit 160 and it shoots sub inche at 100m out of a standard rem 700 sporter barrel. That is with 95 grain Noslers and SST. not tried the bergers yet.

 

Zero at 100 drops 2 inches at 200

 

Dave

[weejohn]

well folks just a little update. I tried 42gr h414 which gave 2915 fps but group size was 1 1/4 " at 100yds so that was no good. Next i tried a couple of shots just over the chrony which gave 2620 fps so i would guess 37gr should give in the region of 2850 fps. Finally i tried 4 shots with the 46gr n560 and they gave 3/4 " which wasnt too bad. 1st shot 2809 , 2nd 2809 3rd 2823 and 4th shot gave 2809 fps so consistancy was excellent but if i could shrink the group by 1/4 " i would be quite pleased.

What i have discovered is i have lost 50fps on every inch i have chopped from my 20" barrel and for every extra .5gr of powder i load with i increase by around 50fps.

 

Reloadersnest has loads of geat information but did notice that some of the loads must be very very hot.

 

Next thing to try will be to vary the seating depth to try and shrink my max loads.