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When the gun arrived, there was a piece of paper in the box that recommended Nosler 70 grain ballistic-tip bullets for the gun.
I didn't pay much attention to that at first, as I intended to shoot 100 grn bullets for deer and pigs. This week though I decided to explore the guns capability for varmint hunting, so I made up the following loads for comparison:
.243 Winchester Custom Savage 24” barrel
All loads use Federal Brass, Winchester WLR primers
70 grn Nosler Ballistic Tip - ( Factory Recommended Bullet )
47 grn H4350
@ 3450 fps
58 grn Hornady V-Max - ( Much like a .22-250 as far as bullet weight and velocity go. )
43 grn VARGET
@ 3700 fps
95 grn Nosler Ballistic Tip - ( My Deer/Pig Load, so far. )
40 grn H4350
@ 2850 fps
At the range, all of the loads shot well - but the 70 grain Noslers were phenomenal. - Returning groups roughly half the size of the other two loads in this particular rifle.
The 24" barrel on this rifle measures at .710" diameter at the muzzle. - Kind of medium weight I guess, as it's a bit heavy for a deer gun, but a bit light for a varmint/bench gun.
It is somewhere in between - like the .243 cartridge itself.
So yes, I definitely have a gun that will do a competent job on deer or varmints - though I couldn't honestly say that it is optimum for either one, due to the compromises inherent in it's dual-use nature.
I feel that the gun is perfectly set up to take best advantage of the .243 Winchester cartridge, though the same setup would fit just as well with the .250 Savage, I would bet.
One thing that really stood out for me, an old big-bore magnum fan, was that the recoil was practically nonexistent with all loads, even the warmer ones. It felt like I was shooting a .223 or something.
Anyway, I thought I would note that if the Savage shop recommends a particular bullet for your rifle, then you owe it to yourself to give it a try.
I am very happy that I followed their advice, as now I have a tack-driver varmint and target load for my dual-use rifle. - I probably never would have tried the 70 grain pills on my own.