308 winchester with 230 gr berger

[308winlongrange]

hello i'm new to this page and i have been doing alot of research on the 230gr berger vld and otm but am to yet find of anyone loading them into a 308 winchester if any of you have would love to get any info possible

 

[SidecarFlip]

IMO, thats a heavy pill for a 308. Bullet drop at range will be pronounced. Lobbing toads are better left to smoke poles......

 

[308winlongrange]

yes it may be a heavy pill but by my calculations if i can lob it out of the tube at velocity close to 2300 than it will not actually go transonic untill around the 1400-1425 yard mark and the wind buck on these bullets is spectacular i know it is a long shot but mab be worth trying i have loaded the 208 amax in my surgeon action hart barrel 1/10 twist 22.85'' at 2481 and had superb results all the way out to 1400 and out to 1300 sub moa on paper the 1400 was shooting rocks

 

[Broz]

yes it may be a heavy pill but by my calculations if i can lob it out of the tube at velocity close to 2300 than it will not actually go transonic untill around the 1400-1425 yard mark and the wind buck on these bullets is spectacular i know it is a long shot but mab be worth trying i have loaded the 208 amax in my surgeon action hart barrel 1/10 twist 22.85'' at 2481 and had superb results all the way out to 1400 and out to 1300 sub moa on paper the 1400 was shooting rocks

308winlongrange, I have done extensive testing with the 210, 215 and 230's from 1 in 10 twist 300 wins. For your 308 I would encourage you to look strongly at the 215 Hybrid targets. The BC is not far behind the 230's and the shorter bearing surface has shown me some velocity. Actually I can send the 215's 50 fps faster than I can the 210's. I have seen the 208's in a 308 perform very well and I really think the 215 Bergers have something to offer you. Plus, they have proven to be very effective on game from my 300 win with cold bore kills out to 1285 yds. I feel that they would work even better with the lower velocity of the 308 to it's effective distance.

Jeff

 

[MontanaMarine]

hello i'm new to this page and i have been doing alot of research on the 230gr berger vld and otm but am to yet find of anyone loading them into a 308 winchester if any of you have would love to get any info possible

FWIW, I've loaded the Hornady 225gr BTHP in my 308. Here are the particulars,

Win brass
moly'd Hdy 225gr BTHP
CCI 200
RL17 - 48.0gr
OAL 3.08" (.008" off lands)
Rem 700 Varmint barrel, 1/12 twist, 20.5"
MV - 2500 fps

Elevation 4500', sub-moa at 100 and 1200 yards.

Tried going to a mile, caught a few splashes but overall inconclusive results at that distance. Not sure if it was still stable or not.

The advertised BC is .67-ish. My shooting results were more like .71.



The 215 Berger does look like a winner, great balance of weight, BC, velocity potential.

 

[Broz]

The 215 Berger does look like a winner, great balance of weight, BC, velocity potential.

Shane, I was hoping you would see this thread. You have more experience on this topic than anyone I know and I have seen your rifles shoot. I have some 215's I will give you to test if you want to try them. I think there could be something here for the smaller cased .308's and would love to hear your opinion after you tested them. I know they gave my 300 win a boost in both velocity and accuracy and I feel it would be the same in the 308. Just might be the perfect bullet for the ELR 308 guys.

So, lets get together for a Christmas Toast and catch up.

Jeff

 

[MontanaMarine]

Jeff, I'd be happy to test some of the 215s in the 308.

I saw your comments about gaining 50 fps over the 210s, via the shorter bearing surface, that's definitely a win/win. More weight, more BC, more speed....what's not to like...grin.

I see you have knocked the stuffin' out of the elk/dder/antelope with the 215 as well, at varying ranges.

I would suspect as you do, that the 215 at 308 speeds would do well, probably getting exits at ranges near or far.

Chances are the 215 may gain velocity on the 208 AMax I shoot a lot of too, for the same reason (bearing surface).

My go-to load for the moly'd 208s has been 50gr RL17, in Win brass, 3.00" oal. That yields about 2600 fps in the 20.5" rifle, and 2700 fps in the 26" rig. Of course give or take 25 fps or so for seasonal temps. I'm guessing the 215 may be able to equal those numbers with the same powder charge, which is pretty well maxing out the 308 case volume.

The question mark in my mind is will they stabilize in my 1/12 twist barrels? The 215 is a long bullet. Only one way to really know. The 225Hdy is 1.585" long, I think I saw you mention the 215 is 1.61" or so in length.

Yeah we will have to get together for some xmas cheer....grin.

Shane

 

[308winlongrange]

Hey thank y montana mArine as well AS BRONZ currently I am only limited to reading everyones success and or falures do to the fact that I am forward deployed to afghanistan myself and my bn gunner have had many discussions about more accurate ammo for our 40" a and also our sass along with the debate on rate of twist I do greatly appreciate the responses now do uMONTANAMARINE have any experience with varget and heavy loads I have loaded the 208s with superb accuracy sitting on 40 gr of vgt better than the reloader 17 I can't load the pics but I have shot a .09" 5 shot 100 group off bipods and sand sock elevation 3000 ft asl also I have a question if either of you have loaded berger 64 gr fb in a 1 12 twist 223

 

[MontanaMarine]

No experience with Varget and 208s, or any other heavy 30s.

Before RL17 came out I was loading RL15 under moly'd 208s/210s. 2480 fps via 44gr, Win brass, 22" Rem varmint bbl. Consistent sub-moa accuracy.

 

[Speck]

FWIW, I've loaded the Hornady 225gr BTHP in my 308. Here are the particulars,

Win brass
moly'd Hdy 225gr BTHP
CCI 200
RL17 - 48.0gr
OAL 3.08" (.008" off lands)
Rem 700 Varmint barrel, 1/12 twist, 20.5"
MV - 2500 fps

Elevation 4500', sub-moa at 100 and 1200 yards.

Tried going to a mile, caught a few splashes but overall inconclusive results at that distance. Not sure if it was still stable or not.

The advertised BC is .67-ish. My shooting results were more like .71.



The 215 Berger does look like a winner, great balance of weight, BC, velocity potential.

I would have never thought a short barreled 308 with a 12 twist would have stabilized that bullet. 2500 ftps with your rifle is great with that chunk of lead. I shoot a 185 hybrid with a 28 inch tube. I planned on trying the 215 Hybrid with my next barrel that will go on my rifle which will be a 30 or 31 inch 10 twist. Hell, I might give em a whirl with my current barrel.