I have a .284 PTG Reamer made for .313 neck, .188 Freebore using necked up Lapua 6.5x284 brass. The gun has always been shot using Berger 180 VLD's quite successfully. I seem to spend a lot of time seating bullets to get consistent base to Ogive length. I have heard the Hybrids are less sensitive to seating depth and looking to perhaps switch to them next season so I don't worry about a thousandth or two on OAL and speed up my reloading process. Before I go out and start working up loads and trying Hybrids is there any reason Hybrids would not shoot as well as VLD's given the chamber dimensions or other reasons?
Berger 180's Hybrid Chamber vs. VLD
- Thread starter WindSurgeon
- Start date
You should be fine if you have been getting good results with 180VLDs. I've found that the bearing surface length of the lots of Hybrids I've used has been between 0.020 and 0.040 inches less than the shortest VLDs. I have alos found that differences in bearing surface length equate nicely with differences in free-bore required for a type of bullet.
FeMan
Gold $$ Contributor
I haven't fired the vld's so I cannot compare directly. Here is a shot of a seating depth test I did with Hybrids in my .284 that you may find helpful. I found a fairly wide and forgiving window to load in. It is tough to read the writing, but the seating depth was stepped at 3 thousandths intervals. I still try to get the base-to-ogive length within a thousandth or less but I am probably wasting time, especially since I shoot tac.
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Thanks guys. FeMan, do you know your reamer/chamber dimensions or how far off the lands you are? I might try your length to begin with or a derivative based on the amount of jump to the lands.
You'll be fine with the .188 - absolutely.
Mark. I know you shoot this round. What is your base to ogive length for .284 Win?
WindSurgeon said:
Well, that is a relative measurement, in my opinion. Meaning what I measure with my comparator will not be the same as what you measure with yours (with my same loaded round) since all comparators differ slightly. (I have three and they differ .020)
What I can tell you is that with a .188 FB, if you are shooting VLDs, the body/boattail junction is just about the neck/shoulder junction. The bearing surface on the hybrids is substantially less than on VLDs, so your seating the hybrids further out of the case to get the ogive into the same position relative to the lands.
I also have found that depending on the barrel, I move seating depth around quite a bit to achieve best accuracy. I don't really question or care as to why, that's just how they work. Like women (don't question or care why), I just accept it and move forward…
I think what I will do as a start is to load them to .002" less than my VLD load and go from there. I have a slight jam right now with the VLD's and this should take the ogive off the lands. Thanks guys for the info.
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