Hi Guys,
I'm posting this in the beyond 1000Y forum instead of the range report report forum because I think more folks will benefit from the info presented in this location.
I also copy and pasted this report and moved it here because Berger bullets has two types of 30 caliber 230 grain bullets. I caused some confusion on another thread not realizing this. The one I'm using is the hybrid target PN# 30428.
I was chosen for a bullet test by Berger bullets so the last couple weeks I've been testing the new Berger 215gr and 230gr "hybrid bullets".
Here is a email I sent Berger bullets with a "quick" load work up and small test at distance from 300Y to 1 mile. I set aside approximately 50 rounds of each weight to work a load up with so I could use the other 50 for a brief long range test.I edited the report here and there.
I finished the testing on the Berger 230 and 215 grain bullets.
Some specs.
Rifle: SurgeonXL actioned custom rifle.Gunsmith was Glenn Pearce of Pearce custom rifles out of Cottonwood AZ.
Krieger barrel at 30"s with a 9 twist rate
McMillan Anschutz prone stock
Jewel trigger
Chambering 30-375R a wildcat cartridge based off 375 Ruger.
The powder I used for the most part in the testing was Hodgedon H-1000. The primers were Remington 9 1/2. I seated the 230's out far enough so the rifling engraved a square onto the ogive for single feeding only. I seated the 215's for feeding from the Accuracy International magazine. The throating is set for 240 SMK's shot out of the mag. The jump was at least .1" which is a huge jump.
I used a Farley front joystick rest in conjunction with a bald Eagle rear bag off the ground F-class style for all ladder and group testing.During the AZPRC I used a Harris bipod.
I started off with a 300 yard ladder test for both bullets letting the barrel cool approximately 4 minutes between shots. There was nearly a 4 grain spread in powder weight and a 150 fps spread in velocity. As you can see from the pics there was hardly any vertical for most of the shots which made it hard to pick a node to start with. This phenomenon hasn't happened before quite like this with the ladders I've done before. The spread is usually 4-5 inches of vertical. I assume it's because the bullets are either incredible accurate in the rifle or/and very forgiving with velocity ???
I wanted to use as little an amount of bullets as possible in load work up so I could test the rest at long range so I hastily made up some quick loads the best I could. In spite of this I got impressive accuracy.
Shown in this first pic is the ladder test with the 230 grain bullets. Note how most of the bullets (8shots) landed into 1" vertical. There's even 4 shots touching! The high left group was my first attempt at a group as the sun was going down. I did not choose it.
This second pic is the 2 groups I shot at 300Y with the 230's that I used to shoot at 1 mile. The paisters are 1". The left and middle group are only .5" and .6" CTC.Very small for 300Y.In fact the smallest 3 shot groups I've ever shot at 300Y. The average velocity was 2920 fps. SD for those 2 groups was 9 fps. The group on the right is with a max load of 81 grains of Hodgedon Retumbo. I only shot 4 of those but they were going 3004 fps average. The group in the black bull were the 215's that I shot the next day. The ES was too much so I didn't choose this load.
This pic is of the ladder test with the 215's at 300Y on the right and the group I chose to use on the left. The vertical is very small again for a ladder test and the 3 shot group is a hair over an inch which was also shot at 300Y. They were going 2890 fps average which is a light load for the rifle.
I tested the bullets last weekend at the AZPRC training day.
I had 40 rounds of the 230's to test. My self and a few friends shot all of them at the 1 mile steel. I was on the steel in 3 shots then proceeded to hit it 5 times in a row. Then a friend was on the steel in 2 shots and hit it twice. He was stoked because it was the first time he had shot at a mile. Later on after the barrel cooled I shot most of the rest at the steel. The spotter noticed I was hitting on the lower half of the plate which is 48"s long. It's interesting to note that I never hit the ground in front of the plate. That tells me that I was able to keep lets say all together 25 shots into approximately 20"s of total vertical at a 1 mile distance. That is amazing and surprised me! Also interesting is I noticed that it was much much easier to hit the plate than with my old load using 240SMK's at 2925 fps. Usually I hit to the left and right of the plate more because of the increased wind drift of the SMK's.
I used the 215's on the regular steel we use for the match from 400Y to 1055Y. Unfortunately I didn't take the time to get a load with low SD. Which caused me some problems with vertical at distance. I was still able to hit the steel though and noticed that I was holding .2-.3 mil less wind compared to my 6x47L comp rifle.That is a lot! I could hold on the edge of the 800Y steel and hit it!
Honestly I'm very impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I plan on switching over to both of these bullets because they are the most accurate,forgiving and wind bucking bullets I've ever shot in this rifle.
I'm posting this in the beyond 1000Y forum instead of the range report report forum because I think more folks will benefit from the info presented in this location.
I also copy and pasted this report and moved it here because Berger bullets has two types of 30 caliber 230 grain bullets. I caused some confusion on another thread not realizing this. The one I'm using is the hybrid target PN# 30428.
I was chosen for a bullet test by Berger bullets so the last couple weeks I've been testing the new Berger 215gr and 230gr "hybrid bullets".
Here is a email I sent Berger bullets with a "quick" load work up and small test at distance from 300Y to 1 mile. I set aside approximately 50 rounds of each weight to work a load up with so I could use the other 50 for a brief long range test.I edited the report here and there.
I finished the testing on the Berger 230 and 215 grain bullets.
Some specs.
Rifle: SurgeonXL actioned custom rifle.Gunsmith was Glenn Pearce of Pearce custom rifles out of Cottonwood AZ.
Krieger barrel at 30"s with a 9 twist rate
McMillan Anschutz prone stock
Jewel trigger
Chambering 30-375R a wildcat cartridge based off 375 Ruger.
The powder I used for the most part in the testing was Hodgedon H-1000. The primers were Remington 9 1/2. I seated the 230's out far enough so the rifling engraved a square onto the ogive for single feeding only. I seated the 215's for feeding from the Accuracy International magazine. The throating is set for 240 SMK's shot out of the mag. The jump was at least .1" which is a huge jump.
I used a Farley front joystick rest in conjunction with a bald Eagle rear bag off the ground F-class style for all ladder and group testing.During the AZPRC I used a Harris bipod.
I started off with a 300 yard ladder test for both bullets letting the barrel cool approximately 4 minutes between shots. There was nearly a 4 grain spread in powder weight and a 150 fps spread in velocity. As you can see from the pics there was hardly any vertical for most of the shots which made it hard to pick a node to start with. This phenomenon hasn't happened before quite like this with the ladders I've done before. The spread is usually 4-5 inches of vertical. I assume it's because the bullets are either incredible accurate in the rifle or/and very forgiving with velocity ???
I wanted to use as little an amount of bullets as possible in load work up so I could test the rest at long range so I hastily made up some quick loads the best I could. In spite of this I got impressive accuracy.
Shown in this first pic is the ladder test with the 230 grain bullets. Note how most of the bullets (8shots) landed into 1" vertical. There's even 4 shots touching! The high left group was my first attempt at a group as the sun was going down. I did not choose it.
This second pic is the 2 groups I shot at 300Y with the 230's that I used to shoot at 1 mile. The paisters are 1". The left and middle group are only .5" and .6" CTC.Very small for 300Y.In fact the smallest 3 shot groups I've ever shot at 300Y. The average velocity was 2920 fps. SD for those 2 groups was 9 fps. The group on the right is with a max load of 81 grains of Hodgedon Retumbo. I only shot 4 of those but they were going 3004 fps average. The group in the black bull were the 215's that I shot the next day. The ES was too much so I didn't choose this load.
This pic is of the ladder test with the 215's at 300Y on the right and the group I chose to use on the left. The vertical is very small again for a ladder test and the 3 shot group is a hair over an inch which was also shot at 300Y. They were going 2890 fps average which is a light load for the rifle.
I tested the bullets last weekend at the AZPRC training day.
I had 40 rounds of the 230's to test. My self and a few friends shot all of them at the 1 mile steel. I was on the steel in 3 shots then proceeded to hit it 5 times in a row. Then a friend was on the steel in 2 shots and hit it twice. He was stoked because it was the first time he had shot at a mile. Later on after the barrel cooled I shot most of the rest at the steel. The spotter noticed I was hitting on the lower half of the plate which is 48"s long. It's interesting to note that I never hit the ground in front of the plate. That tells me that I was able to keep lets say all together 25 shots into approximately 20"s of total vertical at a 1 mile distance. That is amazing and surprised me! Also interesting is I noticed that it was much much easier to hit the plate than with my old load using 240SMK's at 2925 fps. Usually I hit to the left and right of the plate more because of the increased wind drift of the SMK's.
I used the 215's on the regular steel we use for the match from 400Y to 1055Y. Unfortunately I didn't take the time to get a load with low SD. Which caused me some problems with vertical at distance. I was still able to hit the steel though and noticed that I was holding .2-.3 mil less wind compared to my 6x47L comp rifle.That is a lot! I could hold on the edge of the 800Y steel and hit it!
Honestly I'm very impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I plan on switching over to both of these bullets because they are the most accurate,forgiving and wind bucking bullets I've ever shot in this rifle.
