2015 Load Development.

[jay666d]

I'm kicking the year off with a new 1in7 barrel for my .223!

 

I'm going to develop loads for bullets around 80Gr... I have 10 Amax bullet heads but I think getting more might be difficult... I assume that these are like Hens Teeth at the minute!?

 

Instead I think I will try the Berger 82Gr bullet heads... I had a lot of luck with the Berger 70Gr VLD's thru my 1in9!

[baldie]

I will give you a selection of Berger, Hornady, and sierra bullets to try in it. Don't worry.

 

It goes to proof on Monday.

[Laurie]

If looking at Bergers, use the Berger 80.5gn BT Fullbore rather than the older 82gn version. The 80.5 is far superior and shoots well in most match quality barrels throated for this weight bullet.

[firedoc]

+1 on the Berger 80.5 BT Fullbore use them in our Savage 1 in 7 good speed and accuracy.

[jay666d]

Thanks Dave! You're a good 'un! :-) I'm very excited!

 

Thanks Laurie & Firedoc for your input! What makes it a better bullet?

 

I was purely going off their BC's, but I think your experiences count for far more!

[Laurie]

I was purely going off their BC's, but I think your experiences count for far more!

 

 

??

 

Berger quotes G7 average BCs of 0.234 for the 80.5 and 0.227 for the 82gn BT.

 

The 80.5 has been designed to do the same job as the 30 cal 155.5 BT Fullbore, that is optimised for those ICFRA / Fullbore disciplines which specify .308 Win and .223 Rem with bullet weight ceilings. Like its big brother, Berger seems to have got the design very right giving a flexible and high-performance design that suits most barrel configurations and a wide velocity range. The 82 is an older design and as they're not too far apart on their dimensions, it looks like Bryan Litz 'tweaked' its shape a bit to produce an ICFRA compliant weight whilst adding in some worthwhile minor improvements.

[jay666d]

Hmm, I got my BC's from the Berger Website and it says 80.5Gr as .223 & 82Gr as .227... But I suppose, there's not a lot in it either way and the bullet design probably comes in to it!

 

But on your advice, I'll definatly give the 80.5's a go! :-)

[Laurie]

Yes, Berger seems to have downrated the 80.5 slightly in its latest data. I use Berger's 'Quick Reference Sheet' from a year back which was downloadable as an Adobe pdf and put dimensions and BCs of the entire range into two A4 sheets.

 

That makes sense. It looks like Berger took the 82 and simply downscaled it marginally to put it into the Fullbore 'less than 81gn' ceiling. Their 'form factor' (i7) values which is the drag related ballistic efficiency rating which lets you ignore the weight related aspect (SD divided by BC) are 1.026 for the 80.5 and 1.029 for the 82, so close as to be identical within normal testing accuracy parameters.

 

So I'd say use whichever one you can get cheaper or more readily and see how it gets on. It makes few odds in the UK unless you shoot high level Target Rifle where weight ceilings apply. Some countries (Canada and Australia) apply weight limits to FTR though hence the need for a really efficient 80 grainer.

[jay666d]

Excellent, thanks again! :-)