Savage 338 lapua and berger 300 VLD

[NZsavage]

Hi there,

i have a savage 110BA that i have restocked and bedded (photo attached)



I have been shooting 300g SMK's through my 338 lapua and have been getting pretty good results but am thinking about changing over to Berger 300grains and upping my load for a bit more speed to take advantage of the berger BC.

my current load has been 88.5g of H1000 - fed 215m primers - lapua brass and 300g smk. if shoots 0.5moa at around 2650 fps

I have been reading though some older posts, some 2-3 years old, and i see that a few people are using the bergers in the 338 lapua and some are in the savage 110 action.

It seems people are using around the 91-92gr of H1000 and seating pretty close to the lands.

I have some bergers that have just turned up and was wanting to get some load development done, but thought i'd check first with some of you to see if people are still using the 300gr bergers and what the results have been on animals and on the range

I was thinking of working up to 92 grains of H1000 - 215m primers - lapua brass and getting close to the lands....maybe 5 thou off....hoping for around the 2780-2800 fps mark.

is any body using a load close to or the same as this? in a savage action?

if so how does it perform on animals and on the range?

what sort of velocities can be expected around this load......i'm keeping in mind the max for these bullets is supposed to be around 2850 to avoid the earlier issues of jacket spinning of etc.

any other info you can pass on would be greatly appreciated.....thanks in advance

 

[Greyfox]

I'm in a similar situation to yourself, awaiting the delivery of a Savage 338. Recently did a search on this site that involved the use of the 300gr Bergers with H1000 in the Savage models as well as others. They are pretty current, up to about a few weeks ago. The range of load data is:
Lapua brass
Seating depth from .015"-.065" off the lands, .025" a good starting point. Not picky.
Load range, 89-91.5gr. of H1000
Primer: CCI250, Fed215
Velocity range 2750-2820FPS

There has not been a lot of info about the terminal Performace on game, but I have heard that Berger is working on a 300 Hybrid Hunting bullet.

 

[NZsavage]

I have loaded some development loads up for trail later today/tomorrow....

91 - 92 gr of H1000 and almost touching the lands....3.045 using a comparater .....lands at 3.080 so pretty close for a start....i am single loading so no need to load for magazine length....although overalls don't look to bad at 3.870

I'll see how this goes...hopefully I should also get an opportunity to put a hole in an animal or two as well so will post results/ photos early next week.

 

[lives2hunt]

I have the savage 110 fcp it likes 91.5 h 1000 300 grain bergers .020 off the lands. Speed is 2760 at 5500 feet altitude.

 

[NZsavage]

cheers

did you try 92 grains?

 

[lives2hunt]

Here's a five shot group at 100 yards.

 

[lives2hunt]

I tried up to 92.5 but the accuracy was best at 91.5 in my rifle.

 

[lives2hunt]

Also at 92.5 I got stiff bolt lift and shiny case head this was with lapua brass cci 250 primers.

 

[green 788]

NZsavage... I sent you a PM... wondering what stock that is, where you got it etc. ?

 

[NZsavage]

well testing done....not good results really.....the 92 grain load touching the lands was terrible with accuracy dropping to 1.5MOA from 0.5 MOA with my SMK load.....early days in the process....so time to try some more variations....

also recoil was substantially more......so thinking about backing off until i hit a accuracy node....and disenaging the lands back to.020.....so i'll try 91.5 and 91 grains and see how they go....

was getting 2800fps out of the 92 grains....but it was getting near my comfortable limit with a shiny base starting to develop and recoil increasing.


on the good side i did manage to hit 3 out of 3 deer over the weekend with the SMK load so all is not lost...not great ranges but interesting results.....the first was a red deer stag 60 yards front shoulder(running shot).....no exit hole but huge internal damage...i guess the front shoulder blade erally made the SMK fragment......the second was 680 yards in about 25 mph cross wind....shot slipped slightly rearward and missed the shoulder and was slightly high for the vitals.....missed a rib on the entry and didn't do a very good job at all.....animal wounded and recovered 250 yards away......the third was a neck shot at 350 yards...with obvious results.....instant lights out.....

this would be the first time i have ever had the 338 x 300g SMK not exit on any part of an animal .....

i'll report back on the next phase when i can......

 

[WEATHERBY460]

Has anyone else tried h1000 with the bergers and can post results? thanks

 

[rich68]

I am using 93gr. Retumbo at coal. 3.750 in my savage's the BA110 and FCP110.
groups are good. Just whent shooting at 1400 YD's 10" group.

 

[WEATHERBY460]

i had sticky bolt with 90gr of h1000...sent it to savage and will see what happens...i just got the gun back.....

what are your current loads for the 300 berger with the h1000....thanks