Dissapointed with mod. 70 Extreme Weather 243

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Copper BB
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 4:52 pm
PostPosted: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:38 pm
Bought a model 70 Extreme Weather 243 for my son.

Mounted a Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x42 in Leupold rings.

Last year a few months prior to hunting season went through $$$ worth of factory loads including high dollar Nosler custom ammo/Hornady ammo in search for off the shelf ammo.

Figured its a 243, how hard can it be to find a decent load. My hope was for a load with a 95 grain Nosler partition.

100 grain bullets shoot shotgun patterns with this gun. 4-5"

I expected 1" or maybe even 1 1/2 inch groups. Turns out that is an unobtainable goal with this rifle.
I have disassembled, loctited & re torqued every screw - no difference.

The only load we found it will shoot reasonable groups with are the Hornady Custom Lite ammunition reduced recoil loads with 87 gr SST MV 2800 (approx).

I think it is unreasonable to have a gun that will only shoot one load.

Seems to shoot the lighter bullets (coyote loads) better than 90 grain or heavier.

Groups with 90 grain open up to 3" (or worse) at 100 yards.

I am very disappointed with it and shelved it after last season until now when I realized how close hunting season is and I need to find a fix.

Would return it to the factory but I usually can figure out or fix whatever it is myself.

First change will be the Leupold mounts, the scopes are ok but the mounts are garbage. Changing to Talley.

The scope - though it is a "Bushnell" is actually pretty nice- I will try a different scope to mark that off the list of contributing factors but it will shoot lower weight bullets - my reasoning for not changing the scope first.

Next step is to work up loads for it.

If that doesn't work out I will consider re-barreling it.

Thoughts?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:32 am
Welcome to the Winchester Owners Forum Windwalker !!

What's the twist of the barrel....?

Copper BB
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 4:52 pm
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:58 pm
Per the Winchester site-
Rate of Twist 1 in 10"

A brief search turned up another Mod. 70 Extreme Weather 243 owner having the same issues.
He returned the gun and gave up on it.
I would keep it even if I ended up swapping out barrels.

Wonder if they had a bad batch?
Not sure how much difference a bedding job would improve things but that is another option.

Copper BB
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 4:52 pm
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:37 pm
Follow up- Tossed the crappy Leupold mounts for 2 piece Tally. Did narrow the groups some - could see more consistency with the shot patterns. Still lousy groups.

An FYI for others looking for an accurate factory load.
Only factory load I have found that is very accurate is a "reduced recoil" load from Hornady.
243 Win 87 gr SST® Custom Lite

Why anyone would needs a reduced recoil 243 load is beyond me but it shoots bug holes with this particular load.
PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 11:03 am
Good to know...Thanks !!

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