Question

C

Craig Canard

Inactive
How come you can look in all the reloading books at 243 95gr bullets and the powders are so different. Like the hornady you can use imr4831 and there is no imr4831 listed for the nosler 95gr. Could I use the hornady data and substitute the nosler bullet instead of the hornady there both 95gr bullets??? The reason I ask is all I have is imr4831.
 
Sometimes it is because the testers found something unsuitable about the powder for that cartridge & bullet combination.

Other times, it is as simple as they didn't have that powder on hand to test when they did the load testing.
 
Could I use the hornady data and substitute the nosler bullet instead of the hornady there both 95gr bullets???
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Yes, but use caution.

Generally speaking if you have 95 gr bullets the load data is close enough to use regardless of who made the 95 gr bullets as long as you start low and work up. This is why I believe a $100 chronograph should be essential re loading equipment.

You may find that brand "A" 95 gr bullets shoots faster than brand "B" with the same powder charge. In that case brand "A" will need less powder before reaching max pressure. The only way to know that is with a chronograph. If the manual says 42 gr of powder is a max load and you should be getting 3000 fps with that amount of powder, then 3000 fps is you max load, not necessarily 42 gr.

If bullet "A" starts getting close to 3000 fps with 40 gr of powder then 40 gr is a max load with that bullet. You might be OK to go to 42 gr of powder to get the same speed with a different 95 gr bullet.

I don't load for 243, but have loaded for various 30 caliber rifles. Over the years I've found that every load I've used to be interchangeable between Nosler and Hornady bullets. The same exact powder charge resulted in the same speeds regardless of whether or not I used Nosler or Hornady bullets. This may or may not be true with 243, but I'd say probably so.

The exception is the all copper bullets. The rules are much different with them. If I have load data for a standard 150 gr bullet the load data will be much different with a 150 gr copper bullet.
 
All good advice.....only one thing to add.

You might want to consider an improved subject line like, "Question: What powder for 95 gr 243 win loads?"

Welcome to the forum.
 
Craig,
Give Sierra a call at 1-800-223-8799. They will give you load data for the bullet and powder of your choice.
There may be a difference in the construction of the two bullets which requires a different load.
 
While I agree caution and starting low, Sierra and Hornady will list multiple bullet types from hunting and flat based to match and or varmint.


Many of them have slightly different weights.

All of them list the same loads.

So start low and work up and cross compare a couple of manuals before doing so.
 
Do understand that the reason for starting low is simple. It is because you are not shooting the same gun (and component combination) they tested the loads in. You are shooting something similar, but not exactly the same.

Because your gun and component combination COULD (usually doesn't but could) create a much different pressure than the test gun and loads, and because if that difference is on the high end of the range it might not be suitable for use in YOUR gun. SO, we start low, just in case, to avoid possible risks.

Reloading data is GUIDELINES, not exact formulas that give exactly the same results in all guns. every time. The majority of firearms and components will perform similarly, which is why we can use published data as a guideline, but there are some at each end of the bell curve.

And there's no way to tell, until you shoot them, which is why we start low, and carefully work up.
 
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