Just bought a .243 Ultra Varmint

[Matt Black]

Hello! Like the title says I just bought a used Ultra Varmint in .243 with a laminated stock and a cheap Simmons 3x9 on it. Well actually it was marked $275, but I traded a Browning BLR.22 for it even up and the dealer threw in a box of shells. I was pretty happy with that since a friend of mine had given me the BLR in the first place!   And yeah, he was with me at the shop when I did it, but it was for a good cause, a first deer rifle for my 10yo son so my friend didn't mind. It's in near perfect shape, looks like it was shot very little.
 
Now the reason I was searching the web for Handi rifle stuff was that after a couple range sessions I wasn't sure if the accuracy I was getting was normal. It seems to stay around 2in or a little bigger for three shots from a rest at 100yds, which had me questioning my skills and imagining the dealer fondling my old Browning .22 tackdriver and muttering "Suckerrrrr..."  That was with Winchester 100grn Power Points in the silver box, BTW. I haven't tried anything else in it, and probably put a box and a half through it so far.

After reading around the forum here I feel much better. I figure if these things need a little massaging to get the best out of them then so be it. My son likes it very much and could care less about MOA as long as it will explode water filled milk jugs and various types of fruit liberated from his mother's kitchen at distances far enough away that he doesn't get covered in mush. I on the other hand like to have rifles that shoot better than I do and am willing to tinker to get there.  I think next time I take it to the range I'll try it without the forend and bagged closer to the hinge and see what happens, then try some other varieties of feed for it. I do have a hand loading setup but have only loaded for my .44 mag with it.

I'm wondering if the reason it was at the shop and in such good shape was that the original owner couldn't get it to shoot out of the box and dumped it off.


Oh, one other thing, I've had three or four cases stick in the chamber and had to be knocked out with a section of cleaning rod dropped down the muzzle. So I was glad to see this is a somewhat common problem and that there is a fix for it as well.

Anybody know where I can find out the year of manufacture?

I'm glad I found this forum, it's a great source of info for H&R  owners.




 

[ShooterSATX]

Welcome Mat!

Go back to the 101 section and look down, I believe you will find the aging index in there for your rifle...first two letters of the s/n indicate the year (HX-06, HY-07, etc.).

Try all different weights of bullets...if you have the slower twist, go to a smaller weight...try around 80gr.

Good luck and head the advice of these veterans...they have helped me out immensly!

[Matt Black]

Thanks for the tip on bullet weight.   Do you know of a well constructed 80gr deer bullet in factory loaded ammo? This is going to be primarily a deer gun and to tell you the truth, after shooting  180gr in my '06 for years the thought of even 100gr was giving me the heebie jeebies as too light.  I know it can be done and I've been spending time with my son looking over deer anatomy diagrams and playing "what ifs" with plastic toy deer to impress upon him the importance of shot placement and the fact that a .243 is not the cartridge for a quartering towards shot. I'm going to be right there with him but I want him to understand all this before we get in the stand. 

[quickdtoo]

Welcome aboard Matt! Try the Federal Fusion 95gr and Powershok 100gr, they both shoot great in one of my 243 Ultras, the other seems to like the 80gr Remington Corelokts, but the Federals have an excellent track record in 243 H&Rs.

The build year info is in the FAQs and Help sticky which is chock full of good stuff, too much to read in several sittings, be sure to use the control F option to search the page. 

Tim

[STUMPJMPR]

personally, mine likes the federal 85 grain hollow points....

[kevinsmith5]

My local pawn shop has that exact gun on the shelf and I have looked at it many a time. The coyote population here in NC has been going up for years and whne I first saw it I htought it would be a good choice but I have seen so many people on here who have poo-pooed the .243's I have avoided it. I'll be interested to see how your experience goes...that .243 may be calling my name after all...

[GPR125]

I just took delivery of a .243 ejector Ultra, purchased through this site.   Its an 05 vintage per the FAQ info.  I was really impressed with the reasonable trigger pull.   I've had a couple of 6mm through the years.  I'm looking forward to working up loads for it.  Usually the 90 grain and above are more suited for deer types and 80 & below used to be pretty much varmint country.  But Barnes and some of the other premium bullets have blurred that distinction.   This has a pretty hefty barrel, so I can't see that it will present any strange problems.   My experience with the 243 has been that they are accurate and not real picky as to the loading recipe.  Listen to the voices........

[Matt Black]

Thanks for the tips! As soon as it quits raining here (sometime next week....maybe) I'm going to try some things and see what happens. I'm only going to work with one variable at a time though, I get confused easy.

According to the serial# list in the FAQ this is an '02 model which surprised me, as it looks damn near new. Also, according to the FAQ the .243 has a 1 in 10" twist but ShooterSATX mentioned a "slower" rate in his post above which makes me think there are at least two rates.  I guess my question is, what's my twist rate and what weight bullet should I be looking at to match it?

[cwlongshot]

Stick with 90 and up with a conventional bullet as GPR suggested.

 Unless your building something ultra specialized. Its best to stick with whats designed for deer sized game.

 If you HAVE TO go light get a bullet designed for BIG GAME, please resist the urge to use any ol' light bullet.

 Mine shoots 85GR Partitions pretty well, but really excites me with tiny groups form some old speer 105's!! 

 CW

[Matt Black]

I agree completely, I won't hunt deer with a varmint bullet just for the sake of accuracy. Right now the rifle is grouping about like a lever action  at 100yds so it's within minute of pie plate at that distance.  I was hoping for closer to MOA though as this rifle will potentially be used for shots out to 200yds or so. Well, with a little work (Not really "work" though, is it?) and a little time I can hopefully get it there. 

[ShooterSATX]

Mat,

I told these guys are great! A 1 in 10 twist is pretty fast; 1 twist per every 10 inches; 1 twist every 12 inches and so on...

Some of the lighter bullets start to break apart after leaving the barrel because the RPM's can be around 300,000 and the smaller bullet can't take that speed. My wife's .243 does best between 80 and 90 grain bullet weights. She can get consistent 1-inch groups @ 100yds (with Remmi 80gr PSP factory stuff). I can get half of that when I shoot it but, she's doing pretty good for a new shooter.

When I bought my Ultra, this is the first place I went. I am not even in their league and what I do know about this rifle, I learned on this board...listen to them brother they know their shiznit!

I have almost 10 hours logged into this board and only a handful of posts...I am studying what these guys have to say.

Cheers!

[Matt Black]

Oh, I know what twist rate is, I guess what I was asking was if my barrel was 1 in 10 like it says in the FAQ would it stabilize 100gr bullets. Since it's going to be a used for deer I want to shoot a heavy for caliber bullet if possible.

[Tencubed]

Matt:

Can't give you any info on the NEA as such as I'm just learning these little rifles.  I do have a 6MM Wildcat with a 1/10 twist barrel.  This twist does a good job of stabilizing 85 grain HPBT bullets up to over 4000 FPS.  90 grain SP bullets with flat base do well up to around 3800 FPS.  The old Nosler 110 grain, with which I have taken deer, elk and bear, do well up to 3800 FPS for accuracy but the bullet performs better on game if the velocity is held to 3600 FPS or so.  Still a lot of tissue damage but for longer ranges where the velocities have dropped off they do very well.

Different barrels, as you know, perform differently but this may give you some ideas.

Mike