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Recipe for Nosler 55 grain E-Tips in .243
I'm looking for any suggestions regarding .243 hand loads in a Tikka T3 Lite using 55 grain Nosler e-Tips. These will be for shooting ground squirrels and coyotes. at no more than 250 yards. Accuracy is far more important than muzzlevelocity. At the moment I'm planning on IMR 4064 or IMR 4095 powder because that's what's available locally.
I'm aware of some of the T3 Lite limitations for varmint hunting but I'm retired and not in a particular hurry to wreak mayhem.
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12 Replies
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Here's some load data to get you started…see attached.
4064 is known to be really accurate in 243 with the lighter bullets, i would go with that over 4095
I'd start at 37grs and work up from there if you aren't worried about velocity… -
Thanks Dog (gee that sounds funny). Turns out IMR 4064 is in short supply, as are Federal primers. Only one place had the powder and it has to be shipped. It'll be at least a week before I can try out your recipe and then I'll report back.
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I'm sure you could substitute another primer…I like CCI…but I'm sure what ever you have readily available will work…nothing wrong with Federal though, but I would stick with 4064 and wait for it.
Loads posted are directly from a web source…just to give you an idea on where to start, you will find something that comes together playing between 37-39grs, shouldn't be too hard to dial it in.
Its going to be a laser out to 300yrds with that bullet! -
but I would stick with 4064 and wait for it
I am (twiddles thumbs for a week while waiting). >:(
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Here's the drop chart out to 500yrds @ 3700fps…
Only a 7″ drop at 300 when zeroed at 100…that is pretty much perfect for varmint & predator hunting. -
I use an iPhone app called Ballistic to play with trajectories (also use Gundata.org's calculator). If I raise the 100 yard zero to +1.5 inches, I still get a pretty flat trajectory and 2.5″ drop at 300. That's where I'd probably set it for coyotes. For varmints, not quite so sure since I think it might depend on where I can set up.
I tend to favor short-range shots, especially for big game, because I'm not that experienced and I've been involved in chasing critters on 3 different occasions (two shot by others and one missed entirely by me, another story for another time. I'd rather let one go than risk a miss. The point of shooting small stuff is to get more practice under a variety of conditions. Also to help with predator control.
Hopefully I'll be able to do some testing by the end of next week.
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I look forward to seeing your results!
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Looks like it might be the following week before powder and bullets arrive, so closer to the end of the month before I can try some recipes.
With 55 grain Winchester Varmint-X rounds, I shot a half inch group from a bench rest about two weeks ago. Now if I could only get those kinds of results with my (Winchester 670 in) .30-06 sigh! Yet another story for another time.
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I was finally able to test my hand loads. These were shot in order of decreasing charge (39, then 38, then 37 grains). IMR 4064 powder, Nosler 55 grain lead-free ballistic tips. 39 grains of powder (grn) gave the best results but I think I'm going to change from home made to reactive targets because I seem to shoot better when I use the reactives. The weather has also warmed up a bit and I might need to allow more time between groups.
The rifle is sighted for Winchester 100 grain ammo and I didn't ant to mess with it which is why all of the POIs are as high as they are.
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37grs looks more promising to me…you have only .25″ – .5″ vertical dispersion on a 3 shot group.
Depending on what the setting depth was for the loads you tested…TRY reducing your setting depth with 37grs by .010 increments…if the groups tighten up you are going in the right direction. If it opens move closer to the lands by .010 increments…
I'd continue to add powder in .5gr increments…you may find another node between 39-42grs…Max charge weight is around 45grs so you have alot of room to play yet. Then play with setting depth.
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I'm going to test them again using a different target type and also experiment with other loads, but for all practical purposes any of them would work just fine for the distances and critters I plan on shooting.
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8 months later…
37, 38.5 and 40.5 grain loads of IMR 4064 under Nosler 55 grain lead-free ballistic tips produce the best results. Velocities are roughly 300 FPS lower than test results on the Hogdon site but I loaded these at 2.65 (.06 shorter than Hogdon) and I'm using a shorter barrel (20 vs. 24). Next step is to play with the OAL a bit to see whether it makes any difference.
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