Berger 140 lrbt seating depth advice?

[6.5grendel]

I'm getting ready to try some Berger 140 LRBT's in a 260 Rem. Does anyone have any advice if they prefer to be jumped or jammed? I know the LRBT's are supposed to be tolerant to seating depth. Just wondering if they usually prefer one over the other before I start.

 

[JLT]

I've found they're comfortable jumping a bit. My .260 AI barrel likes them jumped .020". Actually, .015" to .030" out is a coin toss, so I picked a value somewhere in between, validated the choice and went with it. As a rule, I don't like to jam into the rifling, but I did test these guys from touch to .010" in. They shot measurably better jumping in my current barrel.

 

[Laurie]

What @JLT says. (6.5X55 at around 2,850 fps.) A very tolerant bullet, easy to tune.

 

[G Liles]

260 Rem
Shilen Barrel 8 tw
144 Berger LRHT seated .015 off the lands

 

[6.5grendel]

Thank you everyone. I was just trying to get an idea of what will work without wasting any more barrel life than I already have trying to get the 142 SMK's to shoot. I was set on using the SMK's because I have a good amount of them and that's what I've used in previous barrels and always had good luck. I tried different powders, primers, jamming, jumping and struggled to consistently get anything at or under .75 moa. The best results I could get from them was jumping. 070" and it still wasn't great.

Yesterday I tried the Bergers. I loaded up 5 different charge weights of H4350, 4 shots each, and jumping .015". The groups measured .421", .454", .638", .729", and .815". Significantly better results right away. Group sizes were roughly half of what I had been getting. A lesson I learned with this is if a certain bullet isn't working, try a different one before wasting so much barrel life.

 

[JLT]

A lesson I learned with this is if a certain bullet isn't working, try a different one before wasting so much barrel life.

Wise words, these! I cooked a 6.5x.284 barrel learning this lesson.