.243 and .308 reloading advice

[deerman]

Hi all,

 

I have decided to take the plunge and start reloading for a Tikka T3 in .243 and Sako Hunter 75 in .308. The barrels are the bog-standard 22". I have mainly fed them Federal ammo through and found them to be adequate and reasonably reliable but am looking to improve on that and would appreciate any advice and tips you experienced reloaders out there are willing to give.

 

Am also interested in reading your views about bullet types and weights, seating and all things reloading for the above calibres. Am looking for a lighter bullet for fox and 95-100gr for deer on the .243 and 120-160gr on the .308.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Best,

 

George

[17 Rem]

Never yet found a .308 which didn't love 150 grain Hornady Spirepoints (#3031) with 44 or 45 grains of Vihtavuori N140 and CCI 200 primers.

 

70 grain Nosler ballistic tips are a very versatile bullet in .243. 42.5 grains of N140, CCI 200 primers produce just over 3500 fps in my standard Tikka 595.

I understand they're a most effective deer bullet too, where legal....

[AndyCM]

Hi all,

 

I have decided to take the plunge and start reloading for a Tikka T3 in .243 and Sako Hunter 75 in .308. The barrels are the bog-standard 22". I have mainly fed them Federal ammo through and found them to be adequate and reasonably reliable but am looking to improve on that and would appreciate any advice and tips you experienced reloaders out there are willing to give.

 

Am also interested in reading your views about bullet types and weights, seating and all things reloading for the above calibres. Am looking for a lighter bullet for fox and 95-100gr for deer on the .243 and 120-160gr on the .308.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Best,

 

George

 

Hi George,

it is worth thinking a little about twist rates of your barrels, just to stack the odds in your favour in getting to a good load quicker

 

http://www.riflebarrels.com/products/caliber_twist_rates.htm

the 2nd table here shows IDEAL twists for the bullet weights

from personal experience my .243 will not shoot 55g's (no matter how much I tried) - so I now use 95g for deer & fox.....the foxes don't complain one bit !

I settled on 95g Nosler Ballistic Tip with RL22 & 10 thou off the lands.

 

cheers

AndyCM

[20Tac]

George,

 

In .243 I use the 70gr Nosler BT which is a superb fox bullet. 42gr of Varget (max) with Lapua brass and Federal match primers. This combination shot accurately in all the loads I tried. The 70s will work pretty much in any rifle whereas the 55s might not.

 

I can give you some 70gr Noslers if you want to try them out.

 

Andrew

[grahamfarmer]

hi george ,

 

i reload for 243 and 308 so have some experience with them. first expect to part with around the best part of £400 to buy the bits and pieces you will need hope you have saved all those cases as that is one cost and accuracy help already in the bag. as for equipment well you pays your money and takes you pick with lee at the bottom end or rcbs and redding at the premium end the lee may wear out the redding and rcbs you will pass on to grandkids .

most of the equipment makers offer a starter kit with the basics to get you going personally i bought a rock chucker kit from rcbs which had the basics in it you will need some add ons from the start, one been a decent digital vernier gauge ,a compartor kit with inserts for your cals an esential is a reloading manual if not in kit or piece meal set up . you will need to purchase die kits for the calibers you have. the basic ones will do to start here lee are good as there neck sizing dies are easy to use and produce good case s all dies will fit each others presses thread is a standard .

 

as a pointer dont worry about seating depth or any other fancy work for at least six months just case lenght checking and trimming to lenght if required as you need to perfect your technique first then you can experiment just load to sammi lenght for a start as that is where factory ammo starts.

 

next chose your powder personally i use varget for both but others can double up as well just to keep things simple you can start with standard primers or use match grade the choice is yours though if using ball powders magnum grade are normally called for . as for bullets again keep it simple for the 243 a 70 to 90 grain bullet will shoot well as that was what the gun was designed for personally use 70 grain sierra blitzkings and 87 grain vmaxs both good on fox .

 

308 you can go with 110 grain vmax good for fox or personally use 125grain sierra pro hunters for roe deer and 150grain you can take your choice .

 

for all start at min loads and work up slowly record everything and load for accuracy by doing ladder and grouping tests once you find accuracy nodes you wont gain much by chasing veleocity be warned reloading is addictive and then you may go down the road of chronoing loads etc . and just remember if in doubt ask someone on here will be able to help you.

 

graham.

[deerman]

Hi chaps,

 

Thanks very much for all the information so far. I have already bought most of the kit, so have more than the basics to start on this long journey. As suggested above, I bought the best kit I could afford (mainly RCBS) and hope it will give me years of use. I have bought cheaper kit in the past, only to buy again, so learnt my lesson there.

 

Please keep your suggestions coming as every bit helps and I am sure I will be able to pick bits from all the information I get and apply it to suit my needs.

 

Many thanks once again.

 

Best,

 

George

[Alycidon]

George,

 

If you wanted to bring your gear up here for an afternoon then I (and possably Vermincinerator) will show you how to use it if you are unsure, set the dies up and get some loads worked up. We can fire them over the garden fence !!. Just dont buy Lee dies as I dont know anything about them but RCBS, Redding & Wilson then fine. I have verniers etc.

 

A

[deerman]

George,

 

If you wanted to bring your gear up here for an afternoon then I (and possably Vermincinerator) will show you how to use it if you are unsure, set the dies up and get some loads worked up. We can fire them over the garden fence !!. Just dont buy Lee dies as I dont know anything about them but RCBS, Redding & Wilson then fine. I have verniers etc.

 

A

 

Alycidon,

 

Thanks for the offer and I may well take you up on it. It does help to have somebody who is experienced walk you through things and share their experience. Let me know when it would be suitable so we can try and arrange an afternoon fuelled by nitroglycerine and pots of tea! Most of my gear is RCBS, including the dies. One thing that I didn't get at the time and now regret is an OAL gauge - needed to send a spent cartridge for tapping, etc., but never got around to that, but as I am fully resizing the cases every time, I guess I should have bought the new cases that usually come with the gauge.

 

Regards,

 

George

[Alycidon]

The only day I dont work is Tuesdays and Weds afternoons so they would be best for me, otherwise one evening when they get a bit lighter.

 

A