Whats the problem with .243 rifles

[Country Boy]

 I would like to get one but people on here say they have all kinds of trouble with them and they are not accurate. So whats the real deal ?

[shaner]

i had one a few years back , a H&R  243 camo lamo one , it shot really well ,  i had 2 other NEF handis and neither would put 2 bullets the same place 2'xs in a row , i cant tell ya???

[Cat Whisperer]

This raises the question of what one means by "accurate".

1 MOA?

Minute of beer-can?

Many handi's need to be tweeked.  The FAQ's are good, albeit impersonal.

I have a friend who has  a handi in .243 - it's OK, could do better.  We haven't tried tuning it yet.

My frustrations are with the .357M, .44Mag, .45-70 and .22 Hornet.  One at a time, they will get to the point where I will have GREAT confidence in them.

[Elkoholic]

Mine would shoot sub 1 inch with every bullet weight I loaded...

Probably shouldn't have traded it for a 45-70 barrel.   Should
have just bought one outright.   

[coyotejoe]

The wife's .243 superlight is not "super-accurate", it took a lot of fiddling with loads to find one that would go into 2 moa, just barely, but that is one rifle and I would not assume it applies to all H&R .243s across the board. My .357 mag/max is more like a 3 moa rifle with its best load on its best day, but I would not apply that across the board either. I think handi rifles in general are a mixed lot, there are some which are fine right out of the box, there are some which can be worked up to shoot fine and there are some which just stink no matter what you do with them.

[MOGLEY]

All the ones I have need to have triggers done #1 most important for accuracy. #2 would be float the barrel. #3 would be the right reload recipe. Factory ammo is limited in choice. Ammo alone can make a 2" group come to one hole group. Trigger jobs make it happen consistently.

[STUMPJMPR]

I have the heavy barrel .243 and i can shoot 10 shots without cooling and they will all be in 1 1/2"....

[guzzijohn]

I may be wrong but from past posts, etc. it appears that the .243 is one of the more inconsistent calibers. I bought a new heavy barrel Handi a couple of years ago. After trying a number of different brands and bullet weights and tuning tricks about the best groups at 100 yards were 2.5 inches with most being 4-8 inches. My trigger was quite good out of the box. When I started reloading my first reloads of 32gr H-4895 and Nosler 90 gr. with Federal match primers gave me 5 shot groups of just over an inch. And they say rimfires are fussy about ammo!