Berger 95 VLD - 8208-XBR
- Thread starter jefats
- Start date
I have a 6BRX that I have shot some very small groups with 8208 well under .5 at 300 yards.
It is a Bat with a Kreiger 8.7-8.3 GT barrel. The load was 31.2 with a 95 Precision ballistics 95 gr. BT. That being said I have shot the same load at a 300 yard match when the temp. was 20 degrees hotter and it barely shot a 1.5 group. As always start way lower since you are shooting a 6BR. Try a ladder test starting at 28 gr. and work up.
It is a Bat with a Kreiger 8.7-8.3 GT barrel. The load was 31.2 with a 95 Precision ballistics 95 gr. BT. That being said I have shot the same load at a 300 yard match when the temp. was 20 degrees hotter and it barely shot a 1.5 group. As always start way lower since you are shooting a 6BR. Try a ladder test starting at 28 gr. and work up.
With 8208 your loads will be about .5 - 1.0grns lower than your typical Varget or RL15 loads. For instance when I shoot the 80grn FB Berger bullets in my 6BR, I usually use 31.0-31.3 of RL15, or 30.5-ish of 8208. So with the 95VLD's you will probably want to start no higher than 30.0 of 8208 and work from there. IMO.
A couple of things stopped me from trying the load you mention in my 6BR.
I had the same problem a lot of people had with the VLD bullet in a standard ogive type seater: engagement of the bullet in the lands was inconsistent. I have had the chance to use the new Redding VLD seating stem in a 22 BR and I think that it solves the problem quite nicely.
In the 22/6BR case, it seems like a reasonable charge of 8028 leaves a lot of dead air, which makes tuning the load difficult.
N-135 still works better for me.
OK, I lied--three things--I read a lot of comments from the short range BR shooters who were given jugs of 8028 to test and the comments from the same people -- and others--who actually bought the powder once it went into general production. Results seemed to vary wildly with the lot numbers. My own experience with 8028 is positive, but not in the 6BR or the 22BR and not when humidity is high when I load it. I've only tried one lot.
I had the same problem a lot of people had with the VLD bullet in a standard ogive type seater: engagement of the bullet in the lands was inconsistent. I have had the chance to use the new Redding VLD seating stem in a 22 BR and I think that it solves the problem quite nicely.
In the 22/6BR case, it seems like a reasonable charge of 8028 leaves a lot of dead air, which makes tuning the load difficult.
N-135 still works better for me.
OK, I lied--three things--I read a lot of comments from the short range BR shooters who were given jugs of 8028 to test and the comments from the same people -- and others--who actually bought the powder once it went into general production. Results seemed to vary wildly with the lot numbers. My own experience with 8028 is positive, but not in the 6BR or the 22BR and not when humidity is high when I load it. I've only tried one lot.
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