243: uses and limitations, advantages and disadvantages.

Status
Not open for further replies.
The general rule of thumb is; the barrel life of a bore is proportional to lbs. of powder burned with a few exceptions. The biggest exception would be how "overbore" the cartridge is. Meaning how small the bore is in relation to powder burned. Onother good indicator would be to look in a loading maual at "cup pressures" for any given load. You will notice some calibers operate at much lower pressures. These will have longer barrel life all other things being equal as well.

If you handload you can increase the life of a barrel burner by using mild charges of modern cool burning powder. If you never shoot a barrel hot(cool 3 to 5 minutes between groups) you will GREATLY improve barrel life as well. I remember M60 barrels when I was enlisted that we had to grab with a rag to change out because the chamber area had a nice orange glow.:barf:
 
Over a period of some thirty years, I guess I've put maybe a thousand rounds or so through my little Sako .243 carbine. Last time I went to my 100-yard benchrest, I put three shots in a group that you could totally cover with a dime.

I've done a fair amount of "messing around" shooting with it. I never shoot fast enough that the barrel seriously heats up.
 
Barrel Burner????

I don't think burning out barrels is A factor that we hunters need to worry about with the 243 cal. In fact it shouldn't even be A concern. I have been shooting my Rem. model 700 adl 243cal. since the early 1970's and its barrel is still fine and also very accurate. The 243 is A great caliber and I hope it stays around forever.
 
I don't think burning out barrels is A factor that we hunters need to worry about with the 243 cal. In fact it shouldn't even be A concern. I have been shooting my Rem. model 700 adl 243cal. since the early 1970's and its barrel is still fine and also very accurate. The 243 is A great caliber and I hope it stays around forever.
Click to expand...

That's exactly right. I only pointed to the difference in barrel life of other "service cartridges". I don't mean to say the 243 is a "barrel burner" as you put it.
 
I live and hunt in the wide open somewhat hilly country. If I see a tree some one has planted it. My 243 Win rifles is one of the cartriges that has taken varmints, pronghorn, and mule deer for me. Any cartridge has energy limits , but I would use a Barnes or Nosler bullet if I only had a 234 Win rifle to hunt elk and keep my shots under 200 yards. Over the years I have used a Browning Medallion w/ a Browning 3-9 X scope, Winchester 88 w Weaver K-6 scope, Ruger No. 1 B w/ Weaver 4.5-14 X scope, Winchester 70 Sporter w/Burris 3-12 scope and a Winchester 70 Sporting Varmint w / Leupold 6.5-20 X scope. One can use a bullet type and weight to match the varmint and big game. Sierra sells 13 ea different bullets ranging from 55 th 107 Gr, Hornady16 ea- 58 th 105 Gr, Nosler 9 ea -55 th 100 GR. Dident count the number Barnes and Speer bullets . The 243 Winchester is a fine old cartridge but last week I used a 257 Roberts to shoot a mule deer.
 
I guess this means the commie 7.62 is really good on barrels.

The general rule of thumb is; the barrel life of a bore is proportional to lbs. of powder burned with a few exceptions.
Click to expand...
 
Heavy 6mm bullets

.

More than likely these bullets are too long to stabilize in
the 10 inch twist that is pretty much universal in factory
chambered 243 Winchester rifles. A custom barrel could
be had with a tighter twist and would stabilize them.

Many of the the other diameter "heavy for caliber" bullets
they offer would also require tighter twists for their given
chamberings.

dxr

.


Here is the link to the super heavyweight .243 bullets

( up to 120 gr boattail hollowpoints )

http://wildcatbullets.homestead.com/BulletPrices.html
 
I guess this means the commie 7.62 is really good on barrels.
Click to expand...


Yes. 7.62x39 is a good example of a cartridge that's easy on barrels. You won't find many military cartridges that are hard on barrels which is my original point on this thread.
 
Its the Little Stuff

Not applicable when buying used but breaking in a barrel is really important. I think more so on stainless steel. I dont even remember the breaking in of barrels when I was younger.
I am pretty impatient with a lot of things but not with this!! Even with a semi auto, I just slow it down to maybe a shot every 10-15 minutes. Then I limit my first outing to ten shots. Then, home, and a thorough cleaning.
I'll do this at least twice and sometimes three times. The last time was with a semi auto military style, stainless, fluted barrel. Shots the first time out were pretty amazing. Tearing out the same bulls eye hole. After that, on the next session, you couldnt even see the succeeding shots because they were going through the same hole. Hornady, I believe 168s. Moving on out to 325 yds, it was still amazing. The scope runs to 40x. We were looking a dime sized groups. So, what would have happened if we had gone out and emptied a couple of clips on the first series. I dont know the answer to that but what I do know is I have a rifle that will shoot the hair off a gnat at 325. Next outing will be at 500. Will keep you posted. PS: My favorite 'go to' rifle is a Marlin, octagon, 45/70, 1894 lever gun with a creedmore. Call me old fashioned. Buffalo Bore's 500 gr would remind you of a small cannon. My grand daughter does love her .243 and at age 12, she started putting meat on the table.
 
overbore

Horseman's got it with the overbore issue. And Sureshot has got it concerning a hunting rifle for medium/big game.

A "service weapon", full auto as in an M240, or likely 3 shot burst as in the M16/M4, (AR10) chambered in .243, would be hard on barrels I have no doubt. Its not just the number of rounds, but the volume of fire.

Some very credible F-class shooters of my acquaintance have advised that .243 barrel life is a concern , but again, a competition shooter is launching more rounds, in shorter time periods, in a year, than many hunting rifles see in a lifetime. And these guys will rebarrel without a second thought, to maintain competition grade accuracy.

I'm thinking somebody that shot alot of .243 hunting, say a prairie dog shooter with a Rem25, might see a degrade inaccuracy if they shot enough.
But a whitetail hunter, box a year kind of guy, will never shoot one out, nor his kids or grandkids for that matter.

Finally, I like the .243, and was a basher till I started shooting deer with one myself. I am indeed one of the "100 grain types", Nosler Partitions if you wonder. My rifles so chambered have comparatively short tubes (20-21") and do not get the velocities that are so attractive. But....I have yet to recover a Partition, despite breaking shoulder blades and some hits out beyond 150 yds where velocity had to begin to drop even more.

There is a tendency in my area to shoot relatively soft bullets from the .243, namely 95 gr Nosler ballistic tips. And there are those who just don't "get" the whole deer bullet /varmint bullet thing and pick the wrong slug.

But fed and applied correctly, the .243 is a whole lot better than my Dad and Uncles believed when the cartridge hit the scene years ago.
 
I don't hunt any more but got a 243 for yotes and just general target shooting. It is a very accurate little thing. I have not stretched her legs past 300 yards yet,but at 300 its one good shooter. I think it would be more popular if a better twist was more common in them. I shoot 87 gn Hornadys in mine. Recoil is a issue I do not think about at all. I would have to assume if you loaded a 308 with 87 gn bullets , recoil would be almost the same. As for barrel life, I can not comment as I only have maybe 1000 rounds down it so far. It is one of my favorite 3 rifles to shoot.
 
Er, uh, this thread began over five years ago. Necrothreadia leads to hands erupting from your monitor and tweaking your nose.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top