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Need Testers for New Berger 6mm 87 gr VLD Hunting
- Thread starter Eric Stecker
- Start date
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Just a FYI, I just got done doing some load work on a 6mm-WSM and ran the 87 vld's up to 3800-3900 fps.They all made it too the target at 150 yds.
This was out of a Pac-Nor 4 groove 8.6 twist groups ranged from .5 on up too 2". Also the 105's all survived at up too 3650, these where the hunting version.
Tell us about your rifle ? What are your loads ? I shoot a 6x284 and i thought that was fast !
Okay boys, Back from day two of load development. It was glorious!! Conditions were as close to ideal as they could be for a January morning in Southern Utah. Temperature was 32 Deg. , 59% Humidity, 29.87 Barometric Pressure, Elevation 5600 ft., Wind 1 mph and 6 inches of snow.
I read up on Eric Steckers article concerning VLD seating depths. I followed his instructions and found them to be very accurate with my test results. I found previously that the maximum powder charge for my rifle was 46 grains of H4350. I also found a test article on primer consistency and decided to change over from CCI 200 Large Rifle Primers to CCI BR-2 Primers. Here's the link to that test.
Primer Testing Reference
Here are the test results of varying seat depths with Chronograph velocities. Six loads were developed with each seat depth. Two 3 shot groups were fired with each seat depth as per directions from Eric's Article.
All Loads listed below:
87 grain Berger Hunting VLD
46 grains H4350
Winchester Once fired brass (previously fired in the test rifle)
CCI BR-2 Primers
Load # 1
COAL 2.823"
3269 fps
3268 fps Result .860 Group
3257 fps
3233 fps
3260 fps Result .825 Group
3282 fps
ES. 49 FPS
Load # 2
COAL 2.863"
3254 fps
3261 fps Result .725 Group
3272 fps
3261 fps
3266 fps Result .699 Group
3282 fps
ES. 28 FPS
Load # 3
COAL 2.903"
3309 fps
3290 fps Result .427 Group
3296 fps
3305 fps
3299 fps Result .452 Group
3306 fps
ES 19 FPS!!
Load # 4
3330 fps
3331 fps Result .688 Group
3342 fps
3348 fps
3341 fps Result .711 Group
3353 fps
ES 23 FPS
Here's a picture of the two groups shot that were under a half inch.
I was very pleased to find that the Original Seat depth was the most accurate load. It was a shear guess on my part. Although the BR-2 Primers only lessened the ES by 3 fps, I will take all that I can get. These little bullets seem to shoot really well. I will next test them at three hundred yards. I will also be doing the terminal testing mentioned in my previous posts. I am still designing my testing module. I am getting excited to see how these bullets do in the terminal tests. All indications show that Berger should go ahead with production. I would feel very comfortable shooting these bullet out to 600 - 800 yards. Perhaps even further on a good day such as the one I had this morning.
Until next week, good shooting.
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Its a Model 70 LA with 27" Pac-Nor Barrel
Stock is McMillan A-3. So far I have 2 loads that I Have settled on;
87 Berger VLD with Imr 7828ssc at 3850 and the second is
107 Matchking with RL-25 at 3640
Both are .5 or better. Its definately wild and was difficult to load for. Brass prep is a PITA but in the end it has turned out well, definately not a bench gun but for nuking coyotes its just the ticket.
Stock is McMillan A-3. So far I have 2 loads that I Have settled on;
87 Berger VLD with Imr 7828ssc at 3850 and the second is
107 Matchking with RL-25 at 3640
Both are .5 or better. Its definately wild and was difficult to load for. Brass prep is a PITA but in the end it has turned out well, definately not a bench gun but for nuking coyotes its just the ticket.
I shoot a 6x284 and dang I thought that was fast ! Any how what kind of bbl life can you expect out of that 240 gibbs ?
I got back to the range today, the raining, snowing and blowing calmed for a day.
Conditions were nice but a little breezy. 11f, 30.39pressure, 40% humidity with a
fairly steady 3 mph wind gusting to 15 from 1:30. The snow is getting really deep with
more coming so I wanted to get out. Because of the breeze I didn't bother with the
chronograph, I had chrono'd this load twice before.
My first 2 rounds at 300 yards were 1/2 inch, then the wind hit me and blew the 3rd to 1.92".
I went on to another group.
The next four went into 1.08" with a complete stop in the wind that put one of the five in the
bullseye and opened the group to 1.95"
Then I fired eight rounds without regard to the winds. A 2.785 vertical spread with a
7 inch horizontal. Exactly what JBM spits out for the winds I was experiencing.
Then three rounds at 100 that grouped .43". Taking an average of all the shots fired
at 300 and the average of the shots at 100 for vertical I came out at 3.1635 drop
from 100 to 300. (with a 300 yard zero) Dead on with RSI and FTE calculators using
Bergers supplied BC.
Very pleased with the bullets. No signs of keyholes in any of the 70 rounds fired.
Sako 75 stainless
4x fired sako cases, annealed and trimmed
fed gm primer
37.8 grains IMR4064
2.760 coal, .010 off the lands
2960 fps
no crimp
Conditions were nice but a little breezy. 11f, 30.39pressure, 40% humidity with a
fairly steady 3 mph wind gusting to 15 from 1:30. The snow is getting really deep with
more coming so I wanted to get out. Because of the breeze I didn't bother with the
chronograph, I had chrono'd this load twice before.
My first 2 rounds at 300 yards were 1/2 inch, then the wind hit me and blew the 3rd to 1.92".
I went on to another group.
The next four went into 1.08" with a complete stop in the wind that put one of the five in the
bullseye and opened the group to 1.95"
Then I fired eight rounds without regard to the winds. A 2.785 vertical spread with a
7 inch horizontal. Exactly what JBM spits out for the winds I was experiencing.
Then three rounds at 100 that grouped .43". Taking an average of all the shots fired
at 300 and the average of the shots at 100 for vertical I came out at 3.1635 drop
from 100 to 300. (with a 300 yard zero) Dead on with RSI and FTE calculators using
Bergers supplied BC.
Very pleased with the bullets. No signs of keyholes in any of the 70 rounds fired.
Sako 75 stainless
4x fired sako cases, annealed and trimmed
fed gm primer
37.8 grains IMR4064
2.760 coal, .010 off the lands
2960 fps
no crimp
tnshooter111
Well-Known Member
I have tried the 87gr vld in 2 rifles now with pretty good results.
1st was a old Remington 7400 auto loader. This rifle usually shoots basket ball sized groups at 100 yds with most ammo. I loaded up some 87gr vld bullets about .010 of the lands and hoped for the best. I used federal cases and winchester LR primers filled with H 4831SC. My groups ranged form 1.5 to 2 inch at 100yds, while using 42.6 to 45 gr. 42 gr being the most accurate. The primer pockets loosened greatly from 45 to 44 gr. 1.5 inches is not a good group in my opinion, in most cases but this is the best this rifle has ever shot.
Rifle number 2 is a 20 inch encore in 243 in 1-10 twist. This barrel was made by bullberry barrel works out of Utah and man is it a shooter. It likes bullets from 70 gr to 85. I wanted to shoot the vld bullet in this rifle so today I ran some of the 87gr down the tube. I loaded these bullet just kissing the lands and used H 4831 SC once again. The cases where winchester and I used winchester LR primers. I started my load at 44 gr and the primer flattened and loosened the primer pocket a bit. The 4 shot group equaled a little over a inch. I then backed the load down to 43 gr and it shot great! 4 shots was .8 and 3 of the 4 shots where under half inch. I took this same load out to the 300 yards line and the results where better than i could have hopped for. 4 shots I had one stray but 3 grouped 1.5 inches. This rifle has a 3-9 burris scope on it at the moment and is used for deer and varmint. I feel with more magnification I could even better my groups.
I am planning on trying these bullets in my remington 700 vls but just haven't had the time to mess with it yet.
1st was a old Remington 7400 auto loader. This rifle usually shoots basket ball sized groups at 100 yds with most ammo. I loaded up some 87gr vld bullets about .010 of the lands and hoped for the best. I used federal cases and winchester LR primers filled with H 4831SC. My groups ranged form 1.5 to 2 inch at 100yds, while using 42.6 to 45 gr. 42 gr being the most accurate. The primer pockets loosened greatly from 45 to 44 gr. 1.5 inches is not a good group in my opinion, in most cases but this is the best this rifle has ever shot.
Rifle number 2 is a 20 inch encore in 243 in 1-10 twist. This barrel was made by bullberry barrel works out of Utah and man is it a shooter. It likes bullets from 70 gr to 85. I wanted to shoot the vld bullet in this rifle so today I ran some of the 87gr down the tube. I loaded these bullet just kissing the lands and used H 4831 SC once again. The cases where winchester and I used winchester LR primers. I started my load at 44 gr and the primer flattened and loosened the primer pocket a bit. The 4 shot group equaled a little over a inch. I then backed the load down to 43 gr and it shot great! 4 shots was .8 and 3 of the 4 shots where under half inch. I took this same load out to the 300 yards line and the results where better than i could have hopped for. 4 shots I had one stray but 3 grouped 1.5 inches. This rifle has a 3-9 burris scope on it at the moment and is used for deer and varmint. I feel with more magnification I could even better my groups.
I am planning on trying these bullets in my remington 700 vls but just haven't had the time to mess with it yet.
johnnyk
Well-Known Member
Eric,
Have you gotten all the responses back from the testers? JohnnyK.
Have you gotten all the responses back from the testers? JohnnyK.
partisan1911
Well-Known Member
It would be great to get an update on how they perform and availability. My .243ai with 10" twist just got finished and I haven't even picked out a bullet for it yet.
Long Time Long Ranger
Well-Known Member
Partisan, You can do a search for 87 grain bullet test and find results of my 243 AI with this bullet along with three other cartridges.
johnnyk
Well-Known Member
I sent my results to Michelle but haven't heard from any of the Berger folks. JohnnyK.
rem.xp100
Well-Known Member
I have my write-up in "word" but can't seem to post the pictures here.
All the other forums I post on give me the ability to add pics, choose fonts, colors, etc.. I don't seem to have any of those options here.
Anyway - I can email it to someone to post that knows how to get the charts and pics to show up.
I used a 6BRX with excellent results both with accuracy and terminal performance.
Dan
All the other forums I post on give me the ability to add pics, choose fonts, colors, etc.. I don't seem to have any of those options here.
Anyway - I can email it to someone to post that knows how to get the charts and pics to show up.
I used a 6BRX with excellent results both with accuracy and terminal performance.
Dan
rem.xp100
Well-Known Member
Did anyone ever hear anything back?
I have sent numerous emails with no reply and I never got my free bullets either.
Anyone else??
I have sent numerous emails with no reply and I never got my free bullets either.
Anyone else??
