243AI

[Seddo]

Has anyone played with a 243AI before?

I was reading some aritcles and the figures they were quoting looked great. I work out some drop and drift comparisons and they are a lot better than some of the other popular calibres. I know barrel life is only 1000-2000 but that seems to be on par with the 6.5-584 from what i have read.

[Lynn Otto]

Seddo our son Michael used the 243AI and did reasonably well with it, won him a Queens F Open when he was 16 but then he went to the dark side and shot TR. Sorry I can't give you any technical stuff but I'm sure someone else can...or maybe tell you how crap they are...either way. If not I will get Trev to dictate something I can type for you, Trev prefers loading for rifles over computers, lol.

[Matt P]

Yeah, I have won a few queens with one. Very hard on barrels, don't count on any more than 1200 rounds. I was using 43.5 of 2209 with 107 SMK, IMO there are better choices for both accuracy and barrel life.

Matt P

[Gadget]

Hi Seddo,
We have three of them at my club and we love em, yes they are hard on barrels, but if you drive hard you pay the price. 1k to 1200 is a fair hope on a barrel.
115 VLD's @ 3200 105's 3200 fps 1.5 g less powder.
Dies out of Sinclair's about $170 plus post.
We all thought they were the best thing since sliced bread, till we went to NSW Match rifle Champs, "it was like taking a knife to a gun fight".
Bill Sigloff wiped the floor with us using a 7mm rsaum
Less than 5ks from the range on the way home we decided to build a couple of 7mm rsaum's.
It was no knife fight at the Vic Match rifle, I got Bill by 2 and lost to Paul Mc by one.
So .243 AI 300 to 800 mts
7mm Rsaum 600 to 1200+
Hope this helps
Graham
P.S. you got to love the 7mm's

[Lynn Otto]

It seems we actually own two of these animals, this is what Trev has found: powder 2217, 105 Lapua or 107 Matchking. around 3050 velocity, 20+ reloads on the cases and 2.5k rounds and still putting them in the middle.

But I guess it's horses for courses and the current flavour of the month is the 7mm. We also own and use several 6BRs that shoot well...not to mention others. But what matters more than numbers is what results people are getting and I'm not too sure there are still many 243AIs out there.

[BATattack]

ive shot lynns 243AI and it is accurate! and am fearing the day when i have to shoot AGAINST it . . . even with my 7rsaum! i think that trev using the 2217 is probably the difference between 1000 and 2000 rounds out of a barrel.

[Seddo]

Thanks for your imput guys, that was the information i was after.

It has nothing to do with needing one, its just i dont have one. I had a 18" barreled 6mmBR built on a winchester model 70 (i have a thing for winchesters) action with a remginton varmint take of 243 barrel. It would have to be the loudest thing i have ever fired, it makes the 18" 223 i had tame. With muffs on i still felt funny after firing 20 odd rounds out of it. I will give it a run without the muzzle brake and see how it sounds before i make my my mind but a 243AI looks to be the replacement if it happens. I am running 75gr VMax at 3000fps out of the 18" barrel.