Re: Best Cartridge for the Berger 7mm 195 Hybrid?
Personally, I think these bullets are pointless in any chambering that doesn't get them to 3000fps or more. 3000fps is a "barrier" that is difficult to pass. It is relatively easy (not much powder) to get any given bullet to 2000fps, not much harder to get 2500fps, but you've really gotta pour on the coals to get up to 3000.
Thus, a cartridge that can "only" get 3000fps from a 180gr bullet is going to take about a 125-150fps hit on velocity by upping the bullet to 195gr.
An overbore cartridge that is deep into the "diminishing returns" area of velocity with the 180gr bullets is a much better candidate for these 195s.
For example, a 7WSM or 7RM that can hit ~3150 with a 162amax will hit ~3050 with a 175, ~3000 with a 180, and continuing to use the law of conservation of energy, oughtta run about 2875fps with a 195.
Here are the drops (in the order of 162, 175,180, 195) at 1000/2000 yards in mrad:
6.4/25.4
6.7/25.4
6.8/24.8
7/23.1
Here are the drifts (again in the same order) for a 10mph FV wind:
1.6/4.5
1.6/4.4
1.5/4.1
1.3/3.5
All calculated with JBM, using the Litz data. G7BC of .406 used for the 195 bullet.
ETA: For competitive F-class type shooting where drop doesn't matter a lick, but .1mrad difference in drift can make the difference between a hit in the 9 ring instead of the 10 ring, I see the merit in these bullets - even at relatively low MV.