Just a plain old 243

I finally went to the range today and shot the 243 with the new Vortex scope.  First, I really like the scope.  It is as clear as any I have ever looked through and the adjustable parallex  really helps.  I never owned one before. I bore sighted it at home.  At our range we cant shoot at 25 yards, don't ask me but the powers that be have deemed it dangerous.  So I set the first target up at 50 yards and was about an inch high and 1/2" left of the bullseye.  I can't complain about that.  I moved it out to 100 yards and very few shots later it was zeroed.  The 1/4" clicks MOVE the point of impact 1/4" at 100 yards.  I had it set at maximum (12x) power and it delivered just like they say it does.  I am really impressed with the optics and mechanics of this scope.  As far as I can tell from one time out with it, I would recommend it.  But it's still early in the game.

The next thing I did was the load development with the 80 gr. Barnes TTSX bullets.  I get good groups with the 85 gr. TSX with 38 gr. Varget, so I started there with the 80's.  

Then I moved up to 38.5 gr. of Varget.

That was a little better but not what this rifle is capable of.  Like I said I had a hard time finding load data on the powders I had.  I wasn't sure how far I could go with the Varget so I stopped there.  I found data using H-4350 on LoadData.com.  It showed a minimum charge of 41.5 gr for 3159 fps and a max of 45.5 grains for 3398.  I didn't start out at the bottom, I know I should have but this rifle is solid and I fudged a little.  It usually shoots best at the higher end of velocities.  

I should add here that from my observation (for what thats worth) Barnes Bullets are kinda finicky.  A half a grain of powder can make a lot of difference with them.  I haven't read this but I start out on the low end and move up 1/2 grain at a time.  Somewhere in there you will find a "sweet spot" that shoots really well.  A 1/2 grain either way will put you out of the ball park.  So thats what I did.  I didn't figure flyers in the group size.  I am not the worlds greatest shot so some are 4 shot and some are 3 shot.  That's why I load 4 rounds for each weight.  So far it works for me.

I started at 43.0 grains of H-4350:

That's an honest 1" group.

43.5 grains:

44.0 grains.

44.5 grains

45.0 grains.

Sweet Spot.  Folks that top hole is 2 shots, believe me.  It's hard to show it in a picture but another guy at the range helped me verify that.  I'll probably never do that again.

45.5 grains.

It opened up.  Still not bad but you can see what I mean about the Barnes bullets.  This has happened with every rifle I have used them on.  Every time.

I still need to load some more and verify my results but I think I have found the right load for this rifle.  It's just a Plain Jane Remington 700 ADL with a synthetic stock.  I bought it at Walmart in Tyler, Texas years ago.  They had it priced wrong I know, I asked if the price was right and the manager at the gun counter told me they didn't price items wrong, it had been checked and rechecked.  It was almost $100 cheaper than one just like it in 270 Win.   I don't remember what I payed for it, but I bought it.   It has to be one of my favorites.

Swamprat