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Tikka 243 and 87gr Berger Hunting VLD bullets
I was just wondering if anyone else has experience with these bullets. I loaded a few rounds of the Berger Hunting VLD bullets in 87gr last night using 38gr of Varget. I tossed them together quick just so I could sight in a new scope I put on the rifle. Anyway, they shoot pretty good…about .75″ so far. That was just quickly sighting in…it was -27C when I did it so I was doing it pretty quick. 🙂
Anyway…I'm going to be using the same load for deer and yotes. What experience in loads does anyone have with these bullets? Seating depth? Powder? Primers? Loads?
I also have the T3 in 270WSM, T3 Hunter stainless in 222, and T3 Stainless 223. All the rifles are very accurate. It would be hard to switch to any other brand unless it was a Sako or a custom rifle.
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9 Replies
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I used Berger VLD hunting bullet in my T3 SS Lite 308, and the result was excellent. I can not address loading, since Setpoint did the loads (Vargent 46g with 168gr Berger VLD).
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You need to push that bullet alot harder than you are with 37 gr of Varget.
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I think the varget max for the 87gr VLD is 39.5gr. I thought for a starting load of 38gr, it wasn't too bad. Do you think pushing it harder than that will give better results?
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In my experience with 223 & Varget, it likes the case as full as possible, even compressed. Just watch your pressures.
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I think the varget max for the 87gr VLD is 39.5gr. I thought for a starting load of 38gr, it wasn't too bad. Do you think pushing it harder than that will give better results?
Don't really know, every rifle is different. But…book max is [almost] never the actual max for each rifle.
That said, I'll let YOU decide if you want to increase your charges by 3/10's of a grain until you feel or see signs of pressure. 😉 At that time you might see an improvement in accuracy. Then you can mess around with seating depth and fine tune your load. Good luck, and be careful if you do a little more experimenting.
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I decided to make a few loads with 47.5gr of RL 19. It fills the case to not quite capacity so it isn't a compressed load. I've heard that RL19 is a better powder than Varget for the 243 87gr bullets. Anyone have any experience with other 243 powders like RL19 that you achieved good results with?
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I have a 6mm (similar to 243) and have good results with both RL19 and IMR4350.
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I've yet to try the Berger bullets but I've tried Nosler, Sierra, and Hornady in this weight range.
With the 90 Noslers I found that IMR 4350 shoots the most accurate in my T3 Lite 243. This is a big game bullet.
With the 85 BTHP Sierra's and 87 Hornady VMax's, Varget gave me the tightest groups. These two bullets are classified by the manufactuers as varmint bullets. The 85 BTHP with Varget was particularly impressive shooting in the sub 1/2 moa range.
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Hi I'm new to this forum.I'm using Berger's 87 gr VLD and H4350 for some long range shooting.Here is a picture from my last shooting at 575 yards and this eight shoots are 0.411 MOA.Let me know what you think.
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