Any new info on the testing..?
I've recently been working with the 208s in an F-TR rifle that has fairly long freebore (0.220") and a 30" 10-twist barrel. The 208s over Varget don't seem to have quite the intrinsic precision in a tuned load as the 200.20X. The difference isn't
huge in my hands, maybe something like the difference between a true 0.25 MOA load and one at about 0.30-0.35 MOA or so. I recently used them in a 600 yd match and observed more vertical than I would have liked, which cost me an unacceptable number of points. I am still not sure if some part of that could have been due to the bullet/load, although the simplest and most obvious explanation was that I was missing some key component of the wind condition changes. Nonetheless, I have been doing a few experiments since then to see whether I can tighten the load vertical up a bit. My overall take on the bullet is that it's a good design, but I'm not sure that it's the equal or better of the 200.20X. That shouldn't be too surprising as the 200.20X bullet is one of those truly outstanding designs that only comes along once in a while.
For the obvious reason of how long the 208s are, you'll want a chamber with at least 0.170"-0.180" freebore, so the boattail/bearing surface junction is seated well above the neck/shoulder junction. Perhaps less obvious is the effect of the extra 8 gr weight as compared to the 200.20X. In my hands, a load with Varget is tuning in at around 2590-2600 fps (30" barrel). They can certainly be pushed faster, but QuickLoad predicts pressures in the neighborhood of 63.5K psi (or higher) when loading them in the neighborhood of 2620 fps, which could affect brass life, even with Palma (SRP) brass. Although Palma brass is tough and can take much higher operating pressures for a noticeably longer time than standard (LRP) .308 Win brass, I generally choose not to run loads predicted to be in the 63-64K psi range (or higher). BC estimates for the 208s from LabRadar velocity drop data ran in the upper 0.360s to low 0.370s, which is a tick higher than the Berger's published value of 0.354, possibly due to the relatively short distance over which the velocity was measured (55 yd). Nonetheless, in side-by-side measurements made using
pointed 200.20Xs, BC estimates of around 0.345 to 0.350 were generated, suggesting the BC of the 208 is around 6% higher than pointed 200.20X bullets. So the question is really whether the 208s, with their 8 gr heavier weight, can actually be pushed fast enough at reasonable operating pressure to at least equal, or come very close to equalling, the predicted performance (wind deflection) of the 200.20X bullet running at around 2650 fps. I think the answer there is that the predicted windages of the two bullets are going to be pretty close, but it doesn't look from the velocity I've been running them that they are going to noticeably
surpass the performance of the 200.20Xs.
I have previously also worked up a load with the 215 Hybrid and although the load grouped well, the higher BC of the 215 is largely a wash due to the much slower velocity at which they can reasonably be pushed (~2560 fps in my hands). The heavier bullets generally have higher BCs, but also run at much slower velocity due to the extra weight. The end result seems to be that the predicted performances are close to being equal to the 200.20X bullet at ~2650 fps, but not noticeably
better. So the real questions about differences between the various 200+ gr .30 cal bullets seem to be more about the intrinsic precision and recoil management, rather than a noticeable improvement in wind deflection due to a higher BC. I cannot detect any noticeable difference in felt recoil between the 200.20Xs at ~2650 fps and the 208s at ~2600 fps. In contrast, there was a small but noticeable increase in felt recoil when running the 215s at 2560 fps.
The good news about the 208 Hybrid is that it is currently available (
actually in stock) at several different vendors. There were a couple places that had the 200.20Xs in stock in the last couple days, but not surprisingly, they disappeared within a very short time, like minutes LOL. Berger has recently suggested that more 200.20Xs should be available at retailers in the Jan/Feb 2022 time frame. But I have no idea how many they actually made or whether they will remain in stock longer than a few minutes once everyone that wants some finds out they are available. If you have a rifle set up to accommodate the 208s (i.e. 30" barrel, minimum 10-twist, minimum 0.170"-0.180" freebore), the easiest thing to do would be to buy a box or two and see how they shoot in your setup. If they work satisfactorily, you can buy a larger quantity, which at this point in time will likely be the same Lot# if you purchase them from the same provider.
