270 am

[65joe]

Anyone have any good results using 150gr Bergers in a 270AM?
I'm not having any luck with 169.5gr Wildcat bullets and WC860, I would like to get the 169.5gr Wildcats to shoot but, I don't want to burn the barrel out trying to find a load. Also don't want to buy 8lbs of powder if it is not going to work.
I measured the ogive on 10 Wildcat bullets and got a very big discrepancy, no two exactly the same. I know the Bergers are a lot closer from past experience. I am using a Borden Timberline single shot action and Lilja 1-8.75 twist barrel, IOR Valdada 6x24 tactical scope.
any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[royinidaho]

65joe,

When did you purchase the 169.5s? How many do you have? I call dibs if you want to get rid of them. Really.

How many grooves in that Lilja bbl?

With my now long in the tooth 270 AM w/a 30" 8 Twist, 3 groove barrel I've had to go to a solid base bullet. Namely Nosler Ballistic Tips and Accubonds. Another one that works well is the Hornady 140 gr BTSP. She still maintains the makers delivery specs with any and all of these bullets and would do so w/169.5s if I had any.

The Bergers will most probably do well under 3250 FPS MV. Faster than that they progressively open the groups as velocity increases. At least that's my experience.
I'd rather shoot the 140s and 150s at 3600+ and 3500+ respectively than not shoot at all. However the wind beats my butt with these marginal bc offerings. I shot 3 shots during a windy day with much mirage @ 1k the other day. And I was trying to read the wind flags. The three shots had "tears to the eyes" vertical dispersion and 3 feet horizontal dispersion. Never came close to those windage numbers with the WC offerings.

Berger has threatened to make some heavy for bore bullets in .277 but that won't happen until after the .338 pills hit the market which isn't even close.

I bought a reducing die and reduced 168 and 180 Bergers (hunting and match) and achieved marginal results. It seems that 0.007" is about 0.006" too much to reduce bullets and maintain accuracy.

Not being one to give up, my mini-lathe will be delivered monday, a jacket core die will appear shortly after that. Then the fun starts. I hope.

 

[jmason]

Not being one to give up, my mini-lathe will be delivered monday, a jacket core die will appear shortly after that. Then the fun starts. I hope.

I hope to cross paths with you some day, but I hope the realities we live in stay separated.

 

[Fiftydriver]

Joe,

I would start with the same load your using with the 169.5 gr with the 150 gr Bergers. Work up from there. In a 1-8 twist you would likely be topped out at 3250 fps but with the slower twist you have you may be able to get more velocity then that.

I have seen in some situations where the molied Bergers took more velocity then the standard non coated bullets. Worth a try.

Which 169.5 gr ULDs are you shooting? Old Wildcat or New Wildcats?