Bergers. . .
Being a highpower shooter (NRA SR) I've loaded quite a few Bergers.
I learned the process from my best friend; CWO David Karcher, the 2002 National SR champion from the USMCR shooting team.
Here's what he showed me that has worked well.
VLD bullets have a long ogive and a short bearing surface when compared to non VLD bullets.
So, you gotta jam them buggers into the bore so that you know they sit concentric. The other reason is the shorter bearing surface means it takes less initial pressure to get them moving down the bore.
Ever play with neck tension when loading? Sometimes higher neck tension makes a gun shoot better because of the higher pressure developed before the case "sneezes" the bullet into the bore. Same sort of idea here only your doing it by getting a bigger initial bite into the bore.
.005" seemed to work well for .223 stuff.
The load is something like this: (.223 Remington) 7.5 rem SR primer, CCI BR's work too. Lapua brass with all the widgits done to it (short of neck turning) and then stoke it up with either Varget or N-140.
I'm guessing your shooting something in 6mm. 243 maybe?
Dave would run his stuff quite hot in order to get the velocity up on that short 20" barrel. (again, talking 223) If you go this route, you won't get many reloads because the primer pockets will swell. Maybe two/three at best and that is being optimistic.
You gotta have the right twist rate on the barrel or all bets are off. Long bullets gotta spin hard to stabilize. VLD's are no exception, in fact they are even more dependent on it.
Don't get discouraged, just fuss with them some more and they should come around. Also, not all guns will shoot Bergers due to the reamer used. If the throat length/angle is funky, then you may not ever get them to work. If that fails, maybe try the Lapua Scenar bullets. My 6mm BR 300m international rifle loves em.
Good luck.
