Berger 80.5 Fullbore in AR

[james]

I'm thinking about trying some Berger 80.5 fullbore bullets in my Rock River AR using the magazine. Is this a lost cause trying to use them in a magazine? Currently I am shooting Sierra 77 MKT bullets and they shoot great however I'm thinking the Berger's would be shoved so far down in the case they just wouldn't perform well.

Thanks

 

[akajun]

The PA junior team shot the 82s loaded to mag length for a while iirc. They shot well supposedly
Worth a shot but it’s pretty hard to beat a 77gr for mag length

 

[mgdietrich]

Mags are for 77’s or 69’s, you only see and advantage of an 80 seated longer to allow more powder. Plenty of people shoot the 77’s for all yardlines.

Shooting 80’s in a magazine won’t gain you points.

 

[Krogen]

Yet Berger claims "The 80.5 Grain FullBore Rifle Bullet was specifically designed for accross-the-course competitive shooting with today’s AR platform target rifles where reliable magazine feeding is a must."

22 Caliber 80.5 Grain FULLBORE Target Rifle Bullet

Berger 80.5 Grain Fullbore Target Bullets are often used by competitve shooters who seek the highest accuracy possible. FullBore Bullets are often used beyond mid-range distances out to 600 yards or more.

bergerbullets.com

 

[mike mccormick]

You can load the 80.5 to mag length, but you can improve the velocity by loading long and single feeding. Most guys only use the 80s for the 600 yd slow fire anyway.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Can you? Sure. Should you? NO. When you are consistently shooting cleans on the reduced 600 yard targets, you may pickup a few points shooting long 80.5 ammo at 600 yards. Until then, stay with 75 or 77 gr bullets for all yard lines.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

And you have to load single round at a time for slow fire at 600!

Frank

 

[DR_2297]

In case you want to mag feed em…

 

[karrarararararar]

The extra length eats into powder capacity. If it were worth anything, the top shooters would be doing it, but they arent.

 

[Cfshooter]

I run them at mag length sometimes, 24.4 gr of Varget at 2.270 Coal.

 

[Bill K]

You will never know, until you try it in YOUR AR. What works for one, may not for you. Let us know how it does in YOUR rifle.

I'm thinking about trying some Berger 80.5 fullbore bullets in my Rock River AR using the magazine. Is this a lost cause trying to use them in a magazine? Currently I am shooting Sierra 77 MKT bullets and they shoot great however I'm thinking the Berger's would be shoved so far down in the case they just wouldn't perform well.

Thanks

 

[jelenko]

I run them at mag length sometimes, 24.4 gr of Varget at 2.270 Coal.

How is the performance better than a 77 loaded to mag length?

 

[DR_2297]

The extra length eats into powder capacity. If it were worth anything, the top shooters would be doing it, but they arent.

I believe there are a few “better than average” shooters with milled mags (as shown above) shooting 82 and 80.5 mag length. I won’t name names publicly though….

 

[Cfshooter]

How is the performance better than a 77 loaded to mag length?

Not sure I would say better in general, but work great in my rifles. I also have some 77 loads that work great, but if I have to choose, I will go Berger all day and twice on Sunday.

 

[Hengehold]

The extra length eats into powder capacity. If it were worth anything, the top shooters would be doing it, but they arent.

Agreed. Ballistics are likely a wash between the two. The idea being that while the 77gr has lower BC, one can push them faster than the 80gr bullets because the tail end of the 80s take up more space inside the case, thus reducing powder capacity and lowering muzzle velocity.

So you are left with a choice…shoot a lower BC bullet faster… or a higher BC bullet slower.

While I have not tested and compared the muzzle velocity of mag length 77 & 80s in my service rifle, I believe you will find that they basically have the same ballistics.

-Trevor

 

[james]

Update - I was able to acquire a few of these 80.5 Berger fullbore bullets so I tested them yesterday at our local 100 yard range. I loaded them to magazine length and used CFE223, Varget and IMR 8208 powders. The best 4 shot group was 1.5 inches using Varget powder, I was shooting off a concrete bench using a Harris bipod. I then used my go to load of Sierra 77 MKT with Varget powder which resulted in a 4 shot group of .75 inches. Guess I'll stay with the 77's ( : I appreciate all the comments!

Note: not certain how well the Berger's would perform at longer distances.

 

[Shurefire]

Mags are for 77’s or 69’s, you only see and advantage of an 80 seated longer to allow more powder. Plenty of people shoot the 77’s for all yardlines.

Shooting 80’s in a magazine won’t gain you points.

At the CMP western games last month, I scored for the high shooter on Saturday. Shot a 792 at Ben Avery with boxes of mk262 ammo all the way back. He is definitely above average, but proof an 80 isn’t needed. But for what it’s worth, I believe he would have scored better with 80’s as he lost a couple points to wind.

 

[GetReal]

Ive found about 0.020" diff in various mags. Max being about 2.285 " maybe 2.290"

As others have said, I think 80.5 bergers need 2.320" maybe longer to shine

 

[jelenko]

My experience is B80.5's and S80's need ~ 2.45.

Cavity Back does make 'windowed' 223 mags that are good for ~ 2.350. But, that extra 1/10" makes the difference.

 

[SKWERLZ]

I really wait try the 80.5 in my 22 ARC
Need to order some soon.