Anybody use the Berger 30 cal, 208 gr, Long Range Hybrid?

[ShtrRdy]

I was looking at the Berger Quick Reference Sheet and noticed that the 30 cal, 208 gr Long Range Hybrid had the same G7 BC as the 215 gr Hybrid. ( G7 BC = 0.354 ). If this is true wouldn't this be a better long range bullet assuming you could send it at higher velocity?

 

[Broz]

We have some coming along with the 220 gr LRHT. As discussed in other threads, the jury is still out on the Terminal performance of the entire LRHT line due to the fact these are "Pointed" bullets.

Jeff

 

[FURMAN]

I was looking at the Berger Quick Reference Sheet and noticed that the 30 cal, 208 gr Long Range Hybrid had the same G7 BC as the 215 gr Hybrid. ( G7 BC = 0.354 ). If this is true wouldn't this be a better long range bullet assuming you could send it at higher velocity?

The form factor is the single best indicator of how the bullet will perform ballistically(lower is better). The 208 should be a great performer. I will most likely try some 208s and 220s when I find some time.

 

[ShtrRdy]

We have some coming along with the 220 gr LRHT. As discussed in other threads, the jury is still out on the Terminal performance of the entire LRHT line due to the fact these are "Pointed" bullets.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff. I didn't realize these were pointed. That would be a problem for a hunting application. I guess there's no "free lunch". If the 208 BC is equal to the 215 BC it had to be due to something.

-- Todd

 

[Broz]

Thanks Jeff. I didn't realize these were pointed. That would be a problem for a hunting application. I guess there's no "free lunch". If the 208 BC is equal to the 215 BC it had to be due to something.

-- Todd

We simply do not know how they will respond for Terminal performance. But we will be testing. The 220 is simply a 215 with a slight amount of more lead in the tip. The tip void on a 215 is .400" deep. an a 220 it is .350" deep. But the changes have raised the BC's a bit and made them more stable resulting in a better ES in BC's

 

[7mmShooter]

It'll be interesting to see what effect it has for sure

 

[JoshHaker]

Could it be that the pointed bullets might not be as bad as I/many may think? I just watched gel test the 140 Nosler RDF and was shocked at the performance! Now I would like to see/hear of many more test other than that one shot. I am half tempted to try the 184 Berger 7mm on an antelope hunt I have in New Mexico this August.

 

[tumbleweed]

Could it be that the pointed bullets might not be as bad as I/many may think? I just watched gel test the 140 Nosler RDF and was shocked at the performance! Now I would like to see/hear of many more test other than that one shot. I am half tempted to try the 184 Berger 7mm on an antelope hunt I have in New Mexico this August.

I think it's probably fair to say that pointed bullets can/do expand good at higher velocities. I saw this with 230 Sierra Matchkings. They looked very promising at 100 yards in expansion testing. However, with reduced loads putting them down in the 1650fps range, they literally did nothing other than a tiny bit of tip deformation. I wrote them off for hunting after that.
Not saying the bullets you mentioned won't work, but i would do some high and low velocity testing first.


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[JoshHaker]

I think it's probably fair to say that pointed bullets can/do expand good at higher velocities. I saw this with 230 Sierra Matchkings. They looked very promising at 100 yards in expansion testing. However, with reduced loads putting them down in the 1650fps range, they literally did nothing other than a tiny bit of tip deformation. I wrote them off for hunting after that.
Not saying the bullets you mentioned won't work, but i would do some high and low velocity testing first.


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Well this seems to be accurate with the RDF as well. I just wastched further testing and the RDF performed very poorly at further distance. 600yds all good. 1000 and no expansion.

 

[dibbs]

Did anyone get the opportunity to hunt with these last fall?

 

[Josip89]

I hope they work.

 

[Plowboy85]

We simply do not know how they will respond for Terminal performance. But we will be testing. The 220 is simply a 215 with a slight amount of more lead in the tip. The tip void on a 215 is .400" deep. an a 220 it is .350" deep. But the changes have raised the BC's a bit and made them more stable resulting in a better ES in BC's

Broz did y’all get around to tinkering with the 208s any?

 

[Quest1000]

Bump, any hunting results with this bullet?

 

[Tex Savage]

I have loaded some up and shot them. From a ballistic standpoint they are almost identical to my 215 loads. They are 10fps faster, but the drops are identical. Funny thing, my zero is identical, so no changes when I shoot the 208 or the 215. Did some 1k at Whittington in October and they both were hitting the target in the same place with no change of elevation or wind call. Now that's my experience so far. No hunting results with them this year. To top it off, same powder and charge weight also. I guess I'm blessed and fortunate. As always YMMV.

 

[Longtine88]

I’ve shot 4 hogs. 2 in one shot with them. Two other Hogs were 200# plus animals. Both dropped. One at 540 yards one at 180 yards. Both shoulders destroyed. Golf ball size exit on both. Shot one south texas buck this year with them at 215 yards. Went through shoulder bullet destroyed the shoulders and a little damage to spinal chord. You could almost run your arm through him. That’s basically what the 215’s do, so far they perform the same for me from what I’ve shot. I’d shoot an elk with them for sure

 

[Masterdunbar]

Waiting on a bear this very moment with the 208’s poised for action. (Nevermind the socks. The LRO bag was quickly sub’ed in place) 😎

 

[Masterdunbar]

 

[Lancetkenyon]

I have a buddy that I loaded up the 208s in his .30 Nosler. He took them to Africa and killed a Cape Buffalo, Red Hartebeast, and a Blesbok with them.

 

[Quest1000]

I’m liking what I’ve been hearing so far about the 208’s. I have 20 215’s then it’s into the 208 until my back order gets filled.

 

[Orelkaddict]

So far I've taken 2 Oregon black bears and 2 blacktail deer with the 220 LRHT out of my RUM and everything was a "1 & done"

 

[codyadams]

Using the 208's in my 20" 30 nosler, running them at 2930 fps with H1K.

Small sample size so far, but yesterday I took two doe pronghorn, one at 92 yards, the other at 545 yards. The one at 92 was tore up pretty bad, impact of well over 2800 fps. Only about a 1.5-2" exit hole, but even hitting tight to the shoulder entry and exit, it ruptured the diaphragm and guts and blew stomach contents out the exit hole, and all through the shoulder on exit side, lost about half the shoulder. Entrance side was great, only lost a small margin around the impact. Goat went down quickly.

The 545 yard goat was shot in her bed, and had perfect bullet performance. A bit far back, I didn't hold for the 3 mph 3 oclock wind like I should have. I hit the rear of the lungs, and part of the liver, but did not rupture the stomach, all was still nicely in tact. Did not hit a rib on entrance, and still had a 1.5" diameter exit, expanded nicely. Impact velocity of 2393 fps. Even on exit, there was less than 1" of surrounding meat loss around the exit hole. Goat trotted 50ish yards, stumbled and went down. Expanding at this low-ish velocity, with such little resistance as pronghorn hide, rib meat, lungs and liver, shows good things IMO. I intentionally did not open the pointed tips with a drill bit, strait out of the box.

Goat 1 (92 yds) entrance and exit followed by goat 2 (545 yds) entrance and exit -

 

[codyadams]

More results with the 208. This was a mule deer taken at 1020 yards. Again, tip unmodified from the box. Impact velocity was about 2080 fps. Bullet sized entrance, 2.5"-3" exit, did great.

 

[codyadams]

Got another mule deer, another buck pronghorn, and two elk left to take this year, gonna stick with the 208 for those. I'll document what I find and place it here.

 

[Broz]

Got another mule deer, another buck pronghorn, and two elk left to take this year, gonna stick with the 208 for those. I'll document what I find and place it here.

Thanks and keep up the good work. I keep eyeballing the .308 / 220's I have for a 300. They have a great BC and I need to get them tested.

 

[codyadams]

Another pronghorn down, this time my buck tag. Again, 208 LRHT @ 2970 fps (145 rounds down the barrel now, it gained some speed)

I'm hunting an area I have never hunted, or been to for that matter, and only had about 2-3 hours after class, on a public walk in area, so I shot the first buck I came across. My family goes through a lot of meat and I don't buy red meat from the store, so need to fill freezers!

Snuck up to 260 yards. Impact velocity was about 2700 fps, knowing what this did on my last high velocity impact, I held tight to the shoulder but off it, and low. Impacted where I aimed, exited about 1-2" back as he was slightly quartered too, with about a 1.5" exit. Buck started to go down, but was able to soak it up and slow run about 25 yards, then stopped and stepped back, then tipped over......perfect! However, the bullet still did the whole rupture and suck some stomach contents out the exit wound.....but was not near as bad. I only lost about 2" around the exit wound hole, which was about 3" internally, and surprisingly the bloodshot was pretty minimal, and it cleaned up easily. Internals were soupy and completely destroyed. Sorry, no pics of insides, I was in a hurry and by myself, it looked the same as the others though. This bullet is violent in close on small critters, pronghorn or whitetail, etc., so keep it off the shoulder in close, especially the shoulder bone, if you can help it. Give it an impact velocity of around 2500 or less though, and it really shines, even on small critters. However.....it is a 208 @ 2970 fps, it's a little overkill for pronghorn ha ha! Elk.....now that will be the next test!! I have two elk tags....hoping to get at least one filled with this bullet. May have time to look for a deer, but it doesn't look very likely.....

Entrance -


Exit -

 

[FURMAN]

Another pronghorn down, this time my buck tag. Again, 208 LRHT @ 2970 fps (145 rounds down the barrel now, it gained some speed)

I'm hunting an area I have never hunted, or been to for that matter, and only had about 2-3 hours after class, on a public walk in area, so I shot the first buck I came across. My family goes through a lot of meat and I don't buy red meat from the store, so need to fill freezers!

Snuck up to 260 yards. Impact velocity was about 2700 fps, knowing what this did on my last high velocity impact, I held tight to the shoulder but off it, and low. Impacted where I aimed, exited about 1-2" back as he was slightly quartered too, with about a 1.5" exit. Buck started to go down, but was able to soak it up and slow run about 25 yards, then stopped and stepped back, then tipped over......perfect! However, the bullet still did the whole rupture and suck some stomach contents out the exit wound.....but was not near as bad. I only lost about 2" around the exit wound hole, which was about 3" internally, and surprisingly the bloodshot was pretty minimal, and it cleaned up easily. Internals were soupy and completely destroyed. Sorry, no pics of insides, I was in a hurry and by myself, it looked the same as the others though. This bullet is violent in close on small critters, pronghorn or whitetail, etc., so keep it off the shoulder in close, especially the shoulder bone, if you can help it. Give it an impact velocity of around 2500 or less though, and it really shines, even on small critters. However.....it is a 208 @ 2970 fps, it's a little overkill for pronghorn ha ha! Elk.....now that will be the next test!! I have two elk tags....hoping to get at least one filled with this bullet. May have time to look for a deer, but it doesn't look very likely.....

Entrance -
View attachment 12543

Exit -
View attachment 12544

Nice! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Clarktar]

Any powder recommendations for the 208 in a 30-06 1:9 twist 18" barrel? N560,4350, 4831sc, rl17, rl22?

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[ACHILLES]

H4350 & n560 will work well, RL17 will give the highest velocity.

 

[Clarktar]

H4350 & n560 will work well, RL17 will give the highest velocity.

Thanks. I would have thought Rl22 would be faster than 17...

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[SierraJoe]

Any powder recommendations for the 208 in a 30-06 1:9 twist 18" barrel? N560,4350, 4831sc, rl17, rl22?

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You could also try 6.5 StaBALL in the 30-06 with the 208s. Mine shot 200 gr Berger’s at about 2665 fps in a 22” barrel. Mine is throated long and I had more capacity in the case than I wanted. I am guessing it would work better in a standard chamber with the 200 class bullets.

 

[Clarktar]

You could also try 6.5 StaBALL in the 30-06 with the 208s. Mine shot 200 gr Berger’s at about 2665 fps in a 22” barrel. Mine is throated long and I had more capacity in the case than I wanted. I am guessing it would work better in a standard chamber with the 200 class bullets.

Thanks. I currently don't have StaBALL. 4350, 4831sc, rl17, rl22, n560, n540, h414, h1000

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[SierraJoe]

Then I agree with H4350 and N560 being your best options to start with.

 

[ACHILLES]

Thanks. I would have thought Rl22 would be faster than 17...

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I have not tried rl22 but I doubt it produces higher velocities than rl17.

I’ve tested h1000,n555,rl26,h4350,rl17, and bl-c2 with my 16” 30/06 & 215s. Rl17 provides the highest velocity by a large margin.

 

[codyadams]

Forgot to add my update, late season cow elk back around mid December.

590 yards, entered behind the shoulder, exited point of the shoulder on the off side. Impact velocity about 2375.

Entrance


Entrance shoulder off, then with rib removed, then with entrance side lung moved to show the jellied off side lung





And exit side, with the shoulder mostly cut off



Excellent performance, minimal meat loss as you can see, I did not modify the pointed tip, and the large cow dropped in her tracks, not even a step.

 

[OSOK - Crash]

Forgot to add my update, late season cow elk back around mid December.

590 yards, entered behind the shoulder, exited point of the shoulder on the off side. Impact velocity about 2375.

Entrance
View attachment 13779

Entrance shoulder off, then with rib removed, then with entrance side lung moved to show the jellied off side lung

View attachment 13780
View attachment 13781
View attachment 13782

And exit side, with the shoulder mostly cut off

View attachment 13783

Excellent performance, minimal meat loss as you can see, I did not modify the pointed tip, and the large cow dropped in her tracks, not even a step.

This is an example of stellar documentation with pics. Thanks for sharing!