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Berger 200.20X Load Development

TF160 Guy

Silver $$ Contributor
I am starting load development for the Berger 200.20X bullets and need some guidance on the minimum and maximum charge weights for 2 powders--Varget and H-4895. Rifle has a 30" barrel.

If you would share these magic numbers with me, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks
 
I have a 29" 10 Twist Heavy Palma barrel on a Kelbly Panda Stolle F Class Action. Using Varget, I took my ladder testing up to 44.6 grains with no visible signs of over pressure with the 200.20X's. I was using new normal Lapua brass. My gunsmith chambered my barrel with a .342NK 168FB reamer.
 
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I have a 29" Heavy Palma barrel on a Kelbly Panda Stolle F Class Action. Using Varget, I took my ladder testing up to 44.8 grains with no visible signs of over pressure with the 200.20X's. I was using new normal Lapua brass. My gunsmith chambered my barrel with a .342NK 168FB reamer.

What charge did you settle on?
 
What charge did you settle on?
I originally identified a node at 44.4 (2685 f/s), which I tested further, but identified consistent slight vertical stringing. I then worked another node at 43.4 (2635 f/s), which after further testing appears to be consistently producing 1/4" to 3/8" 5 shot groups at 100 yards. The 43.4 is the most consistent node I identified so far.

I did not test any charges below 43 grains of Varget (Tested 43g - 44.6g), because I was hoping to keep my velocity above the 2600 f/s. Also, 10/1000's off the lands appears to be yielding the best results so far.

I have yet to test past 100 yards, but I'm scheduled to drive up to my local 600 yard range (145 miles North) next week for longer range testing.
 
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I originally identified a node at 44.4 (2685 f/s), which I tested further, but identified consistent slight vertical stringing. I then worked another node at 43.4 (2635 f/s), which after further testing appears to be consistently producing 1/4" to 3/8" 5 shot groups at 100 yards. The 43.4 is the most consistent node I identified so far.

I did not test any charges below 43 grains of Varget (Tested 43g - 44.6g), because I was hoping to keep my velocity above the 2600 f/s. Also, 10/1000's off the lands appears to be yielding the best results so far.

I have yet to test past 100 yards, but I'm scheduled to drive up to my local 600 yard range (145 miles North) next week for longer range testing.


I have been running mine at the same speed as your 44.4 node. The node seems to be very narrow.
 
I also like 43.4 G of Varget with a CBTO of 2.3 inches FPS 2638 did some 300 yards testing last weekend 1st shoot low left 2nd high right, 3rd low right ( a little wind) 4th adjusted to the left, then went up 1 for the next 9 shoots, the last one up 1 and right 1. I like the 200-20X and Varget
 

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I would start getting cautious at 43.5gr because of LR brass and freebore on the obermeyer chamber is 0.080 which is really short for the 20X bullet. You may want to have your gunsmith throat it out for 200gr bullets in order to safely run the higher nodes to take advantage of bc.
 
I have a 28" 10.5 twist Brux heavy varmint, Palma brass, 43.4 varget... Pushing the 200 X'S at 2650. Attached is a picture of one of my targets recently at a 600 yard match on the E-Targets at Camp Atterbury.
I wonder how accurate the velocity reading is? I saw another person post a 200-19x and his ES would have been high as well.
 
I would start getting cautious at 43.5gr because of LR brass and freebore on the obermeyer chamber is 0.080 which is really short for the 20X bullet. You may want to have your gunsmith throat it out for 200gr bullets in order to safely run the higher nodes to take advantage of bc.
VERY short for a 200-20x. Most are running at least 90 thou more freebore than the Obermeyer. It's very unlikely that the OP will be able to reach these speeds safely with that chamber.
 
0.080" is indeed pretty short for the 200.20Xs as noted by several others above. I have a Varget load with 185 Juggernauts in a rifle that has a fairly similar chamber to the Obermeyer (0.085" freebore, .342 nk, 1deg30). With the bullet seated at ~.015" off the lands, COAL for this load is 2.898". With 43.4 gr Varget, I'm getting about 2720 fps from a 30" barrel. This load is extremely accurate/precise, albeit a little slow.

The important point for this discussion is that when seated at ~.015 off the lands, the 185 boattail/bearing surface junction is just barely above the neck/shoulder junction. That means it has higher pressure than would be required to achieve the same velocity with the bullet seated farther out in the neck. This load runs at just over 61K psi (Quickload prediction), which although under MAX SAAMI pressure for .308, is fairly hard on standard .308 brass.

The 200.20X BTO dimension is ~ .030" longer than the Juggernaut, which means the shank/boattail of the 200.20X will be seated approximately that much farther down into the case if seated at the same seating depth relationship to the lands. Is that extra length enough to cause pressure issues? Perhaps not, but the short freebore would force you to seat the 200.20Xs much deeper in the case than would be considered "optimal". The use of Palma brass (rather than standard .308 brass) would likely minimize any potential overpressure issues.

The bottom line is that Lot-to-Lot powder variation can change the charge weight required in a .308 to vary by as much as half a grain or so (worst-case scenario) to achieve the same velocity. You can use charge weights posted here as rough estimates to find a starting point for your own load development, but powder variation and differing freebore lengths may mean you end up with a significantly different charge weight from what others are using. So you'll need to optimize a load for your specific setup regardless. A better way to approach that, IMO, is to use velocity, rather than other people's charge weights, which may differ widely from what you find for the reasons I mentioned.

With a 30" barrel and Varget, you will likely find the "sweet spot" for the 200.20Xs will be in the 2630 to 2660 fps range. With H4895, the "sweet spot" will likely be in the 2650 to 2680 fps range, or about 20 fps faster than Varget. I'm getting ~2670 fps with H4895 and the 200.20Xs from a 30" barrel with .180" freebore. Considering your shorter freebore, these velocity "windows" are only approximations, but I think you'll find it easier to dial in a load for your setup based using the target velocity windows, rather than other people's charge weights, which may possibly vary widely from whatever you find to be optimal. At a minimum, if you use any of the charge weight information posted herein as a guide, be conservative and start at least one half to three quarters of a grain low and work up in small increments, measuring velocity as you test. That way, there shouldn't be any great risk of overshooting the velocity [pressure] window optimal for your specific setup. You may also want to check out another post from here at A.S. regarding the 200.20X, it may provide additional insight into your questions regarding loads for it:

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/new-berger-308-bullet-with-wicked-0-328-g7-bc.3909267/
 
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the "sweet spot" for the 200.20Xs will be in the 2730 to 2760 fps range.
I appreciate all of gstaylorg's very informative comments and learned quite a lot from reading them. Typo?
Don't you mean 2,630-2,660fps? You will start loosing brass and primers if pushing 200grain bullets to 2,750fps in a 308.
 
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