6mm 95gr. Berger Reloading Issues

coues7

New member
I have a good friend who has been a long range shooter for some time. He is a self taught reloader and has done amazingly well. His rifle is a factory Ruger M77 with a factory barrel. The rifle is chambered in 243 Win with a 1:9 with barrel.

He was shooting the 90 gr. Nosler BT's at 3000 fps using IMR 4831. His groups were 3/8" @ 100 yards so we know the rifle can shoot. He recently decided to go with the 95 gr. Berger Hunting VLD in an effort to get a better BC.

No he can't get the rifle to shoot anything smaller than a 1" group. He's used H4350, H4831-SC and IMR 4831. Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks,
Scott
 
Work on the COAL. I think the powder choice is good. Right now I am running 46.5 grains of H4831 with a 95 grain nosler ballistic tip using the federal 210 primers. These are with a 6mm remington.

One other thought is to change out brass. It gets to a point where the brass needs to be annealed or new brass needs to be brought in.

These are just some thoughts, hope it helps.
 
The VLD bullets need to be jammed hard into the lands. I usually go for .040" into the lands. They also should be shot at 300 yards or more. Their performance at 100 yards is pretty meaningless.

Jack
 
In the multitude of rifles i have fired this bullet out of....by far most of them prefer the bullet seated quite deep into the lands. I have also had one 6mmx.284 barrel that just would not shoot it at all. .030"-.040" into the lands is normally where I start with new development.
John
 
Originally Posted By: pcammoIn the multitude of rifles i have fired this bullet out of....by far most of them prefer the bullet seated quite deep into the lands. I have also had one 6mmx.284 barrel that just would not shoot it at all. .030"-.040" into the lands is normally where I start with new development.
John
+1
With VLD bullets .040" jammed into the lands is where I start. That is usually about where I end up also.

Jack
 
I notice most are saying Jam into the Lands, They also have a process on there web page that tells the process of load development they reccommend. My 308 likes .070 of Jump, But I cannot Jam them into the Lands and still fit the loaded rounds into my magazine, They are too long if I jam them, And then my gun is a Single shot. They are fusy to load for in my opinion, But you will find a spot that works.
 
Go to Berger's website and read the article on VLDs.I too was a disciple of the jam method till I tried the suggestions Berger makes regarding seating depth. Good luck.

Brute
 
I have tried, and will continue to try load development with the bullet seated off the lands. It is just one of those thing that has not worked for me in any of the barrels I have tried it with. I have heard of folks changing the lead angle and having good success with short seated tangential bullets. It is something I may try some day.
John
 
I had A 6mm Remington that would not shoot the Berger VLD bullets not matter what I did. I shoot bergers in just about everything especially my long range stuff. My rifles all like between .001-.010 off the lands but I have to single shot it with them. But On my 6mm I went to a
105gr A-max Shoots great and has a pretty good bc.
 
I wouldn't kill myself looking for a VLD load if they don't group well after some effort, go back to a bullet and load that does shoot in that barrel. I know a guy that is going to custom ream his chambers just for VLDs. You gotta have the throat and angles just right for these bullets to work. Not to say they don't work for some factory rifles. Sounds like a picky bullet to me.

 
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Originally Posted By: Brant308I had A 6mm Remington that would not shoot the Berger VLD bullets not matter what I did. I shoot bergers in just about everything especially my long range stuff. My rifles all like between .001-.010 off the lands but I have to single shot it with them. But On my 6mm I went to a
105gr A-max Shoots great and has a pretty good bc.


I never tried the bergers, but the 107 smk just wont work for me in my 6mm rem. The 105 amax did shoot well, the 95 nbt also shoot well.
 
there is a thread on longrangehunting by eric strecker on how the find the correct seating depth with the bergers. the 90s shot 3/8s at 100?? how did they do further out? i use varget and I-4064 in my .243. lapua brass. also it has a 12 twist. i won my first 1000 yard match with 88 bergers and 87 hornady hollow points.
 
I have not been able to get the 95g Bergers to shoot well in two 243's, tried everything...gave the balance of the bullets away to someone on this forum.

coues7, If your friend is getting 3/8" groups with noslers, should just be very happy.

Eric, could not have said it better myself!
 
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Originally Posted By: BruteGo to Berger's website and read the article on VLDs.I too was a disciple of the jam method till I tried the suggestions Berger makes regarding seating depth. Good luck.

Brute

This worked well for me. Berger's site contains excellent advice on how to find the correct seating depth (critical with VLD bullets) without too much trouble. I was able to get both of my 6mms (Cooper M22 in 6mm Remington and a 6mm AR Turbo 40)to shoot very well with 95gr VLDs. The Cooper is 1:10 twist and the Turbo 40 is 1:8. Both shoot the VLDs sub 1/2 MOA.
 
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