Modifications, range and equipment testing
Read the whole .243 project rifle review story
Official Australian Hunter review
Testing equipment
As we wanted to have a really thorough examination of each rifle and its make-up, we employed a few tools of trade. First up was a CDI Torque Wrench, obtained from Sinclair’s in the US and measuring in inch-pounds. The next item was a Lyman Digital Trigger Pull gauge, with which each rifle’s trigger was tested and averaged out over 10 consecutive pulls. This was done before and after modification. A Chrony Beta model chronograph was used to record velocities.
The most interesting gadget was a Gradient Lens Hawkeye borescope. We used the top-of-the-line model with the optional angled eyepiece. Believe me, nothing escapes the view of the Hawkeye when examining the bores and yes, we did find some interesting things in there.
We used Pro-Shot stainless steel cleaning rods, with Sinclair nylon and bronze brushes. Various solvents were used, including KG products, Sweets 7.62, Bore-Tech Eliminator, ProCal and Butch’s Bore Shine. We also used JB and Iosso bore paste for removing any stubborn fouling.
Some preparations
Each rifle was unpacked and notes made as to what was in the box - after all, this is what you pay for. Please refer to the information box provided. Scope mounts are provided free with some of the rifles chosen, but as this seems to vary from shop to shop, we have not included them as such.
We dismantled each rifle, mainly for photographic purposes and then carefully reassembled them. Let’s call it a ‘pre-delivery service’ if you like. We used the CDI Torque Wrench to re-tension the take-down screws after reassembly.
Scope bases and mounts were then fitted and the appropriate riflescopes fitted. We spent some time making sure that the scopes were square on the bore, as nothing annoys me more than looking through a scope that is off-centre. Attention was paid to clearances between the bolt handle and the scope and clearance between bell housing and barrel. It is preferable to have at least 0.25" clearance in both cases.
Initial testing and break-in with factory ammo
Taking five rifles to the range for a barrel running-in and sighting-in session may sound like a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work. Prior to leaving home, I had boresighted each rifle and given each barrel a good scrub to remove any contaminants that might have found their way into the bore. Factory preservative was also evident in some barrels and this should be removed prior to firing, as there is a small chance of a damaged barrel if this is not done.
Each rifle had five rounds put through it with a cleaning between each round. This is standard accuracy procedure for running-in stainless match barrels and I see no reason why it should not be employed for hunting rifles. I took the opportunity to sight-in each rifle at 100 yards while the running-in process was being undertaken.
Now, no matter how good a rifle looks or how good it handles, the bottom line in every case is simply ‘is it accurate?’ If the rifle cannot deliver consistent bullet delivery, then it’s not going to cut the mustard in the field. The only way to test this out is over a bench-rest stand with groupings at 100 yards.
Three five-shot groups were fired from each rifle using factory loadings with 80-grain bullets. We were advised by our distributors that this is the most popular .243 bullet weight sold in this country. Understandably, the barrels were quite hot at the conclusion of this test, but not to worry, as hot barrels always seem to clean up better than when left to get cold.
All of the stainless barrels cleaned up well with no lingering fouling problems. The chrome moly barrel of the CZ required a little more running-in before copper fouling settled down. This is normal and after a further 20 rounds, the CZ barrel was cleaning up as a chrome moly should. See the chart for grouping results.
One of the things that was immediately noticeable was the variation between the factory trigger pulls of the five rifles. This ranged from quite good to pretty ordinary, but that was to be expected. The triggers on the Tikka and the CZ were particularly good as issued. Not only were they the lightest at 4lb each, but there was no vagueness or creep evident. The set trigger of the CZ released at a constant 1lb. In my experience, the European factory triggers have always been set to more user-friendly pull weights than others.
If these groups seem a little on the large side, please take note of the following. If we had restricted this test to three-shot groups only, the average groups would have been considerably smaller. Many of the groups shot with the 80-grain factory loads showed the first three shots fairly close together and then a couple of fliers spoiling the overall result. Our results are indicative as to what one might expect from an unmodified factory rifle and a packet of factory hunting loads. This, of course, may vary from rifle to rifle and then there is always the ability of the shooter and the quality of the scope. It all contributes to the end result. What did surprise us was how close the overall averages were.
We had Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips in both 55- and 95-grain loadings. The higher end (and therefore more expensive) rounds have proven to be accurate in some rifles in previous tests. Shooters should be aware that there was a big difference in impact point between the two and it stands to reason, but some shooters may not be aware of this. We also had some Remington Premier 75-grain V-Max and Federal Premium V-Shok in 70-grain loads. The results were interesting, as some rifles had either a pronounced liking or distaste for the selected round.
Again, many groups started off okay with the first three shots less than 1", but when the whole five were measured, the results can be seen. From the shape of the groups, it was obvious that some of these rifles needed a bit of attention to bedding.
Having shot competition Benchrest for more than 30 years, I do know how to ‘read’ groups and identify problems with a rifle such as bedding and scopes not holding point of impact. While some of the test rifles shot nice, round groups, there were a couple that shot split groups. This means that there are two groups: one with three shots and the other with two. Usually, the shots alternate, meaning that something is moving in the system. Quite often, this is a barrel touching a stock on a high spot or something similar.
| Initial grouping results (average of three groups with factory-loaded 80-grain) | ||||
| Make | Federal | Remington | Winchester | Average |
| Browning A-Bolt | 1.568 | 1.684 | 1.592 | 1.614 |
| CZ 550 | 1.498 | 1.667 | 1.710 | 1.625 |
| Remington SPS | 1.696 | 1.612 | 1.645 | 1.651 |
| Tikka T3 | 1.517 | 1.789 | 1.624 | 1.643 |
| Weatherby Fiberguard | 1.496 | 1.709 | 1.668 | 1.624 |
| Grouping with premium loadings (average of three groups with each) | |||||
| Make | Win 55 | Win 95 | Rem 75 | Federal 70 | Average |
| Browning A-Bolt | 1.254 | 1.206 | 1.286 | 1.086 | 1.208 |
| CZ 550 | 1.296 | 1.244 | 1.376 | 1.098 | 1.2535 |
| Remington SPS | 1.106 | 0.993 | 1.176 | 1.006 | 1.0702 |
| Tikka T3 | 1.234 | 1.286 | 1.127 | 1.100 | 1.1867 |
| Weatherby Fiberguard | 1.014 | 1.096 | 1.098 | 1.002 | 1.0525 |
Modifying the rifles
It was determined that all rifles could benefit from a little tweaking of triggers and bedding. For this task, we engaged a gunsmith who has built many fine target rifles in South Australia. Not only did he carry out the required tasks, but he also gave a small report on each rifle.
Crowns were checked, outside with a magnifying glass and inside with the Hawkeye, as was bore diameter and straightness of the chamber and barrel. Contact of locking lugs to the action was also checked, as this is sometimes a little concerning. Bore diameters were right on .2430 in three of the rifles and the other two were slightly tighter at .2429. This is not a bad thing and should have no effect on accuracy and pressure.
We can report that four of our test rifles’ triggers were reduced in pull weight to around 3lb. In the case of the CZ 550, the ‘normal’ trigger came down to 2.5lb and the set trigger was left at 1lb. Some triggers were able to be reduced by the adjustment screws provided, but in the case of the Weatherby and the Remington, a spring was replaced. We emphasise most strongly that this sort of adjustment should only be performed by an experienced and competent gunsmith, as well-intentioned fiddling by amateurs may create an unsafe trigger.
Devcon two-pack epoxy was used to bed the actions. The object of bedding the rifles was to create a situation where the action was supported stress-free in the stock and in most cases, the barrel was fully free-floated. That was the theory anyway. In practice, it did not quite work out that way. Four of the rifles reacted well to the bedding and subsequent test firing with factory ammunition showed a noticeable improvement. The exception was the Remington SPS. Free-floating the barrel seemed a good idea, but with the flexible stock as mentioned before, it did not shoot to expectations and there was too much movement in the fore-end. Rather than free-float, one could pack some epoxy up near the very front of the fore-end and sit the barrel dead-centre in the stock with upward pressure.
There had to be a rethink with this stock and the result was that epoxy was used to fill in two of the ‘pockets’ in the fore-end of the SPS stock. The resultant increase in rigidity was quite noticeable. A simple solution that worked well as it turned out too. The stock was then torqued-down to 40 inch-pounds at the front and 25 inch-pounds at the rear. The effect was dramatic and immediately the Remington started to shoot groups like I knew they could do. It’s all in the stock rigidity. I have an SPS .30-06 that has been bolted into an H-S Precision stock, free-floated all the way, and it shoots extremely well. Don’t think that we are picking on the SPS here, as there are a number of other brands that use thin synthetic stock fore-ends that are far worse and cost a lot more.
In light of the above, some may say ‘Why bother? Leave the thing alone’. Well, if a gun shoots to your satisfaction, then that is the way to go. However, we were looking for all the improvement that we could find and as it turned out, our solution worked.
The locking lugs were generally okay as far as contact with the action. It was decided not to lap them right out for 100 per cent contact, as this may have had some influence on head-spacing and would necessitate resetting of the barrel.
With everything checked over and bolted down, it was time to go accuracy hunting.
| Trigger pull weight before and after modification | ||
| Make | Trigger before | Trigger after |
| Browning A-Bolt | 5lb 6oz | 3lb |
| CZ 550 | 4lb/1lb | 2lb 8oz/1lb |
| Remington SPS | 5lb 2oz | 3lb |
| Tikka T3 | 4lb | 3lb |
| Weatherby Fiberguard | 6lb 2oz | 3lb |
Hunting with the .243
We were able to do a little hunting with the .243s and they were distributed around a few volunteers. Game is scarce at the moment due to the heat and drought, but a number of rabbits, hares, foxes and a couple of unlucky fallow deer made the ultimate sacrifice in the quest for knowledge. Not surprisingly, the 75-grain bullets will absolutely decimate game the size of rabbits out to as far away as one can hit them. The .243 is a little savage on smaller game and is definitely not recommended if one wishes to gather some skins. The Winchester 95-grain Ballistic Tips performed very well on the deer - neckshots proving instantly fatal with a minimum of lost meat. Shooting after dark has its own specific problems, with our volunteers preferring the rifles that did not have detachable magazines. It was also commented that if culling with any rifle, then a magazine with a minimum capacity of at least five rounds would be more useful.
I fitted the Weatherby out with a Harris bipod and managed to bag one fox and a couple of hares in a bit more than an hour of hunting. A shooting mate using the Browning had similar success in bagging some dog meat. The rifles were passed around to get some varied feedback on handling and comments were noted.
We carried each rifle around in the field using a sling to test portability and user-friendliness. We can report that each of these rifles was no problem to carry and quickly bring to the shoulder when required. In the past, I have experienced rifles that had a habit of digging into one’s back when carried over the shoulder, due to little ‘sticky-out’ things. It’s a small point, but can be an uncomfortable one.
Range testing
This review was conducted over a period of several months with numerous trips to the range and the aforementioned hunting excursions, which included some nights out spotlighting. Our records show that each rifle fired around 200 shots including running-in. As a final test, the bores were thoroughly examined and no fire cracking or obvious wear had taken place. Usable life from a .243 barrel depends heavily upon what sort of loads are put through it, but I would be disappointed not to get at least 2000 rounds.
While most of the accuracy testing was done by me, once the rifles were modified, a team of experienced centrefire shooters trialled them at SSAA South Australia’s Monarto Range. The team consisted of myself, SSAA National’s Tim Bannister, Associate Editor Kaye Jenkins, Graphic Designer Natalie Hill and photographer and writer David Hume. We also particularly invited Kym Just to get the opinion of a typical Australian hunter and shooter. Kym is an Infantry Officer in the Army Reserve with the rank of Major and has more than 40 years of shooting and hunting experience. He has also previously attended other major reviews for us, the most recent being an extensive review on 10 rifles in the .223-calibre.
Kym found the Browning A-Bolt 11 Stainless Hunter rifle to have a very tight grouping capacity and an easy, short bolt throw. While care was needed to snugly fit ammunition in the chamber when loading directly, the rifle had a clean, crisp trigger. Kym thought the Browning A-Bolt was lightweight and pointed well offhand overall and also said that he liked the easy-to-see red safety indicator.
The CZ 550 American Hunter has a wooden stock, which Kym found to have a nice finish, neat chequering and a comfortable cheekpiece. Again, while some care was needed to feed ammunition directly into the chamber, the trigger felt crisp.
The Remington SPS Stainless had a light trigger and Kym felt it was the best trigger of the review group. He said it was very easy to feed single rounds into the chamber and had a comfortable cheek rest and good chequering on the pistol grip, which made for a good, non-slip surface.
Kym found the Weatherby Fiberguard Stainless to have a small amount of trigger creep. However, the rifle had a clearly visible safety and ejected spent cartridges well. The nice finish of the Weatherby’s composite stock was also a talking point among the reviewers.
With its well finished wooden stock and excellent wood-to-metal finish, the Tikka T3 Hunter Stainless was widely reported to be the best looking rifle of the group. Kym found that it was easy to load ammunition directly into the chamber, that the Tikka T3 grouped fairly well with the factory ammunition and that the cartridges ejected well. The rifle also absorbed recoil well.
It was not a case of winners and losers among the rifles and they were all good examples of the gunmaker’s craft. However, with adjustments such as tweaking the triggers, reducing the trigger pull weight, checking the crowns, checking the contact between the locking lugs and the action, measuring the bore diameter, bedding the actions and floating the barrels and testing the rifles’ accuracy with factory and handloaded ammunition, we managed to squeeze the best accuracy out of these common, everyday, affordable and available hunting rifles. We turned them into firearms that you can feel extremely confident in. They will do their job and increase your ability as a humane hunter. As long as you keep up your marksmanship skills, they will help you bring home your trophy.
Really, there are not too many performance items out there these days that don’t need adjustments to get the best out of them. In every case, one certainly gets what one pays for. I think that the bottom line is that a hunter or shooter looking for a new rifle could purchase any of the rifles we have tested and modified here with confidence. Looking at what you get, we felt that each one of these rifles represented good value for money. The final choice may well come down to ‘brand allegiance’ or personal preference to stock, feel and requirements.
Read about Accuracy seeking with handloads