I have a 6.5-06 with a 1-10 twist barrel. I have had good success with most bullets I've tried, 120 grain match kings and pro hunters shoot very well. Barnes 120 ttsx have been disappointing but I can live with the 100 grain ttsx shooting very fast and around 3/4 inch groups at 100 ( I'm in California so if I want to hunt legally I have to settle) My favorite bullet so far has been the 123 grain Hornady SST which I have had very good results with. I had never shot the Bergers as I've seen my dad try to shoot bergers in different guns at less than the recommended twist rate and they tumbled, basically the bullet would hit sideways at 100 yards. So I always took the recommended twist rate from Berger as gospel.
My friend, however, has been on me to try the 130 grain hunting vld's in my rifle. I figured they wouldnt spin but ended up buying a 12 pack, loaded up a couple different loads with hybrid 100v and seating the bullets about .005 off the rifling, and low and behold, they shot very well. Well under 1/2 inch and the holes int he target looked perfectly round. Keep in mnd this was only at 100 yards, but seeing that Makes me think that I may be able to dial something in with these.
So with all the background I can provide, my question basically comes down to, if the bullets seemed to stabilize well, in what I would call perfect shooting conditions, am I chasing fools gold in trying to work something up here that would be consistent, or did I get lucky that they shot like that, and a little wind will start blowing them off and they will become unstable. I love the Bergers, because of the high bc and because of what I've seen them do to animals, but I just don't know if i got lucky and it won't be consistent or if the 1-10 twist can actually handle these bullets. I do have the 123 SSTs to fall back on, which have a listed bc of 510 compared to Berger's 550, but I'm not sure if Hornady my be embellishing a little where I trust what Berger is putting out there.
So basically, do I keep trying the Berger 130s even though they tell me it won't work, or am I just wasting my time and gremlins will start popping up and I'm better off with the shorter bullets that I know work well?
My friend, however, has been on me to try the 130 grain hunting vld's in my rifle. I figured they wouldnt spin but ended up buying a 12 pack, loaded up a couple different loads with hybrid 100v and seating the bullets about .005 off the rifling, and low and behold, they shot very well. Well under 1/2 inch and the holes int he target looked perfectly round. Keep in mnd this was only at 100 yards, but seeing that Makes me think that I may be able to dial something in with these.
So with all the background I can provide, my question basically comes down to, if the bullets seemed to stabilize well, in what I would call perfect shooting conditions, am I chasing fools gold in trying to work something up here that would be consistent, or did I get lucky that they shot like that, and a little wind will start blowing them off and they will become unstable. I love the Bergers, because of the high bc and because of what I've seen them do to animals, but I just don't know if i got lucky and it won't be consistent or if the 1-10 twist can actually handle these bullets. I do have the 123 SSTs to fall back on, which have a listed bc of 510 compared to Berger's 550, but I'm not sure if Hornady my be embellishing a little where I trust what Berger is putting out there.
So basically, do I keep trying the Berger 130s even though they tell me it won't work, or am I just wasting my time and gremlins will start popping up and I'm better off with the shorter bullets that I know work well?
