Berger 77gr 224 OTM performance?

midnightmalloy

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Can anyone give us some real life experiences with Bergers 224 77gr otm bullets in a 223 or the like? I have been searching everywhere and cant find any information. Any help would be appreciated. What would be great is someone who has used many of the heavy 224 bullets in an ar and how they did at mag length. I want one bullet that I can load for my ar that will be good to 600yds and will do well as a SHTF load and shooting coyotes (I know this isnt the optimum bullet for coyotes but it will probably do just fine) I dont want a bunch of different loads for this gun but one and Im most interested in a round that will do 600 yds and be a good AP bullet.
 
I have trimmed case length so the ogive would not be set back in the neck and crammed 75 AMAX's to mag length. Then I was too chicken poop to shoot them. :D I may need to do it just to say I had the Cahones.

77 SMK at mag length did not give me the accuracy the Hornady 75 HPBT did. This may have been because my barrel is 1/8.5, but I think that should have been plenty for 77's. I use 23.9 grains of RL15 for my 75's and pull 2675 at 90 degrees.

I will be trying to get this one to 750 really soon as my 30-06 will hit the smith for its' 6.5x55 rebuild. My ten year old carries this load to 500 on a regular basis.

According to my charts, it has a whopping 505 ft lbs at 500 yds. For comparison, my 30-06 smacks the snot out of a steel sihoutte swinger at 500 so much so that you have to wait for the swinging to stop before sending the next round. The 223 only makes it wobble like a fart in the wind. You see more bullet splash than anything to mark your hits.

My wife got some vids just Saturday of my son on the line. I need to get them from my wife and post em.
 
My RRA shoots 75 grainers from Hornady like its possessed. Anything that will stabilize a 75 grain hornady bullet should work with a 77 SMK. they are pretty much the same length. I run mine with 25 grains of 2520 in a lake city case. Great accuracy and no pressure.
I have actually went as high as 26.4 grains with good accuracy and no signs of pressure but I don't want to beat up my brass any more than I have to.
 
My RRA shoots 75 grainers from Hornady like its possessed. Anything that will stabilize a 75 grain hornady bullet should work with a 77 SMK. they are pretty much the same length. I run mine with 25 grains of 2520 in a lake city case. Great accuracy and no pressure.
I have actually went as high as 26.4 grains with good accuracy and no signs of pressure but I don't want to beat up my brass any more than I have to.

im not as worried about these 77gr bergers not shooting I want to know terminal performance on something like a coyote, deer or hog? If they perform as well as the other bullets in their OTM line then they will be great but I just want to know how these do. there is tons of info about the hornadys and sierras but I cant find anything about the berger OTM's. any info would be great!
 
Yes, this is an old thread, but in searching the web with the same question, this was the best thing that came up.

This bullet works great (sub MOA) in my .222 Rem Mag AI T/C Prohunter with an 20" MGM barrel. This is designed as my go to Javalina rifle as it is light and accurate. However, I haven't harvested a Javalina with it yet and am interested in how this bullet performs on game. If this goes right through without expanding on a Javalina it will not be good as these are really tough animals.
 
Yes, this is an old thread, but in searching the web with the same question, this was the best thing that came up.

This bullet works great (sub MOA) in my .222 Rem Mag AI T/C Prohunter with an 20" MGM barrel. This is designed as my go to Javalina rifle as it is light and accurate. However, I haven't harvested a Javalina with it yet and am interested in how this bullet performs on game. If this goes right through without expanding on a Javalina it will not be good as these are really tough animals.

I believe I would stay away from their tactical line of bullets for hunting. Use the hybrid hunting bullets

What Are The Differences Between The OTM Tactical, Classic Hunter, and Elite Hunter Bullets? | Berger Bullets Blog
 
Thank you for the suggestion and link to Berger's page on their OTM. I had read this page before and given their explanation of this bullet...

They are also made with thicker jackets, allowing them to perform reliably under the most abusive conditions found in tactical competition, tactical situations and in combat.

... these will probably pass through most anything with out expanding so would be a very poor hunting bullet for a small narrow animal like a Javalina.

I am going to go back to the Barnes and see if more work on the load can shrink that group some.
 
I have shot both the 77gr SMK's and the 75gr Amax and BTHP Hornady loads, My Rock River 18" stainless heavy barrel 1-8 twist likes the 77gr SMK's it shot them to just under .5 MOA, both the 75gr hornady loads were just over .5 MOA of course this is with all factory ammunition because I have not finished piecing my reloading gear together.
I mostly use Black Hills they load 77gr SMK and 75gr Hornady BTHP, I tried both Superformance and regular match 75gr A-max from Hornady and for whatever reason my groups were always better with the regular velocity loads.
The Hornady A-max match ammo shot the same as the Black Hills at just over .5 MOA avg, and the A-max drops a little less at range due to its ballistic tip.


I upgraded the barrel to a Douglas "SPR" profile 18" 1-7 and it also prefers the 77gr SMK with an avg grouping just over .4 moa and the best was .187" at 100yds but that is not the norm. It groups the 75gr A-max and BTHP hornady loads at just under .5 moa.
That $650 barrel got me better average accuracy by less than .1" over a complete upper I paid $650 for. Go figure. Whatever I ended up just buying another upper and using the Rock River barrel and bolt that is certainly accurate so im halfway to another rifle.

As far as terminal ballistics are concerned I would suspect any 70-77gr .223 would be fine for coyotes if you just want to kill them, if you want to preserve the pelt the nature of the 77smk and other match loads to tumble and fragment might leave a bigger nastier hole on the opposite side compared to a hunting bullet that is designed to mushroom. I dont know.
 
Here is what you can expect from the Berger 77 OTM Tactical fired into water filled plastic milk jugs at 250 yards. An 88 ELD-M is also pictured. Muzzle velocity 3350 and 3200 respectively. Impact velocities 2742, 2771. Neither penetrated third jug. All pieces recovered in second jug.
 

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I've not used the Bergers 77OTR but I've run thousands of the 75 HPBT and 77 SMK's they are my favorite for over 400yd shooting and have even shot my ballistic gel with them before. They are no hunting bullet but I wouldn't have any issue shooting coyote's with them or even a whitetail at probably no farther than 400yds in a pinch, they wouldn't be my first choice for deer. They have a thin jacket and will fragment pretty well but being heavy for caliber they generally held enough of a core together to get some decent penetration also. For a general purpose do everything bullet sure why not. For deer hunting specifically go with 55GMX or 55 Barnes or a bonded lead bullet. I don't use them for prairie dogs not that I wouldn't but I have many boxes of 500 50gr zmax bullets under the loading bench for just such a purpose so I save the heavies for longer range shooting where they shine. I think my ballistic gel photos where a couple iPhones ago. I doubt I can find them.
 
I was looking for info on the 77s. There's almost nothing out there, so I thought I would throw that out there for folks. At least it's something. Since Hornady has discontinued the gmx, I've been buying the 70s. They are a great bullet.
 
I was looking for info on the 77s. There's almost nothing out there, so I thought I would throw that out there for folks. At least it's something. Since Hornady has discontinued the gmx, I've been buying the 70s. They are a great bullet.
Good info on GMX discontinued I better grab a couple boxes of the 55 GMX's
 
Give the 77 TMK a try or believe it or not, the Berger 70 VLD runs very well ta mag length. The latter will outrun the Berger 77 OTM
Just read about half of the 107 TMK discussion on Rockslide. I think the 107 TMK could be just the ticket for whitetails and .224. Thanks for the tip. I'm working under a depredation permit, I'm going to give them a try.
 
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