Berger 215gn .308 :)

M

miykael

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
Location
Fraser Valley, BC
My little pretties...



...



...



...

Next precision project, load tuning my Savage 10PC with these Berger 215 grainers :) The Savage has a fast 1:10 twist, so hoping I can tune these to shoot better than half MOA and possibly compete this year :D You won't believe how long these bullets are...truly a beautiful sight :)

Thanks to Mystic Precision for having these in stock!
 
Last edited:
More accurate G7 BC = 0.356 [G1 BC = 0.696] but the length is a whopping 1.564" I'm hoping I can make these work with the 308 and some are doing it. The super fast twist on the Savage prefers long and heavy (or really long in the case of the Barnes LRX 175 - which shoots phenomenal btw - but the problem I encountered was concentricity using brass with soft necks (Lapua), but using Lake City solved it). Won't be running them that fast, more in the 2400 range, so I guess we'll see. If I can't get it to work, then I guess it's 30-06 or 300WM fodder.

nanuk said:
using the JBM stability calculator, it would need to be going 2700 to be stabilized for all atmospheric conditions.

That thing looks like an arrow!!!!!

what is the BC on that ???
Click to expand...
 
What distance do you plan on shooting those? My ruger M77 .308 heavy barrel is also 1 1/10 twist, and I
thought I read lower bullet weights were preferred for these. I was planning on using 168 gr Amax's, though
I've worked up loads I have yet to get a range membership, I am considering heavier bullets to get out to 600
yards.
 
My club's got up to 300 (but a nearby range is up to 600). Getting accurately to 600 with any target mid-weight to heavier bullet shouldn't be a problem with 308Win. Long VLD style bullets need a faster twist to stabilize (usually longer = heavier for said caliber - exception being pure copper, lighter than lead, in the case of Barnes LRX, it's long for 175gn). But I'm sure somebody on these boards are shooting 208's with an 18 twist or 110s on a 10 twist and grouping a dime ;)

No, you need longer, aerodynamic bullets for fast twist or vice versa (longer = heavier). These long/heavy .308 bullets (215/230 Bergers) are looking like the magic 6.5mm bullets, but like nanuk mentioned, probably better if you can shoot them faster...but we'll see.

Anyway, I'm finding longer/heavier to shoot better. Even though 168s shot good, the 178 Amaxs shot better and the 175 Barnes LRX shot just about as good as the Amax's (I can't speak highly enough of the Barnes LRX, it's essentially a target bullet for hunting). I'm seating to ogive (not overall length) 0.010" OFF the lands and I'm going to try seating the same INTO (as I've gotten the best groups at 0.010" OFF but haven't tried seating into - except for a friend's Savage Palma .308 - which clearly preferred 0.010" INTO the lands.

I enjoy precision load development and am trying different things. If you're looking for precision then I'd say try some different heavier weights BUT you need to vary seating depths to ogive not overall length (OAL). I.e 0.010" or 0.015" into lands, (JAM), then off lands (JUMP) 0.010", 0.040", 0.080", 0.120". This test that Berger put out really works. Assuming you have a decent powder start point, you can tweak powder for further accuracy improvements. Before this test & before I varied bullet seating for accuracy, I used to just vary powder. Of course I had to invest in the Hornady head space gauges and bullet comparator (which I find works excellent).

Here's a visual comparison I did of various bullets:



I helped a friend load develop for his Savage Palma .308, which he uses for F-class. It's a 1:13 twist and shoots 155 Amax's awesome, clearly preferring 0.010" JAM:



...





TedNugent said:
What distance do you plan on shooting those? My ruger M77 .308 heavy barrel is also 1 1/10 twist, and I
thought I read lower bullet weights were preferred for these. I was planning on using 168 gr Amax's, though
I've worked up loads I have yet to get a range membership, I am considering heavier bullets to get out to 600
yards.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Will do. Should be in the next month, hopefully, just moved within town and busy with unpacking and normalizing :)

I talked to Berger and they're just working on load dev for this bullet, but recommended using their stats for 210s & 230s. I don't like using compressed loads (in 358Win the long Barnes bullets caused case bulge while compressing the powder, so I switched to a smaller grain powder and no problem). I'll be seating these into & just off the lands for testing, as these bullets are so long I don't want too much compression. Will see how much the free bore limits the seating depth.

I hands down prefer IMR 8208 XBR for accuracy & consistency, while being easy to meter. CFE 223 (ball powder) is my other option, for a little more speed (but limited by my 20" barrel). CFE really does give more velocity but I didn't tune it for my barrel, so accuracy was no where near my IMR 8208 results (for Barnes LRX testing). [and being slower burning powder than 8208, CFE will take advantage of longer barrels]

So I guess, powders will be IMR 8208 XBR, CFE 223 & IMR 4895 (Berger manual excerpt they emailed me for 210s & 230s). As you can tell, I'm a Hodgdon/IMR fan :)

dfarrell said:
I like that you are experimenting! What powder are you planning on using?

Keep us updated on the development. I will be following.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
You should really look at RL17. It works nicely in .308 with the heavier bullets. I gave a run at that with the 208 Amax's out of my Savage 10FP and was getting about 2620fps according to quickload. Saw a little bit of primer cratering but no sticky bolt. Seat them out LONG to make room. Hopefully your chamber allows for it. Typically the Bergers allow for a longer seating depth because of the long secant shape. Keep us posted.
 
Thanks for the info :) Might try RL at some point (or Vit powders) but been happy so far with Hodgdon/IMR [plus their online data centre is great]. Will post on this thread when I get some results...

Schecter 81 said:
You should really look at RL17. It works nicely in .308 with the heavier bullets. I gave a run at that with the 208 Amax's out of my Savage 10FP and was getting about 2620fps according to quickload. Saw a little bit of primer cratering but no sticky bolt. Seat them out LONG to make room. Hopefully your chamber allows for it. Typically the Bergers allow for a longer seating depth because of the long secant shape. Keep us posted.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Didn't have time to redo the words (like previous lineup) but this kind of shows who the real standout bullet is ;) I thought the Barnes was long (and is for weight thanks to copper) but the Berger adds beauty ;)



Yes, that's a .308, not 6.5mm :) The beautiful Berger 215 Hybrid, which I have loaded for initial testing but need to get to the range! Went with CFE 223 (ball powder, left lots of room for the bullet :) )
 
Well, my first results (a couple months back) were horrific as I couldn't even get better than 1 MOA, so I might vary the powder and try again (when I have time) or not. It's most likely the CFE 223, which I haven't got ANY good results with. The only positive is that CFE being a ball powder gives a lot of empty case space for the ultra long Bergers. Anyway, no point if the results are terrible.

It's one of those things that I just needed to try ;) The bullet is too nice not to be used :)
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately I traded the Savage for another try with a Rem700 SPS Tactical, so won't be able to finish this test off. Sorry. Maybe I'll actually compete in sporter class next year with the Remmy...hopefully.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom