Berger 77gr tactical hybrid for 223

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DMS1

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Anyone try these before? They are supposed to be an OTM round with a thicker jacket for reliable penetration, and less sensitive to seating depth. I was shooting 75 AMAX with OK results, wanted to try these for accuracy and coyote round. The first thing I found was that there is like zero info out there for loads for these. I've been low on rounds for hunting, and picked Saturday afternoon that only had 15mph wind to test a few.

I established that I was touching the lands around 2.380, so I loaded 5 @ 2.330 @ 2.345, and 5 @ 2.360" COL. The amaxes were best about .020" off, and shot the best at 23gr of varget or VV N140, so I used 23gr N140. Groups are below, 2 were under 1/2" @ 100 yards, considering finger was numb by the 3rd group. total shooting time, 5 minutes, was pleasantly surprised by the results. I am hoping they like a little more powder, as the amax were only 2650 with same loads in 20" barrel. Seems it liked 2.345" the best. Thought I'd share a little considering I found so little info. Anyone have any tips/experience with these bullets or try them on coyotes yet? I Tried Hornady 75 HPBT and did not have much under 1", and they are not reliable for game.

 
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Can't really comment on those specific bullets, but are you singlefeeding or magaine? I found the best results with my 75AMAX were .005" off lands under a stiff charge of Varget. I would imagine the bergers might shoot a bit better if closer to the lands. Awesome shooting though by the sounds of the conditions, especially in the COLD!
 
nevanevan said:
Can't really comment on those specific bullets, but are you singlefeeding or magaine? I found the best results with my 75AMAX were .005" off lands under a stiff charge of Varget. I would imagine the bergers might shoot a bit better if closer to the lands. Awesome shooting though by the sounds of the conditions, especially in the COLD!
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Sorry - loads are in a bolt gun with CF barrel:

http://http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/999029-Proof-Carbon-Fiber-barrels!
 
The .224 OTM is not a hybrid bullet... unfortunately. It has a tangent ogive, which should make it easy to tune.
 
kombayotch said:
The .224 OTM is not a hybrid bullet... unfortunately. It has a tangent ogive, which should make it easy to tune.
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You're telling me this is basically an SMK? The website shows thicker jackets used on the tactical bullets:

174d618812d27df2c72994d9437af5ec.jpg
 
I'm telling you it's not a hybrid bullet. Tangent, secant and hybrid bullets can be made with thick or thin jackets. Being a hybrid has nothing to do with jacket thickness or whether or not it's in the tactical line. Hybrid is about ogive profile:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/ballistics/tangent-vs-secant-vs-hybrid-ogive-bullets/

Yes, the .224 OTM uses the same type of ogive profile as the SMK. Only the 230 gr. .308 OTM bullet and the .338 OTM bullets have hybrid ogives. Note the others don't have the word "hybrid" in their descriptions:
http://www.bergerbullets.com/products/tactical-bullets/

They have not release a .224 hybrid yet.
 
kombayotch said:
I'm telling you it's not a hybrid bullet. Tangent, secant and hybrid bullets can be made with thick or thin jackets. Being a hybrid has nothing to do with jacket thickness or whether or not it's in the tactical line. Hybrid is about ogive profile:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/ballistics/tangent-vs-secant-vs-hybrid-ogive-bullets/

Yes, the .224 OTM uses the same type of ogive profile as the SMK. Only the 230 gr. .308 OTM bullet and the .338 OTM bullets have hybrid ogives. Note the others don't have the word "hybrid" in their descriptions:
http://www.bergerbullets.com/products/tactical-bullets/

They have not release a .224 hybrid yet.
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Thanks for the clarification. The term "tactical" is confusing enough these days without describing bullets this way. I was thinking that the match characteristics, coupled with a thicker jacket, would perhaps make a better hunting bullet. I see that they don't even use tactical in the description of this bullet, like they do for the others. I'm curious now to know if the jacket is thicker or not on these bullets. they appear to simply be a match bullet listed with the tactical group. I'll try to call them today.
 
I shoot them sometimes out of my axis. 1:9 twist. 24gr of varget pushes them pretty well. I doth have any pictures of groups on hand at the moment but they shoot well.
 
DMS1 said:
Thanks for the clarification. The term "tactical" is confusing enough these days without describing bullets this way. I was thinking that the match characteristics, coupled with a thicker jacket, would perhaps make a better hunting bullet. I see that they don't even use tactical in the description of this bullet, like they do for the others. I'm curious now to know if the jacket is thicker or not on these bullets. they appear to simply be a match bullet listed with the tactical group. I'll try to call them today.
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Some of their tactical bullets do differ from the match bullets, others don't. From their FAQ:

▶ What is the difference between the 30 Cal 185 Grain Match Juggernaut Target and OTM Tactical? (30418 vs 30107)

These are simply different naming conventions that we use to clarify that the bullets can be used for each application. The military requires that OTM (Open Tip Match) bullets be clearly defined as OTM in the product name for clarification. There are no differences between these two bullets.
 
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