Today at the Bench.....

[Flyeralan]

Finally got my 257 Roberts brass done and in the tumbler. Ive got a list of projects next.

Prep once fired 6.5 creedmoor

Prep new 6.5 creedmoor

Prep 243 brass

Clean and prep 35 whelen brass

Clean and prep 338-06 brass

Neck 35 whelen brass up to 375 to fireform

Neck 30-06 brass up to 338 to fireform

Neck 30-06 brass up to 8mm to fireform

I’m sure there is more to do but that stuff is at the top of my list.


JTD

You got a couple of fav's there to work on! I am a big 243 fan, almost all of the deer I have harvested in my life have been with the 243 and all but one was 1 shot. I love the 35 Whelen, but it hurts too much and I am a pre 257 Roberts owner, lol. I have been pretty focused on learning the sub-sonic 300 Blackout game at the bench recently, hoping to nail down another load this weekend at the hunting camp.

[JeffreyDeGraff]

You got a couple of fav's there to work on! I am a big 243 fan, almost all of the deer I have harvested in my life have been with the 243 and all but one was 1 shot. I love the 35 Whelen, but it hurts too much and I am a pre 257 Roberts owner, lol. I have been pretty focused on learning the sub-sonic 300 Blackout game at the bench recently, hoping to nail down another load this weekend at the hunting camp.

Ive never killed anything with my 243, but I’m going to play around with it and see what happens.

I took the 35 whelen to the range Sunday. I shot the last 6 rounds I had loaded up from years ago. My shoulder still hurts.

What are you using for your subsonic loads, are you shooting a bolt, AR, or single shot?


JTD

[Flyeralan]

Ive never killed anything with my 243, but I’m going to play around with it and see what happens.

I took the 35 whelen to the range Sunday. I shot the last 6 rounds I had loaded up from years ago. My shoulder still hurts.

What are you using for your subsonic loads, are you shooting a bolt, AR, or single shot?


JTD

I've killed many a PA groundhog with the 243 as well, I have always had good success with IMR 4350 for accuracy. My 300 BO is an AR, BCA upper that I won in a raffle (otherwise I would probably not still own an AR) on a PSA lower. Nothing special, but it eats just about anything I feed it and is reasonably accurate. Been working with an array of 175gn and up for subsonic and am finally trying the Berry's 220gn this weekend. AA1680, and a similar surplus have been pretty good suppressed, but IMR 4227 has been so quiet that I am focused on it to see if I can get it to cycle consistently. At any rate, I am having fun learning.

[JeffreyDeGraff]

I've killed many a PA groundhog with the 243 as well, I have always had good success with IMR 4350 for accuracy. My 300 BO is an AR, BCA upper that I won in a raffle (otherwise I would probably not still own an AR) on a PSA lower. Nothing special, but it eats just about anything I feed it and is reasonably accurate. Been working with an array of 175gn and up for subsonic and am finally trying the Berry's 220gn this weekend. AA1680, and a similar surplus have been pretty good suppressed, but IMR 4227 has been so quiet that I am focused on it to see if I can get it to cycle consistently. At any rate, I am having fun learning.

Ive used 243 on many prairie dog hunts. What bullet do you use for deer?

I have a bolt action blackout. Ive had great success with 180gr plated with unique. Super quiet but won’t cycle an AR. 4227 was almost as quiet and is supposed to cycle the action. I didn’t like 1680.


JTD

[Flyeralan]

Ive used 243 on many prairie dog hunts. What bullet do you use for deer?

I have a bolt action blackout. Ive had great success with 180gr plated with unique. Super quiet but won’t cycle an AR. 4227 was almost as quiet and is supposed to cycle the action. I didn’t like 1680.


JTD

JTD, My favorite is the 95 grain Nosler Partition, I have used the 100 grain Partition with equal success and the 85 grain with good success. In recent years I have had trouble finding the Partition and am loading the Barnes 85 grain TSX BT, though that has yet to be proven in my world as I have been unsuccessful in getting shooting for my wife and daughter as they began hunting in ernest. The Nosler Partition has put down so many whitetails for me that I wouldn't hesitate to use them and may switch back as the supply reappears. That is about 45 years of hunting PA white tails for me and almost exclusively with the Nosler. I have no doubt about it's capability in the 243.

Now, the blackout. The surplus powder I use is a 1680 clone and I have 8 lbs of it so I will use it. No trouble with cycling my AR but it is not as quiet and is a bit dirty. I just shot 30 rounds of the Berry 220 grain plated today and they performed flawlessly. I again hit the charge perfectly as the hottest loads were 1/2 sub and 1/2 super. The subs were nice and the accuracy off a very unpleasant rest was acceptable. Now that I have identified where the subsonic begins, I will work on the accuracy issue with a much better rest. Today was strictly a data point day with the chronograph. Again, as much success with getting my AR to cycle with IMR 4227 makes me wish I had bought 8 lbs of that instead of this surplus. I can't believe the difference in noise between the two and so far getting this AR to cycle has been easy.

[JeffreyDeGraff]

JTD, My favorite is the 95 grain Nosler Partition, I have used the 100 grain Partition with equal success and the 85 grain with good success. In recent years I have had trouble finding the Partition and am loading the Barnes 85 grain TSX BT, though that has yet to be proven in my world as I have been unsuccessful in getting shooting for my wife and daughter as they began hunting in ernest. The Nosler Partition has put down so many whitetails for me that I wouldn't hesitate to use them and may switch back as the supply reappears. That is about 45 years of hunting PA white tails for me and almost exclusively with the Nosler. I have no doubt about it's capability in the 243.

Now, the blackout. The surplus powder I use is a 1680 clone and I have 8 lbs of it so I will use it. No trouble with cycling my AR but it is not as quiet and is a bit dirty. I just shot 30 rounds of the Berry 220 grain plated today and they performed flawlessly. I again hit the charge perfectly as the hottest loads were 1/2 sub and 1/2 super. The subs were nice and the accuracy off a very unpleasant rest was acceptable. Now that I have identified where the subsonic begins, I will work on the accuracy issue with a much better rest. Today was strictly a data point day with the chronograph. Again, as much success with getting my AR to cycle with IMR 4227 makes me wish I had bought 8 lbs of that instead of this surplus. I can't believe the difference in noise between the two and so far getting this AR to cycle has been easy.

The partition is pretty much a favorite of mine in most calibers. They just plain work.

Seems you’ve got you blackout squared away.


JTD