.243 Ammo Question

G

Glock4ever

New member
I just recently got a Tikka Continental in .243. I was looking at the piles of .243 ammo behind the counter when the Gunstore Owner pointed out some ammo from Czechoslavia(?) called Bell - it was a JSP 100 grain bullet in a green and yellow box. It has a crosshair picture with various varmints on it (I guess the company was targeting varminters). I have a couple of questions about this ammo and .243 ammo in general.
1.) Is this ammo any good - consistency to cost (obviously I don't expect a cartridge that retails for about 16 bucks CDN to be match ammo but if it is reasonably consistent I might buy it until I get my reloading setup ready for .243
2.) Is the brass reloadable - is it Berdan primed or Boxer? If it's not reloadable I won't buy this ammo for practice and I don't want to invest in equipment to bypass this problem.
3.) For all u deer hunters out there: what is a good wgt bullet for deer? I am waffling between 100 grain and 80 grain bullets. I am in prairie land where typical shots will be at about 150-250+ yards. I know that 100 grains have a better B.C. but will my 10 twist bbl stabilize this bullet well?

Thanks for the answers, in advance.

P.S. How come Tikkas are not very popular with most of the shooters on this Forum? I did a search for it and came back with under 15 hits. I personally think for dollar value Tikka is better than Savage! I disliked my Savage so much I traded it in for the Tikka!
 
I'm not familiar with that ammo. I've mostly handloaded all my .243 stuff.

A buddy of mine recently bought a Tikka southpaw in .243. On initial sight-in, it easily held 1" groups. Disremember was it 100-grain or 85-grain.

I've killed about 20 whitetail with the 85-grain Sierra HPBT, but I'd say most shots were within 100 yards; a few to 150. My opinion is that the 100-grain might work better out at 250, FWIW.

About all you can do is shoot and find out, for accuracy with the 100-grain. Flat-based bullets aren't as long as the boat-tails, so they might stabilize a bit better in your 1:10 twist.

I have found that the Federal ammo with the 85-grain Sierra HPBT bullets give the same 1/2" to 3/8" three shot groups as my handloads.

Guesstimatin', I'll offer the same old advice I always do: Practice enough to get just real, real good at hitting smallish targets offhand and from oddball field positions, and the particular bullet probably won't matter.

:), Art
 
leaning towards 100 gr.

I think I will probably go with a 100 gr bullet loading initially. I want to get the maximum ballistic coefficient... Hopefully I can shoot this rifle...
 
It sounds like you are describing Sellier & Bellot ammo. In which case, it is good ammo and is reloadable. I haven't used any of their rifle ammo but have had good luck with their pistol and shotgun ammo.

Their webpage: www.sb-usa.com
 
Here is a ballistic comparison of an average 55gr, 70gr, and 95gr load:
Code: 
                  0y    100y    200y    300y    400y    500y
0.276 3600 >   -1.46    0.95   -0.00   -5.29  -15.98  -33.69 > Z 200, MAX 1.1 at 126 > 55gr Nosler BT
0.310 3200 >   -1.45    1.36   -0.00   -6.64  -19.72  -41.03 > Z 200, MAX 1.4 at 121 > 70gr Nosler BT
0.379 3000 >   -1.44    1.56   -0.01   -7.15  -20.85  -42.56 > Z 200, MAX 1.6 at 119 > 95gr Nosler BT

And here is the same data, going out to 1000y:
Code: 
                  0y    200y    400y    600y    800y   1000y
0.276 3600 >   -1.46   -0.00  -15.98  -60.96 -156.72 -339.46 > Z 200, MAX 1.1 at 126 > 55gr Nosler BT
0.310 3200 >   -1.45   -0.00  -19.72  -73.28 -183.03 -382.94 > Z 200, MAX 1.4 at 121 > 70gr Nosler BT
0.379 3000 >   -1.44   -0.01  -20.85  -74.45 -177.49 -354.42 > Z 200, MAX 1.6 at 119 > 95gr Nosler BT

All zeroed at 200y.

-z
 
Why does the table show...

the 75 grain bullet with more drop than the 55 gr? Wouldn't the Ballistic Coefficient for the 75 Grain bullet be higher, assuming that everything else remains equal? I know that BC isn't everything but I was wondering what particular bullet stabilizes best out of a 10 twist bbl. I know for my 14 twist .22-250 50 Grain bullets stabilize really well.
 
Those particualar BC values correspond to those particular bullets only (Nosler 55gr, 70gr, and 95gr Ballistic Tip).

A higher BC will maintain velocity longer, but if it starts off slower, that will effect the overall bullet drop also.

Play around with a ballistic program to see what will "really" happen...

-z
 
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