Ground hog hunting with the 204 ( 243 ) Ultra Varmint fluted.

[Inrut24/7]

How much Holdoever do you use with a  HMR  at 250 Yards ?

I was using the second dot down at 25 power,  The groundhog was standing sidways, I aimed for the top of its head and hit it behind the shoulder.

[~Ace~]

Nice, Good shooting !

@ 50 = +.36

@ 75 = +.68

@100 = +.52

@ 125 = -.20

@ 150 = -1.60

@175 = -3.76

@ 200 = -6.78

@ 225 = -10.91

@ 250 = -16.26

[DalesCarpentry]

Hey guys I forgot to mention that yesterday at the range. I ran into a guy checking zero on his 222. He said he has killed 150 Groundhogs this year and his best year was 200. He also said he has killed 30 in one day. I was truly shocked. I thought I was doing pretty good this year. I killed maybe 40 or so. I have a long way to catch up to him.    Dale

[DalesCarpentry]

I have been having a hard time finding 55 or 58 grain factory ammo around here. I stopped by Dick's sporting goods on the way home from work and bought 2 boxes of 80 grain Remington Express ammo Ballistics Results
   
Cartridge Information
Index Number Cartridge Type Weight (grs.) Bullet Style Primer No. Ballistic Coefficient
R243W1 Remington® Express® 80 Pointed Soft Point 9 1/2 0.255

 
Velocity (ft/sec)
Cartridge Type Bullet Muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
Remington® Express® 80 PSP 3350 2955 2593 2259 1951 1670

 
Energy (ft-lbs)
Cartridge Type Bullet Muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
Remington® Express® 80 PSP 1993 1551 1194 906 676 495

 
Short-Range Trajectory
Cartridge Type Bullet 50 100 150 200 250 300
Remington® Express® 80 PSP 0.0 0.5 zero -1.6 -4.5 -8.8

 
Long-Range Trajectory
Cartridge Type Bullet 100 150 200 250 300 400 500
Remington® Express® 80 PSP 2.2 2.7 2.0 zero -3.5 -15.8 -37.3

 
Note:  These ballistics reflected a test barrel length of 24" except those for 30 Carbine and 44 Remington Magnum which are 20" barrels.
  Specifications are nominal. Ballistics figures established in test barrels. Individual rifles may vary from test barrel results.
  “zero” indicates yardage at which rifle was sighted in.
* Inches above or below line of sight. Hold low for positive numbers, high for negative numbers.
1 Bullet does not rise more than 1" above line of sight from muzzle to sighting-in range.
2 Bullet does not rise more than 3" above line of sight from muzzle to sighting-in range.
† 280 Remington and 7mm Express Remington are interchangeable.
‡ 6mm Remington and 244 Remington are interchangeable.                                                          Have any of you used this ammo? If so how did it shoot? The good thing was it was only $14.99 a box. Dale
 

[quickdtoo]

The 80gr Rem 243 ammo don't shoot bad in my T-hole Ultra, they run about 3250fps or so, and the price is right!!

Tim

[DalesCarpentry]

Tim that was a real nice group!!!!!!   The one may have been a flier. If it would shoot that good out of mine I would be tickeled.           Dale

[DalesCarpentry]

Also I guess I will have to head to the range in the morning since I changed ammo. If I am not mistaken these heaver bullets do better at longer ranges?     Dale

[quickdtoo]

They'll do better in the wind and have more retained energy, but they won't shoot as flat.

Thx, I seem to get a lot of flyers!!!

Tim

[Country Boy]

 Thats why I haven't bought a .243 yet. I hear all these horror stories about getting them to shoot. But the ONLY rifle I had when I got out of college was a Remington 700 bdl in .243 So I've used it a lot. Nothing was done to make it more accurate and it wore a 6x40 Tasco scope (1966) I hunted ground hogs with a vengence. using 75 grn hollow points and imr 4350 as hot as you could load them. Any day of the week it would shoot dime sized groups and no ground hog was too far away to shoot at and hit.
   When it came to deer, I used Nosler 95 grn solid base or 90 grn speer, same powder, same resiults. I shot lots of antelope,deer and a few wild hogs and prarrie dogs with it.
 I've been spoild by that rifle but sadily have since parted with it. So with all these bad stories a bout .243 handi's I'm very hesitant  to do so.
 Might also add tha a .75 grn hollow point through the ribbs of a big Mulley buck also did the job. He just happened along at the right time.