50grain berger bullets

[adam]

Has anyone tried these? I have a 26inch barrel with a 10 twist and was wondering if they would perform ok?

[BabaOriley]

I shot some of these early last year using H4895 and Varget just to see if they would be stable and they were in my 23" 1:10 Shilen. Late last year I did some workup using Ramshot TAC, and while it doesn't look like TAC is "the" powder for this bullet, I did find one accurate load at 100 yards so far. More testing with this one is needed. I mainly want to test Varget and RL-15 with this bullet now.

50gr Berger HP
2.247" COAL (base to tip) to fit/feed in AR magazine. I have not played with loading these longer. This length is under minimum recommended for this long bullet, but I didn't want to have to single feed in my AR. I probably will load up a ladder to test these at longer lengths. If this load could shoot 1 hole groups it'd be fun at the range.
25.1gr Ramshot TAC
Rem 7 1/2 BR primer
WW brass
~3500fps

Tip for you guys wanting to post text like this without your columns getting all skewed when the message board removes the spaces. Paste your text in between the [c0de]*[/c0de] tags, and your plain text columns will stay aligned.

Code: Select all

+----------------------------- Program Inputs ---------------------------------+
|                                                                              |
+---- Bullet Inputs -----+----Atmosphere Inputs ----+-------Sight Inputs ------+
| Caliber: 0.204 inches  | Temperature:  80 degrees | Sight Height: 1.8 inches |
| Weight:  50 grains     | Pressure: 29.92 inHg     | Zero Range: 200 yards    |
| G7 BC: 0.144 lb/in^2   | Humidity:  75 %          | Look Angle:   0 degrees  |
| G7 Form Factor: 1.192  | Density: 0.07278 lb/ft^3 |                          |
| MZL Velocity:  3500 fps| Wind Speed: 10 mph       |                          |
|                        | Wind Direction: 3 O'clock|                          |
+------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+


+----------------------------- Program Output ---------------------------------+
       Range    Velocity    Energy     Trajectory         TOF          Drift
      (yards)     (fps)     (ft-lb)     (inches)         (sec)       (inches)
          0      3500        1360          -1.80         0.0000         0.00
         25      3414        1294          -0.85         0.0217        -0.05
         50      3329        1230          -0.08         0.0439        -0.19
         75      3245        1169           0.48         0.0668        -0.44
        100      3161        1109           0.85         0.0902        -0.79
        125      3078        1052           0.99         0.1142        -1.25
        150      2997         997           0.91         0.1389        -1.83
        175      2916         944           0.58         0.1643        -2.52
        200      2836         893          -0.00         0.1904        -3.34
        225      2757         844          -0.85         0.2172        -4.29
        250      2680         797          -1.99         0.2448        -5.38
        275      2603         752          -3.43         0.2732        -6.61
        300      2528         710          -5.19         0.3024        -7.98
        325      2454         669          -7.29         0.3325        -9.51
        350      2382         630          -9.75         0.3636       -11.20
        375      2310         593         -12.60         0.3955       -13.06
        400      2240         557         -15.85         0.4285       -15.09
        425      2171         523         -19.54         0.4625       -17.31
        450      2103         491         -23.68         0.4976       -19.71
        475      2037         461         -28.32         0.5338       -22.32
        500      1971         431         -33.48         0.5713       -25.14
        525      1907         404         -39.20         0.6099       -28.18
        550      1844         377         -45.52         0.6499       -31.45
        575      1781         352         -52.47         0.6913       -34.96
        600      1720         328         -60.12         0.7342       -38.73

I've said it before, and I should say it again. I think the spirit of the FAST .204 Ruger is lost when shooting a heavier bullet like this. I know people on this board that can shoot higher BC, heavy bullets in their .223AI at 3800fps or more. Looking at the drop in the chart above, I think there's many other calibers that offer more when pushing 600+ yards. I know I've read about guys getting 6" groups at 800 yards with their LRPV, but how common is that? Do I think I could go out and buy one and do it? NO. Would I spend $2500 to tweak out a Rem or Savage to do it? Not before buying 2 or 3 other calibers I suspect would do it easier. I know someone will say "But you have less recoil in a .204 and it's still effective at 500 yards." Yes, but while still very mild, shooting a 50gr bullet does introduce a little recoil. I hate sounding like I'm trashing the .204, because I'm NOT. I still love it. I just think it has limits many choose to ignore for whatever reason. I guess it can be expected on this forum, which is the best source for info for fans of the .204 Ruger, but let's keep it real guys.

[BabaOriley]

I hope what I said above didn't sound like I'll stop shooting this bullet. I have over 300 left, after picking up 300 at $14/100 with free shipping at Cabelas last fall.

[Guy M]

I believe Berger recommends a 1:9 twist for their 50 gr and a 1:8 twist for their 55 gr .204 bullets.

Some guys have trouble getting the 40 gr V-Max to stabilize in their 1:10 twist rifles - but it is a long bullet for 40 grains.

[Rick in Oregon]

I have not and will not try the 50's (too slow for varmints for me), but my 11 twist 204 just loves the 40gr V-Max's, producing nice round groups, but they shoot very sloooow in my rifle.



I've got 500 40gr V-Max's in the original unopened boxes I'll trade for Noslers or Sierra BK's. Anyone interested?