165 gr nosler ballistic tips

[Ginga]

Maybe it doesn't like 165 bts. Try the 150's?

 

[Highvoltage]

I shoot the bt in my 300 and it's an accurate bullet. I'm jumping 80 thou, when I shot them in my 308 I shot them at 2.80" tikka mag length with 46 gr varget. This is noslers max from their published online data. Best wishes

 

[Muddyboots]

Nosler BT's, AB's, ABLR etc may not shoot as well as you would think near the lands. The following is a technical note from their webpage for ABLR's but I have used this thought when loads were not performing as well as I thought they should when near the lands. I have actually reversed how I load BT's and AB's when I am not getting the accuracy I think should be by starting at SAAMI and then lengthening the CBTO or COAL to no more than 0.010 off the lands. And yes, I have found the sweet spot closer to or even at SAAMI for them.

Something to think about when realizing Berger says similar with their CBTO load guidance in some respects.

"TECHNICAL NOTE
*When loading the AccuBond®-LR bullet, Nosler ballisticians have found that loading to the maximum SAAMI cartridge overall length tends to provide best accuracy. "

link to page: Nosler ABLR Page

 

[Vann Kirkland]

Ok guy I am by no means an expert but I do ok here's the specs weatherby vanguard series 2 308 I am tryin to load some 165 grain Nosler ballistic tips as you can see from the pictures 43 gr was my best group I know there are multiple things that come in to play and I know that some guns just don't like some bullets but I always have believed you can do some fine tuning I thought it might be me so I threw in my 168 Berger's and at 100 yards all three bullets were touching I love knowledge I'm not afraid to admit I don't know everything so someone tell me am I waist of my time with this I had issues with A couple unexpected close shots with the burgers they just penciled right through I have had more than my fair share of success reloading bullets and I do shoot long range I'm Just stumped on why these things right off the bat are such horrible groups I know with the burgers I had to set them right to the lands any input would be appreciated

What powder were you using? I have excellent groups with the 165grain with IMR 4350.

 

[RetiredSniper]

I personally went through this many years ago with many 308 rifles. I found that the Speer 165 gr. B.T.S.P. #2034 with 42.0 gr. IMR 4064 gave just shy of 2500 F.P.S. if I went higher or lower than that group would open up at 100 yards. I also used the Hornady 168 gr. B.T.H.P. bullet with the same charge and it shot to the same point of aim as the Speer.
This was tested in many 308 bolt action rifles and held true with all. I now have a Howa 1500 Mountain rifle with heavy barrel. Howa was making the Vanguard for Weatherby for many years. The only thing I shoot out of it now are the two loads I just mentioned. Faster is not always better and lighter bullets seem to be somewhat unstable at higher velocities. When I was in the service the 7.62x51 (308) Match ammo we shot was a heavier than standard issue round. I believe it was a 165 or 168 gr. bullet. We shot it 900 meters to qualify and it was awesomely accurate.

 

[Josebigsky]

+1 on Muddy Boots post. I found the same thing.

 

[John Polk]

Ok guy I am by no means an expert but I do ok here's the specs weatherby vanguard series 2 308 I am tryin to load some 165 grain Nosler ballistic tips as you can see from the pictures 43 gr was my best group I know there are multiple things that come in to play and I know that some guns just don't like some bullets but I always have believed you can do some fine tuning I thought it might be me so I threw in my 168 Berger's and at 100 yards all three bullets were touching I love knowledge I'm not afraid to admit I don't know everything so someone tell me am I waist of my time with this I had issues with A couple unexpected close shots with the burgers they just penciled right through I have had more than my fair share of success reloading bullets and I do shoot long range I'm Just stumped on why these things right off the bat are such horrible groups I know with the burgers I had to set them right to the lands any input would be appreciated

I'll admit that I'm heavens difficulty following exactly what you're saying without punctuation, but it certainly seems to me that you need a good torque wrench. May I suggest you carefully torque all the screws on your stock, bases and scope rings to see if that will change the results you are obtaining and let us know ?

 

[dougduey]

I learned a few years ago off Nosler's reloading forum that BT's & AB's like jump. Usually from. 0.05-0.100". Partitions like to be closer to the lands. This has held true in 6 different cartridges for me. Play with seating depth and I think you'll dial it in.

 

[baldhunter]

I have more problems getting the 165gr Ballistic Tip to groups nearly as well as the 168gr Ballistic Tip.Performance on deer seem to be about the same but,the 168gr just seem to shoot a lot better.They are just a little longer and my velocity does drop just a little.In my 30-06 comparison I did,I was getting 30fps less than the 165gr using the same load.They shoot really well in my 308 with Win case,Win. Magnum Primer and 44.5grs of TAC,45.5grs of Varget,or 46.5grs of Accurate 4064

 

[outdoorguy]

I learned a few years ago off Nosler's reloading forum that BT's & AB's like jump. Usually from. 0.05-0.100". Partitions like to be closer to the lands. This has held true in 6 different cartridges for me. Play with seating depth and I think you'll dial it in.

What powder were you using? I have excellent groups with the 165grain with IMR 4350.

Re 15

 

[outdoorguy]

I shoot the bt in my 300 and it's an accurate bullet. I'm jumping 80 thou, when I shot them in my 308 I shot them at 2.80" tikka mag length with 46 gr varget. This is noslers max from their published online data. Best wishes

Yeah varget is hard to find around here I have a couple pounds. Might be time to just try it

 

[kiwi49]

outdoorguy - IIRC, Berger's Chief Bullet Designer made a post, on Berger's website, to the effect that heavier Berger bullets in a calibre, are more accurate IF they have a substantial amount of jump - see a post ^^^, where 50-100 thousandths of jump gave excellent accuracy.

 

[xsn10s]

For my 308 in the 165gr-168gr class TAC, IMR4064, RL15, and H4895 have all been performers. But when testing165gr BT's I liked H4895. Also my understanding the Weatherby S2's forearm can have some flex in it so I'd try to rest the forearm closer to the recoil lug so I would flex the forearm too bad.

 

[Vann Kirkland]

This is from Lyman 49th Edition, specifically for the Nosler 165gr. Partition. I would also check and make sure all of the screws are tight as well as the scope rings.