.243 what happened ?

[Country Boy]

 I bought a 77 mkII some time ago and it shot great with both factory and handloads. After about 6 months. I couldn"t hit a paper plate with it at 100 yds   Tried everything but nothing worked. So I rebarreled it to .358 win.

[safetysheriff]

i am guessing that a bore scope will tell you what is wrong.   a gun shop that has a scope can show you if metal/powder fouling or just plain barrel/throat erosion is the culprit.   i'll tell anyone who will listen that the .243 is a barrel burner.   plain and simple.   you can read on other websites:  long-range.com; nationalmatch.us ; and 6mmbr.com that others also think of the .243 as a barrel burner.   it is a short-necked, overbore cartridge that really is outdone by the 6mm remington in several respects.   but the public hasn't known that; so the cartridge has sold very well.   

take care,

ss'   

[targshooter]

I agree with the barrel burner edict. I bought new a very accurate .243 in 1968. At its peak the rifle was a true .75 MOA rifle, capable of at least this accuracy from a bench at 100 yards consistently; often shooting .5MOA (best group was .4MOA). The accuracy dropped off after between 2,500 and 3,000 rounds such that it was no longer a good varmint rifle at 300 yards, as it was now holding about 1-1.25 MOA. After another 1,500 rounds or so she opened up to about 2MOA, a good deer rifle but no longer a varmint rig for any distance.

[Val]

It seems unlikely that you burned out a barrel in 6 months. I think something else was off such as stock screws loose or a scope loose or starting to go South.

[Lone Star]

I agree with the barrel burner edict....The accuracy dropped off after between 2,500 and 3,000 rounds such that it was no longer a good varmint rifle at 300 yards, as it was now holding about 1-1.25 MOA. After another 1,500 rounds or so she opened up to about 2MOA

Yep, a real barrel burner that one.  It only lasted 4500 shots!   Compare that to what a .220 Swift or .264 Winchester gives... 

Of course, experienced shooters know the value of not overheating a barrel by shooting too rapidly.  That will burn out a barrel in short order - I know from personal experience.  I shot out the throat of a 6mm Remington in one afternoon by firing too rapidly and overheating the barrel badly.  After that session I could see the throat errosion clearly by looking up the barrel - the throat looked like a dry lakebed, cracked and parched. Accuracy and fouling were terrible.  My second 6mm Rem is still shooting sub-moa after 2000+ and my .243 shoots even better after about as many.  Barrel care is a large part of barrel life regardless of the chambering.



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