rossi 243????

[tractordan]

 a friend of mine bought a dicks special rossi 243 youth for his daughter he brought it over to see if i could get it to shoot better with some reloads
 we tryed a few factory loads first 100 gr. corelok and 80 gr corelok best group was about 4 1/2 inchs at 50 yards, so i started trying a few different loads and got it down to about 2 1/2 to 3 inches and thats it
 i was wondering if any one thinks that the problem with these maybe the barrel is to long with no support and is whipping alot??  thought of maybe cutting to 20 to even 18 inchs and re crowning has anyone else tryed this or had these problems?
 i made sure scope mounts where good and tight also even tryed a different scope.
 i know you cant expect much from a $180 gun but i would think you might be able to get it down to a little more reasonable sized group.
well thanks for any help and comments
dan

[Singleshotsam]

I can get my .243 to hold 1" w/ winchester supreme 95 grainers...

The problem I had w/ mine was the scope rail is drilled crooked and I had to use Millett Adj. mounts to compensate for that. 

[CRDNLPLT]

Flitz the barrel and oring the stock.  I was getting about 2" at 100 with the factory core lokts. 

[Kurt L]

my boy bought one and it has been a real pain.
same thing can't hit the broad side of a barn if you was locked inside.
I took some wood out of the forearm so it didn't hit the barrel.
then I made a spacer in the forearm mount post so it free floats sorta speak.
the free bore in this thing is unreal ,you must have a 105 grain bullet ready to fall out of the case neck to get up to the lands.
I stopped working on this thing when I got it to shoot Hornady 87hpbt bullets at
2-3" groups at 100 yds.
one of my other 243's will shoot the same bullet at one ragged hole at 100 yds.
I am not sure of the twist rate and never checked it,but it may not be enough
to stabilize 100-105 bullets.

My 243 Rem 700 has no support for pretty much all of its 26" barrel.the fore arm pressure
on the barrel will make it shoot poor,but no to the is your barrel too long and whipping

  i was wondering if any one thinks that the problem with these maybe the barrel is to long with no support and is whipping alot??  thought of maybe cutting to 20 to even 18 inchs and re crowning has anyone else tryed this or had these problems?
 dan

[trotterlg]

I also had one and never got it to shoot.  Problem mine had was vertical stringing, like 6 inches at 100 yards, this is also common with the Handi Rifles, so it is probably just a break open design issue.  Good luck, I would just sell it off and buy a Stevens.  Larry

[Singleshotsam]

My Rossi also did not like the match grade 105's i was feeding it.  Not sure what the deal w/ that is since it likes the 95's so well...

[Howler]

Having owned several H&R's & one Rossi 223 now, I can honestly say I have only gotten one terrible shooter which was a H&R Ultra 223..  This rifle gave me fits with even the best handloads assembled with only 0.003 bullet runout.. Given that the 223 is a inherently accurate rnd, I knew the rifle was the problem..
I tried all the black magic.! bedding, re-cutt the crown, lapped the bore & finally even changed the wood stocks to synthetic, but nothing seemed to help the 4" groups..  I finally did figure out what was causing the problem with my rifle & was able to correct it..
FWIW, The single shot break action rifles must have a nice even bearing surface between the locking lug & recces just like a bolt action rifle.! (85% or better) The problem is, (just like the bolt action) in most cases the rifle can not be corrected without creating excessive head space problems.. With that said, what has worked for me since the H&R problem, is to simply open the action of the rifle & check the bearing surface on the locking lug of the barrel before buying the rifle.!  If you see slight wear on only part of the barrel lug, ask for another rifle until you get one that bears nearly even or preferably 100% even.. This can be hard to see on a new rifle since its only been breeched a few times, but if you look close you can see the contact marks most times.. If not, hold the rifle barrel in the closed position & press the breech release a few times.! that will mark the contact on the barrel lug well enough to get a good idea. BTW, after you find the rifle that bears evenly, make sure that's the rifle they box up for you.  

[Howler]

  i was wondering if any one thinks that the problem with these maybe the barrel is to long with no support and is whipping alot??  thought of maybe cutting to 20 to even 18 inchs and re crowning has anyone else tryed this or had these problems?
 

A tidbit of info.. the vibration created from a 30-06 can equal up to 36 inches (rotational) @ 100 yrds.! Its very important that the bullet exits the bore of "any rifle" at precisely the same place in the rotation each time its fired..

[grhornet]

My 243 has to much head space. I am going to send it back. I have the tryficta set. The 22 and 20 gauge shoot very good. but not the 243.    Rich

[damascus-doug]

My Rossi also did not like the match grade 105's i was feeding it.  Not sure what the deal w/ that is since it likes the 95's so well...

I had this same problem with my 243 and called Sierra's tech line and Hornady's line and talked to them about it.  The twist in the barrel is a 1 in 10.  Sierra would not recommend anything over the 95 grain and Hornady was the same.  I dropped to the 85 grain game king and my Rossi is holding 1 to 1 1/4" groups.  I have not done anything else to the gun other than clean it. 

[SteveHawaii]

I've had pretty good luck firing Winchester 100 grain super x ammo in my Rossi 243.  However, the case would expand in the chamber and be hard to break open the action.  This requires full case resizing for reloading.  It also kicks like a mule.  So I went to 75 grain V-Max bullets and Remmington brass, with 35 grains of powder.  No problems, although accuracy has gotten worse.  Can't play with the overall length much because of the long throat on the Rossi.  I'll work with the powder charge some.  I'm working up some PMC 100 grain PSP bullets which will get me closer to the lands.  Hopefully that will improve things.