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Berger 208 30 cal?

Thanks for the info. Im using mine for hunting. 23.5" Benchmark carbon barrel. I pretty much have my load finalized for 215 bergers. Super wide node from 63.5-64.7 gr of N555 and 210m with .003 neck tension and. Was 1.6" @580 yds for the ladder test in that powder charge range. Loaded up 3 rounds in the middle of the node at 64.1 gr and shot a 2.1" group at 840 yds with it. 2720 fps. Im gonna try a couple more powder charges in the node but I think that load is pretty much finalized. Im using my kahles 10-50 for load development. After its done Ill throw a NF ATACR 4-20 on it. Rifle was 8 lbs with the suppressor and no optics. For an all around hunting rifle I think this combo will be tough to beat. No recoil and plenty of energy down range. Are you using .004 neck tension?
 

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Looking at the notes when I did a powder charge test with the 208s I had a node at that same charge you had. 62.5-63.3 gr in .2 gr increments had a ES of 14 fps for that spread. 2675-2689 fps. However the barrel hadnt sped up yet. Ill have to go back and try in that area. There was also a good node at 66.5 gr that was 2840 fps. How much neck tension were you using? I had .003 for that test. The problem I had was i was using some graphite lube before seating the bullet. I thought my accuracy issues were seating depth. I only did a few seating depths w the 208s. I figured w the limited testing I did they were just a picky bullet. After I found the node with 215s I decided to try a group without the graphite lube. Groups shrank in half and ES did as well. I need to go back and try the 208s without the graphite lube.

As a side note Im using the ADG brass. The primer pockets are very strong and can take a beating without loosening up.
 
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Looking at the notes when I did a powder charge test with the 208s I had a node at that same charge you had. 62.5-63.3 gr in .2 gr increments had a ES of 14 fps for that spread. 2675-2689 fps. However the barrel hadnt sped up yet. Ill have to go back and try in that area. There was also a good node at 66.5 gr that was 2840 fps. How much neck tension were you using? I had .003 for that test. The problem I had was i was using some graphite lube before seating the bullet. I thought my accuracy issues were seating depth. I only did a few seating depths w the 208s. I figured w the limited testing I did they were just a picky bullet. After I found the node with 215s I decided to try a group without the graphite lube. Groups shrank in half and ES did as well. I need to go back and try the 208s without the graphite lube.

As a side note Im using the ADG brass. The primer pockets are very strong and can take a beating without loosening up.
Rl23 or h4831sc and mag primer worked the best for me for accuracy with the 208s
 
I also have a rifle with 0.180 freebore. Using the known COAL for my 200.20X load at .005" off (3.122"), and the nose lengths for both bullets as reported by Berger (200.20X = 0.848", 208 Hybrid = 0.742"), it is possible to estimate COAL for another bullet seated to the same depth. At .005" off the lands in a chamber with 0.180" fb, the COAL for a 208 Hybrid loaded to .005" off the lands should be very close to 3.016".

FWIW - I used this same method recently to make a COAL estimate for a different .30 cal bullet. The new Lot of this bullet arrived yesterday and I was able to measure with the actual bullets. My COAL estimate was within .003" of the actual value, so the method works as long as the nose length values are good.

I hadn't really paid all that close attention to the relative segment dimensions of the 200.20X and 208 bullets. Clearly the designs are quite different:


View attachment 1159280

With the much longer BTO measurement and shorter nose, I'm guessing that a freebore of at least 0.225" to 0.250" would be more appropriate for the 208 Hybrid.
I run a .215fb on the 300saumimp the boat tail is well above the junction 40 tho or so.
 
You guys inspired me especially locating some Vihtavouri N555 to go test the 208 Berger in Sam Halls 300 SAM case. My neck tension was higher than I liked due to not being able to find my 30 caliber nylon bore brush to clean the inside of the necks. I took sized brass to 100 yds and started out my loads .006" jump with 55 grains of 555 found my nylon brush, man what a difference! Shot 1at a time till I hit 2850, and the easier seating put me at .007" off. The magic happened at 62.1 gr as I shot a single bullet hole 3 shot group at 100. Will move to 600 next trip, cannot wait! Thanks to all. Barrel had 58 rounds on it, and yesterday fired 13 more 71 total. Brux 1.250" 10 twist. I took 3 powders, RL23, H4831sc, N555 the 555 arrived Thursday.
 
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The 208g hybrids
Seem to batch v well
I found base to Ogive variance of only 3 thousands with overall bullet length variance of 90 thousands, The bullet pointing process seems even with meplat tip hollowpoint closure
I will be trying to light trim a few of the longer oal bullets and re pointing them testing them against batched factory bullets to See if there is any difference with groups and Vertical at Longrange.
 
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The 208g hybrids
Seem to batch v well
I found base to Ogive variance of only 3 thousands with overall bullet length variance of 90 thousands, The bullet pointing process seems even with meplat tip hollowpoint closure
I will be trying to light trim a few of the longer oal bullets and re pointing them testing them against batched factory bullets to See if there is any difference with groups and Vertical at Longrange.
If you trim and re-point them you will lower the BC. See the dimensions in A LOT OF BULLETS. Not across LOTS that BERGER TRACKS : https://bergerbullets.com/information/why-berger/
 
If you trim and re-point them you will lower the BC. See the dimensions in A LOT OF BULLETS. Not across LOTS that BERGER TRACKS : https://bergerbullets.com/information/why-berger/
Hi Barefoot56
As i will be batching by base to ogive along with bullet oal i will only be removing a few thousands when trimming each batch before pointing i wouldnt be supprised to see a very slight increase with BC
however if i was trimming 20-30 thousands range i agree that the bc would be reduced.
 
Hi Barefoot56
As i will be batching by base to ogive along with bullet oal i will only be removing a few thousands when trimming each batch before pointing i wouldnt be supprised to see a very slight increase with BC
however if i was trimming 20-30 thousands range i agree that the bc would be reduced.
Paul,
Have you looked at the BULLET POINTING info at WHIDDEN GUNWORKS?
 
Paul,
Have you looked at the BULLET POINTING info at WHIDDEN GUNWORKS?
Hi Barefooter
Yes i have read info
I believe a more Uniform bullet pointing process is achieved by the Shooter batching and pointing his Bullets verses a bullet manufacturer who hasnt the time to go to All the bullet batching before pointing process
I notice in a typical 100 box that the 208g LR Bullet has only a few thousands difference with base to ogive However the difference between overall Bullet Length has been upto 100 thousands which would surely vary the amount of bullet pointing between the shorter and longer length bullets thus increasing the BC Variance and vertical on Target for Longrange shooting
Uniformity is what f class and Longrange Shooters strive for and i believe the extra work is worth it
In fact i would prefer if an option to buy the 208g LR Unpointed was also availible.
 
Hi Barefooter
Yes i have read info
I believe a more Uniform bullet pointing process is achieved by the Shooter batching and pointing his Bullets verses a bullet manufacturer who hasnt the time to go to All the bullet batching before pointing process
I notice in a typical 100 box that the 208g LR Bullet has only a few thousands difference with base to ogive However the difference between overall Bullet Length has been upto 100 thousands which would surely vary the amount of bullet pointing between the shorter and longer length bullets thus increasing the BC Variance and vertical on Target for Longrange shooting
Uniformity is what f class and Longrange Shooters strive for and i believe the extra work is worth it
In fact i would prefer if an option to buy the 208g LR Unpointed was also availible.
^^^This. I also do not believe a bullet manufacturer can do a better job pointing bullets at the factory than I can do at home. I would much rather point bullets myself than have to re-point them to undo or improve on the pointing process as previously carried out by the manufacturer.
 
Hi Barefooter
Yes i have read info
I believe a more Uniform bullet pointing process is achieved by the Shooter batching and pointing his Bullets verses a bullet manufacturer who hasnt the time to go to All the bullet batching before pointing process
I notice in a typical 100 box that the 208g LR Bullet has only a few thousands difference with base to ogive However the difference between overall Bullet Length has been upto 100 thousands which would surely vary the amount of bullet pointing between the shorter and longer length bullets thus increasing the BC Variance and vertical on Target for Longrange shooting
Uniformity is what f class and Longrange Shooters strive for and i believe the extra work is worth it
In fact i would prefer if an option to buy the 208g LR Unpointed was also availible.
One hundred thousandths in length?
 
In my hands, most Lots of Berger bullets, including several different Lots of the 208 Hybrids, typically exhibit about .015" to .020" overall length variance within a single Lot #. One may sometimes find an extreme outlier or two that could boost the total OAL variance to a much larger number, but I generally disregard those because they're very few in number.

Nonetheless, paulT's point is that if the manufacturer is not length sorting bullets in some manner (i.e. OAL, nose length, etc) prior to pointing, then the points will not be as uniform as they could be, or as uniform as the end user can make them by incorporating some kind of sorting step into the pointing process. I do not know what process Berger uses to point their bullets. I do know that I can improve upon it at home.
 
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