Spinning up a 1-8" 6br barrel to try shooting some matches this year. I've got 500-ish 105 vld's, but will need more bullets soon enough. I'm pretty new to PRS style shooting, so bullet choice won't be a limiting factor in my performance for while, but would love to hear what has worked for others. Rifle is a Tikka in a Whiskey 3, with a 5-20 Razor Gen 1. Been shooting 139 scenars out of 6.5 creed up until now.
choosing a prs bullet
- Thread starter mpwolf
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The twist rate recommendation for the berger 105 hybrid is 1:7.5. The Hornaday ATips are 1:7.7.
Might consider the 115 dtac as well.
So you might want to consider having the twist rate at 7.5 to shoot all the bullets that have been mentioned here.
Might consider the 115 dtac as well.
So you might want to consider having the twist rate at 7.5 to shoot all the bullets that have been mentioned here.
My 2 cents, all future 6mm barrels for me will be 7.25 twist. 7.5 has worked... but in the cold winter matches I have noticed my stability rating was under a 1.5 and that it could impact my elevation predictions. While this hasn't been seen in my 6mm's performance I have had it impact my 223's performance, so it is a real concern. That said, back when the 105 Hybrid was new to the market my 1:8 twist would not group well if the temps were 50 degrees or cooler at my altitude and a second 1:8 barrel would not group them well at all regardless of temperature. The 1:7.25 twist in my data modeling down to near 0 degrees and 500 feet ASL will work well with all bullets currently available to the 6mm excluding solids. My coldest match so far started at -3 degrees for the day.
Not only that, but the 107 SMK has been available through bullet droughts when Berger was unobtanium unless you were sponsored. I used to shoot only Bergers, and on one of the price hikes I got pissed and switched to Sierra. I always try to buy components in bulk, but before Covid I got a line on a crazy deal for a massive amount, and basically bought a lifetime supply of the 107s.
Once you pick a bullet and go through all the trouble of setting the gun up to shoot a combination that's money, I find I'm loath to change anything lest I have to go back and do it all over from the beginning. Some people love load development and finding what shoots the straightest. I used to like doing it, but now I find it to be a hassle and would rather keep doing what is working than going back to the drawing board.
Once you pick a bullet and go through all the trouble of setting the gun up to shoot a combination that's money, I find I'm loath to change anything lest I have to go back and do it all over from the beginning. Some people love load development and finding what shoots the straightest. I used to like doing it, but now I find it to be a hassle and would rather keep doing what is working than going back to the drawing board.
I've got quantities of both Berger 105 VLD and 109 ELD-M. My question is how much jump to start with for initial load development? My initial thought is to start with about 0.025 junp and go from there, but I haven't shot either of these bullets before, so I'm all ears if anyone has real world experience they would care to share.
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if you have a good load for another bullet weight relatively close to these (103-110 grains) start with that power charge and do a seating depth test. I generally begin at -.035 and test every .015 deeper to .100 and see if there is a spot where the group center doesn't shift and the overall group size appears similar to those on either side.
this is worth a read
Bullet Jump Research: Executive Summary & Load Development Tips
This is the last post in a series of articles focused on bullet jump research that has been conduct...
precisionrifleblog.com
Berger 105 hybrid is the most consistent bullet and it's why most of the top shooters run it.
Followed closely by the 109 hybrid. The bc variance is still very good but trails behind the 105 slightly.
This is from the mouth of people who work for AB and shoot for Berger/capstone.
I would shoot a smk before any Hornady bullet. They are good bullets but not as consistent as the Berger.
The other thing with the hybrids is lot to lot consistency. You don't have to worry about bullet lots the same way with other bullets like Hornady and smk. I talked to litz after being concerned with different oal in different lots of 109s. He said the critical dimensions are still the same and to not worry about it unless your trying to set a br world record.
I love the 109s but if I didn't have a stash of about 8500 of them, I would switch to the 105. Even if I can't shoot the difference just knowing the difference is one more variable and puts doubt in your head after an unexplained miss.
Followed closely by the 109 hybrid. The bc variance is still very good but trails behind the 105 slightly.
This is from the mouth of people who work for AB and shoot for Berger/capstone.
I would shoot a smk before any Hornady bullet. They are good bullets but not as consistent as the Berger.
The other thing with the hybrids is lot to lot consistency. You don't have to worry about bullet lots the same way with other bullets like Hornady and smk. I talked to litz after being concerned with different oal in different lots of 109s. He said the critical dimensions are still the same and to not worry about it unless your trying to set a br world record.
I love the 109s but if I didn't have a stash of about 8500 of them, I would switch to the 105. Even if I can't shoot the difference just knowing the difference is one more variable and puts doubt in your head after an unexplained miss.
I guess I should have clarified a couple of things. I shot F/Tr for 20 years, so I'm no stranger to all the picky reloading tecniques. I've run countless seating depth tests over the years, and there were cetainly times when I loaded into the lands. I know the 105 vld has a rep for liking a bit of jam, I'd really rather not take the chance in this case. I may well be better of trying a hybrid or BT design, but I've got these, so I may as well give them a whirl. Also, I'm a PRS newbie. Having only shot a couple of events, whatever bullet I choose is not going to be the limiting factor to my success! I shot 6.5 creed until now. The idea of the 6br is to have a mild shooting, easily produced, accurate round to develop better tecnique with. I'll report back with results.
Getting the Best Precision and Accuracy from VLD bullets in Your Rifle
VLD bullets are designed with a secant ogive. This ogive shape allows bullets to be more efficient in flight (retain more velocity = less drop and wind deflection). While this result is desirable for many rifle shooters the secant ogive on the VLD bullets produces another result in many rifle.
bergerbullets.com
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