Shot some handloads this week in this rifle. Some Berger 87 and 95 grain VLD hunting bullets also some Hornady 58 grain VMax. VMax did fair still needs work the 87 grain Bergers show some potential the 95's might be too long for this rifle/barrel combination it's a ten twist Berger recommends a nine minimum. All the target work I did with the Bergers was wasted I found that after wasting all of my rounds the scope base had come loose. Not only loose all the screws were stripped from the factory. At least the receiver is good I have some 8-40 screws to replace them with so all I got was the velocities but accuracy test is out the window. Oh well load some more and go again I should have known something was wrong I was spraying the target like a shotgun. Guess the 58 grain weren't recoiling enough to knock the base loose. I finally looked the scope over and could see the gap between the rail and the top of the receiver only the front screw had threads and it was loose the other three were ruined guess the Turk that tightened them got a little heavy on his screwdriver. 
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The 58 V Max weren't too bad even with a loose base. After I shot these groups everything went south. Load book claims you can push the 58 grain to 3800 fps.Comment
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I pulled the scope off and tried tightening the stripped screws reattached the scope and shot this last group of the 95's. The screws were barely snug and after the last shot the base was loose again I could see a gap. I also removed the Magnetospeed from the barrel I doub't it made a difference hopefully when I reshoot the groups close up if not the Bergers aren't for this rifle.Comment
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Another day at the range derailed. At least the scope didn't come loose again. I had four new loads to test and made it through two before the train wreck. I still want these bergers to shoot well I might be close but everything has gone south. I was using Fiocchi new primed brass I bought from Midway a while back for load development I should have used a better brass period. First the necks are thick, really thick. I always load dummies and make sure they chamber and I did with Berger bullets. They all chambered easily however measuring the od of the necks after a bullet was seated put them right at the maximum diameter for loaded ammunition for a .243. Some precision guys get their reamers made for certain types of brass then neck turn them down for neck clearance after loading a particular bullet in that custom chamber. This is a Turk chamber I assume SAAMI specs and I didn't have any problems until I switched bullets. I also saw velocities having wild swings and stringing shots then it finally caught up. I shot ten rounds of Berger loads then switched to a Nosler load and that was it. I only had one round that would chamber and none of the remaining five would and also none of the five I had loaded with Speer bullets. End of the hunt for Fiocchi. I pulled the bullets and dumped my powder back in the can and threw the brass away I sold my neck turner a long time ago not into that stuff anyway. I think I got close with the Berger loads now I am switching to Remington brass luckily I have about 400 new pieces plus a couple hundred old pieces of range brass I think I will throw it away too. Might buy some Hornady if I see any around or Norma. Last Berger loads with Fiocchi brass. The 87 grain loads were vertically stringing and had big velocity swings. That low shot of the 95 grain most likely is due to the weird neck tension and I also had one round that would not fire the primer brass pocket was too deep the firing pin barely hit the primer and I tried it three times. I should see better resul;ts with the Remington brass.Comment
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I had to do some stuff I have been putting off and put the .243 away for a while I loaded a couple of new loads one might be exciting. I bought some 58 grain Barnes Varminator hollow points last weekend locally and prepped 100 pieces of new Remington brass for some more loads. Threw the Fiocchi away got plenty of new Remington and some Winchester . I hope the Barnes feed they are really short the 90 grain Speers will be fine. I still need to try some 95 grain Nosler Partitions and I have a new box of Nosler 95 grain Ballistic Tips. I am willing to bet they shoot pretty good. I don't think the Bergers are going to work out. I have a brand new box of 105 VLD's I bought several years ago I am pretty sure they won't work in this rifle the twist is too slow I can barely get 87 grain to even resemble a group close to max velocities. Getting some pretty flat primers.Comment
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Well, I shot the three new loads in Remington brass. It wasn't too pretty and the Barnes 58 grain Varminators wouldn't feed so I had to single shoot them. I might mess with them a little with the length there's not much of them in the necks I don't know if making them a little longer will help. Velocity on them was a little low and pretty bad accuracy the V Max I have loaded shoot a lot better. The Speer 90 grain loads velocity was pretty close just not very accurate about like some Winchester factory loads I have shot. This rifle is kind of like a .260 I have it shoots some bullet weights and profiles good and others bad no matter what powders and seating depths I tried. And it didn't shoot well with Remington brass I finally ended up using Lapua.Comment
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