Is there a superior grain bullet for short barrel .243?

[peeshooter]

I just purchased a ruger compact Mark 77 .243 with a 161/2 inch barrel. Do heavier or lighter, faster or slower bullets perform better with short barrels. Do faster bullets need more barrel to sustain a good flight?

[naconst]

i believe the twist of the barrel will have more to do with the type of bullet that will shoot better ,you will only lose some speed with the short barrel

[peeshooter]

I haven't had much luck grouping ballistic tip bullets. Seem todo better with a heavier lead tip.

[T. O'Heir]

Peeshooter, the rifling twist is what determines the best bullet weight. The barrel length is irrelevant. Your's is a 1 in 9 twist. You have a deer rifle. Think heavier bullets. 90 grains or better. You rifle will be just fine as a varmint rifle too. You will lose velocity though.

[joshua]

Go with this chart. If you have a 1x9 twist then try the 80 grains and above. If you try to shoot the light bullets 64 and below you may not have acceptable results in accuracy.

6mm/.243
8" Special for VLD bullets over 100 gr.
10" For bullets up to 120 gr. and VLD under 100 gr.
12" For bullets up to 85 gr.
13"* For bullets up to 75 gr.
14"* For bullets up to 70 gr.

[trooper3385]

I don't have any experience with the compact Rugers, but I have a Remington model 600 with an 18 in barrel and never had any problems with anything from 80 gr up to 100 gr. They've all grouped excellent. I'm not to sure what the twist is in it however. Most of the rounds I've shot through it have been reloads. It grouped excellent with the 95 gr Nosler ballistic tips that I had reloaded for it. It didn't like how the bullets peformed at all on deer sized game, but they grouped good. I think they have improved the ballistic tips since I have last used them for the 243 several years back. Anyway, it shot great with the 80 gr, 95 gr, and 100 gr in both boat tail and flat base bullets that I have shot in it.

[Jim Watson]

As you can tell from the varied replies, the bad news is you are going to have to shoot the gun and not the keyboard. Every rifle is a law unto itself, and commercial hunting rifles are made to be as versatile as possible for the money. Barrel length does not have much to do with it.

[Art Eatman]

The only thing significant about a 16.5" barrel is that you subtract some 300 to 400 feet per second from the standard numbers for muzzle velocity.

Art