Anyone tried Bergers Test for VLD seating depth?

[Winny94]

Im potentially running into issues w/ fitting 180 class 7mm bullets in my mag (a 183 smk needs about 55-60 thou jump - so if anyone has the relevent measures b/w the 183 smk and 180 vld hunter, id appreciate anyone sharing. I havent bought the bergers yet).

Found an interesting article on bergers site and basically they say they found theres 30-40 thou range of jump the vld works in, so they recommend (2) 3-shot groups of .010, .050, .090 and .130 jump. They say 3 groups will suck, one will be pretty good, then fine tune from there.

Has anyone tried this method? Any variations/tweaks i should implement? Should this be done before or after finding the optimal weight charge? (ive always done weight testing followed by depth testing, but Berger recently suggested otherwise when i had a question about their 195 EOL).

Thanks for any help!

 

[Rick Richard]

I've performed the Berger VLD procedure many times for developing a new load recipe and it works very well. I do find most of my loads for various calibers do end up at .010 or .030 off the lands and rarely way out there. I would recommend if you can't get it up close because of magazine length then try a different profile...VLD vs Hybrid vs Classic or even a different weight if you want to stay with Berger. Also, I usually perform the seating depth procedure after I find a powder/weight combination. Just the way I do it.

 

[Recon$$]

It works well. I use it on everything I try now for an initial grouping profile.

 

[Canhunter35]

Yeah it can make a difference, but a bullet like a vld might only like one seating depth other more forgiving designs may very well like 3/4 seating depths.
If magazine length is an issue, I agree, work up load according to powder and change bullets if one isn't working.
I've also found once you find a seating depth with one bullet, usually you can leave ur seating die set how it is and simply push in another bullet. While is coal will be different I've found this often is the optimal length

 

[Deezel]

I just finished doing this test with 180gr VLD Hunting bullets in my 7mm rem mag. This is the second time with a 7RM and 180gr VLD's. Both times they preferred to be kissing the lands. The farther the jump, the bigger the group got in 2 different rifles.
I usually find the optimal charge weight first then do seating depth work. I've never tried seating depth first but it might not be a bad idea as I usually like to put 100 rounds or so down the tube before I start load development.

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

Has anyone tried this method? Any variations/tweaks i should implement? Should this be done before or after finding the optimal weight charge? (ive always done weight testing followed by depth testing, but Berger recently suggested otherwise when i had a question about their 195 EOL).

Thanks for any help!

Sounds like way too much work for me, but I'm happy with MOA or better - all of my rifles are for hunting with a max range of 600 yards rather than strictly target work. That and I don't care for cup-and-core bullets for hunting even though I know they all work most of the time.

I generally run a ladder test of 5-10 loads using 0.5g powder increments. This last weekend I ran two identical tests for a .270 Win, using 6 loads in each test. Vertical dispersion was expected, horizontal was under .5" for both. The last group shot under 1" for all 6 shots. I'll likely take the second to top load, build 20, and take it to the range. The first 3-5 shots will be used to verify group size at 100 with the remainder going for drop testing and practice at 300-600 yards. Pretty typical load development for me. Standard bullets get seated 0.020" off the lands if possible, Barnes tend to get 0.100" off the lands. In some of my rifles the bullets couldn't touch the lands with a stick so I just load to mag length or so that full diameter of bullet is at base of neck, whichever is appropriate.

 

[jasent]

I've jumped bergers as far as .180 with 1/2 moa accuracy

 

[JJMoody]

No hesitation with the Berger seating depth test for any Bullet.

 

[Winny94]

I've jumped bergers as far as .180 with 1/2 moa accuracy

VLD or Hybrid?

 

[jasent]

VLD or Hybrid?

both

 

[lancetkenyon]

Sounds like way too much work for me, but I'm happy with MOA or better - all of my rifles are for hunting with a max range of 600 yards rather than strictly target work. That and I don't care for cup-and-core bullets for hunting even though I know they all work most of the time.

I generally run a ladder test of 5-10 loads using 0.5g powder increments. This last weekend I ran two identical tests for a .270 Win, using 6 loads in each test. Vertical dispersion was expected, horizontal was under .5" for both. The last group shot under 1" for all 6 shots. I'll likely take the second to top load, build 20, and take it to the range. The first 3-5 shots will be used to verify group size at 100 with the remainder going for drop testing and practice at 300-600 yards. Pretty typical load development for me. Standard bullets get seated 0.020" off the lands if possible, Barnes tend to get 0.100" off the lands. In some of my rifles the bullets couldn't touch the lands with a stick so I just load to mag length or so that full diameter of bullet is at base of neck, whichever is appropriate.

What yardage did you shoot your ladder test at? I try to shoot mine at 400 or 500. Because shooting a ladder test to find accuracy nodes at 100 is a waste of time. But if you had 6 shots in a .5"W x 1"H group at 400, then I would say you have a very accurate and forgiving rifle with a huge accuracy node.

As to the original question, I use the seating depth method on most load development I do, unless the first seating depth gives exceptional results. I have found that the seating depth totally depends on the rifle. I think 40% have liked .020"+/-, 40% have like .050+/-, and the other 20% anywhere from .180" to touching.

 

[BrentM]

I have several rifles that like .100 with vld/hybrid. I used to get overly hung up on seating depth but changed my thinking. Use the Berger test fairly often now when changing bullets.

 

[jrock]

I've done it and Bergers in my guns tend to like 0.010 to 0.020"

 

[BrianID]

I've done the Berger seating test on multiple rifles. I do a ladder test first though. In 5 of my rifles I jump Berger's more than 0.1" because of magazine length restrictions. In most guns the Berger's still shoot well when jumped. Some guns are picky and shoot much better when the bullet is seated 0.2" than 0.1" and other guns haven't been too picky on seating depth.