question about new 243 tc encore...

[Hunter_Man]

I recently acquired a TC encore in 243 for my son to use. i bought a box of ammo to shoot until i got my dies for reloading.

the ammo i was using was hornady whitetail 10 gr. interlock

i was thoroughly impressed with the accuracy of this gun. well, my dies came in and i purchased some 105 gr a max bullets to reload it with. used some imr 4064 powder i had, and worked up a small ladder in .5 grain increments.

results were HORRIBLE. i mean, at 100 yds the gun would shoot nothing better than an 8 inch group off of a lead sled.

i'm fairly new to reloading, but i've never had results like this. i reload my 308, 223, etc and have had gread luck, and never such inconsistent loads.

all brass was trimmed to the same length, cleaned in stainless rumbler, etc.


i believe the barrel is 1:10 twist 24" stainless fluted. i've got good glass on it, and rechecked the base and rings at the range. both are tight.

anyone ever had anythign like this happen? do you think it could be too heavy of a bullet to stabilize? i figured the 100 gr were spot on, so the 105's would be good to go.

[LWD]

105 AMAX is a long bullet and won't stabilize in that slow a twist barrel. Shoot it at 200 yards and they'll be hitting the paper sideways—if they hit it at all. Go back to the 100 grain Interlocks and whack and stack. In that small a caliber the AMAX isn't the best choice for deer anyway.

LWD

[Flint knapper]

Stay with the 90 or 100 grain bullets and you should do fine.

[LWD]

Hornady recommends at least a 1:9" twist for the 105 AMAX. A 1:9.25" twist is also a common twist rate for .243s. You'll occasionally find a .243 with a 1:9.25" twist that will stabilize a 105 AMAX, you shouldn't count on it.

LWD

[Hunter_Man]

well, i went to the store yesterday and couldn't find any interlocks in 100 gr... actually there were no interlocks at all.

i did however find 87 gr hornady "varmint". i figured what the heck...

i didn't realize they weren't a boat tail bullet... they're a flat base. ya'll think they'll do ok or should i return them before i open the bag?

[LWD]

I've heard people say the Hornady 87 grain is hard enough to use on deer. But I'm not sure I would. I've got a bunch of .243 bullets at home. Pretty sure I've got some Sierra 85 grain BTHP Game Kings and Sierra 100 grain Pro Hunters and maybe something else. I can spot you some if you want to try them. Want me to look?


LWD

[Hunter_Man]

man that would be awesome LWD! would save me a bunch of money trying to test out some bullets to see what she likes.

[TacticalCowboy]

Be careful of loading them too hot.

[Seacoal]

Most of the people I know who shoot 6mm stuff shoot those 100 gn pro hunters. They're good medicine and they're cheap you also will probably want to shoot multiple powders if your gun doesn't like one, but 4064 is a decent one in .243 as I recall

[LWD]

Hunter_Man check your PMs.

LWD

[John316]

Yep. Had this problem also. Mine was so bad my bullets were "key holing".
On the box of bullets it says 1-9" twist, or at least they used to. Of course I didn't see this till after my bullets were tumbling down range.

[LWD]

well, i went to the store yesterday and couldn't find any interlocks in 100 gr... actually there were no interlocks at all.

i did however find 87 gr hornady "varmint". i figured what the heck...

i didn't realize they weren't a boat tail bullet... they're a flat base. ya'll think they'll do ok or should i return them before i open the bag?

I checked my Hornady manual, and those, both the spire point and hollow point versions, are listed for use on varmints and medium game.

LWD

[smokin feathers]

Solid base bullets work fine

[Cajun Blake]

the Sierra 85 gr HPBT anchors deer

an old benchrest shooting friend from TX has a crop depredation permit and has shot over 3,000 deer with this bullet out of his custom 6mm Rem

[Hunter_Man]

well i got her figured out. it was definately the bullets.

loaded up some of the 87 gr, as well as some 58 gr i found for varmints.

the 58 gr's shoot AMAZING with 36 gr of Benchmark behind them, COL at 2.20.
worked a little ladder test at 100 and 200 yds. at 100 yds 4 shots off my lead sled were literally in the same hole. you could barely tell it was more than 1 shot.

at 200 yds it grouped at 1.3"

the 87 gr's did best with 35.5 gr Varget behidn them and grouped at just under an inch.
but at 200 they spread out a little... about 2.1".

waiting on some freebies from LWD to test those out. i think the 87 may just be a tad high for my setup.

Either way my son is back in buisness for plugging a doe.

thanks for the advice guys.