I am finishing a 284 Winchester project I started a few years ago but did not finish due to having kids. It is a hunting rifle for Mule deer trips out west, the next one being this November in Colorado. I had purchased a box of the Berger 168 Classic Hunter and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for loads. It is on a Remington 700 long action so I have some room for coal but want it to fit in the magazine without having to worry about feeding problems in the field. It is a 24" barrel with standard chamber dimensions. I had seen a video on the this site that Berger suggests starting .015" off the lands and working off in .015" increments. What has worked for others?
284 Winchester Berger 168 Classic Hunter Loads
- Thread starter gtbc82
- Start date
centerlineseal
Gold $$ Contributor
In my experience, 15 thou off is a good place to start.
Different round, but my initial load for a 168 Berger VLD Hunting in my 7mm08 was 15 thou off the lands and it shot a .330 five shot group at 100 yds in front of IMR4350. I have a ladder test ready to see if I have a higher node to go to.
Different round, but my initial load for a 168 Berger VLD Hunting in my 7mm08 was 15 thou off the lands and it shot a .330 five shot group at 100 yds in front of IMR4350. I have a ladder test ready to see if I have a higher node to go to.
H-4831 / H-4831sc and H-4350 are the most popular powders for the 284win. with the heavier heads.
Hodgdons online reloading shows...
168 smk
H-4831 MAX = 58 gr
H-4350 MAX - 53.5 gr
Sierra manual shows...
168 smk
H-4831sc = 56.8 gr
no H-4350
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kdopwcxcqcimrud/h16TGLOjsb?preview=Sierra284Win.pdf
Quickload prediction...
168 Berg. VLD Hunt. (3.00"coal)
H-4831sc MAX = 55.5 gr
H-4350 MAX = 51.5 gr
Speer #14 shows no H-4831 or H-4350 and Lyman 50th only goes up to 150 gr for the 284win.
Hodgdons online reloading shows...
168 smk
H-4831 MAX = 58 gr
H-4350 MAX - 53.5 gr
Sierra manual shows...
168 smk
H-4831sc = 56.8 gr
no H-4350
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kdopwcxcqcimrud/h16TGLOjsb?preview=Sierra284Win.pdf
Quickload prediction...
168 Berg. VLD Hunt. (3.00"coal)
H-4831sc MAX = 55.5 gr
H-4350 MAX = 51.5 gr
Speer #14 shows no H-4831 or H-4350 and Lyman 50th only goes up to 150 gr for the 284win.
The Berger reloading book lists RE-19 but not RE-17 for the 168. I know the Rae-17 has been popular for the larger 180, but is the RE-19 better for the lighter 168? Their manual also lists loads for H4350 and H4831sc.
B Nettesheim
Gold $$ Contributor
My 284 huntin rifle shoots best with the bullet just touching the lands with h4831sc. 168 bergers
RL-17 is a good 284win powder for competition where you get sighters, but for hunting I would skip it along with RL-19 because they are more temp sensitive than H-4350 and H-4831.
RL-19 is slower than RL-17 so it will work with the heavies.
IMR-4350 and IMR-4831 would be my other choices. I know some of the newer powder like RL-23/IMR-4451 should be good too but I always try the time proven stuff for hunting. And the new powders lack data for many cartridges, 284win being one of them.
The BERGER CLASSIC HUNTER bullets were designed to be used at the standard magazine length of the cartridge you are loading for (COAL = 2.800IN for the .284 WIN). Load development in most cases with these bullets just consists of seating the bullet to magazine length. Then working the load up slowly checking for pressure sings and accuracy until your highest velocity accuracy node is found. Call us at 714-441-7202 between 8am to 4:30pm Eastern time MON thru FRI and we can help you with load data.
I used to use 162 gr A-MAX in my 7X57 hunting rifle as well as my 284WIN long range bench rest gun I loaded the 7X57 to about 2800 fps for hunting but changed to 140 gr TTSX due to excessive meat damage to a small black tail and a small pig. the 284 WIN runs 162 gr A-MAX ( and now 162 gr ELD-M) at 2900 fps using RL-17 originally and now RL-16 which is very close to RL-17 but way more temp stable. loads are ~52gr RL-16
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