Is the .243 Ackley Improved......

[Bwana416]

a good round with heavy bullets like 105 grains? I know you gain about 200+ fps velocity but can you fire form the cases easily and in a pinch will it shoot with regular .243 rounds?:hmmmm:

-Ray

[dave-t.]

I don't own any wildcat cartridges, but you do have to form cases from standard brass, and in some rifles the factory loads perform decently enough, but not always.

Also, there are 6mm 115grn bullets available mainly for target shooting, but you might want to see if there is a hunting bullet of that weight. Berger might be a good place to look.

[GF.]

Call me crazy, but why would you want to speed up a .243?

If you want more bullet, I'd think a quarterbore or a 6.5mm would be the thing.. If you want the extra speed, you could go to a lighter-weight X-bullet type o' deal and save yourself the hassle of the wildcat round...

[dave-t.]

It is something new to play with. I've been really thinking of trying a wildcat myself, and at the same time trying to talk myself out of the idea. 6x45, aka 6mmx.223.

It would be hard to sell a wildcat though. Virtually cuts the potential buyers down to nill. I saw an interesting rifle in a shop once, I asked to handle it and saw that it was a wildcat in 6.5-06. Cool round, and one I've thought about owning. Then I wondered, "why would a guy spend that much money and effort on a wildcat, and then it ends up here on the used gun rack?" I handed it back over.

A new rifle in 6mm rem may be the better move than improving the .243 win. Virtually identical ballistics. If you had to rebarrel to get a 6mm, you could then have exactly what you wanted in contour, length, rate of twist, and finish (blue/ss/powder coated, etc.).


Bwanna- what weight bullets will shoot best will be determined by the rate of twist of the rifling, and the speeds that you shoot. 1-10 through 1-9 should work best with the 100+grn weights in 6mm, 1-14 through 1-12 should work best with the lightweights in 55-80grn. I would also say that is is very...um...hopefull to expect that an ak-imp cartridge will gain 200fps over the parent case. Especially with bullets on the the heavier end of the spectrum.

[GF.]

Jack Belk used to talk about his Cheapshot - which was .223 brass necked up to a 6mm. He seemed to like it a good deal, but was very clear on the notion that it's by no means a suitable deer round. I don't know that it's of much use other than bigger varmints at shorter ranges, but that's what he seemed to have in mind when he put it together. I think he said it was a favorite of his wife's....

I suppose for a full-timer, an experiment like that is really no big deal. Chamber a 6mm barrel and screw it on. Fire-form some brass, set up your dies, and if you never buy factory loads anyway, what's the big deal on that?

I wouldn't know where to begin.....

[dave-t.]

Sorry for the hijack Bwana...

Folks don't think much of the centerfire .22 cals for deer either, but I know an 11yr old girl who uses the .223 for that purpose, with 8 one shot kills under her belt.

The 6x45 Cheapshot is fairly popular in Africa and used as an impala round for the meat market. Function wise it is just a .243 with the first hundred yards of velocity chopped off. Most common bullet weights for that use being the 80-85grn range at 2800fps.

It is an interesting wildcat because there is no fireforming, just a run through the sizing die like would would have to do with any standard brass before loading. With the new lighter varmit 6mm projectiles down to 55grns, you get a faster initial start than a .223 with 50grn loads, and a heavier top end with the 85+grn projectiles.

I've chatted online with a guy in CO who was loading the 6x45 up to legal standards for deer, where the min. requirement is .24 cal and 1000ft/lbs of energy at 100yrds.

I find this particular wildcat very interesting in that it is a dual purpose round 250yds for varmits, 100-150yds for game to 120lbs or so. Not ideal for anything, but very capable for a walk around "what have you" set up, that can reach its potential in a handy 20" barrel set up.

The question is, does it do anything better than the .223 or .243? .223 has it whipped at the lighter end of bullets weights for a pure varmit set up, and .243 has it whipped at the top/heavy end. Probably why the 6x45 isn't a factory cartridge.

[Shipster]

If the re-chambering is done correctly all AI cartridges can fire the parent cartridge with out any problem, and after you do you got AI brass to reload.

Shipster