Does anyone have experience with pushing the Berger 155gr vld hunting bullets to 1000yds+ in a .308?
Before a bunch of people start telling me just to give up and use 175s, let me explain.
I have but one long range/hunting rifle. it's a T/C Icon Precision Hunter with a Vortex hs-t on it. The rifle is very accurate with lighter bullets, and I prefer to push a lighter bullet faster for hunting, but I keep shots inside of 500yds on game. I want to develop a hunting load using the 155s, and am curious if anyone has tried to push them to 1k. If so, were they stable? I would like to be able to load a couple hundred and practice at longer range with my hunting load. The reason for wanting to push them so far is simply because I have a friend who has a range set up on private land near my work and I would like to hit the far gong.
What got me thinking about stability was reading Bryan Litz's writing about the 168smk and how it tends to tumble past 800yd. i'm pretty sure that bullet will be supersonic past 800, but what I gathered was as it goes transonic (like 1300fps) it gets unstable, leading to unpredictability at longer ranges. So, if that happens to the 168, is it happening to the 155?
I tested a few 168gr vld's yesterday and the rifle seemed to like them, so I can try that too, but before I spend $50 on a box of bullets, I want to know if anyone has pushed these past 800yds and found them to be stable. I've had good luck with 168 Bergers in the past, even at mag length in this rifle (2.820"), so I'm hopeful that I can come up with a 155gr load that gives me mid range hunting ability, and long range target ability.
Before a bunch of people start telling me just to give up and use 175s, let me explain.
I have but one long range/hunting rifle. it's a T/C Icon Precision Hunter with a Vortex hs-t on it. The rifle is very accurate with lighter bullets, and I prefer to push a lighter bullet faster for hunting, but I keep shots inside of 500yds on game. I want to develop a hunting load using the 155s, and am curious if anyone has tried to push them to 1k. If so, were they stable? I would like to be able to load a couple hundred and practice at longer range with my hunting load. The reason for wanting to push them so far is simply because I have a friend who has a range set up on private land near my work and I would like to hit the far gong.
What got me thinking about stability was reading Bryan Litz's writing about the 168smk and how it tends to tumble past 800yd. i'm pretty sure that bullet will be supersonic past 800, but what I gathered was as it goes transonic (like 1300fps) it gets unstable, leading to unpredictability at longer ranges. So, if that happens to the 168, is it happening to the 155?
I tested a few 168gr vld's yesterday and the rifle seemed to like them, so I can try that too, but before I spend $50 on a box of bullets, I want to know if anyone has pushed these past 800yds and found them to be stable. I've had good luck with 168 Bergers in the past, even at mag length in this rifle (2.820"), so I'm hopeful that I can come up with a 155gr load that gives me mid range hunting ability, and long range target ability.