The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Greetings any deer stalkers

I'm sure that some stalkers like me who prefer to stalk Muntjac with .243 will have encountered the challenge of achieving 1700 ft lbs with a 100 grain bullet without incurring high pressure issues. I experienced that several years ago when I was starting out with .243 (having only ever shot deer with .308 prior to that) and eventually I gave up trying and since then have used 90 grain to good effect, loading with N160.

Over the last couple of years of course ammunition components have at times been hard to find, and my preferred 90gn small deer bullet, the Nosler Ballistic Tip, has disappeared off the face of the earth. Or might as well have. I have worked up accurate loads with 85gn alternatives (Sierra Varminter and Speer BT) but the more accurate (for me) Varminter is a pain to seat as it has a flat base, so on a recent visit to Spud in Aylsham I was tempted to purchase some 95gn Noslers and am now about to put some test loads together for a trip to Bisley next weekend.

As luck would have it, on paper - and loading with N160 - the 95gn heads appear to present at least a similar problem as the 100gn, albeit maybe less of a challenge. So I was intrigued to see that Vihtavuori has started including N555 in their .243 reloading data against some but not all heads, among them 95gn. I can't (and wouldn't) make any assumptions about that data, not least because they use a 23" barrel in their tests while mine is 20". But Quickload is pointing me to a deer legal energy load using N555
and so I will put a few rounds together to see how they perform.

So that's the back story and where I've got to. Does the story ring bells with any of you? If you've been experimenting with N555 in .243, may I ask how have you got on?

Heads??

Remember all load data on here must be sourced from published pressure tested data and be between those minimum and maximum loads.

I would also suggest that you read the "Checking for signs of pressure" sticky in this forum as to what is reliable in regards to assessing load pressure.

Quick Load only gives predictions not tested data.

Apologies. Too many decades as a pistol shooter back in the distant day has left me with an occasional linguistic tic...

Your point on load data is well made and well taken, which is why I ensured that I made no specific reference to powder volumes. Nor would I other than in the circumstances set out. The purpose of my post was simply to see whether any other member had been loading one caliber with power supposedly developed for another i.e. 6.5CM. And of course the question would not have been asked at all if Vihtavuori had not started including that power in its reloading data against calibers other than 6.5CM. I apologise if I overstepped any marks referencing the information I did. Thank you for pointing me to the forum load pressure information. I have been reloading for 45 years but have always believed in the old adage that you can learn something new every day so I am sure I will benefit from looking through that. And thank you also for confirming my own experience of Quickload; there is no better route to load development than slow and cautious!

Why are you trying to achieve 1700 ft/lb for Muntjac?