Berger .338 250gr OTM

[shoots_5]

Just ordered a couple of boxes of these to test out in my 338 LM. After running them through my ballistic program if I can achieve 3000fps then they will kick the crap out of the 300gr bullets for downrange performance. At 1000 yards it's showing to be 6 MOA flatter with a full 1 MOA less wind drift compared to my load with the 300 AccuBond. Not to mention less recoil with a lighter bullet....

Hopefully real life will come close to the theoretical....I'll keep you posted with results when I get them and get a chance to do some testing. Now if I could just get my hands on some RL33 to test with them......

 

[IdahoCTD]

I got some from my buddy who got rid of his .338 Lapua.

 

[shoots_5]

Have you shot any yet? How did they perform for you?

 

[IdahoCTD]

I haven't shot any yet. I still have to finish breaking in my Edge. Maybe this weekend.

 

[shoots_5]

I emailed berger to see if they had any load data for use with this bullet. They sent me some quickload data, but it seems pretty anemic.... For example when comparing their data to the Sierra book they list the max charge of H1000 at 90.1 with a velocity of 2834 and case fill of 106% while the Sierra book lists a max of 100.1gr and velocity of 3000fps. Now I know there are differences in loading manuals, but 10 full grains seemed like a really big difference! Not to mention that if 90.1 is that compressed, how could you fit 10 more grains in the case? So I guess what I'm getting at is now I'm not sure where to start. I have to think I can achieve better velocity than what they sent me? Do you think there is that much difference in loading between the SMK and the berger hybrid?

 

[IdahoCTD]

You should be able to use this data from a .338 RUM in your Lapua.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index. ... sg36057841

 

[IdahoCTD]

BTW I've easily shot 90gr of H-1000 in my Edge with 300gr SMK's and it's short throated for 250's. My buddy has shot as high as 96gr but you throw the cases away after one firing. His go to load was 90gr with 300gr SMK's and with the short throat it's about 100% fill. So your throat is going to determine what you can load to a degree. The guy with a Edge in that thread shot 95.5gr of H-1000.

 

[JD338]

Sounds like an interesting bullet.

My go to load on my 338 RUM with the 250 gr AB is 98.6 grs Retumbo. The AB is 2980 fps and the 250 gr PT is 3024 fps.
Retumbo might be worth a look.

JD338

 

[shoots_5]

That will definitely be in the mix. I think I'll try some 4831sc and 7828 since I have some on hand. I'm glad to see that getting velocities around 3000 is looking like a realistic goal. I'll post some ballistic comparisons when I get a chance. The 250 OTM is pretty impressive at 3000fps....

 

[shoots_5]

All data shown with 10mph full value wind.
Berger 250gr OTM @ 3000fps
Range (yd) Path (in) Path (moa) Drift (in) Drift (moa) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft-lbs) TOF (s)
2000 -1583 U75.6 297.1 L14.2 1051 613.1 3.448
1900 -1350 U67.9 259.1 L13.0 1091.8 661.7 3.167
1800 -1146 U60.8 224.1 L11.9 1159.3 746 2.899
1700 -968.3 U54.4 192.8 L10.8 1237.5 850 2.649
1600 -813 U48.5 164.9 L9.8 1319.6 966.6 2.414
1500 -677.8 U43.2 140.1 L8.9 1405 1095.7 2.193
1400 -560.4 U38.2 118.2 L8.1 1493 1237.2 1.986
1300 -458.3 U33.7 98.7 L7.3 1583.7 1392.1 1.791
1200 -370.4 U29.5 81.6 L6.5 1676.4 1560 1.607
1100 -294.8 U25.6 66.6 L5.8 1771.5 1742 1.433
1000 -230.2 U22.0 53.5 L5.1 1869.2 1939.5 1.268
900 -175.7 U18.6 42.2 L4.5 1969.1 2152.4 1.112
800 -130.1 U15.5 32.4 L3.9 2071.8 2382.5 0.963
700 -92.5 U12.6 24.2 L3.3 2177.6 2632.1 0.822
600 -62.3 U9.9 17.3 L2.7 2286.1 2901.1 0.687
500 -38.8 U7.4 11.7 L2.2 2397.6 3191 0.559
400 -21.3 U5.1 7.3 L1.7 2512 3502.7 0.437
300 -9.3 U3.0 4 L1.3 2630 3839.4 0.32
200 -2.3 U1.1 1.7 L0.8 2750.5 4199.5 0.209
100 0 0 0.4 L0.4 2873.7 4584 0.102
0 -1.8 0 0 0 3000 4995.8 0


300gr AccuBond @ 2700fps
Range (yd) Path (in) Path (moa) Drift (in) Drift (moa) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft-lbs) TOF (s)
2000 -2090.1 U99.8 347.2 L16.6 1003.5 670.8 3.905
1900 -1791.2 U90.0 307.8 L15.5 1034.3 712.6 3.609
1800 -1524.9 U80.9 270.7 L14.4 1069.7 762.2 3.323
1700 -1289 U72.4 236 L13.3 1111.2 822.4 3.047
1600 -1081.7 U64.6 204 L12.2 1159.7 895.9 2.782
1500 -900 U57.3 174.6 L11.1 1216.1 985.2 2.53
1400 -741.7 U50.6 147.8 L10.1 1280 1091.4 2.289
1300 -605.1 U44.5 123.8 L9.1 1350.8 1215.3 2.061
1200 -487.1 U38.8 102.4 L8.1 1428.2 1358.7 1.844
1100 -386.5 U33.6 83.5 L7.3 1511.4 1521.5 1.64
1000 -301 U28.7 67 L6.4 1599.9 1705.1 1.447
900 -229 U24.3 52.6 L5.6 1693.3 1909.9 1.265
800 -169.4 U20.2 40.4 L4.8 1790.7 2135.9 1.093
700 -120.5 U16.4 30 L4.1 1892.2 2384.9 0.93
600 -81.2 U12.9 21.4 L3.4 1997.5 2657.8 0.775
500 -50.8 U9.7 14.4 L2.8 2106.1 2954.5 0.629
400 -28.1 U6.7 9 L2.1 2218.3 3277.7 0.49
300 -12.6 U4.0 4.9 L1.6 2333.2 3626.3 0.359
200 -3.4 U1.6 2.1 L1.0 2452 4004.7 0.233
100 0 0 0.5 L0.5 2574.1 4413.6 0.114
0 -1.8 0 0 0 2700 4855.9 0


Berger 300 OTM @ 2700fps
Range (yd) Path (in) Path (moa) Drift (in) Drift (moa) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft-lbs) TOF (s)
2000 -1864.8 U89.1 259.9 L12.4 1033.9 712.1 3.698
1900 -1598.7 U80.4 228.9 L11.5 1063.1 752.9 3.411
1800 -1363.4 U72.3 199.6 L10.6 1106.9 816.1 3.133
1700 -1156.4 U65.0 172.7 L9.7 1171.9 914.7 2.869
1600 -974.8 U58.2 148.4 L8.9 1243.4 1029.9 2.62
1500 -815.8 U51.9 126.7 L8.1 1318 1157 2.386
1400 -676.8 U46.2 107.3 L7.3 1395.2 1296.6 2.164
1300 -555.9 U40.8 90 L6.6 1474.6 1448.3 1.955
1200 -450.9 U35.9 74.7 L5.9 1556.1 1612.9 1.757
1100 -360.2 U31.3 61.2 L5.3 1639.6 1790.7 1.569
1000 -282.4 U27.0 49.3 L4.7 1725 1982.1 1.391
900 -216.5 U23.0 39 L4.1 1812.2 2187.6 1.221
800 -161.1 U19.2 30.1 L3.6 1901.6 2408.6 1.06
700 -115.3 U15.7 22.6 L3.1 1992.9 2645.6 0.906
600 -78.2 U12.4 16.2 L2.6 2086.8 2900.6 0.758
500 -49.1 U9.4 11 L2.1 2182.8 3173.6 0.618
400 -27.4 U6.5 6.9 L1.7 2280.9 3465.3 0.484
300 -12.3 U3.9 3.8 L1.2 2382.1 3779.7 0.355
200 -3.3 U1.6 1.7 L0.8 2485.3 4114.2 0.232
100 0 0 0.4 L0.4 2591.5 4473.4 0.113
0 -1.8 0 0 0 2700 4855.9 0

 

[shoots_5]

Got my bullets in the mail last night. Thought I'd post up a comparison picture....they are pretty sleek looking little suckers! I'm liking the small bearing surface. Should make for some good velocities!

Listed BC is G1 .682, G7 .349

 

[IdahoCTD]

The down side to overly aggressive bullets is they tend to be more finicky on seating depth to get them to shoot. From the link I sent you it looks like a lot of people were around .020" off of the lands.

If it doesn't rain too much this weekend I might test drive a few too. I'm still waiting on my Talley rings and some new brass for my .284 so I can play with my .338 Edge a bit.

 

[shoots_5]

Well, had a chance to do a bit of loading tonight. These are touching the lands at 3.84", but the longest I can seat them and still for fit them in the magazine is 3.75". Loaded some up with 89gr of H4831SC. Should be just under 3000fps. Hopefully I'll get a chance to shoot this weekend and see how they fly! If accuracy isn't there then I'll play with seating them out longer and shooting it as a single shot, but hopefully it will all come together and I can seat them to mag length.

 

[JD338]

shoots_5

Nice comparison photo of the AB and VLD's.

JD338