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Long Range Hunting & Shooting
I am very dissapointed with Berger bullets regarding the 338 hybrid bullet.
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<blockquote data-quote="Eric Stecker" data-source="post: 399699" data-attributes="member: 8908"><p>Elkaholic,</p><p> </p><p>When plastic tips became popular we spent a lot of time trying to get them to work. We were unsuccessful in making the axis of the bullet line up consistently with the axis of the tip. This produces precision issues. </p><p> </p><p>It has been our position that precision is our top priority so we (Walt at the time) decided not to use plastic tips in any of our bullets. We recognize that plastic tips have benefits but until we can make them shoot precisely we won't use them.</p><p> </p><p>Canyonman1,</p><p> </p><p>For clarification purposes, many of our bullets do not perform well at the highest possible velocities. When the first VLD was created (6mm 105 gr) many who understood high BCs tried to use this bullet at the highest velocities achievable with big wildcats for obvious reasons (minimal drop and drift). </p><p> </p><p>In many of these situations the bullets blew up in flight. At best precision and accuracy was poor so folks learned that they had to dial the velocity back to use these bullets. In this particular example the velocities that worked were in the 3,200 fps and less region which most found acceptable.</p><p> </p><p>With this 338 cal bullet we made the jacket thicker to begin with because we wanted to prevent the bullet failures as described above. We knew many folks wanted to drive this bullet hard so we implemented a solution that worked in the past. In this case we are facing a new issue which we believe is nose slump.</p><p> </p><p>These 338 cal bullets have been reported as working very well at velocities that most would consider moderate. For this reason it is likely that the bullet that exists today will remain a part of our line. The revised version will be made as a separate option for those who want to push this bullet hard. </p><p> </p><p>I suspect that this revised version will compromise on some of the other characteristics our bullets possess but to guess which characteristic and to what degree would be pure speculation so not worth discussing now. I can say that we will not compromise on precision and will work to produce a bullet that can take hard shooting and react properly with impact on live tissue. </p><p> </p><p>Fiftydriver,</p><p> </p><p>Your point about waiting two years is valid. It is this long wait that played a role in my decision to release this bullet with minimal testing. I do not intend for this to be an excuse but rather an <span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">explanation</span></span>. There are no excuses regarding this situation and I accept that this was an error.</p><p> </p><p>I am a shooter too. I know what it feels like to yearn for the latest hottest thing and not be able to get it. We received far more calls and emails asking about the 338 cal bullets than any other bullet in our history. I was as eager for these to get "out there" as everyone was to shoot them. I took a chance that everything was going to be fine. We make all our bullets the same way and this is no different with the 338 cal.</p><p> </p><p>Most of the two year wait was the result of our need to build a new machine that had a long enough stroke to make bullets up to and including 50 cal. Once the machine was completed it was not long before we had bullets made since our process is always the same. </p><p> </p><p>We had designed a bullet failure solution into this bullet so I had no reason to believe there would be any problems. Obviously I was wrong. If I had a chance to do it over again I would have done it differently. Wanting a bullet to work for those who are eager to shoot it is not the same as making sure the bullet will work and I understand that better now than I did a few weeks ago. I promise you and anyone who wants to push this bullet hard that we will have a solution.</p><p> </p><p>Regards,</p><p>Eric</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Eric Stecker, post: 399699, member: 8908"] Elkaholic, When plastic tips became popular we spent a lot of time trying to get them to work. We were unsuccessful in making the axis of the bullet line up consistently with the axis of the tip. This produces precision issues. It has been our position that precision is our top priority so we (Walt at the time) decided not to use plastic tips in any of our bullets. We recognize that plastic tips have benefits but until we can make them shoot precisely we won't use them. Canyonman1, For clarification purposes, many of our bullets do not perform well at the highest possible velocities. When the first VLD was created (6mm 105 gr) many who understood high BCs tried to use this bullet at the highest velocities achievable with big wildcats for obvious reasons (minimal drop and drift). In many of these situations the bullets blew up in flight. At best precision and accuracy was poor so folks learned that they had to dial the velocity back to use these bullets. In this particular example the velocities that worked were in the 3,200 fps and less region which most found acceptable. With this 338 cal bullet we made the jacket thicker to begin with because we wanted to prevent the bullet failures as described above. We knew many folks wanted to drive this bullet hard so we implemented a solution that worked in the past. In this case we are facing a new issue which we believe is nose slump. These 338 cal bullets have been reported as working very well at velocities that most would consider moderate. For this reason it is likely that the bullet that exists today will remain a part of our line. The revised version will be made as a separate option for those who want to push this bullet hard. I suspect that this revised version will compromise on some of the other characteristics our bullets possess but to guess which characteristic and to what degree would be pure speculation so not worth discussing now. I can say that we will not compromise on precision and will work to produce a bullet that can take hard shooting and react properly with impact on live tissue. Fiftydriver, Your point about waiting two years is valid. It is this long wait that played a role in my decision to release this bullet with minimal testing. I do not intend for this to be an excuse but rather an [COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]explanation[/FONT][/COLOR]. There are no excuses regarding this situation and I accept that this was an error. I am a shooter too. I know what it feels like to yearn for the latest hottest thing and not be able to get it. We received far more calls and emails asking about the 338 cal bullets than any other bullet in our history. I was as eager for these to get "out there" as everyone was to shoot them. I took a chance that everything was going to be fine. We make all our bullets the same way and this is no different with the 338 cal. Most of the two year wait was the result of our need to build a new machine that had a long enough stroke to make bullets up to and including 50 cal. Once the machine was completed it was not long before we had bullets made since our process is always the same. We had designed a bullet failure solution into this bullet so I had no reason to believe there would be any problems. Obviously I was wrong. If I had a chance to do it over again I would have done it differently. Wanting a bullet to work for those who are eager to shoot it is not the same as making sure the bullet will work and I understand that better now than I did a few weeks ago. I promise you and anyone who wants to push this bullet hard that we will have a solution. Regards, Eric [/QUOTE]
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I am very dissapointed with Berger bullets regarding the 338 hybrid bullet.
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