Berger vld bullets.

[hillbillydelux]

I have been shooting sierra matchking and hornady match bullets since I started reloading and stayed away from the Berger bullets because of price. I decided to try them since they were available and the brought my group in about a quarter inch at 100 yards. Anyone else use the berger vld buckets and have good luck?

 

[ShtrRdy]

I just tried some Berger VLD in 6.5 mm for a 260 Rem I got last October. They have been very accurate if I do my part..

 

[csloop]

There all I use and they shoot

 

[Graham]

Anyone else use the berger vld buckets and have good luck?

Luck has nothing to do with it.

 

[stranded]

I have tried three different calibers, Hunting Vld's. Loading to mag. length. All have shot better than anything else.(Nosler,Hornady,Sierra) Since I am incapable of out shooting these loads, no further load development has ocuured. 6mm:105gr,6.8mm:130gr,7.62mm:155gr. Farthest tested 450yds. ( I'm a piss poor reader of wind )

 

[map_it]

I'm in the midde of switching over to the Bergers for my .308 and that is all I plan to shoot in the .260 when it is finished.

So my question do I need to invest in the Forstner or Redding Comp Seating Dies to get the most out of the VLD's or will my RCBS standard bullet seater do the trick?
I've only loaded a couple dummy bullets to check my feeding from the magazine so far.

The RCBS seater stem does not bottom out but it does leave a little ring around the tip of the bullet. I don't really care about the marred up bullet but I do care on concentricy issues but I do not have a concentricy gauge yet so I must default to the professionals....

Any input would be appreciated....

 

[Rat807]

I went with the Forster Micro seating die and neck sizer dies and with good brass prep, I am getting less than .002 runout. With the RCBS dies, well lets just say it was more than .002 Accuracy has improved as well =]

 

[hillbillydelux]

All I run is the rcbs so far and they seem to work but I also don't check my runout and what not yet. But the bergers do shoot alot better than the matchkings at 100 yards I haven't moved them out further yet for a lack if time. This weekend ill be pushing 600 with them.

 

[Phil1]

Luck has nothing to do with it.

I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.

As to the Berger bullets. You can always work out two loads for your rifle one with the more expensive bullets and one with the cheaper. But in the end the 20 cents more is irrelevant if its more accurate.

 

[Graham]

I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.

LOL.

My post was intended more as a comment about the fact that the OP started a Thread by asking a 'yes' or 'no' question on a forum of over eighty thousand people.

Presumably he is taking a poll of the people here who use 'the Berger VLD buckets [sic] and have good luck'.

 

[Phil1]

LOL.

My post was intended more as a comment about the fact that the OP started a Thread by asking a 'yes' or 'no' question on a forum of over eighty thousand people.

Presumably he is taking a poll of the people here who use 'the Berger VLD buckets [sic] and have good luck'.

I figured that. Just trying to yank your chain.

Berger has been around a long time and AFAIK was one of the innovators of VLD bullets. I built my first custom rifle specifically for the Berger .224 80 grain VLD about 1993.

The VLD is more sensitive to how much it is set back from the lands than other bullets. But when its right it will work to perfection. The BC of VLD bullets is appealing in itself regardless of the work involved to tuning them to the rifle.

Keep in mind the recommended barrel twist rates for each bullet.

The new 230 gr. .30 cal is an exciting development. Why buy .338 when the .30 will do?:
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/elr-beyond-1000-yards/189254-berger-230s-arrived.html

Target Bullets | Berger Bullets

 

[Dan Newberry]

They're great bullets, and from all I've seen they work very well--with one exception.

The previous generation of 168 grain 7mm VLD's had some kind of issue. Berger seems to have tacitly acknowledged this by sending many bullets out to unsatisfied customers who had bought the 168 VLD's. Bughole sized groups from these 168 VLD's punctuated by random *gross* flyers seemed to be the norm, and nothing anyone tried really seemed to work. I have seen email communications from Berger where Eric and even Walt were offering suggestions, ranging from shooting these against the lands, to as far off as 140 thousandths (one-hundred-forty thousandths)... but these things simply continued the erratic behavior. They've since been re-designed, or that's at least what seems to be the case.

Other than the 7mm 168's, I say "go for it" with any of the other Berger bullets. Berger is a fantastic company with a really great staff, who will work their hearts out to please their customers.

Dan

 

[Graham]

They're great bullets, and from all I've seen they work very well--with one exception.

The previous generation of 168 grain 7mm VLD's had some kind of issue. Berger seems to have tacitly acknowledged this by sending many bullets out to unsatisfied customers who had bought the 168 VLD's. Bughole sized groups from these 168 VLD's punctuated by random *gross* flyers seemed to be the norm, and nothing anyone tried really seemed to work... They've since been re-designed, or that's at least what seems to be the case.

That appears to have been a J4 jacket issue. The bullets with minor folds in the jackets shot OK, but the creases in the occasional bullet were bad news. The problem was with consistency and uniformity of the lots: About 5% of each batch were bad.

 

[bjay]

"Matchking" used to be d s**.. my custom 260 shoot decent 3/4 moa at 600 then tried vld and scenar .25 to 263 moa pass 500 and even amax shoots good too now with better BC than smk.. nothing agaibs sierras but vld making sierra OUTDATED now a dayss.well like my buddy says " u got what u pay for" freakin vld pricey!

 

[Dan Newberry]

Graham,

That's good to know. I didn't know the "why" I only knew the "what"...

Dan

 

[ronas]

I shoot 30 cal 175 SMKs, Nosler, and Berger VDL. Rifle zeroed at 100 yards. Did not see any appreciable difference at 100 yards.

Chroned all. FPS was roughly the same.

Only shoot at 600 and 800 yards. All loaded rounds with same load, primer, and bullet seated to same base to ogive lenght.

Berger VDL shot 6" higher at 600 yards and 12" higher at 800 yards, they were also less effected by the wind as not as much windage correction required.