I have the Berger manual. While it has lots of good info and is worth obtaining it is disappointing as they use SAAMI max COAL as a limit for their loads. Nobody I know loads Bergers to SAAMI spec length. This is no different than other bullet manufacturer's manuals but Berger knows their VLDs need to be near the lands thus they should have provided some loads with some decent (longer) COALs. Bryan Litz explains this on page 148 - but they still wimped out.
The load data would have been much more useful if it reflected how their bullets actually get used. An example that is on line (and everybody can see) illustrates the point. For the 338 RUM with the 300 grain Berger in a 26" tube and COAL of 3.6" they list the absolute max velocity with the best powder (Retumbo) as 2,611 fps. I'm getting 2,750 fps (with a COAL of 3.8") and that isn't pressure limited - just ran out of case capacity. The same is true for the 338 Lapua, etc. So the book is good for providing starting loads but it doesn't properly reflect the upper end of velocities that are possible.
