Ultra heavy 224 bullets

[r bose]

But BC is like cocaine...the more you have, the more you want .

I haven't tried the SMK 90s as yet, but I've been very pleased with Berger's 90 VLDs. One of my shooting friends here is currently doing load development with the 90 SMKs out of a 30" barreled F-TR rifle and I have been helping him a little bit with Quickload. After calibrating QL, his predicted MV at the OBT node was 2818 fps using IMR 8208 XBR, and the actual MV was spot on as predicted for that particular charge weight. He was happy with the groups, but wasn't too thrilled about the short brass life at that velocity/pressure, so he's working with a slower node. So far, it looks like they are also shooting pretty well in the ~2750ish fps range. If he's happy with the SMKs, I may give them a try as well just for kicks and giggles.

I haven't tried the Sierra's yet but I'm down to my last 2 boxes of 90g Berger's. With the last info regarding production date saying May 2016, I might be forced to give them a try. I'm curiously watching everyone's experience with the Sierra's.

 

[raptor1ronin]

I will know for sure tomorrow. I will take a picture of my 90VLD Pointed VS a SMK 90 Stock and will see the difference.

OK so I received the box of Sierra 90SMK and after opening the box I grabbed a SMK to inspect. At first glance you can see the difference right away that the SMK are a dull shiny copper, definitely not as clean looking as the Berger's 90VLD. Sierra is correct and the bullets have a pointing to them that looks really nice. Comparing them side by side you notice the difference right away on overall length. The Berger's hands down are a little longer. I guess it will be time to test soon and see how well these shoot.

See attached pictures

 

[tenshot]

From looking at the picture above it looks as though the Sierra will contact the lands closer to the tip than the Berger in the same barrel, and thus should seat deeper in the case, possibly giving up powder capacity to some extent.
Can anyone that has both of these bullets on hand provide the difference of depth in the case from a like starting point to the lands.

Thanks

 

[raptor1ronin]

The SMK 90 nose is clearly shorter; however, according to bullet dimensions in the back of Bryan's book the bearing surface of the SMK 90 is only a bit shorter than that of the Berger 90 VLD. I checked it the other day and my recollection is ~.009" ??? shorter, not taking lot-to-lot variation into account, of course. So my guess is that the amount of shank in the case would not differ by all that much (~.009") if seated to the same CBTO. Because the bearing surface is slightly shorter, you should actually gain a slight bit of case capacity with the 90 SMK at the same CBTO. Because it has a much lower ogive radius that the Berger 90 VLD, it will be interesting to hear how people's optimal seating depths compare between the two. I'd guess the Sierras ought to shoot well in the neighborhood of 15-20 thousandths off the lands.

I'm a little surprised at the appearance of the pointed tips. They look to be pretty uniform, which is good. However, if I pointed a bullet with a pointing die that had that much of a "cone" at the nose, I would feel like I had seriously overpointed it, as there is a noticeable "bulge" at the trailing edge of the point. Has anyone heard exactly what method they use at the factory to point the SMK 90s? It would also be interesting to hear how the ogives vary from someone using these that has a Green comparator. Ultimately, the proof will be in how well they shoot. Thanks for posting the pics, John!

No problem Greg. I'll report back once I test them. may can't come fast enough from Berger

 

[XTR]

Greg, regarding the pointing angle, not any bulging which can be another issue, Bryan has written in the past that in testing to develop the Whidden pointing system they didn't see any significant difference in BC due to the angle of the pointer.

 

[jsthntn247]

If they are pointed like the 115 Dtacs I have (nose looks identical on dtacs) you will have a large variance in meplat diameter. They don't sort bullets by overall length and therefore the longer bullets have a sharper point and smaller meplat than the shorter bullets. All bullets would have the same bto measurement but the meplats varied allot. I have no idea how they accomplished this because when I point VLD's, if I don't sort by length I move the bto measurement on the longer ones, buckling the jacket, and not on the shorter ones. I shot groups at 1000 with the dtacs and there was close to 1 moa vertical difference in the center of the groups from the needle pointed bullets to the open meplat bullets. I'll keep buying Bergers and pointing them the right way myself.

 

[M14AMU]

90 gr. Sierra HPBT work fantastic out of my 22/250 with 1-7" ROT! 35.5 grs. H4350 is deadly....a loooonnnnnggg way out!!

 

[mao0720]

What kind of speed are you getting out of those with a 22-250?