210 Berger vs 208 A-MAX

[MontanaRifleman]

The 210 Berger VLD lists a BC of .631 and the 208 A-MAX lists a BC of .648. Looking at the diagram of a 208 A-Max on the Hornady site, it *looks* like it has a shorter nose and tail than the Berger which I have in hand.

Has anyone compared them through their barrel?

Thanks,

-MR

 

[Michael Eichele]

The 210 Berger VLD lists a BC of .631 and the 208 A-MAX lists a BC of .648. Looking at the diagram of a 208 A-Max on the Hornady site, it *looks* like it has a shorter nose and tail than the Berger which I have in hand.

Has anyone compared them through their barrel?

Thanks,

-MR

I have not compared them side by side as I have not shot the 210 VLD. However I have shot the 208 AMAX over double chronies 300 yards apart. I came up with .671 at 2950 FPS in an 11.25x barrel.

The BT on the 208 is .230" long and has an end diamterer of .25". The nose is aproximately .85" and the OA length is 1.533". It is a missle for sure.

Cant help ya on the 210.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

My measurement of the Berger shows ~ a .21 tail with ~ a .23 rear diameter.
~.82 nose and 1.483 OAL.

 

[BryanLitz]

I've measured both bullets using the same methodology (acoustic sensors in 200 yard increments out to 600 yards).

Hornady 208 grain Amax
G1 BC = .633 (average value from 3000 fps to 1500 fps)
G7 BC = .324 (valid for all velocities)

Berger 210 grain VLD
G1 BC = .631 (average value from 3000 fps to 1500 fps)
G7 BC = .323 (valid for all velocities)

As an interesting point regarding velocity dependence, I measured the G1 BC to go from .585 at 1500 fps to .664 at 3000 fps. This is in pretty good agreement (within 1%) with Michael's value of .671 at 2950 fps. My G7 BC of .323 only varied from .321 to .326 between 1500 and 3000 fps.

The 208 Amax is a very well designed bullet, and has a lower drag profile than the VLD in this case. Having 2 grains less weight (about 1%), the bullet is able to achieve a slightly higher BC because it has less drag.
I don't think Hornady recommends the Amax for hunting, although I've heard many accounts of them performing very well on game.

-Bryan

 

[Michael Eichele]

As a side note Bryan, Hornaday (at least used to) claimed in one of their manuals that the AMAX even though designed for target use would work very well on up to deer sized game. So long as it was thin skinned light boned such as deer and antelope. Like I said, I dont know if they still feel that way but they wrote it some time ago.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I've measured both bullets using the same methodology (acoustic sensors in 200 yard increments out to 600 yards).

Hornady 208 grain Amax
G1 BC = .633 (average value from 3000 fps to 1500 fps)
G7 BC = .324 (valid for all velocities)

Berger 210 grain VLD
G1 BC = .631 (average value from 3000 fps to 1500 fps)
G7 BC = .323 (valid for all velocities)

As an interesting point regarding velocity dependence, I measured the G1 BC to go from .585 at 1500 fps to .664 at 3000 fps. This is in pretty good agreement (within 1%) with Michael's value of .671 at 2950 fps. My G7 BC of .323 only varied from .321 to .326 between 1500 and 3000 fps.

The 208 Amax is a very well designed bullet, and has a lower drag profile than the VLD in this case. Having 2 grains less weight (about 1%), the bullet is able to achieve a slightly higher BC because it has less drag.
I don't think Hornady recommends the Amax for hunting, although I've heard many accounts of them performing very well on game.

-Bryan

Thanks for the info Bryan, I really appreciate it.

If I were to use the A-MAX as a hunting bullet, it would be in the same way as the 210 VLD, as the long range part of a two bullet solution with something like a 180 E-Tip or 200 AB as the short to medium range bullet. I would pick the most accurate of the two (or three - JLK) down range.

Regards,

Mark

 

[älg]

Good info.

I´ve successfully used the amax in 264 (140), 7 (162) and 308 (168) on medium game. Got some 208 amax waiting for a 300rum to be delivered.