77gr Berger & 77gr SMK's

[mildot]

Im Having trouble getting the .223 77gr SMK's but i can get Berger 77gr!

 

Question is how similar are these bullets?

 

I cant get 75gr Amax or 69gr Smk's to shoot but the 77gr SMks do but as stated i cant get hold of any so im looking for something that will be as close to them as possible and the 77gr Berger appears to be similar!

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[firestarter]

Do you mean the 73g Bergers? If so i've found them to be an excellent alternative to the 75g amax with the bonus of being able to load to mag length.

No problems with stability in a 1-9 twist either. 24.5g of Varget worked well in my rifle. Also consider the 70g Berger VLD which is an excellent bullet!

[Laurie]

I found both Lapua and Berger 77s to give very similar performance to the SMK, that is they all grouped very well indeed in an SSR-15 with a Lilja 1-8"T match barrel and produced similar velocities. They all have near identical shapes as their primary purpose and market is common - US Service Rifle competition with rounds loaded to mag length and capable of coping with a large jump into the leade in a Wylde or similar chamber.

 

That's not to say that your barrel might not prefer one make over another due to minor differences in jacket thickness, bearing surface diameter and suchlike.I'd give the Bergers a try with your present load dropping it maybe 1.0 or 1.5gn and working back up in small steps.

[mildot]

I guessed they would be all similar but you can never tell...

 

If i cant get any 77gr SMK i will try the alternatives.

 

Cheers for the info guys