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]

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 gun)gun)

 

[RDM416]

I have been running them through my Wby action 338 Kahn with great success. It has a 27" Lilja barrel with 1-10" twist. I am pushing them to 2900 with no problems. I know others have said 2850 is the max for this bullet, but I am getting 1/2 moa performance at 2900. It will push them quite a bit faster, but 2900 is still pretty good for that size bullet and I am curious to see what the terminal performance on a critter will be like with the Berger.

I have a second Kahn and do not plan to set it up to shoot the bergers until they change them up. This one has a 30" barrel and based on previous experience with 300 SMKs I should be able to go to 3150 to 3200 with it. I am going to stick with SMKs for now with it.

Like Broz said, I would not count them out until you try them. I am loading mine about 10 thou off the lands, and have not played with that at all. That is just where I started out and they shot fine. It may shoot better if I tweak that a little, but it is just too darn hot down here in the south to shoot right now...... 103 with 90% humidity...

Kirby is shipping my Nesika action 338 Kahn back from getting a new barrel, it should arrive in a few days and I will be busy getting it set back up and the barrel broke in, so I doubt I will do any more testing with the Bergers until this winter after hunting seasons are over.

 

[SHRTSHTR]

RDM416,
Do you mind sharing your load data for your Kahn's? I have a 338 Lapua Improved and still working up load data myself. I can get load up to 102 grains Retumbo and get 2,965 fps. This is about max for this rifle. My barrel is 30" Lilja, #8 contour on a Stiller Tac-338 action.

I only have 30 rounds down the tube and have 250 Berger Hybrids laying around. I might try some while fireforming cases at a lower velocity.

 

[Autorotate]

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?

WC

Due to the many variants of the 338 Lapua Improved, you'll need to get a hold of your reamer print and post it, or get a hold of a once fired case from a chamber made with that reamer, and measure your case volume. When you crawl behind a rifle with 100+ grains of Retumbo pushing a 300 grain bullet....you get the point. Best to know your getting data that matches, or is close to your chamber, and then you can find out what works best for you.

FWIW-2820 fps with a 28" 9.8 twist Brux fireforming loads with a 338 LMAI easily held sub MOA for me at 966, 1033, and 1231 yds. And someone told me that .818 G1 works well with them too......sure enough it did. No nose slump for me at this twist/velocity level.

 

[wildchild]

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 gun)gun)

thanks Jeff, great reply

 

[wildchild]

Great reply's by all, Thanks. I have a 10 twist if that may help. With the accomplishment of a goat last year at 1000yds, im lookin to stretch that out to 1500 this year. Hopefully all video taped.

 

[RDM416]

SHRTSHTR,

With my Wby action Kahn with a 27" tube, I am getting 2900 with 102 grains of Retumbo and 300 grain Bergers. I have pushed that up to over 3000 with 106 grains of Retumbo, but the accuracy of the Bergers became a problem at that speed.

My second Kahn is made on a Nesika action with a 30" tube. Not sure if it is just the longer barrel or stronger action or combination of the two, but it will take a higher load and will typically shoot 100 to 150 fps faster with the same bullet but more powder before I run into pressure issues.

Like I said previously, I should be getting it back from Kirby fitting a new barrel in the next few days, so I have not tried any Bergers in it.

My typical load with it for the past few years has been 250 grn SMKs with 108 grains of RL 25 @ 3360 fps. When I get it back I am planning to work up a new load using Retumbo since it is more temperature stable than RL 25.

 

[SHRTSHTR]

RDM416,

Thanks for the info. sounds like you have a couple rifles shooting very well. Look forward to your results with your rebarreled Kahn.

Ray