Berger 30 Caliber Hybrids - First Impressions

Tuesday the UPS man brought me a little present. Upon opening the package I discovered two boxes of the new 30 caliber Hybrids from Berger Bullets. One box contained 100 of their new 168 grain offering and the other, the new 155. I admit to being more than a little eager to see the new 168's, it's been twenty-five years since I shot any, so I opened it's yellow box first. I was immediately struck by two things as I began to examine these projectiles. One was the overall length, the other was the design of the boattail. Check out this (slightly blurry) photo You can clearly see the Berger, on the right is much longer (.054" average) than one of my thirty year old SMK's and the boattail is not only longer but the base is larger than the Sierra as well. The listed G1 BC for the new Berger is an eye opening .519 as seen here Using my Denver Instruments 123 digital scale I quickly weighed all 100 pieces. The average weight was 168.08 grns. The meplats appear very uniform and tight. I was trying to decide what charge weight of Varget I would start with, my old Sierra load had been with 44.0 grns. of IMR 4895 and after looking at the burn rate chart as well as speaking with my friend Mid Tompkins I decided on 44.00 grns. Generally I tend not to push the higher pressure side so much anymore however I should be left with some room to experiment with more powder if necessary.

Having satisfied my initial curiosity about the 168's I turned my attention to the new 155 Hybrids. As I opened the box and began to examine the contents, I began wondering just how much difference there was between it and the other fine offerings from Berger, namely the 155 VLD and the 155.5 Fullbore, both of which I have shot extensively. So I got out a Sierra #2156 and placed it alongside the three Bergers and got a good picture of them here It wasn't until laying them side by side did the real differences begin to surface. For example note the deviations of the boattail shapes as well as the differing bearing surface lengths not to mention the ogives. Next I ran them over the scale and found the average weight for this box to be 155.06 grns. Once again, as I have come to expect from the folks at Berger, the meplats were very well formed and the opening's tight.

I began to assemble the cartridges for my live fire testing at a 600 yard match this coming Saturday. For a number of years I have used Lapua cases and CCI BR-2 primers and did so for this test. Since my seating die was already set for the 2156's I loaded what will be my first string to establish a baseline elevation zero. I have found that 45.84 grns. of Varget is a very accurate load in my rifle with not only the Sierra's but also the VLD and the Fullbore's. Then I seated a 155 Hybrid into a dummy case and tried to chamber it in my Palma gun. I knew when it closed hard that it was probably stuck in the barrel and it was. So after knocking it out and trying a few more at shorter seat lengths I found that seating the new Hybrid .020 shorter than the Sierra gave me a slight jam but I could remove the round intact. After loading that set for my second string with the charge weight mentioned above I then discovered that the 168 would use the same setting on my seating die as the 155 did. So I re-adjusted my Redding powder measure to throw closer to the 44.0 weight I wanted and finished loading my last test string.

I'm hoping for favorable wind conditions tomorrow, since I plan to do some additional testing at the 1000 yardline after the match. No matter the condition I feel as if I should be able to get a good feel for how these new offerings will perform, especially in my 13 twist barrel, as the packaging recommends a 12 or faster

I will have the results of my testing up tomorrow or Sunday so check back!

RCurtis

Warning!!! Your rifle is not the same as my rifle, so don’t assume the pressure will be the same.

Always follow the recipes in your loading manual and DO NOT EXCEED MAXIMUM

CHARGES.

UPDATE- The Little Powerhouse Reamer Print

To those of you who have requested information on the 6BRX reamer I have attached the print here
Since I am not a neck turner I wanted the .273" no turn neck dimension. This is a slightly different reamer than the first one Doan Trevor used. I borrowed this reamer from a local friend and have found it to be the equal of the original. Mid Tompkins did the work on this barrel.

RCurtis

Veterans Team Tryouts Phoenix AZ

Yesterday I went out to Ben Avery to catch up with the Veterans Team hopefuls. The wind had been docile for most of the day but when the squads reached the 1000 yard line it was a now time for the coaches to earn there pay. I talked to Team Captain Eddie Newman about the teams chances in Australia in October and he seemed to be pretty confident that we would have a very competitive group. Especially with the assistance of some of the Palma Team coaches as well as a few of there shooters.

For a look at some of the action click here

The next Vet Team Tryout, which I believe is the last one, will be in Lodi in two weeks. Good luck to all those trying out and to our Teams efforts overseas in October!

RCurtis

The Little Powerhouse!

I have received a number of questions as to what the rifle, barrel and particularly what caliber I am currently shooting. Since there appears to be some interest in this information I will spend the next few minutes talking about what I think is the best mid and long range cartridge going, the mighty 6BRX. NOTE!!! All loading data described herein has proven to be safe in MY rifle, I would urge anyone to observe the standard "work up too" rules for any new caliber or load! This includes starting at least one grain below any charge weights listed here.

A Little Background

Just over three years ago I had a new barrel installed on my trusty Sitman stocked Remington 40XB chambered in 6BR. I had been shooting the 6BR for over two years and just loved the low recoiling super accurate cartridge. When I loaded up some dummy rounds to get my COAL on the new chamber I discovered that the gunsmith who did the work had given me a far shorter throat length than I had requested. I had been using the Berger 105 VLD's with great success but with the shortened throat the boattail / bearing surface junction was now well below the neck shoulder junction on my Lapua cases. I shot a couple of local club matches which yielded some disappointing results. There were also some other issues with the work that had been done so with my confidence in this particular smith a little low, I picked up the phone and called my good friend Doan Trevor

Doan to the Rescue

At that time Doan lived in California, very near a smallbore range that hosted half a dozen matches that I attended every year, and he told me to bring my Remy along on the next trip and he would see what he could do. When I got to Doan's house the following month we sat and talked about a new reamer he had and he wanted to know if I would be interested in trying an "improved Version" of the 6BR. Aside from being a little weak at 1000 yards, I told Doan that I was very happy with the standard BR and just what improvement was he talking about. When he told me that I could expect even better mid range performance AND have a very competitive equal to the 6XC at a 1000 without changing loading dies, I said yes without hesitation. When I picked up my rifle the following month Doan said "It should be okay", when I pressed him on what that meant he started speaking gunsmith language about centers and existing chamber cuts and what not. Apparently I must have begun to exhibit a confused look so he just patted me on the back, went over the brass fire-forming procedure again and told me to "Just go win something with this thing"!

The BRX is Born

After arriving home with my new "baby", per Doan's instructions, I purchased a new expander mandrel (6.5mm) and began expanding the necks on some new Lapua cases. The idea, Doan said, was to expand the necks fully then with bushings step the upper half, back down to 6mm (.237). He wanted me to have the false shoulder just long enough to affect a crush fit upon closing the bolt. This would insure the brass would be held firmly in place to form correctly. After a bit of fiddling around I got the new neck length perfect and finished off the entire set. Only lost one case to a split neck during the process. After priming the cases (CCI BR-4's) I loaded 32.50 grains of Varget as Doan had suggested, seated my 105's to jam slightly and I was ready to try out my new "Wildcat". Doan had told me that I could expect great accuracy during fire-forming using this false shoulder method so with the first annual (April 2008) State Mid Range Championships only a couple of weeks away I thought I would give them a try in a club 500 yard match. As you can see by the results here fire-forming using this method is no hindrance to match winning scores! 

A Time to Brag

Since that day in early March of 2008 I have been blessed with many success's shooting this little cartridge. I have earned victories in four State Championship, (two Mid Range 2008-11, one F Class Palma 2009 and one Long Range 2010), six National Records, and I have had an unbroken string of mid range victories going back to June 2010. I will be the first to tell you that I am not the best wind reader nor do I think I have any special holding skills. I will tell you that I feel, (read that as no science to back it up), the extra room in a BRX case makes it the perfect combustion chamber and it can more than make up for my wind reading and holding errors. I have slowly evolved the charge weight up to the current one of 32.80 grains of Varget, and I feel this is near the point of causing premature brass loss due to pressure. This is yielding a velocity of 3020 fps in my Krieger 1-8 medium Palma taper barrel using molied Berger 105 VLD's (hunting). I'm now on my second barrel, the first one gave me over 3000 rounds and it was still shooting when I took it off last summer.

Some Final Thoughts

In my opinion if you want to be a good Palma shooter do not get one of these BRX's chambered up. It shoots so much inside of a 308 you will be lost if you switch back and forth. On the other hand if you want an easy to load for mid and long range cartridge with just a tad more recoil than a .223, the BRX is a very smart choice. Also, when I say easy to load for, I must confess to being a reloading minimalist. I don't weigh brass or bullets and I don't turn necks or clean primer pockets. I will on occasion trim cases but usually only when I start feeling guilty about not having done it for awhile. I just tumble the fired brass to clean, size and bump the shoulders .002, prime, weigh powder charges and seat, and I usually do all that the morning of the match!
Early on I used to try to chase the lands to keep a little jam on the VLD but for the last six months I stopped doing that and it still shoots great. All in all I'm very happy with the brass and barrel life, the accuracy with the 105's is incredible. The Varget charge weights reflect all the same lot of powder.

If you have any other questions  or need any clarification about this great cartridge just let me know,

RCurtis

2011 Az State Mid Range Championship Final Results

Weather was again warm, the wind was a factor although a little less velocity than yesterday. Several National Records were shot. I will try to get some pics up over the next few days. The victory dinner was epic and now it's time to sleep for 20 hours!

ARIZONA STATE MIDRANGE CHAMPIONSHIP

                                 16-17 APRIL 2011

                   ****************************************

                                 FINAL RESULTS

                            600 IRON     500 IRON     300 IRON     IRON AGG     600 ANY      500 ANY      300 ANY      ANY AGG      Grand AGG.

             ------- C A HM  ------- 

RICK CURTIS           C A HM 148-3        150-6        150-11       448-20       150-9        150-12       150-13       450-34       898-54 

PETER CHURCH       G  C A HM 148-4        149-6        150-9        447-19       150-6        150-6        148-6        448-18       895-37  

STEVE MCGEE        S  C A HM 148-6        146-7        150-11       444-24       146-5        150-4        149-10       445-19       889-43 

LEO CEBULA         S  C A HM 148-6        148-8        148-5        444-19       148-7        148-7        148-6        444-20       888-39     

LARRY MILLER       S  C A HM 147-3        147-5        149-6        443-14       148-8        148-6        149-8        445-22       888-36     

RANDY TEISSEDRE       C A HM 148-5        145-5        146-7        439-17       149-9        148-7        150-12       447-28       886-45     

FELIX SOLIS        S  C A HM 149-7        148-6        147-8        444-21       147-5        147-5        148-10       442-20       886-41     

EDDIE NEWMAN       S  C A HM 148-9        148-5        146-7        442-21       148-5        148-5        148-7        444-17       886-38     

BILL OTTEN         S  C A HM 147-6        147-6        148-6        442-18       146-3        148-7        148-5        442-15       884-33     

SHIRLEY McGEE      SW C A HM 147-7        146-2        149-7        442-16       146-5        147-2        145-2        438-9        880-25     

DOUG FRERICHS      S  C A HM 148-7        149-5        147-7        444-19       141-5        146-5        148-6        435-16       879-35     

JAMES YOUNG        S  C A HM 148-6        147-8        146-7        441-21       139-5        149-7        148-6        436-18       877-39     

DALTHARD TAYLOR       C A HM 144-4        145-3        146-5        435-12       148-5        146-7        148-5        442-17       877-29     

ROBERT REIL        S  C A HM 145-1        145-2        147-6        437-9        147-8        145-4        146-8        438-20       875-29     

ARMANDO COELLO     S  C A HM 146-5        144-4        146-5        436-14       139-3        146-5        147-9        432-17       868-31     

BARRY SMITH        G  C A HM 145-3        150-6        145-2        440-11       148-3        143-6        134-4        425-13       865-24     

ALLEN ELLIOTT      S  C A HM 145-3        141-0        142-4        428-7        145-6        144-3        144-1        433-10       861-17     

FRANKLIN FISHER    G  C A HM 149-10       137-3        144-4        430-17       143-4        145-7        135-3        423-14       853-31     

PHIL HAYES            C A HM 149-6        149-8        148-7        446-21       150-10       149-9         40-2        339-21       785-42     

NORMAN CRAWFORD    S  C A HM   DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        149-6        149-6        147-3        445-15       445-15     

MIDDLETON TOMPKINS G  C A HM   DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        143-4        147-8        146-9        436-21       436-21     

             ------- C A MA  ------- 

JAMES COBB            C A MA 147-6        150-8        149-6        446-20       149-8        149-4        148-6        446-18       892-38  

JIM HAHN           S  C A MA 145-5        147-3        148-7        440-15       148-5        147-6        149-6        444-17       884-32     

JAMES GAINES       S  C A MA 145-4        143-3        146-3        434-10       146-6        149-9        149-9        444-24       878-34     

MARTY MAYO         S  C A MA 148-5        142-3        146-2        436-10       144-5        146-5        149-6        439-16       875-26     

MICHAEL TOLIVER       C A MA 148-8        138-2        148-6        434-16       146-4        144-4        146-5        436-13       870-29     

DOAN TREVOR        S  C A MA 143-5        148-6        142-4        433-15       146-1        147-2        140-4        433-7        866-22     

MIKE KELLEY           C A MA 138-3        140-6        144-3        422-12       147-3        145-3        150-7        442-13       864-25     

GREG NEWMAN           C A MA 146-5        140-4        141-1        427-10       143-5        136-3        147-6        426-14       853-24     

MICHAEL WALKER        C A MA 140-2        145-6        141-3        426-11       144-4        139-2        141-3        424-9        850-20     

BOB JONES          S  C A MA 139-5        145-4        148-7        432-16       148-9          DNF          DNF        148-9        580-25     

MIKE StCLAIR       G  C A MA   DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        140-3        140-2        141-4        421-9        421-9      

PETER CERNANSKY    S  C A MA   DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        132-3        133-0        126-1        391-4        391-4      

            ------- C S MA  ------- 

M. TANNER FADELEY  I  C S MA 146-7        145-4        145-4        436-15       138-4        147-5        140-6        425-15       861-30  

BRONSON SCOTT         C S MA 132-1        144-5        141-3        417-9        139-1        144-5        141-6        424-12       841-21     

F. CHASE FADELEY   J  C S MA 143-3        129-4        136-4        408-11        97-3        143-1        146-2        386-6        794-17     

F. DEAN FADELEY       C S MA   DNF        132-3        147-3        279-6        144-2        143-5        144-3        431-10       710-16     

NOBLE HATHAWAY        C S MA 131-2        130-3        136-4        397-9          DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        397-9      

WAYNE ULLRICH         S S MA   DNF          DNF        143-2        143-2          DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        143-2      

             ------- C A EX  ------- 

RANDY PIKE            C A EX 149-5        145-5        148-7        442-17       147-1        147-6        148-6        442-13       884-30  

JIM ADELL          G  C A EX 148-3        145-2        147-8        440-13       147-2        146-3        146-7        439-12       879-25     

FRANK LUCERO       S  C A EX 141-4        145-0        127-7        413-11       147-3        146-5        145-7        438-15       851-26     

PAUL SEYLER        S  C A EX 135-5        138-2        141-4        414-11       143-3        138-2        144-2        425-7        839-18     

TRAVIS BURIAN      J  C S EX 140-4        142-5        142-5        424-14       136-2        140-0        139-2        415-4        839-18     

ROBERT PIRISKY        S S EX 146-4        145-5        142-2        433-11       140-2        133-4        131-0        404-6        837-17     

TERRY LIFFICK      G  C A EX 119-2        128-4        121-1        368-7        109-0        120-2        138-5        367-7        735-14     

ALICIA JOHNSON     I  C S EX   DNF         5-0          72-0         77-0         80-0         33-0         82-0        195-0        272-0      

            ------- C S SS  ------- 

TIM KULOW          S  C A SS 143-4        136-3        138-4        417-11       141-5        147-2        141-4        429-11       846-22  

RYAN HAYES         *  C S SS 137-2        145-4        136-2        418-8        139-0        138-6        134-3        411-9        829-17     

RON PIOTROWSKI     G  C A SS 122-3        131-4        141-2        394-9        144-4        145-9        144-4        433-17       827-26     

JACK GREENLEAF     S  C A SS 134-2        142-2        130-0        406-4        118-0        120-2        140-4        378-6        784-10     

MICHAEL DALTON     J  C S SS   DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        124-2        136-3        135-2        395-7        395-7      

             ------- C S MK  ------- 

JOHN HOFFMAN       S  C A MK 141-5        138-2        143-5        422-12       144-4        148-6        139-2        431-12       853-24 

JADEN SWARTWOOD    I  C S MK 133-3        125-2        120-1        378-6        123-2        131-2        130-1        384-5        762-11     

DONNIE SMITH       *  C S MK  85-0          DNF        136-1        221-1        142-1        144-3        135-0        421-4        642-5      

BECKY BARRETT      IW C S MK 110-2        100-0         85-1        295-3        117-0         76-0        101-0        294-0        589-3      

ANDREW SURBER         C S MK   DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        136-1        126-0        141-2        403-3        403-3      

ERIC HATHAWAY         C A MK 123-1        140-0        108-2        371-3          DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        371-3      

TYLER LOCK         I  C S MK   DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        118-1        112-1          DNF        230-2        230-2      

             -------     F   ------- 

STEVE LOCKWOOD        C F F  145-4        147-6        148-7        440-17       147-3        146-5        149-9        442-17       882-34 

CHARLES GOODING    G  C F F  145-3        147-5        144-3        436-11       146-4        147-7        145-3        438-14       874-25     

WARREN DEAN           C F F  144-3        139-3        145-3        428-9        139-6        143-2        142-5        424-13       852-22     

NORMAN DARNELL     G  C F F  144-1        142-2        141-1        427-4        134-1        139-3        148-3        421-7        848-11     

JOHN ANDRES        G  C F F  142-5        142-2        142-7        426-14       140-2        141-1        139-4        420-7        846-21     

BEN DUGDALE           C F F  146-3        142-4        132-2        420-9        141-1        141-3        141-1        423-5        843-14     

JEFFREY CALHOON       C F F  141-4        141-5        143-2        425-11       143-0        140-1        127-3        410-4        835-15      

ULO NIGOL          S  C F F  142-3        140-2        135-2        417-7        136-3        142-4        137-1        415-8        832-15     

CHARLES MAY           C F F  145-1        145-1        134-0        424-2        141-4        133-1        134-2        408-7        832-9      

PHILIP NELSON      S  C F F  137-0        124-0        137-2        398-2        132-2        145-3        135-0        412-5        810-7      

BILL BERTA         S  C F F  150-6        144-7        146-7        440-20         DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        440-20     

ROBERT JENSEN      G  C F F  144-4          DNF          DNF        144-4        137-2        135-2          DNF        272-4        416-8      

BOB DEL COTTO      G  C F F    DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        130-1        140-3        140-2        410-6        410-6      

HAVEN J WILLIAMS   S  C F F  143-3          DNF          DNF        143-3          DNF          DNF          DNF          DNF        143-3       

2011 Az State Mid Range Championship Day 1

Just a brief report today, it was plenty hot yesterday and after arriving home and eating it turns out that all this aging body wanted was a good nights sleep! Temps were nearing 100 degrees by days end and the wind was in evidence all day as well.

The Team of Shirley McGee, Steve McGee, Peter Church and Middleton Tompkins won the metallic sight 600 yard team match. Following the team match the nearly 70 competitors started the individual matches. Frank Fisher bested all comers in match 1, 600 yards, with a very strong 149-10X's. The 500 yard match saw the wind continue it's wicked ways but at least a few cleans were fired and Jim Cobb's 150-8X's topped the field. Moving forward to the 300 yardline for the last match of the day saw the leaders, myself and Phil Hayes, down two with Peter Church down three take their positions to see who would win the day.  Hayes stumbled a bit posting a 148-7X's which slipped him into third with a 446-21X's. Church fired a 150-9X to take second overall with a 447-19X. My match winning 150-11X has me down two for the day, 448-20X, to secure the metallic sight championship.

The F class division was not without some drama as well as a mixed field of F-TR and F Open duked it out all day. Two local hotshots, Bill Berta and Steve Lockwood locked horns all day with Bill coming out on top by a mere three X's! His 440-20 edged Steve's 440-17 to lead the field of thirteen shooters in that divison. Charles Gooding stands alone in third just four back by finshing with a 436-11X's.

 I will try my best to put up the final results tonight, along with some pictures of the weekend.

Cheers and thanks for reading,

RCurtis