Lets shoot in the Wind...new 230gr Bergers at work

[cwinner]

I have been shooting a factory stock 30-378 for the past few yars and have been really sucessful. since the debut of the new 230gr Berger bullets I have been waiting for and finally got that windy day!! Temps is the low 40's with a consistant 10mph crosswind gusting to 20 I have come to realize that most people exadurate the wind, a 10 mph wind is pretty stiff and I can honestly say I have never taken a shot at game under such conditions. We were measuring cross wind with a kestrel 4500 wind meter and my son was calling the gusts and I tried to fire on a consistant 10mph for reference.
First up was 600 yds.....dialed my elevation and 3 MOA into the wind and let go a nice three shot group (little low right) of 180gr Barnes TTSX, that has been my go to load for a couple years.

Next up I were the 200gr Barnes TTSX, left the 3 MOA wind but have to hold another MIL higher due to various zeros between the loads.....got a nice two shot group with some horizontal stringing....it was gusty.

Last came the 230 gr Bergers, kept the same wind and aiming point for the 200gr TTSX and they shot Left!! Almost 2 full MOA better than the 200gr and they defeniately shot inside the 180's......this is about as strait forward a test of BC in the field that I can think of....here is a picutre. You can see the splash signature of the berger bullets as they fragment upon impact versus the Barnes solid copper.

Both the 200 TTSX and 230gr Bergers are being pushed by 105.0gr RETUMBO and Federal 215M Primers out of my stock Accumark 30-378. The 200's clock about 3200 and the 230's just over 3150avg.






Next lets move to 800 yds.....once again the 180TTSX with 11.75 MOA up and 7MOA into the wind.....fire three rounds....not bad but defeniately stringing.( Still a bit low, I may need to check my zero).


I tried to paint the steel between ranges by my spray paint can did not work well in the cold!!....I upped the MOA to a full 15 MOA UP and reduced the wind to 5MOA into the wind. Three shot group of bergers shows very little verticle but quite a bit of horizantal stringing, remember its gusting an honest 10-20 mph...ok Now I am realy liking them this time 2 MOA less dope and shot left of the dot. The wind was from left to right. Finally three 200gr TTSX with the same dope....way right a couple really close but the third one was in the leg of my target STAND!!


800 yds


As these results prove, a higher BC rules in the wind!! Needless to say I'm pretty impressed with all three loads.........all shooting done prone with a stock rifle and Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20 TMR scope. Not a bunch of fancy stuff, just pulling the trigger and observing results!!


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[brentc]

Nice job. I've enjoyed similar results with the 230 Bergers.

 

[preddhunter]

nice might have to pick up some 230 for my 300wm and your pics are not working

 

[Derek M.]

hmmm, I don't see any pics. I want to test the 230s in my 300 RUM

 

[cwinner]

I think I got the pictures figured out!

 

[REDHEAD]

The fact that you got on the steel @ that distances impresses the **** out of me. Good shooting. gun)

 

[REDHEAD]

Not particularly sure , but they all look good ! Seems to me if you picked anyone of the 3 and shot only that ONE , you would do extremely well no matter what. Good shooting . Wish I that young. gun)

 

[Broz]

Good report cwinner, We have enjoyed their wind bucking abilities too. I have tried many bullets at many velocities and you cant beat weight and BC in the wind. Your test proves this as the lighter lower BC bullets were not even close at any distance. Two MOA at 600 yards better! Imagine the difference at 1000 plus!!

I was trying to remember the wind speed when my son took his bull this year with the 230's from his 300 win. It was screaming tho. the shooter program had us spot on, only 511 yards but look at the placement.

He also took this antelope at 738 with a full value wind at 14 mph with the 230's.

Thanks for the report, it was a good test and good solid data like this needs to be posted. It represents how things really are in the field.

Jeff

 

[yobuck]

i tend to agree with redhead. they all shot pretty good. you wont fully get the advantage of heavier bullets untill you get to distances over 1000 yds.
at the closer distances with cartridges like your 30x378 it dosent make a world of difference.
they get there so fast at 800 yds none would cause you much problems unless the wind was really howling.
id be shooting whatever shot best at those distances.
ive been shooting long barreled 30x378s for over 25 years.
point id be making is how many of those shots would have been a first round hit on say a deer?
the deer wouldnt care what bullet you shot would he.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Dang, that's some impressive velocity with the 230! About all I can squeeze out of my RUM is 2,950 and it's hot. I agree with Broz though, I'm still better off with the B/C and the weight that helps produce the extra energy. Less powder and throat wear with the heavier bullets too.

 

[cwinner]

Agreed to all your comments, I have been usig the 180gr TTSX for the last few years and just got to thinking it would be fun to try something different. This was only my second time out with the 200 and 230's and I wanted to shoot them in the wind to prove what my ballistic charts were telling me.

Moving forward I may keep working on the 200gr TTSX as I'm getting some real good accuracy, of course I will have to re-work my drop chart. I have the 180's worked out to 1200yds based on actual shooting and agree with the comment about first round hits....my personal first shot limit on game is 600 yds.

All in all it was fun and I thought I would share my results.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Agreed to all your comments, I have been usig the 180gr TTSX for the last few years and just got to thinking it would be fun to try something different. This was only my second time out with the 200 and 230's and I wanted to shoot them in the wind to prove what my ballistic charts were telling me.

Moving forward I may keep working on the 200gr TTSX as I'm getting some real good accuracy, of course I will have to re-work my drop chart. I have the 180's worked out to 1200yds based on actual shooting and agree with the comment about first round hits....my personal first shot limit on game is 600 yds.

All in all it was fun and I thought I would share my results.

Just a thought: The TSX's are great and very accurate bullets. But, if you intend on taking game farther than 700 yards at the velocity you're running, they just won't open up enough. They will punch nice, clean, small holes through animals though. I've done lots of penetration tests with the 180 TSX at 3300fps and I found beyond 700 yards they just didn't open enough. At 1,100 yards into a chunk of fir firewood the tip was not even noticeably damaged. This is when I switched to the 210VLD. You may not be intending on shooting that far anyway. Like I said, the TSX's are great performing bullets when impact velocity is kept up. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Broz]

Just a thought: The TSX's are great and very accurate bullets. But, if you intend on taking game farther than 700 yards at the velocity you're running, they just won't open up enough. They will punch nice, clean, small holes through animals though. I've done lots of penetration tests with the 180 TSX at 3300fps and I found beyond 700 yards they just didn't open enough. At 1,100 yards into a chunk of fir firewood the tip was not even noticeably damaged. This is when I switched to the 210VLD. You may not be intending on shooting that far anyway. Like I said, the TSX's are great performing bullets when impact velocity is kept up. Just my 2 cents.

This has been my experience with solids as well. And I have tracked some elk a long ways from a penciling through solid. The solids are fine, especially if you are hunting the dark timbers where shots will be close, but if you come out in the open and the Bull is on the next ridge you want them DRT! Down Right There! This is why I shoot Bergers too. They increase my success chances greatly.

Jeff

 

[Tumbleweed]

Here's some numbers for the 230 Hybrid Target running 3150 fps at 1000 yards based off of a 200 yard zero at sea level. Yours may be the OTM and not the Target version (they're different).

196.5" of drop, 1985fps, 2012ft.lbs

This has the potential to take elk from 1200-1300 yards cleanly if the shooter is exerienced and capable. And this is at sea level, higher altitudes the numbers improve. I know what I'd do!lightbulb