Off topic .243 winchester loads

[8mmshooter]

Need some help from you experienced reloaders out there. I'm goin prarie doggin next month in montanna. I want to use my .243 savage as a back up weapon. My primary rifle for varmint huntin is a .223 savage. Need load info usin surplus powder for a 58 grain hornady v-max bullet and surplus powder. I have IMR 7383 no lot number, WC 680 Lot BAJ 47269, WCC 846, and surplus IMR 4895 Lot A218(lcl107648). I would like to keep the IMR 4895 set aside for my M1 Garand as it is getting hard to get; but if need be I will use it. The powder I have the most of is the IMR 7383. What say you ole sage reloading guru's? TIA 8mmshooter

[Oldfeller]

For IMR 7383 loads just start out with an IMR 4064 book load and cautiously work your way on up until you lose accuracy or get a pressure sign of some sort. This will get you a good safe working load for YOUR gun, the current temperature range outside and your current lot of bullet brandname X at the OAL seating distance you happen to be using today.

(watch them seating distances to the rifling -- OALs, they dooooo count !!!!)

Folks might be wisely reluctant to share a full working load with this powder (having seen lots of web comments concerning variability/stability of the powder in its various ages, pulldown states and lots).

I haven't seen all that much "strange" out of it myself, having used it successfully in cartridges from the 30-30 to the 7 Rem Mag, but others have had much to say about their erratic this and that results when trying to cook-book a load rather than develop it properly from scratch.

It works very well as a low low pressure powder with a full case load in the 30-30 (1,600 -1,700 fps) and you can dial in as much speed as you want in the bigger greatly overbore cases at greater risks of increasingly erratic behaviour the greater you jack the pressure up.

But this is also true of other rifle powders used in the same cases ....

Folks have posted some success stories with .243 Winchester using IMR 7383 in the past, so maybe someone will read this and give you out a working load.

-- who knows? I don't shoot the .243 myself so I can't say.

Oldfeller

[Buckshot]

Can't help with the 243, but there's surplus data on Castpics at: http://www.castpics.net/RandD/load_data/223/223_rem.htm
for the 223.

I would think that WC846 would sure be a candidate. Also, welcome to the board. Your handle seems familiar.

.....................Buckshot