New 185 BT Berger testing

[Law Dawg]

I recently received a shipment of the new 175 BT, 185 BT and 210 BT bullets for testing. As I got the shipment a little late for the respective testing deadline of early April, I have tested only the 185 BT.

Since I was short on time, and since so many others had run the Junke on these new bullets, measured the bearing surface, and examined the wt. variations and posted the same, I decided to just load and shoot. I soft seated a round, got the dims and loaded the remainder at that same OAL but with .003 neck tension via a carbide bushing from Buch Lambert.

My brass was very extensively sorted and preped 308 Lapua with turned necks for a .335 loaded round in my .338 Chamber, which had been cut for the Berger 185 VLD. The powder was a warm but safe load of RL-15 and the primers were Russians. I had been running the 185 VLDs at 2850. I backed off 1.0 grains for the initial testing of the 185 BT.

I loaded only 30 rounds for testing in my Barnard V-Blocked, Sitman stocked prone gun, shooting Warner iron on the rear and a 30mm Right Sight on the end of my 31" 11.5 twist barrel. My rifle had been a hammer at mid to long range with the VLDs, but this testing was done at 200 at River Bend Gun Club, from the prone w/sling. Since I knew what the Berger VLDs would do, that set the standard for the BTs.

After the clean barrel got centered up in the X ring (2") to my satisfaction with the first 5 shots, I was able to concentrate on NPA and breaking the shot on a good sight picture without having to make any wind calls at this distance --so as to test the bullet and not my wind reading skills or the lack thereof. I just favored center and broke the shots. I always shoot closed meplats, but not on the new bullets as that would have defeated the purpose of the test.

Long story short, the remainder of the 25 185 Berger BTs went in the X ring with nothing on the line -- an all touching group. They shot so well that I could call my shots within the X ring when viewed from my 85mm Zeiss spotting scope.

This was a very short test, but the BTs shot at least as well as the VLDs. The only bullet I have shot in the prone at 200 that was its equal (also a very short test of 30 rounds) was the 187 BIB flat base with, respectfully, a lot less BC.

However, a variable that has to be taken into consideration for any comparison I might make at this point, is the fact that I just concentrated extra hard on this test in setting up my position and executing each shot because I felt like I owed a good test to Eric who has made this testing opportunity available to so many shooters. Short test or not, it went very well.

On a quick inspection of the 175, 185 and 210 BTs, the meplats looked very uniform -- better than most custom bullets. Of course, the Bergers are beautiful and nothing short of eye candy.

I will probably save the remainder of the 185 BTs for a one day 600 or 1000 prone match. I will also test the 175s when I can, and the 210's will be tested in an extremely accurate 300 WSM bench gun that has shot screamer groups with 210 VLDs.

Berger is laying it on the line in fine style. When you can load them out of the box that shoot this well, the only spinning you need is down the barrel. My thanks to Eric, Michelle and Berger Bullets for the opportunity. More testing to come.

Jim Hardy

 

[Travelor]

Berger test bullets

Here is my test report on the 155.5 grain BT Bergers - looks like Berger is really stepping up to the plate with their new bullets. My testing was from a benchrest at 600 yards.

Upon receiving the bullets I first inspected the noses of the bullets as this is the point that causes me the most concern with Sierra MatchKing bullets - result was that all noses were perfectly formed and no misshapen bullets were found. I then weighed the bullets and using my electronic scale, none were off even.1 grain. Then I measured the length from the case to the ogive - again all were the same. This is very different that I have experienced with the Sierra MatchKing bullets,

I loaded the test lot of ammunition with 46.5 grains of Varget with a Winchester match prepared case using Federal 210Match primers. All the bullets were seated to a fit of .010" jam into the rifling. The reason for this load and seating was that this is the load I use with 155 gr, Sierra MatchKing bullets. My impression at this point was that the Berger bullets were much more uniform that the Sierra Palma bullet and when seated to the the same depth in relation to the ogive of the bullet vs the lands of the barrel, the resultant rounds was approximately .25" longer than the Sierra's - this is a good thing as it allows for more case capacity with the same seating depth.

The weather finally turned good today after blustery and rainy days here in Arkansas, and my wife and I took our rifles to our Club's 600 yard range (conditions were initially calm with a temperature of 35 degrees) with high expectations for the new Berger's. I initially fired a test 5-shot group with the Sierra MatchKing's at 100 yards to confirm zero and get a feel for the exact state of the rifle ( a custom built Palma rifle built by Larry Racine with a Krieger 30" 1:13 twist barrel with a Leupold 8.5x25x50 scope with target dot) and shooter (me) prior to testing the new bullets. The 5 shot group at 100 yards measured slightly under .4".

I then settled in to test and fired a 10 shot test group with the Berger 155.5 grain bullet which measured 3.00" CTC (center to center) at 600 yards. Then I fired a like number of 155 grain Sierra MatchKing's with a group measuring the same 3.00" CTC. The velocity average for the Berger was 2936 fps and for the Sierra the average velocity was 2956 fps and each had a standard deviation under 10 fps. All pressure signs appeared to reflect a very slight increased pressure with the Berger BT bullet. Also, both groups impacted to the same point on the target. As far as I am concerned, a 1/2 MOA is GREAT at 600 yards as this performance would allow for a maximum possible score with all X's in NRA F-Class competition. At this point advantage did not go to either bullet, but looking at the groups, the Berger's definitely had a majority of the bullets grouped tighter than the Sierra MatchKing's.

Next we worked with a Junior shooter new to reloading and long range shooting as well as tested loads for another gun, a 6mmBR. While this was taking place, the wind came up to 3-6 mph at 3 o'clock relative to the firing direction and the temperature rose to 55 sunny degrees.

I then fired two 10 shot groups each with the Berger 155.5 grain BT bullets and with the 155 grain Sierra MatchKing's with no attempt to hold or adjust for wind. The rationale being to determine if either round held an advantage over the other with respect to wind "bucking" ability. The Berger bullets shot into a 6" group that was 2.5" high and 5.5" horizontally. The Sierra bullets did not fare as well, grouping into 7.5" CTC area that was 3.5" high and 7 " wide. Results indicate the the Berger held up better in the wind that the Sierra BT bullet.

My overall impression of the new Berger 155.5 grain BT bullets is that it is superior to the respected 155 Grain Sierra MatchKing BT Palma bullet. Great job Berger!

Will I buy the Berger bullets over the Sierra MatchKing? Yes!

I certainly hope that this report will help Berger make the decision to produce this bullet for retail sales as I would want to be one of the first few in line for them.

George