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Old March 28, 2014, 07:42 PM   #1
te001wkc
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243 and 270 powder

I am new to reloading and looking for a good powder for 243 and 270 calibers. I have just about used up my Hodgdons H4350 and am wondering about a better powder for these two calibers. My wife and I target shoot at 100 yards. Using Sierra 100 gr. Spitzers in 243 and Hornady SST 130 gr. in 270.
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Old March 28, 2014, 08:22 PM   #2
myfriendis410
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Reloder 19 would be a good place to start.
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Old March 28, 2014, 08:25 PM   #3
mxsailor803
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I usually use IMR4064. Its been pretty consistent for me from .243 up to 30-06.
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Old March 28, 2014, 09:40 PM   #4
Khromo
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I've been using H4895 for the .243, and reducing the loads to keep throat erosion down. It's getting some extremely impressive results, very accurate with no recoil to speak of.

Check the Hodgdon site for "Youth Loads" where they describe the "60% Rule". I keep those loads below 29 grains. There's no sense burning up your barrel when you're only shooting 100 yards. When you want typical .243 velocities, you can use H4895 for that, as well. Very useful for getting more use out of one rifle!

I don't have a .270, but H4895 should have some utility in that caliber too.

Good luck finding any!
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Old March 28, 2014, 10:39 PM   #5
William T. Watts
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Either H4831 or IMR4831 powder would be an excellent choice for either caliber with the bullets you've mentioned..William
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Old March 29, 2014, 04:53 AM   #6
Mike / Tx
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I have to go with Khromo on the H-4895 if you can find any.

I have worked with the reduced loads for grandsons to shoot in .243, .308, and .270. Using the 60% rule and following along with the directions posted there I have found that in all of them it has been VERY accurate with the standard weight bullets for caliber, sa well as some of the lighter ones.

In the .243 I have used 80, 95, and 100gr bullets and gotten 1/2" accuracy with all of them through three different rifles. Same with the .308. We started off with the 125 Nosler BT and worked up to the 130, then on to the 150gr loads. With the .270 I simply started with the 130 and ran it from mouse farts up to the 2800fps range. I adjust the loads as the boys grow. In all cases they usually kept the accuracy well within an inch up to the top end I loaded them to. Recoil is almost none existent compared to standard loads with slower powders. In fact they are darned comfortable to shoot. My little .308 only weighs 6.5# and from the bench it even works on me after a while. The oldest grandson will run me out of ammo with the lighter loads shooting it.

I have not found H-4895 to be disappointing with any of them.
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Old March 29, 2014, 05:21 AM   #7
Eppie
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Quote:
te001wkc said: I am new to reloading and looking for a good powder for 243 and 270 calibers. I have just about used up my Hodgdons H4350 and am wondering about a better powder for these two calibers. My wife and I target shoot at 100 yards. Using Sierra 100 gr. Spitzers in 243 and Hornady SST 130 gr. in 270.
All the powders below are good suggestions. However, the .243 is known barrel burner. I've learned recently that life of the barrel can be doubled or even tripled by the selection of slower burning powder and a good barrel cleaning regimen without giving up accuracy. Hodgdon H-1000, Retumbo and IMR 4831 are recommended, unfortunately they are difficult to find these day.

Here's a pdf document discussing what I'm talking about. The writer is talking about the 6CM (Competition Match) caliber. That is a .243 with a slightly different shoulder angle. But the lessons learned are applicable to the .243 as well.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/atta...4&d=1394241631
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Old March 29, 2014, 08:01 AM   #8
hooligan1
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My daughters .243 winchester loves winchester supreme 780 withose 100 grain sierra gamekings. Most .270's will shoot well with IMR4350. But my .270 loves H4350 and shoots those 130 grn accubonds into a nice little group..
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Old March 30, 2014, 12:33 PM   #9
castnblast
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Amen on H1000 for 243. You can get nice velocity and not even get anywhere near max pressure with that powder. I load 46 gr of h1000 on 100 BTSP's and get penny size groups. Lots of energy and 3017 fps put of my Howa. Love that load.

Going to experiment with it on my 270 with some 150 gr BTSP's and se 135 gr BTSP's. Let u know how that goes when the wind settles down.
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Old March 31, 2014, 10:42 AM   #10
schmellba99
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My Win 70 .243 absolutely loves H414. 40.5 grains under a 95g BST produce 1 hole groups at 100 that can be covered with a nickel.

I have no clue on pressure or velocity as I don't have measurement equipment for either, but pressure signs are non-existent and velocity is an overstated statistic in my opinion, especially when you are talking about short ranges (say 600 and under).
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Old March 31, 2014, 10:55 AM   #11
Mike Irwin
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IMR 4064 has been my goto powder for virtually all of my rifle loading for decades.

Very forgiving, provides excellent accuracy, and is extremely versatile.
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Old April 1, 2014, 05:08 PM   #12
kilotanker22
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Rl22, magpro, and IMR 483-
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Old April 1, 2014, 07:42 PM   #13
schill32
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243 powder

I IMR 4350 and get 3 bullets touching @ 100 yrds with nosler 95 grn bilistic tip hunting bullet. My rifle is a lever action finwolf sako .Oh how sweet it is.
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Old April 2, 2014, 05:07 AM   #14
hooligan1
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Hey Schill, what is the barrel length? And how many grains you using?...I cant get my daughters mauser to shoot those Btips that well....
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Old April 2, 2014, 07:28 AM   #15
green_MTman
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hodgedons Varget would be very accurate for the .243 and IMR7828 would be good for the .270

i also would recomend magnum primers for any 30-06 based shell casing.if using magnum primers prevents you from working up the maximun load dont worry about that.the reason for using magnum primers in the .270 is for consistant ignition not for more velocity.

the .270 is a long and slender shell casing which often in cold weather will not ignite all the powder hence accuracy problems.
if you live in Arizona or something dont worry about the magnum primers.use winchester large rifle

use winchester large rifle magnum those seem to work well in 30-06 shell casings.the federal 215 magnums are good for 300 0r 375 H&H based rounds but not the 30-06 based shells
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Old April 2, 2014, 07:37 AM   #16
kilotanker22
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+1 on the magnum primers.
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Old April 2, 2014, 05:13 PM   #17
schill32
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243 powder

hooligan
On my finwolf #63 lever action the barrel is 22"
I'm using IMR 4350 41.5 grns and I'm 10,000 off lanz and they are neck sized.
I use CCI primers.
They are with in 1/4 in grouping measuring outside of holes . @100 yrds
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