Velocity of a short barrelled .243 WIN?

J

jimbob86

Moderator
Anybody have a .243 WIN with a 16.5 barrell? What velocity are you getting with a 100 grain load out of it?

I am thinking of getting a Ruger Frontier II for one of the kiddoes...... I saw one in 7-08, but was thinking .243 would be more kid freindly......
 
(insert abusive ad hominem attack here): Oh jeez, a 243? That's such a worthless round. The bullets practically bounce off a deer. Shoot a rabbit with it and you'll have to track it for half a mile before it succumbs to it's barely perceptible flesh wound.:rolleyes:

Seriously though, I would be more concerned about excessive muzzle blast than reduced mv but that also depends on the age of your boy.
 
Either would be suitable for youngsters. The 7mm-08 would be the better choice, if game larger than white-tail is anticipated in the future. The 7mm-08 is the ballistic equal of the famous 7mm mauser in terms of potential lethality, so long as the bullet is placed in the vitals.

In other words, the 7mm-08 kills much better than it's printed paper ballistics would lead you to believe. The cartridge is very accurate, as it was originally developed for metallic sil. Shooting from ranges of 100 to 500 meters and still have the energy remaining to topple over those heavy steel targets @ 500 meters.

The recoil is mild, cases are easy to load, case life is excellent, wide variety of 7mm bullet weights & propellants are available.

However, for varmint elimination & small deer, the .243 winchester is "da-bomb"

guru1911
 
Not too sure about what the muzzle velocity would be but i think that would be a perfect gun for a kid to start out with. My first gun was a Remington 600 Mohawk in a 243 with an 18 in. barrel. It does sound like a cannon going off and launches about a 3 ft flame out the barrel when shot at night, but accuracy is still great with the shorter barrel. Ive taken a couple of hogs out past 250 yds with it. I still use it pretty often as well as my wife. The gun is light and short making it easy to lug around.
 
I had a 19 inch barrel .243 that had good velocity still but the muzzle flash was pretty unreal :eek::eek: and LOUD is an understatement. The thing blew the screens off the chrony every shot....

.243 is a really good calibre for the little people with nearly no recoil to give them a flinch or scare them but perhaps stick with a longer barrel like a 22 incher to keep it a bit more civilized!
 
I also belong to the Specialty Pistol forum. Guys on there are into shooting Encore and other rifle-caliber pistols. Lots of them have .243 barrels on 15" Encores and Rem XP100R's. I don't know what velocity they are getting, but I know they shoot plenty of deer with them.
 
I just did a quick search for you over on the SP forum. From a 15" Encore using handloads, people are getting about 2400+fps with a 100grn bullet and better than 2600fps out of an 87grn bullet.

Factory ammo is going to be a little slower because they'll be using a slower burning powder designed for use in longer rifle barrels.
 
years ago when the chrony units came out we went nuts using it. a win 243 model 100 carbine was at 2600 fps. i also had a 243 interarms mark x with a 24 inch barrel.... 2660. sold it the next day. lol. i believe the individual gun has more of a variation in velocity than a hard and fast barrel length rule. fwiw, bobn
 
(insert abusive ad hominem attack here): Oh jeez, a 243? That's such a worthless round.......
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My first deer rifle was a Remmy 788 in .243 ...... killed them just fine.

Seriously though, I would be more concerned about excessive muzzle blast than reduced mv......
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That is what attracts me to the Ruger Scout Rifle: barrel is threaded at the factory ..... a suppressor is an option!

but that also depends on the age of your boy.
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You assume too much. Jacqueline needs a deer rifle next ...... James has a couple of years yet.

I was seriously thinking about one of those KalshniKitty pink rifles ........
 
16.5 seems a little too short. 18.5 you can get reasonable velocities with 100gr, 107, and 108, bullets. 115s are a little too much. I had initially asked the same question over at snipershide and some people were getting results of 2700-2800 depending on how hot the load is.
 
I wouldn't want such a rifle. If the velocities stated by Doyle the velocity is too low, and the muzzle blast would blow the ears off a brass monkey, as Jack O'Connor use to say.
I don't think it would be a good first gun.

Jerry
 
Muzzle flash on an 18 at dusk is pretty large. As i said i wouldn't go that short but if your dead set on it go for it. My brother is a small kid he's shooting our 18" youth .243 it has hardly any recoil, launching 100gr SSTs 2560fps.
 
I suggest zero the rifle so that bullets strike approx 2 inches above cross hairs at 100 yards. This zero will place bullet(s) into the chest organs well beyond 200 yards. The bullet(s) will expand properly and cause much damage to chest organs.

The velocity loss is not relevant as long as the rifle is zero'd properly. I know a dedicated handgunner who hunts with a very short 250 Savage barrel. But no effect upon lethality.

Jack
 
I'd like to know what your MV is also. I have a Ruger Compact in 260 Remington, and it has that 16.5 inch barrel. I'd rebarrel it, but it shoots so darn good that the barrel stays. I use a fast powder (for that caliber) and it isn't even a max of that powder, so the bullet probably is poking along at 2500 fps or less. This is one of those times that I wish I had a chronograph. But...maybe this is one of those times that I go with accuracy over velocity. And I have it sighted at about 1.5 inches high at 100. It should be fine to about 300, and I won't be shooting further than that. I do plan to get out in the pasture with targets at 200 and 300 and see what the trajectory really looks like.
 
Plan on a 200fps loss from 22" to 16.5. I have a Ruger Compact in 260. I shoot 120s at 2660, compared to almost 2850 in 22".

603 - You'd spend almost as much as a new Savage 16 to rebarrel your Compact. They are still available. It also has the Accutrigger and Accustock. First group was .679! Get some!
 
The .243 will kill anything in the U.S no problem. Its accurate and a blast to shoot, Not sure what for velocity that barrel would give you but a standard 24" barrel on mine gets me right around 3000fps. So your looking at a little less with that barrel, if I had to guess 2800. If you want something though that he can shoot forever buy him a 30-06 short barrel and load some 150s for it and get a good muzzle break. The 30-06 really takes well to a muzzle break, about the recoil of a 22mag when done right
 
Depending the bullet which I'm guessing 85-100 at max 2700. 2800 seems a little too steep on 16.5 IMO unless your shooting light bullets.
 
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