Bullet choices

[Ksmirk]

Ok folks this is for a long throated 300WM and while I REALLY wanted to shoot the Berger 215's it's just not gonna happen with this barrel as it seems to have a serious disdain for them! the barrel is a 28" Bartlein 9T so I'm looking for a new bullet to try out and thought I'd just check with you guys to see what you've found that's been working for you to maybe narrow things down a touch.

This isn't a hunting rifle mainly just a steel rifle to take up the slack from where the 243 falls off and a bit further or at least that's the plan. I would rather not go under a 200gr bullet as the intended purpose of this rifle is 1300 yards on out. Thanks fella's!

Kirk

 

[codyadams]

I would assume you did an extensive seating depth test and tried a couple different powders, if so then im sorry you couldn't get the 215's to perform!!

If steel is your target and not animals, I would try the Sierra 200 grain HPBT Match with a .715 bc over 2000 fps, or the Sierra 230 HPBT Match with a .800 bc over 1880 fps. After that, I would try the hornady eld-m's, 208 or 225. If none of those shoot, I would have a competent smith rebarrel the rifle, because there is something wrong with it if it wont shoot Bergers, Sierras, or Hornady's. Thats just me though....

 

[MagnumManiac]

You could try the Berger 230gr Hunting VLD. My rig has a long throat, requires 3.550" OAL to get to the rifling with the 215gr Berger Hybrid.
I run a jump of .080" with the 215gr, still haven't found a powder that the 230gr liked, so have shelved them for now.
When I started long range shooting, I had very good results/success with Nosler 200gr Accubonds, a little expensive for this, but the results were very very good.
I also ran Hornady 208gr A-Max bullets in F-Class @ 800metres & 900 metres.
They were very good for this.

Cheers.

 

[Mike 338]

I would assume you did an extensive seating depth test and tried a couple different powders, if so then im sorry you couldn't get the 215's to perform!!

If steel is your target and not animals, I would try the Sierra 200 grain HPBT Match with a .715 bc over 2000 fps, or the Sierra 230 HPBT Match with a .800 bc over 1880 fps. After that, I would try the hornady eld-m's, 208 or 225. If none of those shoot, I would have a competent smith rebarrel the rifle, because there is something wrong with it if it wont shoot Bergers, Sierras, or Hornady's. Thats just me though....

What Cody said about seating depth. If you still have some 215's sitting around, I'd try this. It's appropriate for all bullets.

http://www.bergerbullets.com/getting-the-best-precision-and-accuracy-from-vld-bullets-in-your-rifle/

 

[MudRunner2005]

Have you tried seating the Bergers at 0.015" off the lands? They typically like to be as close to the lands as possible, without causing pressure spikes.

Also, if you have ever shot other brands of bullets through that barrel, you might need to scrub the bore down to bare metal, and then try the Bergers again. Different brands use different copper alloys for their jackets, and not all of them mix well. It's good practice that if you ever swap bullet brands, powders, or if you want to try shooting another brand to see how well they'll work for you, thoroughly clean your barrel all the way down to white, and if you decide to swap back, clean again before shooting.

 

[jpd676]

I shoot the Hornady 208s in several calibers and the 225 in my 300 ultra. They are great bullets and not all that expensive.

 

[Ksmirk]

I have seated from +.010 to -.100 using Retumbo and H1000 powder, gone thru 3 ocw test as I thought I screwed up, took proven loads and tried them but no love! only thing I came away with was the max charge of each powder. I've never had to shoot more than 45-50 rounds to at least find a load to be able to tune but I'm on my second box so I'm going with this bullet isn't going to shoot for me and this rifle, so I guess it's time to find something else and just see if it's the barrel or I'm doing something stupid I've yet to discover. Funny thing the 2 6mm's I shoot seem to love the Berger bullets! my 308 I couldn't get them to shoot either for some reason..... guess I need to get some SMK's as it seems they always shoot well with little effort.

This chamber is throated long just for these bullets (ogive of 2.943) so I'll have to stay in the 210gr plus I'm thinking just to be able to keep it close to the lands..... has anyone gotten their hands on any of the Sierra 230's yet?

 

[codyadams]

You can get the 230 HPBT-Match bullets directly from Sierra's site, $32 per 50. I havent seen them for sale anywhere else in a quick search

 

[Ksmirk]

Proud of those little suckers! yea I didn't see them listed besides Sierra either.

 

[Ksmirk]

Well found out today my barrel just doesn't like the 215 Berger's! I found some old 208 A Max that I didn't know I had loaded up 3 each with different powder charges and seated them -.020" just cause it sounded like a good number..... all 3 loads shot less than an inch MUCH better than what I was getting with the 215's so I'm just going to chock it up to my barrel is finicky and doesn't like the 215's. Now the search for a heavier bullet.

codyadams, I called and spoke with the folks at Sierra to see if I could get some handouts to try and was told that I need an 8T barrel that they didn't think they would work in my 9T so I guess the search is on for another bullet, the 200 SMK has a great BC but only .335" bearing surface so with my chamber I don't think I'd have much bullet in the case neck but they sure sound interesting! Later,

Kirk

 

[codyadams]

Well found out today my barrel just doesn't like the 215 Berger's! I found some old 208 A Max that I didn't know I had loaded up 3 each with different powder charges and seated them -.020" just cause it sounded like a good number..... all 3 loads shot less than an inch MUCH better than what I was getting with the 215's so I'm just going to chock it up to my barrel is finicky and doesn't like the 215's. Now the search for a heavier bullet.

codyadams, I called and spoke with the folks at Sierra to see if I could get some handouts to try and was told that I need an 8T barrel that they didn't think they would work in my 9T so I guess the search is on for another bullet, the 200 SMK has a great BC but only .335" bearing surface so with my chamber I don't think I'd have much bullet in the case neck but they sure sound interesting! Later,

Kirk

Did you tell them about your elevation? 8 twist should be for at sea level, with your 9 twist, if you are much over 4-5k elevation, I would bet they will work just fine. Less than that, I would look at others as you said

 

[Ksmirk]

Yes I'm sitting about 1200' but with the speeds I was pushing the Berger's I might try and get my hands on a few just to see, ya know that being curious and all lol

I hope that I can get some time to really do some research on bullets to see what I can use with my chamber as I really hate to unscrew it and set it back to get a shorter throat! I'm being positive best I can.

 

[cgarb]

Hornandy has the new ELD-M in a 208 and 225's. Might be something to try out.

 

[R.Morehouse]

210 JLK LBT www.swampworks.com/jlk Nice custom target bullets......

Best Regards
Rick