243 loads for 95 gr vld bergers

[cowboy717]

Hey guys I have a rem 700 barreled action, sps varmint, in a bell and carlson a2 stock with a timney trigger, I would like to try to shoot the bergers through it. I have never reloaded bergers before, and some have kinda scared me away from them in the past because they said you have to jam them to get the optimal accuracy. Well I'm gonna give them a shot and need a place to start. Thanks a bunch guys,

 

[backwoods83]

Well in my opinion all bullets can be more accurate by jamming them up in the lands .010" because it takes away any runout tolerance issues by lining the bullet up for you so its not jump at any slight angle, some will disagree but I don't care. However berger and all others can be jumped, you will just have to play with the seating depth , i'd try about .020" adjustments each go round. And for powder i'd go with Imr4350 around 44-47grns, and CCI BR2 or Fed210M primers in either winchester or lapua brass.

 

[roninflag]

i would say 42 grains of 4350 max. there is an articile on HERE on adjusting the oal to get the best accuracy from bergers. you may want to try the 87's ; i tried to get the 95s to shoot in a friends 700 with out success.

 

[backwoods83]

Ron don't you think 42grns is a little tame, book minimum load shows 41, I use 46.5 under a 95grn NBT .010" off the lands and 46.8 under the bergers .010" in the lands in a rem 700, you have to push them hard in a 9.25 twist 24" barrel to get them to group, but .75-1 moa is all I can get out of that *** sps buckmaster anyway.

 

[3degreesbelow0]

First follow the sticky on optimizing berger bullets on this site it gives a good starting point.

I loaded varget in 33, 34 and 35 grain incraments seated at 2.209", 2.247" and 2.287" this is based on a coal measurement with the 95gr berger in my gun. I crossed referenced data from 3 sources to get my starting point on the berger comparing similiar bullet in that weight. Also note the measurements are with a stoney point oal bullet compartator.

The attached target is 2 shot groups with powder going top to bottom and coal depth going left to right. It is very obvious that the 35 grain loading is the best and it prefers the 2.287" coal.

 

[Darcey]

I loaded rounds for my son"s REM 243 with 46grains of h-1000 seated 0.050" off the lands and berger vlds . I have 4 holes all cutting at 100yrds! Tried all seating depths and this works for me. Bergers don't always have to be jammed, lots of guys are saying that but also lots shoot them .0020 to .0050 off lands. Don't be scared to try a little back cause you may find it shoots beautiful.

 

[brentc]

Ron don't you think 42grns is a little tame, book minimum load shows 41, I use 46.5 under a 95grn NBT .010" off the lands and 46.8 under the bergers .010" in the lands in a rem 700, you have to push them hard in a 9.25 twist 24" barrel to get them to group, but .75-1 moa is all I can get out of that *** sps buckmaster anyway.

I can see a max charge of H4350 or IMR 4350 settling in at 42.0 grains. That's the listed max for Hodgdon data.

 

[backwoods83]

One manual says 44grns one says 45grns Imr 4350 at factory length 2.725", mine is 2.940" it takes just a tid bit more to make up for the extra air space bud, yeah if they were sammi length they would be compressed and yes that's way to hot, at my length without the extra it is what I like to call a terd. Yes, bergers can be jumped with good results but as I have stated in many post ANY bullet that is pushed into the lands has no runout or straightness issues because it has already been started straight, not to mention it also speeds them up.

 

[Gene]

I would not recommend jamming bullets into the lands on a hunting rifle. When you withdraw that unfired round, you may find the bullet stuck in the lands, and powder spilled all through the action. If yours is for hunting, just keep the OAL slightly smaller than the length of the box magazine, or jump it even further.

Single shot competition rifles do almost always benefit from jaming the bullet into the lands from .010 - .030". VLD's usually shoot best jammed. You need to experiment with your rifle.

 

[johnnyk]

"You need to experiment with your rifle"

Gene said it best. There is no secret to finding the optimum load for your rifle, other than this.

All rifles are different. In reality, the components you use are going to be somewhat different (differing Lots of powder and primers, slight bullet variances) from the guy giving you the load advise.

I always start load development for any bullet at .0010" off the LaG's. My powder range usually starts approximately 2.0 grains below book listed max and goes to max, and sometimes slightly over, but not always past max. I vary the loads in 1/2gn increments and usually find a "keeper" withing 12-15 rounds.

Saturday: I started load development for the 90gn Nosler Ballistic Tip in my Win 70 HVB. All brass prepped the same and a constant. Primer was the CCI BR2.
Bullet seated .0010 off. My cartridge oal is 2.2800".
Powder (H4350) started at 43.0 gn and went to 44.5 gn (Hodgon's listed max).
43.0 measured .466"
43.5 measured .444"
44.0 measured .178 !!!!!!
44.5 measured 1.178"

You can figure out which load I'm going with. JohnnyK.