Going to try to load up to the Maximum !

[willyp]

In all the years i have been hand loading i have never tried to load a Maximum load in my rifles. 
I will load my shells till the group starts to come  apart and quit and back up?
I have decided to try to see what i can do with a 243 i have and don't use at all. It is new and has been in my cabinet for a long time! Also i will be going to see how fast i can load cast bullets in my old Savage 340-30-30 ?
I just got a new bullet lube for the cast bullets and wish to see how it will hold up with the 30-30?

[Muab Dib]

Well, don't go crazy willyp. In a 243 Winchester w/100 gr. bullet I load 42.0 gr. of IMR 4350. Used to be the standard load, now in a lot of manuals it's over max. In my 300 Savage in a 700 Rem. I'm shooting 2.0 grs. over max in all manuals with IMR 4064, but the pressure in the 300 Sav. has been historically kept low in light of Savage 99's, bolts are different - still not max in my rifle or so it seems. Again, in a Kimber 84 in 222 Remington I shoot 21.0 grs. of IMR 4198 w/50 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips - getting 3350 fps on a hot summer day - chronographed...accuracy is a little short of amazing for a sporter. It's max in my rifle and used to be "the load" back in the '50's and '60's but most manuals don't go there anymore. Bottom line...start with a good manual, work up slow from starting loads, and see what your rifle (and brass) tell you. Max in one rifle may well be over max in another.

Muab

[bushmaster]

I load my 243 for coyote with 37g of IMR 4895 under a Sierra 75g hollow point. Shooting clover leaves at 100yds. Never loaded for deer though.

[bawanajim]

I think you are tickling the wrong end of the bear, Big case dia, small neck dia, pressure builds very fast, and at very little gain, if danger is your game I would suggest testing thin Ice,its free, and there is no point in ruining a good rifle.

[davet]

I agree with Muab and Jim. I wouldn't come "outta the box" with the loads at the max. Each rifle is different and each one will show pressure signs at different loads. Factory rounds are loaded so that all rifles can shoot them and they are never loaded at maximum. I would start at the mid point and work up at half-gr to see how the loads perform.

MHO

Dave

[Dutch]

I always kept an eye on how flattened my primers were getting.

Eventually, I learned something less hot, and maybe a little less accurate would still kill a deer at 75 yds....

[Dutch]

Whats the sense of loading up for the 243 Winchester Magnum, when the 243 Winchester does fine on it's own?

I used to load for the 30-06 Magnum as well.

[Deleted]

The .243 is one of the absolute worst cartridges you could do that with due to it's abrupt pressure curve. Pressures just suddenly spike in that cartridge all of the sudden. That comes straight from John Barsness. The .243 is not a cartridge you push to the edge unless you don't like your rifle, your hand, or your face.

[cspot]

I don't like loading the .243 to the max. Did that for a while and had some issues with cases splitting after getting reloaded a few times. Not bad, but had a few do it. Loaded it down a little and it still shot the same and no issues with cases splitting.