Berger 230 TAC VLD Bullets In The 300 Win.Mag

dthunter

dthunter

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Hi guys! I just tried some of these bullets the other day.

They shot tremendously well! Very accurate! None of my groups were any bigger than .650"! My rifle seemed to like everything I fed it.(H1000,R22,H4831,IMR7828).

Which Gunnutz out there have shot these bullets out of 1:10" twist barrels, at distances from 1000-1760yds?
What are your experiences with this bullet?

I have worked up some loads that average around 2820fps. I havent had a chance to extend these loads past 100yards yet. The next decent day will see me out at the range calibrating/testing the load trajectory.

Your insight would be appreciated.
 
Hi Guys!
Hi Canuck WR, long time no talk! Great to hear from you!
I will post my results when I eventually get the time to go out. Maybe this weekend (Pray to the weather Gods!) lol!
I sure find that BA easy to shoot!

Alberta Rimfire: I am shooting a 26" factory Barrel (Savage110BA in 300Win.Mag).

The powders I used were H4831 (2801fps) .0405"group. Nice and round shape!
Two different charges of R22. Definitely NOT a maximum load, But it definitely gets the Berger 230 TAC bullet moving! 2821fps average to be exact. My rifle seems to get top end velocities about 2 grains below published maximum charges. The standard deviations were 9.16fps(.627"group) ,8.48fps(.553"group).

If the velocities are there,so are the pressures.

I have to retest my H1000 loads. Even though I was a full 2.5grains below the published maximum load in the Hodgson magazine loading manual, it gave me a rediculous velocity! It read 2911fps! Only 1 round was fired with that charge! YIKES! I will back down 2 more grains and try it again. I am more than satisfyed with a 2800-2820fps-ish velocity.

I will be only be able to work out to about 1100yards until spring. After that,my full 1760-1900yards will be "ENTERTAINED"!
If my ISnipe is correct, this will be one mean projectile at 1760! I can hardly wait to put it onto the paper to confirm it!
 
Dthunter,I'm also interested to hear your results. I've seen these bullets on the shelf in one of my local gun stores. I may have to try them in my 300.
 
I plan on testing one load at 100, then try another load that shot really well last weekend.
I wil probably just work my way out from 500-900yds. It should give me an idea if the 230's are staying fairly stable.

I will report my findings then. I am REALLLY looking forward to shooting these loads!
 
I have to retest my H1000 loads. Even though I was a full 2.5grains below the published maximum load in the Hodgson magazine loading manual, it gave me a rediculous velocity! It read 2911fps! Only 1 round was fired with that charge! YIKES! I will back down 2 more grains and try it again. I am more than satisfyed with a 2800-2820fps-ish velocity.
Click to expand...


Wasn't there a bunch of talk a short while back about something changing with H1000? I tend to believe it because my load (.300wm pushing 210gr bullets) magically changed with newer H1000 powder, velocity jumped up to 3150fps
 
FIELD REPORT


6mm hooter:

My Overall length is 3.854". This is measured with a Hornady overall length guage system. This measures of the ogive of the bullet instead of the tip of the bullet.
This seating depth leaves me .040" off the rifling lead.

Well gunnutz, I went out for a short afternoon of shooting. Not much time today.
But very encouraging results are mixed with some unexpected results.

1.) My H1000 load proved still little too hot today! This load produced:

A .509" group at 100,
and a velocity Average of 2881fps.
Extream Spread of 10.98fps
Standard Deviation of 4.47fps. This is great, but only based on 5 rounds fired.

After shooting this load I didnt see any significant signs of pressure. But the velocity states that the pressure certainly is there.
When I got home i checked my cases, and the primer pockets were noticably looser. Those cases went to the trash! Darn it! I dont want to publish the charge weights in case someone else damages thier firearm and blames me! Suffice it to say that the charge is a full 3.5 grains BELOW MAX. Strange isnt it?!

I will try this powder another 1.5 grains lower yet to see if it will perform near the 2800fps that it should.

I tried my Reloader22 Load again, but with a new keg of powder.
Turns out the velocity dropped by 90fps, with the same charge wieght. No big deal, thats why we test loads low and work up.

CCI250 primers
Berger 230 TAC Hybrid bullets
seated to .040" off the rifling lands.
Average Velocity was 2734fps.
Extream Spread was 12.0fps
Standard Deviation was 4.5

Man this bullet sure yelds some impressively stable load stats!

I fired two bullets into the target at 100 to confirm point of aim, then moved out to 500 yards.
I adjusted my turret for the velocity that was read at a velocity of 2820fps.
I Fired 3 rounds and went to my target to check my point of aim.
My point of aim (center of group) was exactly 5"/(1 MOA) low. This stands to reason because the velocity being yielded by the new powder is around 90fps slower. No big deal, easy to adjust for.
The part that made me smile was that the 3 rounds were tucked into 1.030"! WHOOHOO! This is some bullet performance! Hopefully it will even close to that again!

That was all the shooting I was able to get done before it started to get dark. So, I will be out again tomorrow!
I bumped up the charge of R22 by 1 grain to try to get closer to the 2800fps ballpark.
I will stretch it out from 500 to 1000yds if possible tomorrow. I think this bullet has a bright future with me!
 
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dthunter said:
FIELD REPORT


6mm hooter:

My Overall length is 3.854". This is measured with a Hornady overall length guage system. This measures of the ogive of the bullet instead of the tip of the bullet.
This seating depth leaves me .040" off the rifling lead.

Well gunnutz, I went out for a short afternoon of shooting. Not much time today.
But very encouraging results are mixed with some unexpected results.

1.) My H1000 load proved still little too hot today! This load produced:

A .509" group at 100,
and a velocity Average of 2881fps.
Extream Spread of 10.98fps
Standard Deviation of 4.47fps. This is great, but only based on 5 rounds fired.

After shooting this load I didnt see any significant signs of pressure. But the velocity states that the pressure certainly is there.
When I got home i checked my cases, and the primer pockets were noticably looser. Those cases went to the trash! Darn it! I dont want to publish the charge weights in case someone else damages thier firearm and blames me! Suffice it to say that the charge is a full 3.5 grains BELOW MAX. Strange isnt it?!

I will try this powder another 1.5 grains lower yet to see if it will perform near the 2800fps that it should.

I tried my Reloader22 Load again, but with a new keg of powder.
Turns out the velocity dropped by 90fps, with the same charge wieght. No big deal, thats why we test loads low and work up.

CCI250 primers
Berger 230 TAC Hybrid bullets
seated to .040" off the rifling lands.
Average Velocity was 2734fps.
Extream Spread was 12.0fps
Standard Deviation was 4.5

Man this bullet sure yelds some impressively stable load stats!

I fired two bullets into the target at 100 to confirm point of aim, then moved out to 500 yards.
I adjusted my turret for the velocity that was read at a velocity of 2820fps.
I Fired 3 rounds and went to my target to check my point of aim.
My point of aim (center of group) was exactly 5"/(1 MOA) low. This stands to reason because the velocity being yielded by the new powder is around 90fps slower. No big deal, easy to adjust for.
The part that made me smile was that the 3 rounds were tucked into 1.030"! WHOOHOO! This is some bullet performance! Hopefully it will even close to that again!

That was all the shooting I was able to get done before it started to get dark. So, I will be out again tomorrow!
I bumped up the charge of R22 by 1 grain to try to get closer to the 2800fps ballpark.
I will stretch it out from 500 to 1000yds if possible tomorrow. I think this bullet has a bright future with me!
Click to expand...

Interesting , thats a hell of a bullet to be getting 2800 plus with. Nice work
 
Shoot me your case water capacity and load and I will run it through Quickload if you want Darcy.

Good results though, I would be very interested in what you are doing for case prep and charge weighing. Heck, 0.5moa is AWESOME for that speed, what's the G1 and G7 of those beasts?!?
 
CanuckWR, and who ever else wants the case prep proceedure I do:

For case prep I do the following:

1.) Neck size the case to get a nice round case mouth

2.) Trim all the cases to the same length

3.) deburr the outside of the neck, then chamfer the inside of he neck with both a standard chamfer tool, and a VLD chamfer tool

4.) I uniform the primer pockets

5.) deburr the flash holes

6.) Weigh segregate the cases to within 1.5% of each other. This usually creates at least 3 groups of case weight groups. I just package the smaller groups and lable them for the next group of cases being prepped. After 1 or 2 more case prep sessions, you will have at least 3 groups of cases large enough to use.

The loads that I am using are : 68.0 grains of R22, 230grain Tac Hybrid, Ave Velocity: 2734fps
72.5 grains of H1000, 230grain Tac Hybrid Ave Velocity: 2881fps (just a little too hot for my liking)
CCI250 primers
 
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I ran some numbers for you Dthunter, and you are spot on with your pressure estimate as Quickload is matching your findings for speed (depending on case capacity but close enough).

You might want to consider testing some Retumbo, its showing a healthy gain over the RL-22 and H-1000. Its also my favorite 300WM w/heavy pill powder. Although, you seem to have a real winner on your hands so maybe nothing needs to change. ;)

Thanks for the case prep specs, they seem very reasonable. :)
 
Sunday Range Report:

The overall length for my loaded artridges is 3.854" (measured with Hornady chamberall measuring system).
The cartridge length from base to bullet tip is 3.550"

Had a good day out at my range!

To start, my 500 yard group today was 3.062". I am happy with that.
800 yard group today was 3.250". I am Very Happy with that!
1000 yard group today was 6.100". I am dancing now! LOL!

A great day indeed! this 230 Hybrid can friggin shoot!

I went with a 68.5grain charge of R22.
I was looking to get my velocities up around 2775fps-ish. I am not looking to go back up to the 2820 I had before. At least not now. This bullet/load combination shoots so well!

Well fellow gunnuts thats this weeks testing done! hopefully I can get the time to physically shoot and calibrate the ranges in between the ranges I shot this weekend. Then I can fill in my shot card and adjust my ISnipe to match.
 
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