243 question

[jgerrington]

Will a 75 gr v max be ok with a 1-8 twist 26 in barrel? I know that twist is good for heavier but not sure it will do good with a 75 gr as the smallest I would go

[helotaxi]

Should be just fine.

[SShooterZ]

I don't know that you can spin a bullet too fast, you just have to worry about too slow.

Your load should be fine.

[tj66]

They shoot good out of my 8 twist barrel. Good luck.

[bobcat30]

55 gr nos bt work really good in mine and deadly accurate to top.

[Slowpoke Slim]

Some of the truly thin jacketed varmint bullets you can over spin until they tear themselves apart. I don't think that's possible with the Hornady Vmax. I know of a couple of guys shooting the .224 40 gr Vmaxes out of fast twist 22-250's and 22-250 AI's that aren't having any problems. I also think one guy is using the .243 58 gr Vmax out of a fast twist 6x284 without tearing them apart.

I don't think it will be an issue.

[Joe O]

I don't see a problem with that twist even with lighter bullets.Nosler and Sierra make nice 70gr varmit bullets.

[fatdaddy]

You will be just fine with the 75 v max and a 8 twist barrel. I use them in a 243 and 6br too. I also load 40 gr vmax for 22-250 A. I. with great results. But you can over spin a vmax. We loaded 200, 243, 58 gr vmax over some H380, (temp sensitive) we had alot of for a Pdog trip we took over the labor day weekend. In the morning everything was great, deadly accurate and splashed pdogs in all directions. But as the day warmed up, we started seeing several impacts from one shot once and awhile, like a shotgun. We thought we may be on the edge of over spinning the bullet but showed no signs of pressure. As the day got hotter it got worse until at 90 degs, almost every shot came apart and we decided to save them for a cooler day. Strange thing is primers or brass never showed any signs of over pressure of any distress at all. Bill

[GabbyM]

I'd say the 75 or the 87 should be the ideal weight range for varmints in an 8” twist. Each barrel will like different bullets. I'd guess it should work. At the velocity you'll be at. If they don't' shoot twist rate is only one thing to blame. With 4,000 fps bullets like the 55's I could see them coming apart. But they don't' have to blow up just to not work as well as other bullets might. I know most of the 8” twist 223's don't much like 50 grain bullets. With 55 to 70 being more to there liking. A 75 grain 6mm bullet has a higher SD than a 60 grain 22 bullet. If that matters.

If it were me I'd test them at 500 or more yards before making decision to by a crate full. Had a friend bring a prairie dog shooting weekends worth of 40 grain 22's loaded in 22-250 with 14 twist barrel. His range only had a 100 yard line. Bullets were shooting into one hole at 100 yards at over 4,000 fps. When he started shooting across the prairie with it they were going wild at around 350 yards. So he had 500 rounds of ammo that wouldn't get past 350 yards. Considering you don't get many shots at picket pins under 320 yards he was a bit cramped. We never did figure out what was going on for sure. Friction heat buildup?

243 Win is the one rifle caliber I've had that seams particular in strange unexplainable ways as to what bullet it likes. Especially as the bores wear out. Had a barrel a few years go that would shoot 55 grain Nosler 70 and 80 grain Sierras but not 65gr V-Max worth anything. Maybe if I'd of tried half dozen different powders I could have stumbled upon a working combination. But I had bullets that shot so that's what I went with.

If you want to shoot past a quarter mile I'd chose the 87 gr V-Max.