Berger 215 gr 300 WM load.

[Bang4theBuck]

I'd like to get an idea from the group what thought do you have when you see groups like these 2. Rifle shoots heavy ELDx great, but I'm stubborn and want to shoot Berger 215s. I'm using new Lapua brass, H1000 (75gr), Fed 215M, 0.002 NT. Played with seating depth from 0.010 to 0.040. Getting 2850 average velocity consistently.
Besides me pulling shots, what would you do differently to make rifle shoot MOA? Scope, torque, and usual things triple-checked. Perhaps it hates Bergers Thanks

All of my 300 WM have loved this combo, and all have loved it very close to this charge weight (75.5 actually). There is a decent bit of vertical dispersion in both of the groups listed. What are your velocity spreads looking like with these loads?

Also, you mentioned that you were using new Lapua brass. Is this first time firing? If so, you might see improvements with Fireformed brass.

The velocity is just a little lower than I would expect, but not much. If it were.me and you had the ability to do so, might.increase the neck tension by a little bit and see if the velocity comes up.and the accuracy improves some.

I've seen rifles that hate certain Breger bullets, but have never seen a 300 WM not love a 215 Hyb. Dont give up on it..

 

[Boatmanxxx]

That's quite a bit of vertical dispersion at 100. A lot of the time the Bergers like to jump. I would try seating them deeper before I start with a new powder. Also when was the last time you scrubbed that barrel? Just asking....Good luck!

 

[PingGong3]

I'd like to get an idea from the group what thought do you have when you see groups like these 2. Rifle shoots heavy ELDx great, but I'm stubborn and want to shoot Berger 215s. I'm using new Lapua brass, H1000 (75gr), Fed 215M, 0.002 NT. Played with seating depth from 0.010 to 0.040. Getting 2850 average velocity consistently.
Besides me pulling shots, what would you do differently to make rifle shoot MOA? Scope, torque, and usual things triple-checked. Perhaps it hates Bergers Thanks

My .300wm shot the 215's exactly like that with H1000 powder but I switched to H4831 and it started shooting tiny groups. 2 barrels did the exact same thing so I just stuck with that powder.

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

I'd like to get an idea from the group what thought do you have when you see groups like these 2. Rifle shoots heavy ELDx great, but I'm stubborn and want to shoot Berger 215s. I'm using new Lapua brass, H1000 (75gr), Fed 215M, 0.002 NT. Played with seating depth from 0.010 to 0.040. Getting 2850 average velocity consistently.
Besides me pulling shots, what would you do differently to make rifle shoot MOA? Scope, torque, and usual things triple-checked. Perhaps it hates Bergers Thanks

what gun are you shooting? what barrel and twist is it

 

[Eman1982]

I'd like to get an idea from the group what thought do you have when you see groups like these 2. Rifle shoots heavy ELDx great, but I'm stubborn and want to shoot Berger 215s. I'm using new Lapua brass, H1000 (75gr), Fed 215M, 0.002 NT. Played with seating depth from 0.010 to 0.040. Getting 2850 average velocity consistently.
Besides me pulling shots, what would you do differently to make rifle shoot MOA? Scope, torque, and usual things triple-checked. Perhaps it hates Bergers Thanks

-Just because the scope is torqued doesn't mean the reticle stays zeroed.
- sometimes it's the shooter
- how many seating depths have you tried?
- is the twist rate of your rifle proper for that bullet?

 

[sierracharlie338]

As mentioned here I don't think you explored enough seating depth. In my 30 Nosler I was only getting about 3/4-1 MOA during charge testing and initial seating tests. I got somewhere between 40-60K of the lands and groups shrunk like crazy. I'd explore that before changing powders.

 

[highfinblue]

I'd like to get an idea from the group what thought do you have when you see groups like these 2. Rifle shoots heavy ELDx great, but I'm stubborn and want to shoot Berger 215s. I'm using new Lapua brass, H1000 (75gr), Fed 215M, 0.002 NT. Played with seating depth from 0.010 to 0.040. Getting 2850 average velocity consistently.
Besides me pulling shots, what would you do differently to make rifle shoot MOA? Scope, torque, and usual things triple-checked. Perhaps it hates Bergers Thanks

I know it sounds crazy, but had a guy tell me this when I was battling a 6.5x284 Norma and Berger bullets, shoot it at 400 yards and see what happens. That rifle shot Berger bullets at 400 as good as it did at 100. He explained to me these bullets sometimes do not stabilize at 100 yards. He called it yaw, or something like that. As insane as it sounded the thing was lights out at distance. Shot a whitetail buck at 750 yards in perfect conditions, one shot right through the boiler room. I've got rifles that shoot good groups with Berger bullets at 100 yards, but these bullets do excel at distance.

 

[richhymas]

I'd like to get an idea from the group what thought do you have when you see groups like these 2. Rifle shoots heavy ELDx great, but I'm stubborn and want to shoot Berger 215s. I'm using new Lapua brass, H1000 (75gr), Fed 215M, 0.002 NT. Played with seating depth from 0.010 to 0.040. Getting 2850 average velocity consistently.
Besides me pulling shots, what would you do differently to make rifle shoot MOA? Scope, torque, and usual things triple-checked. Perhaps it hates Bergers Thanks

I would shoot 5 rounds per load. Shooters tend to think they have a great load but pulled a shot when 2 bullets touch and one is "pulled" when in fact most times you do not have a great load, you just statistically had t
2/3 group. Maybe you are on the edge of a node or maybe not. I would first do everything in your power to make sure your setup is clean and reproducible when doing load development. That may mean shooting off good bipods and a back bag or it may mean taking the sling off and the stud out so your gun slides on your front bag rather than catching on the sling stud. But most importantly, start shootings 5 bullets per load. Of 4 are touching and one is a " flier" maybe you have something there. But if you repeat the load and have 1-2 fliers again either your shooting technique needs help or you still have a bit of work to do on your load.

 

[richhymas]

I'd like to get an idea from the group what thought do you have when you see groups like these 2. Rifle shoots heavy ELDx great, but I'm stubborn and want to shoot Berger 215s. I'm using new Lapua brass, H1000 (75gr), Fed 215M, 0.002 NT. Played with seating depth from 0.010 to 0.040. Getting 2850 average velocity consistently.
Besides me pulling shots, what would you do differently to make rifle shoot MOA? Scope, torque, and usual things triple-checked. Perhaps it hates Bergers Thanks

You may also consider using once fired brass. With new brass it's possible that you just don't have the same case capacity you will have on subsequent firings. If you intend to always use new brass make sure you have correctly prepped that brass including normalizing neck tension with a mandrel. New brass comes with significant neck tension. Opening that up with a mandrel will make that more uniform and not quite so tight. Most people shoot .001-.002 neck tension and I certainly wouldn't even consider anything more than .003

 

[richhymas]

I know it sounds crazy, but had a guy tell me this when I was battling a 6.5x284 Norma and Berger bullets, shoot it at 400 yards and see what happens. That rifle shot Berger bullets at 400 as good as it did at 100. He explained to me these bullets sometimes do not stabilize at 100 yards. He called it yaw, or something like that. As insane as it sounded the thing was lights out at distance. Shot a whitetail buck at 750 yards in perfect conditions, one shot right through the boiler room. I've got rifles that shoot good groups with Berger bullets at 100 yards, but these bullets do excel at distance.

I agree with this. 200-300 yards is great for load development. Even in wind. Past 300 and you really have to be aware of environmental conditions.

 

[jareese]

I know it sounds crazy, but had a guy tell me this when I was battling a 6.5x284 Norma and Berger bullets, shoot it at 400 yards and see what happens. That rifle shot Berger bullets at 400 as good as it did at 100. He explained to me these bullets sometimes do not stabilize at 100 yards. He called it yaw, or something like that. As insane as it sounded the thing was lights out at distance. Shot a whitetail buck at 750 yards in perfect conditions, one shot right through the boiler room. I've got rifles that shoot good groups with Berger bullets at 100 yards, but these bullets do excel at distance.

This business of people thinking the bullet isn't stabilizing until a certain distance is complete hogwash. If a bullet isn't stable when it comes out of the barrel, it is not going to magically stabilize down range. It doesn't speed up when it leaves the barrel, it slows down. Anyone that believes otherwise is drinking koolaid and eating gummies.

 

[jareese]

@haisardao my 300 WM didn't much care for H1000 either. It loved 215/230's with RL-26 and CCI BR-2's
I've taken both combos past a mile with great success. (Targets)

 

[Shane Lindsey]

N570 in my last 300 WM did really well and I gained close to 100 FPS over H1000. Seating at .050" off the lands.

I typically will do similar to others and run one round up at each charge increment looking for max pressure. I like to run on the higher end (as we all do). However, I have also found with some rifles and Bergers, they just don't want to shoot fast.

I would start over at the lower end of the powder charges and see how it groups.

If you look at a program and see the difference between a 215 at 2686 FPS (my short Ruger mag box load) it runs out of steam at 775 yards. With my "long" load at 2826 FPS it runs out of steam at 875 FPS. That bullet is super efficient.

 

[haisardao]

Are both groups at the same charge and seating depth. I typically do seating first starting at .015 off or mag length and do 4 sets, increasing seating depth .015 each time. Even at starting loads ( typically out of a powder node) I can find one that shoots moa or less on most modern factory rifles.

If it shoots the ELDX well, it's likely not a problem with your gun/optic.

Yes, same load, might need to play with seating depth some more. Thanks