215 Berger Target for hunting

[Nomosendero]

Wow

 

[MAF47]

Averaging 2948

Ok, that could be pretty good with that caliber. With my 300 WSM / 10 twist Krieger I stopped at 215 gr. with superb geoups, so no interest to go up. But now I'm corious to give a try to the 230 as well. Good shooting!

 

[Educated Redneck]

I've shot two whitetail deer at about 250 yds with a 300 weatherby mag using the same bullet as the OP. Both performed very poorly. While the deer dropped dead in their tracks, the bullet never expanded and had a pencil hole in and pencil out. Both shots were quartered away into the boiler room and the sonic boom from a very fast traveling bullet liquefied most of the lungs, but I was disappointing with the exit hole. I use 180 target in my 7 LRM with excellent results however. I switched from the 215 to the slightly smaller berger hunting bullet and saw much better expansion on the 300 weatherby mag. Not the most empirical evidence, but I'm a stickler for evaluating my kills and damage inflicted and felt lucky I made perfect shots on these animals as there would not have been much of a blood trail to follow if they didn't go right down from an overbore large for species chambering. Seriously zero expansion. The fluke might be that I didn't hit any bone on entrance however. Between ribs on both deer. Regardless, I switched bullets. Probably better for thicker skinned animals or shoulder shots as already pointed out.

 

[MAF47]

I've shot two whitetail deer at about 250 yds with a 300 weatherby mag using the same bullet as the OP. Both performed very poorly. While the deer dropped dead in their tracks, the bullet never expanded and had a pencil hole in and pencil out. Both shots were quartered away into the boiler room and the sonic boom from a very fast traveling bullet liquefied most of the lungs, but I was disappointing with the exit hole. I use 180 target in my 7 LRM with excellent results however. I switched from the 215 to the slightly smaller berger hunting bullet and saw much better expansion on the 300 weatherby mag. Not the most empirical evidence, but I'm a stickler for evaluating my kills and damage inflicted and felt lucky I made perfect shots on these animals as there would not have been much of a blood trail to follow if they didn't go right down from an overbore large for species chambering. Seriously zero expansion. The fluke might be that I didn't hit any bone on entrance however. Between ribs on both deer. Regardless, I switched bullets. Probably better for thicker skinned animals or shoulder shots as already pointed out.

The basic condition for a good terminal effect with a target bullet is to hit some bone, in order to get the right expansion by these bullets with a ticker jacket. That said, some years ago I had the same experience as in your thread, when I shot a young red deer at short distance (100 yds or so). The bullet hit the deer between the ribs. Same position of the exit hole. The deer started moving into the bush: impossible to double the shot. The deer dropped dead at short distance. Both the holes were very small, with no expansion. Even here, the lungs were mostly liquefied.
I was very diasppointed: I shot with a 7mm and the bullet was a 140 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip!...

 

[kcebcj]

Hey you guys thanks for all the info on the 215's.

Got to the reloading bench yesterday and after some checking I think my rifle smith has the bore too deep. With the 215's at max magazine length 3.6 I'm roughly .200 off the lands. I think he misunderstood what I wanted.

OK with that, what kind of jump are you guys dealing with and whats your opinion? Gonna load some different powder weights and shoot through the chronograph then see if one of the loads will stay tight before I go and talk with the smith. He showed me one of his test targets using a 168 gr bullet and it was about a 3/8 inch group 5 shot so it may be good with all the jump will see!

 

[Educated Redneck]

Hey you guys thanks for all the info on the 215's.

Got to the reloading bench yesterday and after some checking I think my rifle smith has the bore too deep. With the 215's at max magazine length 3.6 I'm roughly .200 off the lands. I think he misunderstood what I wanted.

OK with that, what kind of jump are you guys dealing with and whats your opinion? Gonna load some different powder weights and shoot through the chronograph then see if one of the loads will stay tight before I go and talk with the smith. He showed me one of his test targets using a 168 gr bullet and it was about a 3/8 inch group 5 shot so it may be good with all the jump will see!

Ha. My jump is likely larger. I've been meaning to measure it, but was happy with a low pressure load and its accuracy as was. I got lucky on the second load attempt. I seated the bullet as far out at the maximum of what a hornady die would fit under my extended yolk arm on a forster press. I actually photographed this and sent to forster and told them the extended yolk is not long enough for all dies but not to pirate the thread. I have a big jump as most people do with weatherby mags. I'm not a big fan of these long throated overbore chamberings partially for that reason.

 

[FURMAN]

I would never build a rifle with a 3.6" magazine period but since it is too late for that I would start with max magazine for load development. Once you find the powder charge move back .010 at at time until you find the preferred seating depth.

 

[kcebcj]

rfurman24
I don't quite understand your statement above. I had a wore out Weatherby 300 and the stock magazine is 3.600. I had a Brux barrel installed chambered for the 300 WM and told the smith I wanted the bullet to just touch the lands with the 215 Berger loaded at 3.6. That way I could look for the sweet spot moving away from the lands. For some reason that did not happen and I have .200 jump.

 

[FURMAN]

.

 

[FURMAN]

I'm not sure what you do not understand. To use the case capacity of a win you really need around 3.75". The weatherby needs even more. I'm not in the habit of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars to limit myself.

Obviously your Smith didn't listen to what you wanted.

 

[kcebcj]

OK now I see your point. If I was building a custom rifle you are exactly right getting the bullet as far out as possible. Just using what I have on hand to get a somewhat decent rifle. I think I can get 3.7 to fit as I loaded 3 dummy's and they worked. Thanks for your input.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

Ok, that could be pretty good with that caliber. With my 300 WSM / 10 twist Krieger I stopped at 215 gr. with superb geoups, so no interest to go up. But now I'm corious to give a try to the 230 as well. Good shooting!

What speed did you get with the 215 and what was your COAL? Trying to figure out if it's worthwhile to get a wsm barrel cut for my action or if my 2.95 mag length means I should just build a win mag.

 

[FURMAN]

What speed did you get with the 215 and what was your COAL? Trying to figure out if it's worthwhile to get a wsm barrel cut for my action or if my 2.95 mag length means I should just build a win mag.

In my opinion to make the wsm worth it you need 3.2".

 

[Deleted member 103481]

In my opinion to make the wsm worth it you need 3.2".

Im just trying to figure out how many FPS im getting over a wsm for 2 grand