mnhntr said:
Personally I shoot a .260 for long range but for a non reloader the obvious choice is the .243. Also if you download Federal's interactive ballistic application for all of their factory ammo the .243 is better in the wind and in trajectory to 1000yds in most applications.
I screwed up when I posted my post when I stated the .308 was slightly better in windage and trajectory.
taylorce1 said:
I got the following info from Federal Cartridge, so you can plug it in your ballistcs app however you want (I used JBM). The .243 and .308 are about equal as a 100 grain Sierra GK matches pretty equal with the 175 grain SMK, and a 95 grain Nosler BT matches the 168 SMK pretty equal but the slight edge in trajectory and windage goes to the .308 at 1000 yards.
Then you posted:
mnhntr said:
Straight from Federal Premium data.
.243 at 1000yds with a 10mph crosswind
95gr Nosler BT -364.6in drop 119.3in wind drift
100gr SGK -340.3in drop 102.3 wind drift
.308 with same wind and yardage
168gr SMK -416.6in drop 108.3in wind drift
175gr SMK -407.0in drop 98.7in wind drift
So I screwed up on the trajectory part, however I feel that they still wash out. So you have to turn the knob on your scope a few more clicks to compensate for trajectory, but with windage being basicly equal it doesn't matter with what you choose as trajectory is the easiest to compensate for. The OP stated that they want to eventually get to 1000 yards and do it without reloading so if we throw out the bullets and loads that will go subsonic before 1000 yards that still leave him with better options in the .308 ammunition.
BTW I find that JBM is a more reliable source for ballistics than Federal's site. At least when I plug actual numbers from my Chrony in and then go shoot at the range to see if the dope is correct. Here is what I get for drop and windage from a 100 yard zero.
95 grain NBT, .243 Win, MV 3025 fps
1000 yard drop -374.1" or -35.7 MOA, Windage 10 mph 124.4" or 11.9 MOA
168 grain SMK, .308 Win, MV 2650 fps
1000 yard drop -449.2" or -42.9 MOA, Windage 10 MPH 124.1" or 11.8 MOA
100 grain SGK, .243 Win, MV 2960 fps
1000 yard drop -363.9" or -34.8 MOA, Windage 10 MPH 115.6" or 11.0 MOA
175 grain SMK, .308Win, MV 2600 fps
1000 yard drop -422.4" or -40.3 MOA, Windage 10 MPH 106.5" or 10.2 MOA
I just don't see any huge advantage to the .243 running with limited factory ammunition. However if you plug in my 105 grain A-Max
"hand load" I posted there is a larger advantage to the .243 Win my hand load vs. .243/.308 Win factory load.
105 grain A-Max, .243 Win, 3147 MV
1000 yard drop -266.4 or -25.4 MOA, Windage 10 MPH 78.8" or 7.5 MOA
And I still say there is not such thing as too big for prairie dogs!!!