45-70 vs pop cans ....!!

[MNSHOOTER]

We finaly warmed up into the 20's today so we set some water filled pop cans out in the yard at 125 yards !  The old 45-70 handi with 300 gr. hp's over a stout load of 3031 were awasome !!!  5 for 5 on coke cans at 125 yards is as good as it gets at 20 degrees off a car hood for a rest. We shot a few of our handis today and 2 were outstanding the 45-70 and the 7.62 comme. The down side is the two .243 win's  were both disapointing with any load we tried. The.204 and 223 were great !! 25 and 270 shot good ! 06  was ok, 308 was good.......why is the 243 always a pain in my @# to ge to shoot ?? I have done everthig in my power except to melt them down and start over and all I get is 3" groups???  Well the rest made me smile   Mark

[ElkSlayer6x5]

sounds like a fun day of shooting...
 What powder are you useing in the .243 with what gr bulit?

[bucco921]

my 243 sl will shoot better than I can with 42 grains of imr4350 and 85 grain sierra hpbt. The key for my particular barrel was to leave it dirty(borderline filthy). As long as the barrel is fouled and I dont get carried away heating up the slim barrel it will hover around the 1" mark. I was a little scared to get a 243 in the handi because of the bad press it gets, maybe I got lucky, but im glad I own it.

[MNSHOOTER]

We have shot mostly 70 gr speer tnt , and 90 gr nosler bt. with some 65 gr hyd bt.  I have tried aa2230 aa4350 aa3100 and imr 4350 along with varget.... rem and fed factory with same results. The weird thing is one of the rifles is a switch barrel with the 45-70 and one is dedicated to the reciever. o-rings -barrel shims-no forearm ......... the .243 just dont shoot like the rest.... I can get them good enough for deer at a 100yds or so.........but that is not what most of us look for in a center fire!!!!! Mark

[45-70.gov]

45-70 vs water jug....notice my limitd edition marlin


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF5Y4lgE7mk&list=UUE9_lU0kLhdD8iI6sykPYZA

[MNSHOOTER]

I am glad to hear your.243 shoots good!  I have not let either of them get realy dirty that may be what I am missing !!! I have a couple of  .17 cal that wont shoot worth a darn clean. I am not a clean freek but I do run a patch down the bore every 40 rounds or so. Mark

[bucco921]

Give it a try you never know. I actually figured this out by accident when I was a real busy with work and moving and skipped cleanings between shooting sessions. I took it out in late summer and looked down the bore and it was filthy. Shot my best groups that day. I ran a dry patch thru it before my next outing and again good groups. Decicded to give it a real good cleaning then next trip to range was sub par. Let it get dirty again and groups shrank while I was tuning it up right before hunting season. Its worth a try, doesnt exactly take much effort to be lazy with cleaning

[petemi]

Its worth a try, doesnt exactly take much effort to be lazy with cleaning

That's my motto

My .243 Superlight is shooting sub-MOA with the 85 gr. Sierra.  Off the top of my head, I can't recall over which powder. I'll go down the gun room a little later and add the info.

Adder:  Got it.  85 gr. Sierra HPBT over 41.0 gr. RL15, 3109 fps. chrony 10 ft. from muzzle.   It shooting a consistent 2.5 inches at 300 yards.  It's my "Wolf Whacker".  That's what the rifle was put together for.  Anyone living on Michigan's U.P. will understand that.  No, I'm not violating.  I only go out on valid control permits.

Pete

[44 Man]

If you are used to giving loving care to your rifles, it's a hard thing to adjust to.  But it's been said over and over here that you have to leave most handi's dirty to get the best groups.  If you forget and clean them, it may take 20 to 40 shots to get them grouping again.  I just run a DRY bore snake through mine when I get home and leave the rest alone.  Try it, it may surprise you.  44 Man

[gcrank1]

Pop cans @ 125 /5 x 5 is pretty good shootin', especially with a kicker! Kinda hard to explain the satisfaction ya get.....
Regarding the 243:
Old adage:
If what you are doing ain't working,
Try something else

[jbone405]

I have a Winchester model 77 .22 lr that puts bullets in the same holes all day.  I think I have cleaned it three times in over 10 years, usually I clean the action a little bit and oil it up.  70 years old, barely cleaned with the original weaver 22 tip off scope out shoots any .22 that any friend has brought out. 

Might be the gun more than anything though, because I am to lazy to clean anything more than an oil down to prevent rust.

[Old Fart]

Cheap generic Root Beer is my favorite.