Highest BC bullet for a 30-378??

[seidersjoden]

I am having a GAP 27", MTU contour barrel, chambered in 30-378. Anyone have advice on the best bullet with the highest BC's for long range hunting/target shooting?

 

[barnesuser28]

I believe its the 230 grain berger target. Cutting Edge may have one with a higher bc but they are very expensive.

 

[seidersjoden]

Great! Thanks for the advice.

 

[R.Morehouse]

The Berger 230 Hybred is way up there and easy to load.gun)

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

It looks like Midway has one of the 230 bergers as discontinued and another in stock.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I am going to be trying the Berger 230 Hybrid and the CE 200 gr C22.

The C22 has a lower BC but you will get a lot higher muzzle velocity. Down range ballistics should be similar. I will go with the one with best overall accuracy and downrange results.

https://cuttingedgebullets.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=MTH_C22

A 9 twist barrel would be best for either of these.

 

[seidersjoden]

The only thing with the cutting edge bullets is they don't fit in mags because of the extra length when reloading them. As for as accuracy I agree though. I guess if I was target shooting I could use the cutting edge bullets when I have time to single feed the bullet but with hunting it seems the Berger bullets are the best bet until something better comes on the market.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Length would be an issue too with the 230's, especially in the 378 cartridge.

I'm hoping to do a 30-388 Lapua Imp in the next year or so. It will have almost identical case capacity and .190" shorter. The C22 would fit in the 3.84 mag box loaded into a Lapua case.

I haven't heard any complaints about the CE bullets for hunting, in fact a lot of good reports. I think both would work well in that category.

To me it will boil down to which shoots best and down range energy based on velocity and mass. Accuracy will be the top consideration.

 

[IdahoCTD]

These are pretty high for the weight too.

GS CUSTOM BULLETS - Specifications for use

3400fps in a 300RUM should be 3600+ in a 30-378

GS CUSTOM BULLETS - Load Data for HV Bullets

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I bought 4 boxes of the GS 177's a while back. They did not shoot all that well out of my 300 RUM Sendero. That said, the manufacturers recommended twist for them is 9 and I shot them out of a 10. There is little to no room for seating depth adjustment in these bullets because their nose and tail is so long. I would recommend shooting them in a short throated chamber. They were only a few fps faster than the CE bullets I shot and cost a good bit more and i got better accuracy with the CE's.

I have about 3 boxes of 177's for sale if anyone is interested.

 

[seidersjoden]

I checked GS custom out, like Montanarifleman said, I too will have a 1-10 twist in my rifle because I found that their are higher BC's in the heavier bullets for the 30-378 so I made the gun base off of what was available on the market. I can use the 177 GS custom makes for elk but the Berger 230 hybrid has higher BC and is more suitable elk. I wonder what velocity Ill get form a 230 weight bullet on my 30-378, any one know??

 

[MontanaRifleman]

If it's not too late I would highly recommend getting a 9 twist for the 230's. It's too late for my RUM build but I'm going to give them a go anyway. The 230's in a 10 twist are on the edge of stability.

From what I've read, RL33 would be a good choice in the 30-378. Just guessing, but I think 3200-3300 would be doable.

 

[Broz]

Length would be an issue too with the 230's, especially in the 378 cartridge.

Mark, The 30-378 Accumark will cycle a bullet loaded to an OAL of 3.800" Some will go 3.820" The 230 Berger Hybrid was designed for use in 300 win mag box that is shorter. So, I think feel they are a very good fit in the 30-378. We have shot them in both the 300 win and 30-378 with awesome results, all 1 in 10 twists. The 30-378 with a 230 Berger is a long range hammer and they will expand too.

Jeff

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Jeff, I dont doubt your experience, but did you have to load the 230's all the way to the ogive? I just got a box of the 230's and they have a .905" nose as listed on Berger's data sheet. Add that to the 30-378 case length of 2.913 and you have a COAL of 3.818. So yes you can load them to cycle through the mag box but the bullets are seated deep into the case. Dave Young is using a Weatherby box in my 700 build that he's going to stretch to 3.90+ and my RUM case is only 2.842 long. I have one here (a 230 Hybrid) seated in a case to 3.90. It fits very well with the bearing of the bullet seated just slightly into the case.

My next big 30 will be a 30-338 LM Imp which will be better yet with a case length of 2.725 with more case volume. It should be a ballistic twin of the 30-378