Berger Help

[mconwa951]

Hey guys this may be a really stupid question but i am gonna start devloping a load for my 300 wsm using 210 bergers i have had good luck with the hornady and remington core lokts but would like to give the bergers a try.
Im wondering the process you use for these. I know the seating depth tests recomended by berger but what about powder do you guys try different powders to see which one your gun likes the best, playing with charge weights along the way and then back off the powder and play with the depth until you find the "sweet spot"
Thanks for any help sorry if this is really dumb question.

 

[Trnelson]

No such thing as a stupid question. If your loading a different bullet of the same weight currently with good results I would back off your "usual" powder 3g to 4g and work back up at no more than .5g. I load three bullets at each powder weight and seating depth since seating depth directly effects load pressure I load three at each seating depth. Shoot all the groups at each powder charge and watch for and check your brass for signs of excessive pressure, extractor marks, sticky bolt and metal transfer and most importantly stop immediately upon encountering any sign of excess pressure!!! Pull the remaining bullets from higher powder charges and closer depths. Let your rifle cool in between strings as well! When you get done you will have found the best load and seating depth for your rifle. You can then fine tune the load exactly .1g at a time for optimal accuracy. It most likely won't be the top velocity but you should be able to reasonably reach 3,000fps. My 30/338 can get to just under 3,100fps with the 210g Berger with no pressure signs but best accuracy is right at 3,000. I chose to go with the 230g Berger OTM tactical at 2,870fps in that rifle. Top velocity proved to be around 2,930fps but wasn't even MOA accurate. FWIW I test all of my loads first at 100y. Then I take the best loads to 300y as that is the farthest range i have access to and it seems to be far enough to seperate great groups at 100y into true shooters and not quite what your looking for. Post your results! Ymmv and often will...