156 Berger Freebore ?
- Thread starter 284winner
- Start date
The 150SMK and the 147ELD are worlds apart in the need for freebore. If you want to keep the bearing surface ABOVE the neck / shoulder junction with the 150SMKs, a .200 freebore is necessary. I bought 500 of the Hornady 147 ELDs>>> I looked at the bearing surface of those compared to the 150SMKs and I could not get them ANYWHERE NEAR where the bearing surface is above the neck / shoulder junction and NOT touch the lands! My best guess is you would need a .300 freebore! Now I don't know the bearing surface of the 156s BUT I do know Berger. My guess would be the 156 and the 150SMKs are going to be very close to needing the same freebore...
I currently have two 6.5 x 284's that were cut with a .208 FB. The 147's are just above the neck/shoulder. I'll go longer next time. My lot of 147's have brg surf of .528-.529 The last lot of 150's measure .469-.471....this would be roughly .060 difference. Not sure what 156's are but I think ShootDots advice on a little more FB would be good.
The 147s have the shortest boattail I have ever seen in a match bullet. The boattail is about like a Nosler Ballistic Tip! Their bearing surface literally is so long it looks like a Telephone pole with a point! I did not even try to get them to shoot! I would also guess that because of the long bearing surface, TORQUE will be substantial!
You are correct! When I first started shooting them I was concerned about the long bearing surface, but man they shoot good. Never had them out to 1,000 and long strings. Shot a 6.5 inch 5 shot group last year with them at 1400 yds. They may not hold up under extreme conditions but for 5 shot groups they are great!
That is excellent shooting my friend! I do not doubt they are good bullets. The thing I have against them is that IF you get the PROPER freebore for them, you have limited yourself to that bullet only! What happens if your particular barrel doe not like them? You would literally have to rechamber the barrel and get a MUCH shorter freebore. On the other hand, if your barrel does like them>>>you will have a very good bullet and the capability of winning matches!
Yes sir, I've won a couple of local 530 yd matches shooting them in a 6.5 x 47. I have another 6.5 x 47 I cut the barrel down to 21.5 inches to play around with local 100/200 bench guys. This gun shoots the 150 smk at 1's and 2's all day long. Out of 5 groups my largest group was .326
I may try the 156 in the gun. Now for the anomaly....the same gun does not shoot the 147 at short distance but shoots at 3-500 well. Opposite with 150 smk, shoots great at 100....opens to .65-.75 moa at 300. 8tw barrel....any suggestions?
That is the conundrum with bullets made for long-range. They will generally shoot better at longer ranges than at close range. The short-range BR guys shoot flat base bullets of nominal b.c. for 1 reason, they shoot great at close range! They don't need a boattail nor a high b.c. bullet for 100-200 yards. Try shooting a 62gr / 6mm bullet at 500-600 yards and watch what happens. Conversely, shoot a HIGH b.c. bullet at short range. They may shoot "pretty good" but they will NOT beat on a consistent basis a flat base bullet! High b.c. bullets, for lack of better terminology, "hold" on to accuracy far longer than a short, flat base bullet. One time (and only one time) I shot a 5/8" 5 shot group at 600 yards with a 130Berger VLD out of a 6.5 x 47. That is down in the vicinity of 1/8th m.o.a.! That is "close range benchrest accuracy" held out to 600 yards!
Yes sir, thats great shooting...I;ve shot well with 130's also. Years ago I shot this gun as a PPC and shot the FB column bullet. I turned it into a 6.5 x 47 and now the shorter barrel. Shooting the 150's just because I have a ton of them and at 100/200 they drive those little bullet guys crazy in the wind. Just having fun and wondering if there is something I'm overlooking! With short barrel I'm shooting them around 2700. I'm really amazed how well the 150 shoots at short distance.
I don't think you're missing anything! Shooting a HIGH b.c. bullet and shooting them well at close range is not an easy accomplishment! I think you must be doing everything right>>>not missing anything!
I saw where they are advertising a .545 bearing surface for the 156, but I have never measured one. SWD says .490 which is .015 more than 150
swd
Silver $$ Contributor
The 156 is about .020” longer than the 150SMK
swd
Silver $$ Contributor
So a little pressure testing in the back yard today. 6.5x55 Ackley/BJAI with RL23, I went up to 2956 without ejector marks or sticky bolt lift. Primers looking good. The same charge weight with 140 Hybrids is 20fps slower. My guess is the thinner hunting jackets don't build as much pressure despite the much longer bearing surface. In my rifle 3000+ looks like it would be easy but being an F Open rifle I don't need or want that much speed. Off to the range probably next week and a match in two weeks.
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