savage 243 12FV. good wind gun ?

martyrd

martyrd

New member
guys i moved to North Dakota this year. it truly is a hunting paradise ( i moved from northern IL, I should have left 25 years ago ).... NOW FOR THE QUESTION.... i have been shooting all summer and so far i have not seen a day were the WIND IS UNDER 20 MPH ! I can not belive all this wind. i have savage 204 that shoots 1 hole if wind is under 10 MPH , I have a ar 15 16 inch 223 cal that shoots 68 grain bullets at 1 1/2 groups under 10 mph wind ONLY OUT TO 200 YARDS. i need a gun that will shoot better in the wind and i can use for deer hunting. should i spend the 590.00 for the savage 12FV IN THE 243 ( 26 inch barrel ) FOR THIS ND hunting ? thanks. MARTY
 
It ought to do better than the other two you mentioned. You might also consider a .25-06, it should be better still.
 
For really windy conditions over the pdog towns, I reach for my 6mm Rem loaded fast with 75 grain VMaxes. Compared to my standard .223 Rem loads (which I use 95% of the time), under wind conditions the difference is like night and day.

For all intents and purposes, the 6mm Rem and the .243 Win are ballistic twins.

I believe the .243 Win is going to be about as good as it gets for you in the wind, shy of stepping up another whole magnitude of recoil.

Mike
 
If you can't read the wind, it won't matter.

Some cartridges are better, it's all about you.

I am not not that good, I'm decent in a steady wind of constant value, not that good in varying wind of varying values.

Clayman
 
The 243 will buck the wind better than what you're used to for sure. A 6.5 X 55 is an even better alternative in the wind without getting into something that will give you recoil fatigue over a day's shooting. Either one is going to get expensive unless you reload.
 
Look at the list below. The reason for the Remington in "that" caliber is the Wind in Wyoming. Also known as Moriah !!!!!!!!!!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif
 
The highest BC bullet a barrel can shoot determines how well it resists the wind. Fast twist barrels in smaller calibers can shoot higher BC bullets than many factory barrels in heavier calibers.
But,,, you still have to be able to dope the wind, it is just a bit less critical.

Jack
 
I vote for the 25-06 as a better option, also. It gives you more case capacity to launch heavier bullets really well, and they buck the wind good, besides having a flatter trajectory. Just be sure to get a 26" barrel; in 24", you won't even outperform the 243! Thats simply because the 25 uses slower burning powders best, and needs more length to get it burned. My long range coyote gun is a 27" 25-06, which allows me to push a 100 gr. NBT out over 3600 fps. Thats poison. My carry gun is a 26" 25-06, and I run an 85 gr. NBT out at 3819...again, very, very effective. Hard on fur? Yup.
 
I would opt for the .25-06 over the .243 as well, if you intend to use it for deer hunting. Of course, if the varmints you are shooting are prairie dogs, then it's a bit of overkill........ but then so would be the .243.
 
I have the 12fv in 243win. I shoot 80 grain rem corelokts out of it and it does substantially better in the wind than my 223(also a 12fv). If you went up to the 100 or 105 grain bullets you should see a dramatic improvement over the calibers you listed. That being said , if you are shooting 400 yards and don't compensate for the wind your still going to miss. Also, you should be able to find a better deal on the rifle. I paid under 500$ for mine just las summer.
The 243 is a great deer gun. A friend of mine has taken multiple mule deer, antelope, and elk with hers. It folds them better than one would imagine.
 
Drift is a result of bullets time in flight and its aerodymanics. Not weight or diameter. Right?

I like the 25 caliber idea, but there are a bunch of 6mm bullets that have a better BC than most of what availible in 25 cal.

Id go with the 243 and get some slick bullets.
 
I live in the wind capital of the world and I like a .243 for that reason. I'm trying a .25-06 right now but don't have enough experience to tell the difference. I like 80 grain Federals in the .243 and am shooting some 90-grain softpoints in the .25-06. I also have some 117-grain rounds to try in the .25-06. While I don't use a Savage in either of those calibers, I'd think it would do just fine... as well or better than any other rifle. One thing you might look into if wind is an issue is a scope with both vertical and horizontal mil dots.
 
Quote:
Drift is a result of bullets time in flight and its aerodymanics. Not weight or diameter. Right?



Wind drift is going to be determined by the BC of the bullet. Either the 6 or 6.5 mm have very good high BC bullets available in the .4s and .5s and the 6.5 has a couple that are close to .6 BC.

The 25-06 doesn't have very many choices in the high BC category (though it has some very fine hunting bullets). If this rifle is going to be used for varmints, the 25-06 is going to hurt you after a day of 300-400 rounds.
 
If you are considering an AR (and you reload) you might look at a Dtech 243 WSSM. It has slightly better ballistics than the .243 and you can get it in the (lighter) AR 15 platform. It's my go-to gun for just about everthing (until my Dtech 6.5-243 WSSM gets here anyway).
 
Quote:
Wind drift is going to be determined by the BC of the bullet.



Not to nit pick, but doesnt time in flight has as much effect. Wind affects bullets much in the same way that gravity does, only its always changing and not only affects lefts and rights, but can also affect up and down such as in a mirage. Velocity, or time in flight, is our friend because its can limit the bullets exposure to these forces. Right?


BTW either the 6 or 6.5 wssm would be a great cartridge- add in an AR platform would be just about as awesome a gun as a guy could hope to have.
 
Yup, the 25-06 will beat you up, shooting 300-400 rds. a day, but so will the 243, or even the 22-250. For that stuff, a .223, or 204 makes things a lot more fun. Then again, if I could shoot 300-400 rds. in a day, at coyotes, I think I could take the beating!!
 
Quote:
Quote:
Wind drift is going to be determined by the BC of the bullet.



Not to nit pick, but doesnt time in flight has as much effect.



No. Bullets are deflected by wind ("wind drift" is a misnomer). Velocity/time of flight does not have nearly as much effect on wind deflection as bullet shape/BC does. Run some numbers in any balistics calculator and you'll soon see this is true. A slow moving, high BC bullet will have less wind deflection than a fast moving low BC bullet. Trajectory is where time of flight has a lot of meaning (since it's a simple function of gravity and time).

- DAA
 
Right, but given equal bc the higher velocity round will drift less then the same bullet launched 500 fps less.
I know that ballistic programs dont convert to real world exactly but the good ones are darn close. Crunch the numbers. You might be surprised.

Again- not tring to argue, just that it should be considered as well.
 


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