338 lapua imp with 300grn bergers

[wildchild]

Have not seen much data here or info on these bullets as one would like. I have a 30" broughton and my reamer is getting reconfigured at PTG with a .300 freebore and a .371 neck and am going to rechamber as soon as i recieve them back. My question is on the reloading, were do these bullets like to be seated and what powder is working with this powder capacity case? What kinda velocity do they prefer?

[dirtball]

The reason you don't see load data on them with the 338 LM Imp, is that the current crop of 300gr bergers don't fly well at anything much above 2850 FPS.
At his point I would not suggest you do a chamber specifically for that bullet in a 338 LM Imp.
Do a "search" on this or other sites, lots of info out there.
Dave

[wildchild]

Well I guess I can Slow em down to 2850 then. From the little I read thought they were good to 3000fps? What other sites?

[dirtball]

Here are a couple.


Has anyone tried the 300 grain bergers? - Sniper's Hide Forums

Extracted this quote from the link below:
Cartridges like the .338 Lapua Mag Improved and larger are virtually assured of producing nose slump when loaded to their potential pressures.

Berger Bulletin

[bigngreen]

Search hybrid with the search engine and you will find a bunch of info, to much to wade through or I would post a link. Also search the username Broz, he's shooting a 338LM and can't get enough of them, I think he posted a lot of test data in one of the threads.
I wouldn't let nose slump stop me if I had something to launch them in, just throttle them back and enjoy them at that level till Berger gets the harder ones out then stomp on them!!

[BountyHunter]

Berger has pretty much said that they are going to have to relook the 300 gr bullet or add another.

I would not build a reamer on that bullet now if I was you.

Hornady is releasing a new 285 bullet in 2011 also. They have 200,000 of them run now and are working the pricing and marketing. They are using them in their SOCOM sniper rifles.

BH

[Broz]

Originally Posted by wildchild

Have not seen much data here or info on these bullets as one would like. I have a 30" broughton and my reamer is getting reconfigured at PTG with a .300 freebore and a .371 neck and am going to rechamber as soon as i recieve them back. My question is on the reloading, were do these bullets like to be seated and what powder is working with this powder capacity case? What kinda velocity do they prefer?

My 338 LM is very fond of them. I have close to 200 down the tube now and they have definatly helped me to shrink my groups out past 1000 yards. I have also been able to make 1st round cold bore hit farther than I could with other 300 gr bullets. In a recent conversation with one of the best Long Range Smiths around, he told me he was seeing the same results for him and some client rifles.

If you push them over 2850 with tigher than a 9.5 twist you may encounter the "nose slump" It seems to be more prevelent in faster twists over 2860.

I found they are not hard to load for and were happy with H-1000 in a few different charges. The accuracy was all good with the seating depths I tried, which as from .065" to .010" off the lands. I settled for .015" OL as it showed me consistant single diget ES on two different tests. My verticle with these bullets is almost none existant. I have had more than one group at 1000 plus with a verticle in the 1 1/2" ~ 2" range. I am using G1 BC of .820 and my drops are spot on to 1600.

My expansion testing at 1180 yards, which was at an impact velocity of about 1800 FPS, showed them to make nice 1 1/2" exits after passing through 3/4" of plywood and 14~16" of damp compost media.


Also, Eric Stecker told me in a conversation Berger will not quit making this design of bullets. They may introduce another design for the tight twisted larger case rifles but the current design will still be offered.

I am very pleased with these and have stocked up to shoot them for a long while.

I would not let the "nay sayers" lead me away from these bullets till I saw for my self what they did in my rifle. You might be missing the perfect hunting bullet available for a .338 LM.

Jeff