7mm Rem Berger 180gr/168 difference?

[ovastafford]

I worried about my twist, its 1-9.5 and they recommend 1-9 so im going to start with the 168's first. I dont want to find out my gun wont stabilize the 180's. Iv heard it will but I think ill play it safe, and I have some HSM 168 gr loaded ammo so and when I break it in ill see how it shoots. It might be a real quick way to find my load if it works good. Doesnt seem like it would be too hard to duplicate. Thanks for all the responses!

[sniperjwt]

Originally Posted by ovastafford

I worried about my twist, its 1-9.5 and they recommend 1-9 so im going to start with the 168's first. I dont want to find out my gun wont stabilize the 180's. Iv heard it will but I think ill play it safe, and I have some HSM 168 gr loaded ammo so and when I break it in ill see how it shoots. It might be a real quick way to find my load if it works good. Doesnt seem like it would be too hard to duplicate. Thanks for all the responses!

i think that was a good choice i have a 1- 9.5 on my 7STW and tried the 180s first (could not find any 168s at that time) could not get them to stabilize so found some 168s and they shoot great.

[bsl135]

Here's some in-depth material on these two bullets regarding BC, stability, and overall ballistic performance from a target shooting perspective. Note the analysis was not geared toward LRH, but much of the analysis is still very relevant.

Articles

Click on the 7mm VLD analysis articles.

-Bryan

[ovastafford]

Thanks Bryan, thats an awesome article and really helps me out!

[4bycamper]

Thanks Bryan, that was a very good read. Cleared up some of the 'muddy water' in my perception.

[sambo3006]

I had the same problem as sniperjwt with my Remington factory barrel. I could not stabilize the 180's. I shot .6" at 100 yards and figured they might really group at longer distances after they "went to sleep" but my 500 yard groups off sand bags with my Leupold 6.5-20x SF scope looked more like shotgun patterns. I was disappointed but that is the way it goes.

[bsl135]

Originally Posted by sambo3006

I had the same problem as sniperjwt with my Remington factory barrel. I could not stabilize the 180's. I shot .6" at 100 yards and figured they might really group at longer distances after they "went to sleep" but my 500 yard groups off sand bags with my Leupold 6.5-20x SF scope looked more like shotgun patterns. I was disappointed but that is the way it goes.

Sambo,

I don't believe that your poor groups at 500 yards were due to stability. If they were grouping .6" at 100 yards, that proves that they're stable from the muzzle. Until they slow to transonic speed (in this case, 1000 yards +) stability will not be a problem.

I would guess that your poor groups at long range might be due to bad velocity variation, or scope parallax not being adjusted properly for the range, or something else besides stability. In other words, I think that whatever was causing the excessive dispersion at range is a 'solve-able' problem.

-Bryan