Recently picked up a 243 regular SB2 for my 9yr daughter for the upcoming deer season. After getting it home, I cleaned the barrel with Butches bore cleaner and many strokes( 20) of a brass brush. All this was done in hopes of "breaking it in" as many has spoken. I also added a 5/16 neoprene washer between the forearm and the barrel. And I added a 1/4-20" set screw so the forearm screw would seat firm against this. (Thanks to everyone on this board for all these tips.) So off to the range....
As I mentioned, this was for my daughter, so I loaded some Sierra 85 BTHP bullets on top of 31 grns of H 4895, with WLR, seating to 2.295" Ogive. Afte getting the scope set for 100 yds, this load gave a 4 shot group of 1.1 ". Not too shabby. The other loads I tried gave similiar (1.3" and 1.5") groups. BTW, I was resting the hinge point of the rifle on the front bag.
Overall, well pleased, and plan on more excursions to the range. Next time, I'll take my daughter. Recoil was minimal with this load. I do not have a velocity yet, but hope to get that soon. It should be about 2500 fps.
deerandduck
