Jumping Berger 185gr BT

[JayCarver]

I have a 308 that has a 1in10" Broughton, it's throated for 175gr SMK's at mag length. I threw together some 185gr Berger BT's over 42.0gr of Varget, seated 10 thou off the lands. They shot great, i'm going to load some up at mag length to try them. Just wondering if others have had any luck jumping these bullets.

 

[1lnbrdg]

I was shooting them with best results on my old chamber at .050" of jump. They liked the area between .040" and .080". That chamber didn't like them tight to the throat at all.
I haven't tried it with the new chamber. This is a shorter one, a Palma 95 for the 155gr bullets

 

[.50 Cal Cow]

The 185hybrids showed significantly better accuracy at ~.060 jump in my 300 win mag than any other seating. Berger's seating test depth has proved wonders with my seating methods with some of these bullets that are finicky with depth. Well worth a try.

 

[JayCarver]

Thanks guys, good to know.

 

[rjacobs]

From what I read about the 185 Bergers is the only ones that didnt like to jump were the VLD's. The LRBT(and juggernaut, same bullet) liked to jump.

 

[gafferq2xl]

What mag are you using? They vary a lot internally. AICS Mags 2.880 OAL, AW Mag 2.980 OAL and Accurate Mag 3.055. I don't know what Alpha Industries measure.

What I'm getting at is you could try a longer mag since the Bergers have a Secant ojive and would be considerably longer than the SMK's.

Here are my load development pics with 185 Bergers and charge weight of Varget and seating depth. 3 Powder charges-43.9, 44.1 and 44.3 & 4 seating depths-.005 jam, .000, .005 and .010 jump. My rifle specs are 22" Kreiger 1-10

 

[rjacobs]

gafferq2xl: Which 185 bergers are you using? There are a couple that are VLD and a couple that aren't. It seems the non-VLD actually PREFER to be jumped rather than jammed or .020 off the lands like the VLD's seem to like. I THINK I read that Berger designed them to be jumped for guns that had long throats(the majority of non custom guns).

 

[gafferq2xl]

Not VLD's LRBTHP pn-30418

 

[rjacobs]

Not VLD's LRBTHP pn-30418

youll be fine with a jump then. I have shot my berger 185 LRBT's with Varget, but I have with R17. If you can get some R17 give it a try, supposed to be a little better than Varget once you go over the 175g stuff.

 

[gafferq2xl]

Yes to jump but to how much I can't say. No experience over .010. As you can see though pretty much all of the powder charges and seating depths showed good results.

More velocity than Varget but NOT as temperature stable so "better" is subjective.