I have a new Encore in .243 and am going to handload for it. Question I have is this; Do you load any differently for a handgun than what the loading tables suggest for a rifle? Any advice would be appreciated.

you can work from rifle data just fine but the velocities from the short barrel will not be as high as listed for rifle.

my past 15" .243 barrel liked AA2015 and a 87gr v-max at about 2600fps. try several types of loads to see what it prefers for best accuracy.

FWI... hope this helps...

The Hornady book has a listing for the 243 in a 15in Encore!

Just today I ran a load ramp for a XP-100 .243 Winchester. I shot Varget w/ 70gr NBTs at 9 different powder charges, .3gr apart w/ one cartridge per charge. They were fired at 200yds in order and each mapped before firing the next to see what charges would cluster together...basically looking for the sweet spot. Charges #6, 7, 8 and 9 went into a .35" group. Velocity was between 3100fps and 3200fps for those loads.

Kinda lengthy and not exactly an answer to your question...but I was stoked with the performance!!

The Sierra 5th edition manual has 243 data in the single shot pistol section. It's based on a 15" Encore barrel.

I use rifle data if I don't see the powder I'm using in a pistol section.

Like Dan B I'm using Varget with the 75&80gr bullets. Accuracy is decent. I need to step on it a bit and see what a little more velocity will do for me. I also ran out of elevation in the scope so I need a set of offset inserts to finish testing.

All in all it was a great range day!!

Dan B., if you work on some more loads and have patients, you may be able to tighten up that .35" group.........LOL...That's some awesome groups! You keep posting stuff like this and you'll have me looking for an XP-100.

truth be known, an XP can shoot those size groups at 200 yards.

Thanks for the info, I'm leaning towards 58 grain bullets with Varget.

The 58's will make some awesome velocity and impacts. But they will die off fast beyond 300yds...drift and drop (mainly the drift) will be terrible...just a tip in case you are looking into some longer range shooting.

Jeez Louise Dan-bet that'll perform downrange. Have u ever tried the 87 V-Max Dan?

I've read a lot about that bullet and some guys did some pretty extensive tesing with it. The BC's supposed to right on the money according to their testing, and very good base to ogive from lot to lot...so they say.

The 70's were just a starting point. The Kreiger is a 1-12" twist so I'm not sure it will handle the 87's...but I'd like to try!!

It looks like you are already getting alot of good info.
The only thing I would like to add is, Since the barrel is shorter,try some of the faster powders first, their have been some good sugestions already, but H4895 is a good powder to try also. General rule I go BY:If your still burning powder after the bullet has left the barrel,your powder is burning to slow.