round ball load for .243 Win

Boolit Mold Join DateFeb 2009Locationcentral BC, CanadaPosts4

I'm not much of a poster here. I can usually find the answers to my questions by using the search function, but i give up.

I've about had it with the crows waking me up at 04:00 every morning. Time to declare war!

I have a bunch of #4 buckshot on hand. My plan is to load a single round-ball load in the .243 and thin out the flock. So far my plan is to resize the cases, re-prime, flare the neck just enough to press a single buckshot in so it doesn't fall into the case. I'll probably swipe some Johnson's past wax across the mouth of the loaded round to lube the ball.

Where I'm stuck is what powder to use? I don't want to be sticking a ball in the barrel.

I thought 3 grains or so of Bullseye might do the trick. I'm looking for 900 - 1000 fps.
I have a good selection of powder to try (all the way from Bullseye to H-1000). I want to keep it as quiet as I can. don't want the neighbors mad at me.

Anybody have any suggestions for me?

Thanks in advance,
sniper58

I think you are about in the ball park.
fortunately with crows if you shoot one in front of the others they learn to not come back.
if you do shoot one they will have a funeral of sorts, so make the most of your best chance because they will stay away from the area for quite some time.
which is what you want anyway.

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

I've not shot any squib loads in the 243, so I can't comment on the powder charge.

I would recommend:

1. Only neck sizing so that your case walls help seal the chamber. Your pressure level will not obturate the case to any extent.

2. drilling out your flash hole a bit to prevent the primer from forcing the shoulder forward and eventually giving you short cases that don't properly head space. While it sounds a bit odd, the pressure in the primer pocket is greater than the pressure of the squib load and that is what "shrinks" the length of the case. Of course mark these rounds and keep them just for your plinker/crow loads. Rimmed rounds don't need this extra step as their rim is much stouter than the shoulder on a rimless case.

Over the years I've made many of these squib type loads, but always in 30 caliber rifles. They are quite useful and my kids all learned to shoot the larger rifles with these loads before moving on to more powerful loads.

While this may sound vile in this forum, you might just pick up some .22 RF CB loads for your .22 RF rifle (if you have one). They're quiet, low powered and may provide better accuracy than the round ball in a 243.

Last edited by Scharfschuetzer; Yesterday at 10:31 PM.

Keep your powder dry,

Scharf

I could be washed up on this one ,but I thought #4 buck is .24" is that going to work in the .243?

You crawl out of the hay a 0400 and shoot once at those crows and they will be gone..The next day your body is going to say at 0400 wake up..By the time you are able to sleep in again, the crows will be back, awhhh figure 3-5 days. Sounds like a loosing deal. You have to take em out some how. I recommend auto shot gun with #4 buck.
OR
change the environment so they are no long attracted to your area..

Sometimes it ain't bad to have them around, believe it or not they do go after mice and small rodents. I don't know if they eat them or just torment them.

Boolit Mold Join DateFeb 2009Locationcentral BC, CanadaPosts4

I could be washed up on this one ,but I thought #4 buck is .24" is that going to work in the .243?

You crawl out of the hay a 0400 and shoot once at those crows and they will be gone..The next day your body is going to say at 0400 wake up..By the time you are able to sleep in again, the crows will be back, awhhh figure 3-5 days. Sounds like a loosing deal. You have to take em out some how. I recommend auto shot gun with #4 buck.
OR
change the environment so they are no long attracted to your area..

Sometimes it ain't bad to have them around, believe it or not they do go after mice and small rodents. I don't know if they eat them or just torment them.

Yeah, I was up before 04:00 this morning.
I checked the diameter of a few pieces of #4 buckshot. It ran from .240 to .249 diameter. It should work well. each ball only weighs around 20 grains. It will be like using a .22 cal pellet gun.

I dealt with the crows like this before. Shot a couple and didn't have problems for the rest of the year. hopefully it works again.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll let you know how it works.

If your 243 is a real accurate rifle, and you also use it for target shooting and varmint hunting, you might want to invest in a Wilson hand sizer and bullet seater. You'll need to get a bushing for the neck sizer, and that means measuring your necks. A pain, to be sure, but these are match grade stuff, and they make some very accurate ammo. ases will last near forever using these too, if you get it all figured out right. I've gotten in the vicinity of 100 reloadings plus using these in 219 Donaldson Wasp, in a tight neck chambered gun.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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